Forbes Korea's Top 'Power Celebrity 40' List 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Forbes Korea has released its annual top "Power Celebrity 40" list, which ranks the most popular and influential celebrities.

The list is based on income, influence, reputation and expertise that include number of endorsements, most searched names on search engines in South Korea, magazine cover appearances, donations to charity and mentions in media.

Korean rapper Psy topped this year's list, thanks to his phenomenal hit "Gangnam Style." Psy did not rank last year.

Psy ranked first in income and the number of media articles that mentioned his name. He is No. 12 in broadcast and No. 3 in expertise.

Girls' Generation, which topped the list in 2011 and 2012, ranked second this year. The girls ranked fourth in income, No. 3 in media articles, No. 2 in broadcast and No. 10 in expertise. Girls' Generation had 32 TV commercials last year, the most number by any celebrity on the list.

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon Jae is a new entry on the Forbes Korea list. She became popular after she reached the all-around finals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the first Korean to do so.

Actor Kim Soo Hyun shot to fourth place from 39th last year. He gained fame when he starred in last year's hit Korean drama "The Moon That Embraces The Sun." With this, he bagged product endorsement deals.

Boy band Big Bang ranked fifth from second last year.

Swimmer Park Tae Hwan rose to sixth place from 10th last year, thanks to his performance in the 2012 Olympics where he won two silver medals.

Actor Song Joong Ki ranked seventh from 27th last year while singer IU ranked eight from third last year.

Figure skating champion Kim Yun dropped to ninth place from fifth last year. She topped the list in 2008 and 2009.

Boy band Super Junior rose to tenth place from 16th in 2012 while actor Lee Seung Gi dropped to 11th from sixth last year.

Actor Yoo Joon Sang placed 12th and is a new entry this year. He gained fame through the 2012 drama "My Husband Got A Family."

The celebrities in the 13th to 20th places are KARA (from fourth last year), baseball player Lee Dae Ho (22nd last year), 2PM (11th last year), Ki Sung Ryong, miss A, Joo Won, Park Ji Sung and Infinite.

Here's Forbes Korea's Power Celebrity 40 list for 2013:

1. Psy2. Girls' Generation

3. Son Yeon Jae

4. Kim Soo Hyun

5. Big Bang

6. Park Tae Hwan

7. Song Joong Ki

8. IU

9. Kim Yuna

10. Super Junior

11. Lee Seung Gi

12. Yoo Joon Sang

13. KARA

14. Lee Dae Ho

15. 2PM

16. Ki Sung Ryong

17. miss A

18. Joo Won

19. Park Ji Sung

20. INFINITE

21. CNBLUE

22. T-ara

23. TVXQ

24. Kim Tae Hee

25. JYJ

26. SISTAR

27. Shin Bora

28. Oh Yeon Seo

29. BEAST

30. Yoo Jae Suk

31. Han Hyo Joo

32. Kim Nam Joo

33. Kim Joon Hyun

34. Ryu Seung Ryong

35. Yang Hak Sun

36. Kim Byung Man

37. Lee Min Jung

38. Um Tae Woong

39. Lee Kwang Soo

40. Ha Ji Won

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting

Latest Stories

  • Uma Thurman says she had an abortion in op-ed against the Texas ban: 'No one finds herself on that table on purpose'

    Thurman said she was "accidentally impregnated by a much older man" when she was a teen.

  • Broncos' Pro Bowl pass rusher Bradley Chubb needs ankle surgery

    Chubb hopes to be able to return this season.

  • Willie Garson, ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘White Collar’ Actor, Dies at 57

    Willie Garson, an actor best known for playing Stanford Blatch in “Sex and the City” and Mozzie in “White Collar,” has died. He was 57. A family member of Garson’s confirmed his death to Variety. A cause of death has not been disclosed. In HBO’s wildly popular “Sex and the City” series, Garson portrayed talent agent […]

  • Los Angeles to open 'Parthenon of film museums,' says Tom Hanks

    Los Angeles is finally getting a museum for movies -- and it's about time, said Tom Hanks, as he welcomed journalists to a special pre-opening event Tuesday.

  • U.K. Government Calls for Further Research Into Music Streaming Sector; Keeps Options Open

    It’s been a long time coming, but the U.K. Government’s response to the recent report into the economics of music streaming has finally arrived. However, anyone hoping for a neat conclusion to the fierce debate that has pitted labels against artists and songwriters will be disappointed. Indeed, if this was a soccer match, it would […]

  • Poll: By double digits, Americans prefer Democratic leadership on Delta, say pandemic would be worse with Trump in charge

    It’s long been one of President Biden’s favorite sayings: “Don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” Now, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, Americans believe by a 16-point margin that they are better off with Biden in charge of the pandemic than they would have been with the alternative: Donald Trump.

  • Ari Emanuel Promises ‘Aggressive’ Expansion into Nonscripted After Endeavor Content Sale

    Endeavor has no plans to exit the content creation business once it completes the required sale of its production unit. Mandated by the franchise agreement the company signed with the Writers Guild of America in February, the forthcoming sale of Endeavor Content will see Ari Emanuel’s shop part with 80% of its interests in making […]

  • Jo Lasorda, widow of Dodgers manager, dies months after husband's passing

    Jo and Tommy Lasorda were married for 70 years.

  • 300 Entertainment’s Kevin Liles Leads $4 Million Fund for Canadian Cannabis Brand Burb’s Expansion (EXCLUSIVE)

    300 Entertainment CEO/founder Kevin Liles is making a sizable investment in Vancouver-based cannabis lifestyle company Burb as it closes a $4 million Series A funding round led by Connecticut-based private equity group KarpReilly. For Liles, the combination of cannabis and music is a natural fit. As a Def Jam executive, Liles’ bonafides go back to […]

  • Facebook oversight board reviewing 'XCheck' system for VIPs

    Facebook’s semi-independent oversight board says it will review the company’s “XCheck,” or cross check, system following an investigation by The Wall Street Journal into the use of this internal system that has exempted high-profile users from some or all of its rules. The board said Tuesday that it expects to have a briefing with Facebook on the matter and “will be reporting what we hear from this” as part of a report it will publish in October. It may also make other recommendations, although Facebook is not bound to follow these.

  • Over-40 Westwood, Garcia could be Ryder Cup danger men

    England's Lee Westwood and Spain's Sergio Garcia, part of Europe's largest 40-something Ryder Cup contingent in 60 years, could be danger men, three-time major winner Jordan Spieth warned Tuesday.

  • China Evergrande inches close to default deadline, investors wait

    China Evergrande Group, once China's top-selling property developer, inched closer to a key deadline where it risks a default on its bonds, but world markets were calmer as investors and analysts played down the threat of its troubles becoming the country's "Lehman moment." "There's been a fair bit of concern about the possibility of contagion from the meltdown at Chinese property developer Evergrande," analysts at New York-based Bespoke wrote in a research note on Tuesday. A major test for Evergrande comes this week, with the firm due to pay $83.5 million in interest relating to its March 2022 bond on Thursday.

  • Project44 acquires Convey for $225M to provide end-to-end supply chain visibility

    Real-time supply chain visibility company project44 has acquired last-mile tech platform Convey for $225 million. Together, the two companies will combine forces to provide end-to-end supply chain visibility, from the raw materials to the front door. The acquisition will bolster project44's "Real-time Transportation Visibility Platform" (RTTVP), which provides information on shipments in transit across all modes and geographies, as well as precise ETAs for deliveries, with enhanced last-mile, direct-to-consumer delivery experiences.

  • Patricia Heaton reveals the moment she decided to get sober: ‘I was so humiliated’

    The "Everybody Loves Raymond" alum opened up on Elizabeth Vargas's addiction podcast, "Heart of the Matter," about giving up alcohol for good in 2018 after that "humiliating" incident.

  • FBI says body found in Wyoming identified as that of missing woman Gabby Petito

    A body found in a national forest in Wyoming has been identified as that of Gabby Petito, the young woman who went missing during a road trip with her fiancé, and her death was a homicide, the FBI said on Tuesday.

  • Neil Patrick Harris, David Harbour and Krysta Rodriguez Attend The Public Theater Gala in New York City

    The Delacorte Theater, Central Park’s open air amphitheater home to New York City’s Shakespeare in the Park, contains nearly 2,000 seats. Each summer, those seats hold New Yorkers who’ve come to commune with the Public Theater’s free summer ritual—an exercise, the theater’s late founder Joe Papp would argue, in public art as democracy. “Over the […]

  • Fight Zack Snyder’s Zombies In Real-Life In This Immersive ‘Army of the Dead’ Virtual Reality Experience

    All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. All aboard! The Sin City Taco Truck is accepting new passengers, but only if you’re willing to kill […]

  • Covid-19 adds to worries for Ryder Cup captains

    A small Covid-19 eruption at the Ryder Cup would be handled by a special clause in the captains' agreement but organizers said Tuesday that a major outbreak's impact would be decided by the PGA of America and the European Tour.

  • Ryder Cup captains keeping mum on pairing plans

    Ryder Cup newcomer Viktor Hovland waxed enthusiastic Tuesday on the possibility of partnering with Rory McIlroy, but European captain Padraig Harrington -- like US counterpart Steve Stricker -- remained cagey on his precise pairing plans.

  • Biden faces heat for handling of migrant crisis

    U.S. President Joe Biden faced pressure on Tuesday to halt the expulsion of asylum seekers to Haiti from a Texas border camp… After images of officials on horseback using reins as whips against migrants drew outrage and compounded concerns about their safety.U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said sending Haitians back to their home country, where a presidential assassination, rising gang violence and a major earthquake have spread chaos in recent weeks, quote, "defies common sense." U.N. human rights spokesperson Marta Hurtado also blasted the policy Tuesday… "We are disturbed by the images we have seen and by the fact that we have seen all these migrants and refugees and asylum-seekers being transport to Port-au-Prince. We are seriously concerned by the fact that it appears there have not been any individual assessments." The sprawling camp containing up to 10,000 mostly Haitian migrants under a bridge spanning the Rio Grande is a new flashpoint for the White House, already grappling with record numbers of border arrivals that Republican Senator Mitt Romney on Tuesday called a "disaster." Several hundred have been sent to Haiti from the camp in Del Rio, Texas, since Sunday. Thousands more have been moved into U.S. detention for processing and more flights are due to leave .. On Tuesday – Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News she was deeply troubled by images of a U.S. border guard on horseback charging at migrants .. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, testifying before lawmakers in Congress on Tuesday, was pressed on the issue by Republican Senator Josh Hawley. HAWLEY: "Yes or no. Mr. Secretary, do you bear responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Del Rio? Yes or no?"MAYORKAS:"Senator, it is my responsibility to address the human tragedy in Del Rio, to address that. And we are doing so. That is my responsibility and we are executing it." The clashes at the border were also criticized by Mayorkas, who pushed ahead on Tuesday with moving migrants out of the camp to be flown to Haiti. Despite the risk of being returned to Haiti after arduous journeys through Latin America to reach the United States, the hope of being let in meant many migrants are remaining in the camp… including one man who told Reuters staying was the only option for his family.