Tving to present gay love drama 'Unintentional Love Story’

Online streaming service provider Tving scheduled to release “Unintentional Love Story,” a drama adaptation of a popular Naver Webtoon, on March 17. Adapted from writer and illustrator Pibi’s webtoon of the same title, “Unintentional Love Story” centers around a young man named Won-young becoming attached to Tae-jun. Gongchan of K-pop boy band B1A4 stars in the series as Won-young. Rising actor Cha Seo-won, who received nationwide recognition with his appearance in

TelevisionMarch 7, 2023

Paris Opera Ballet's 'Giselle' to capture essence of romantic French ballet

The Paris Opera Ballet, one of the leading ballet companies in the world, is set to stage “Giselle,” an iconic French romantic ballet, from Wednesday to Saturday. The oldest national ballet company in the world premiered the piece in 1841, and will be performing in Korea for the first time in 30 years. The same piece was performed in Korea in 1993. “‘Giselle’ is a performance that best captures the characteristics of French ballet,” said Jose Martinez, directo

PerformanceMarch 7, 2023

Korean picture books receive special mention at BolognaRagazzi

Four Korean picture books received special mention at the BolognaRagazzi Award this week, as part of the Bologna Children's Book Fair held in Italy. “Moving Away,” written and illustrated by Lee Ji-yeon, was given special mention in the Fiction category. “This exquisitely designed leporello … invites the reader to follow a magnified ant trail through the garden where a child is playing,” said the jury. "The Blue: Bench" written and illustrated by mia

BooksMarch 7, 2023

Son Suk-ku to star as journalist in upcoming film

Actor Son Suk-ku from “My Liberation Notes” (2022) and “Big Bet” (2022) will star as a journalist in an upcoming crime action flick, tentatively named “The Comments Army.” A film adaption of Chang Kang-myoung’s award-winning novel of the same title, “The Comments Army” will be directed by Ahn Gooc-jin. Shooting officially began Monday, according to Acemaker Movieworks, the film's distributor. The film centers around Son’s character

FilmMarch 7, 2023

Cable channel OCN to livestream 95th Academy Awards

South Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM’s cable TV movie channel OCN is scheduled to livestream the 95th Academy Awards at 9 a.m. on March 13. Honoring the films released in 2022, this year’s Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, will be hosted by popular American comedian and producer Jimmy Kimmel at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. American action comedy “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” which earned a total of 11 nominations at this year's Academy Awards

TelevisionMarch 7, 2023

Hyeri to star in Korea’s first cheerleading film ‘Victory’

Singer and actor Lee Hye-ri -- also known as Hyeri from Girl’s Day -- is starring in director Park Beom-soo’s “Victory,” the country’s first ever film on cheerleaders. Along with Lee, actors Park Se-wan and Cho Ah-ram and six other actors will star as a nine-member cheerleading group called Millennium Girls. “Victory” revolves around Pil-seon (Hyeri) and Mina (Park Se-wan) who form a high school cheerleading club. Hyeri’s acting career took off wit

FilmMarch 7, 2023

Creative team of 'The Phantom of the Opera' talks about much-anticipated return

The musical “The Phantom of the Opera” will kick off in Busan in March, a significant event on many levels. Not only is it the third Korean production of the iconic musical that took the local musical industry by storm with its debut in 2001, it is returning to Korea after 13 years. Danny Sihn, CEO and producer of S&CO, told reporters during a press conference on Monday that the latest production is focused on preserving the original vision of the 35-year-old musical created by l

CultureMarch 6, 2023

Investigative documentary series tell stories stranger than fiction

While streaming services generally seek to entertain viewers with unique originals, Netflix and South Korea’s largest streaming service Wavve are sending shock waves across the country with their latest documentaries. Netflix released its third Korean documentary series “In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal,” featuring four Korean religious cult leaders -- Jeong Myeong-seok of Christian Gospel Mission, better known as Jesus Morning Star, Park Soon-ja of Odaeyang Church, Kim Ki-s

TelevisionMarch 6, 2023

SPO and van Zweden to hold charity concert in April

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, with its incoming music director Jaap van Zweden, will perform a special concert in April for those in need. On April 7, "A Very Special Concert" will take place at Ewha Womans University with guest violinist Kong Min-bae, an 18-year-old violinist who was diagnosed with high-functioning autism at the age of 5. He first learned to play the piano as part of his treatment. At 10 years old, Kong started to take violin lessons. During a press conference i

PerformanceMarch 6, 2023

[From the Scene] Viewing Changgyeonggung the way it was

A special tour of the palace Changgyeonggung's architecture and history has returned with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Launched in 2018, the 90-minute tour comparing the present day palace with the one depicted in Donggwoldo, a palace map painted sometime between 1826 and 1831, is led by a cultural heritage curator. The participants are given pamphlets with a scaled down version of the old map. This year’s tour, the first since the pandemic, began 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the

CultureMarch 6, 2023

[Herald Interview] Playing villains that ring a little too true

Unlike a typical noir action flick, director Lee Won-tae’s latest film “Devil’s Deal” realistically depicts the film’s setting, focusing specifically on the year 1992 in Busan. This was the year when both the presidential election and the general election took place. This made the actors think that the characters they were playing must have really existed in the real world at some place and time. “The set was so realistic that I could easily be absorbed into t

FilmMarch 6, 2023

'The First Slam Dunk' becomes most-viewed animated Japanese film in S. Korea

"The First Slam Dunk" has become the most-viewed animated Japanese film released in South Korea ever, data showed Sunday. The film posted a total of 3.81 million admissions earlier in the day, outnumbering the top-selling animated Japanese film "Your Name." (2016), which sold 3.8 million tickets, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. It took 61 days for the basketball animation to break the seven year-old record since it hit South Korean theaters on Jan. 4. &quo

FilmMarch 5, 2023

[Herald Interview] First English biography of Imjin War's hidden hero published

Standing tall at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul is a statue of Adm. Yi Sun-shin, one of the most celebrated figures in Korean history, a national hero who prevailed over the Japanese invaders during the Imjin War (1592-1598). Yi didn’t start his career in the Navy. He was serving in the Army when he was stripped of his rank by adversaries who were jealous of his talent. But 14 months before Japan invaded Korea in 1592, Yi was appointed commander of the Left Jeolla Naval District. It w

BooksMarch 5, 2023

Daesan Foundation accepting applications for translation, research and publication of Korean literary works

The Daesan Foundation is accepting applications for the 2023 Korean Literature Translation, Research, and Publishing Support program. Applicants for this year’s translation grants will be accepted until 3 p.m. on June 1 through the foundation’s official website. Successful applicants will be announced in August. Applicants can select from Daesan Literary Award-winning works that have not been translated into the target language, or any other literary work in need of translation. The

BooksMarch 5, 2023

Cho Seung-woo makes triumphant return with ‘Divorce Attorney Shin’

Top actor Cho Seung-woo made his much-anticipated return to the small screen Saturday in JTBC’s “Divorce Attorney Shin,” his first TV drama in two years. The first episode saw the third highest viewership ratings of all Saturday-Sunday dramas, following KBS’ “Three Bold Siblings” and tvN’s “Crash Course in Romance,” which are scheduled to come to an end after only a few more episodes. With Saturday's episode marking a nationwide viewersh

TelevisionMarch 5, 2023

History museum unveils 335 videos of modern Korea

The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and the Korean Broadcasting System on Friday released some 335 videos documenting major historical and social events in Korea, from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The short films and video clips collected by KBS is posted on the museum’s website. The total running time of the entire archive reaches more than 40 hours. KBS converted the films into high-resolution video format for streaming while the museum categorized and labeled each record

CultureMarch 5, 2023

Walk in nature on Jeju, away from bustling crowds

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island -- As more Koreans head overseas for holidays with the lifting of COVID-19 related travel restrictions, there are concerns that domestic travel to Jeju Island may decrease. But with a number of luxury hotels newly opening on the southern island, Jeju’s travel industry is positive about growth prospects. JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, expected to open sometime this month, is the latest five-star hotel on the island -- Grand Hyatt Jeju opened its doors in 2020 and P

TravelMarch 4, 2023

Make 'bunsik' great again

Bunsik, literally food made with flour, has its beginnings in the early 1960s. Since rice was scarce and expensive in postwar Korea, the government promoted the consumption of mixed grains and flour noodles. The campaign to eat more mixed grains and flour faded out in the 1980s, and bunsik came to mean inexpensive eats that you could either have as a snack or as a meal in itself. Most small diners, known as "bunsikjib," serve what have become popular street food -- from gimbap, tteokbo

FoodMarch 4, 2023

[Scholars and their spaces] The loneliness of those who are ahead of their time

“While young, I suffered from the disease I have in my heart. At that time, my symptoms were very similar to postpartum depression that affects new mothers who were so exhausted that they lose consciousness and wake up in the middle of the night fearing that their babies might suffocate because their breast presses their babies’ mouth in their sleep.” Park Ji-won (1737-1805), a Silhak scholar and novelist who wrote renowned satirical novels exposing social irregularities such

CultureMarch 4, 2023

Megabox to broadcast S. Korea's WBC 2023

Megabox, a South Korean cinema operator, Thursday announced that it would live stream South Korea’s World Baseball Classic matches in its theaters, starting March 10. The WBC is an international baseball tournament that has taken place every four years since 2009 The last tournament, scheduled for 2021, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korean outfielder Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes, considered Korea's next Major League Baseball hopeful, and Major Leaguer Kim Ha-s

CultureMarch 4, 2023