‘2022 Camping Music Festival’ to go ahead next month despite pandemic

A two-day music festival will bring together K-pop musicians like modern rock band Monni, Broccoli, You Too and indie singer-songwriter Yun DDan DDan next month to provide comfort to music fans who are exhausted from COVID-19, according to the festival’s organizer Thursday. “2022 Camping Music Festival” will take place at Nodeul Live House on Nodeul Island, central Seoul, on Feb. 26-27, according to ModernBoy Entertainment. Under the theme of “Musical Journey in Do

PerformanceJan. 20, 2022

Bong Joon-ho braces for sci-fi film based on unpublished novel about clone

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho will likely come back with an English-language movie based on an unpublished US science-fiction novel on clones, with Hollywood star Robert Pattinson likely in a starring role, US media outlets reported Thursday. According to Deadline and other news media, the South Korean director is preparing to adapt Edward Ashton's upcoming novel "Mickey7" into a film with Warner Bros. Robert Pattinson, one of the most-sought after actors in Hollywood, is in t

FilmJan. 20, 2022

Hong Sang-soo's latest film to compete at this year’s Berlin film fest

South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo will compete at the Berlin International Film Festival for the third year in a row. 　 　According to the lineup for the 72nd edition announced Wednesday, Hong‘s 27th feature, “The Novelist’s Film,” was listed as one of the 18 movies that will vie for the Gold and Silver Bears at the festival scheduled for Feb. 10-16. 　 　It is the third consecutive year that a Hong Sang-soo film has been invited to the competition section of the Berlin fes

FilmJan. 19, 2022

Netflix Korea VP introduces 25 upcoming Korean-language originals

Kang Dong-han, vice president of content at Netflix Korea, on Wednesday introduced 25 new Korean original content works that the streaming platform will introduce in 2022 with an expectation to see more successful cases like the global hit series “Squid Game.” “Last year was special, as Oh Young-soo who won the Golden Globes said, it was no longer ‘us in the world’, but ‘the world in us’,” Kang said during a press conference held via Zoom with loc

TelevisionJan. 19, 2022

[Herald Interview] Kang Ha-neul returns as trouble-making swordsman in ‘The Pirates: Goblin Flag’

Kang Ha-neul is returning to the big screen as a trouble-making swordsman in “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” directed by Kim Jung-hoon. Director Kim’s new movie is set in the Joseon era and revolves around a journey by pirates looking for hidden treasures of a Goryeo Kingdom that no longer exists. “When I first read the script, I thought of Muchi (the character played by Kang) as a troublemaker, so it was important for him to stay somewhat hyper most of the time. I thought o

FilmJan. 19, 2022

Drama script sales emerge as indicator for success

The viewership of the SBS drama “Our Beloved Summer” might have been disappointing, but the sales of its scripts are telling another story. The scripts of the TV show have topped the bestselling lists of local online book stores Aladin and Yes24, proving the growing popularity of the 16-part series that is scheduled to end on Tuesday. The success of a TV series has been judged largely by its viewership rating, but the growing popularity of over the top platforms and services have le

BooksJan. 19, 2022

National language institute to use AI to improve writing assessment

The National Institute of Korean Language unveiled an ambitious plan to create a Korean language proficiency diagnosis system that utilzes artificial intelligence, the organization’s director Chang So-won said on Tuesday. The AI-based language proficiency test, to be developed over a five-year period from 2023 to 2027 with a budget of 10 billion won ($8.39-million), is meant to help improve the nation’s overall writing skills, which stood at 48 out of 100 in a research study conduc

CultureJan. 19, 2022

Seoul Record Fair returns after 2 year hiatus amid pandemic

Seoul Record Fair (SRF), which was launched as the first vinyl record selling event in Korea a decade ago, is set to return this week despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic after a nearly two-year haitus, the SRF committee and fair’s operator Roundx2 announced on Wednesday. Although the fair will go offline, showcasing performances and selling records and music-related products, it is scheduled for one day only on Saturday this year due to the government’s strengthened COVID-19 mea

PerformanceJan. 19, 2022

‘Irworobongdo’ art behind king’s throne completes restoration

After six years of restoration beginning in 2016, “Irworobongdo,” a Korean folding screen with a landscape of a sun and a moon painted in the mid 19th century has been completed to return it to its original form, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced Wednesday. “Irworobongdo,” meaning “Painting of the Sun, Moon and Five Peaks,” is a spectacular panel that was placed behind Eojwa, the king’s royal throne, to display the majesty of the Joseon roy

Arts & DesignJan. 19, 2022

Netflix to release record 25 Korean-language originals this year

Global streaming service Netflix said Wednesday that more than 25 Korean-language works, including five original films, will be released in 2022, expected to fuel the stellar drive led by the global sensation "Squid Game" last year. "In a bid to continue the successful Korean storytelling, Netflix will release more than 25 Korean contents this year," Netflix said in a statement. "We will provide Netflix-exclusive creative stories and high quality that meets viewers' dem

TelevisionJan. 19, 2022

Shuttered schools get makeover, find new purpose

Nearly 400 empty school buildings, chiefly in rural areas, are sitting idle after closing their doors due to lack of students, government data showed Tuesday. The Ministry of Education has a thorny task of giving new life to abandoned classrooms. As of May last year, a total of 3,855 schools have closed across South Korea in nearly 40 years since 1982, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Education, as the number of students declined to just 60.3 percent of 1990 levels. The data on

CultureJan. 18, 2022

[Herald Interview] Actor Cho Yi-hyun says ‘School 2021’ holds special meanings in many ways

For actor Cho Yi-hyun, 22, “School 2021” was like a gift. Speaking to the Korea Herald on Monday, she said she had a lot of new experiences through the drama as she took another step to becoming a better actor. “‘School 2021’ was my first television series, in which I took in charge of the drama’s storyline from the beginning to the end as a lead character. I felt a little bit of pressure in performing more than 30 scenes and huge amount of lines in an episo

TelevisionJan. 18, 2022

‘Kim Ji-young, Born 1982’ is most-sold Korean novel overseas

Although the pandemic has put overseas travels on hold to a great extent, Korean literature has constantly made daring adventures beyond borders. Over the past five years, 34 works of Korean literature have sold over 5,000 copies each in overseas book markets, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea’s data on Tuesday. “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982,” a 2016 feminist novel by Cho Nam-joo, has sold more than 300,000 copies abroad by the end of 2020. The piece has

BooksJan. 18, 2022

Masterpieces by pioneers of Russian avant-garde art shown in Seoul

Russian avant-garde modern art started to flourish in the early 20th century with artists beginning to explore new abstract styles, rejecting conventional academic tradition in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917 that overthrew the Russian Empire. While the avant-garde artists -- most famously Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich -- are widely known today, many of them were oppressed in the 1930s after Stalin, who stigmatized their works, took power. Many artists fled to Europe a

Arts & DesignJan. 18, 2022

Song Ji-ah from Netflix’s ‘Single’s Inferno’ under fire for wearing fake luxury goods

Song Ji-ah, a contestant on Netflix’s latest hit reality dating show “Single’s Inferno,” who is also known as YouTuber FreeZia, has been embroiled in controversy over wearing counterfeit luxury fashion items. Criticism flew in from online community users earlier, claiming that Song’s outfits and pieces of jewelry worn for the dating show and her YouTube clips are partially fake, which resembled high-priced brands including Chanel and Dior. Before joining the rea

TelevisionJan. 18, 2022

Star producer Kim Tae-ho leaves MBC after 21 years

Kim Tae-ho, the star producer best known for the hit MBC TV show "Infinite Challenge," has left the broadcaster after 21 years. Monday was the last day of Kim's 21-year-long work for MBC, company officials said Tuesday. Kim began working for the broadcaster in January 2001. He went on to produce "Infinite Challenge" for 13 years and "Hangout with Yoo," also a hit variety show starring comedian Yoo Jae-suk, from 2019 until recently. He also produced Netflix's Kore

TelevisionJan. 18, 2022

Readers share different views about webtoon featuring BTS

The highly anticipated “7 Fates: Chakho,” a joint webtoon project between Naver Webtoon and Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind the superband BTS, is drawing mixed reactions from both webtoon and BTS fans at home and abroad. “7 Fates: Chakho,” the webtoon and web-novel series starring BTS members, released its first episode on Saturday. The series received a 7.70 rating as of Monday, which is a harsh start considering most of the Naver platform series have ratings above 8

CartoonJan. 17, 2022

Incheon International Airport Corp. to come up with details this year to set up global museum

Incheon International Airport Corp. is getting one step closer to host a branch of a world renowned museum at the airport as it is set to launch a feasibility reseach about the project in February. The airport has pushed for the plan to accomodate a global museum at the largest airport in the country, such as Louvre Museum and Musee d’Orsay as early as 2024. After failing a bidding in September to commission the research, the airport put up the second tender in December, which was made t

Arts & DesignJan. 17, 2022

23rd Jeonju International Film Festival to kick off in April

Jeonju International Film Festival’s organizing committee announced that the annual film fest will be held for 10 days from April 28 in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The 23rd Jeonju IFF committee also added that it is hoping to return nearly to how it previously operated the international film festival before the pandemic. There will be 18 sections and 230 films will be screened during the festival, which shows the committee’s determination to host an event just how it was before

FilmJan. 17, 2022

New form of music concert to go on stage at Seoul Arts Center

A classical music concert that experiments to break out from conventional forms, “Beyond the Classic 2,” is to set the stage on Feb. 18, at the Seoul Arts Center by the Sam Philharmonic Orchestra, the organizer said on Monday. The concert aims to reach music fans weary from the long-lasting pandemic, to bring hopes and laughter throughout its 100-minute session, the organizer added. Various artists’ collaborative performances will be put together under the theme of “a c

PerformanceJan. 17, 2022