Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk star in tvN drama on growing up

Actress Bae Suzy has joined hands with screenwriter Park Hye-ryun and director Oh Choong-hwan once again in the newest tvN drama, “Start-up,” set to start airing at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Suzy has appeared as the lead actor in several of Park‘s dramas, including KBS’ “Dream High” (2011) and SBS’ “While You Were Sleeping” (2017), which was also directed by Oh. “I had the opportunity to work with our director and screenwriter again, and p

TelevisionOct. 14, 2020

Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival to go live online

As the COVID-19 pandemic brings a more contactless world, a rock music festival -- an event usually associated with heat and sweat -- will go online. Iconic rock music event the 2020 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will be streamed live online Friday and Saturday. It will be the first online-only event in the festival’s 15-year history. Organized by Incheon Metropolitan City, the annual festival is held every August at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park. This year, due to the COVID-19 pan

PerformanceOct. 13, 2020

Seoul International Pride Film Festival to proceed with in-person screenings of 105 movies

The Seoul International Pride Film Festival, a festival featuring movies telling the stories of sexual minorities, will take place Nov. 5 - 11 at CGV Myeongdong Station Cine Library in Seoul. “Due to the pandemic, many film festivals are either going online or have been canceled. However, we decided to hold the festival offline as the situation in Korea is improving,“ Head of Executive Committee Kim Jho Gwang-soo said during a press conference on Tuesday. ”Initially, we plan

FilmOct. 13, 2020

Park Chan-wook’s new film to start shooting in October

South Korean director Park Chan-wook will start shooting his new film, “Decision to Leave,” in October, having cast all the main characters. Tang Wei and Park Hye-il will star as the protagonists. Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo and Park Yong-woo are also part of the cast. The new movie centers on a polite and honest police officer named Hye-jun, played by Park Hye-il. Hye-jun looks into a suspicious death that occurred on a mountain and comes to suspect the dead man’s wife, Se

FilmOct. 13, 2020

Celebrities head to Kakao TV for entertainment show opportunities

Over a month has passed since Kakao M launched Kakao TV, a mobile content streaming platform, on Sept. 1, with seven of the 25 original shows that it promised until the end of the year. On Monday, producers and celebrities on original Kakao TV entertainment shows gathered for an online news conference to talk about how the shows came into being and the reasons for joining the platform. “We prepared a new form of entertainment show to lead the changing trend and environment,” said

TelevisionOct. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Chinese fans upset by BTS’ Korean War remark: report

Hit K-pop act BTS has come under fire in China for a remark about the Korean War, according to a Chinese news outlet. BTS recently received the General James A. Van Fleet Award from the Korea Society, a US-based nonprofit organization. The award, named after a US commander who fought in the Korean War (1950-1953), is given to South Korean and US nationals who have strengthened the ties between the two nations. In a video clip released by the organization on Wednesday, BTS member RM made an

PerformanceOct. 12, 2020

Hallyu festival ‘KCON:TACT season 2’ kicks off online Thursday

The Korea Creative Content Agency and CJ ENM will host “KCON:TACT season 2,” an online affair that will kick off Thursday and continue through Oct. 25. The shows can be viewed at the Mnet K-pop and KCON official YouTube channel by purchasing a membership. “I hope ‘KCON:TACT season 2’ sets an example for promoting stellar K-contents like games, webtoons, characters among others to the international audience,” said Park Seung-ryong, head of KOCCA’s overs

CultureOct. 12, 2020

‘Cats’ Seoul run extended to December

The international tour production of “Cats” will extend its Seoul run for a month. The West End musical opened Sept. 9 at the Charlotte Theater in eastern Seoul. Though initially slated to run until Nov. 8, the show will now close on Dec. 6. After the Seoul run, the musical will tour Korea, though details of that have yet to be finalized. Adjusting to the time of the novel coronavirus, the musical sold half of the 1,241 available seats. Cast members also wore masks featuring cat

PerformanceOct. 12, 2020

Refund Sisters repeat Ssak 3 success

Refund Sisters’s debut single “Don’t Touch Me,” released at 6 p.m., Saturday, swept major online music charts within the first 24 hours, topping both BTS’ “Dynamite” and Blackpink’s “Lovesick Girls” for the top spot. Refund Sisters is a quartet of singers with strong personalities brought together in MBC’s “Hangout with Yoo.” The group -- consisting of Lee Hyo-ri, Uhm Jung-hwa, girl group Mamamoo’s Hwasa and ra

PerformanceOct. 12, 2020

Which film will follow ‘Parasite’?

Thirteen Korean movies have applied to be selected as Korea’s entry for the Academy Award for best international feature film, according to the Korean Film Council on Monday. Since Director Bong Joon-ho won the Oscar for best international feature film for “Parasite” at the 92nd Academy Awards in February, movie industry insiders’ eyes are now on who will be selected to compete for the nomination next year. The selected film will be announced at the end of this month.

PerformanceOct. 12, 2020

Gyeongbokgung’s main throne hall worth just W3.29b

Geunjeongjeon -- the main throne hall of Gyeongbokgung from the Joseon era (1392-1910) -- is worth around 3.29 billion won ($2.87 million), less than the average price of an apartment in Gangnam-gu, a district of Seoul known for its sky-high real estate prices. Three other halls in the palace, which are designated as national treasures, were valuated at less than 2 billion won each, according to a document submitted by the Cultural Heritage Administration at the request of Rep. Kim Seung-su o

CultureOct. 12, 2020

For Yoo Ah-in, trust was key in playing character with no lines

Actor Yoo Ah-in said he put no extra effort into playing a character with no lines in the upcoming crime drama “Voice of Silence.” “There was no extra preparation for the character. I just tried to form a stronger trust in director Hong Eui-jung and actor Yoo Jae-myung,” Yoo Ah-in said Monday during an online press conference. Tae-in, Yoo Ah-in’s character in the movie, has the unusual job of disposing of corpses and cleaning up crime scenes for an organized crim

FilmOct. 12, 2020

Cultural Heritage Administration reopens indoor public facilities under eased virus curbs

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday reopened 14 indoor public facilities, such as museums and memorial halls, under its control nationwide as the government eased tough virus curbs that had been in place since late August. Among the 14 facilities are the National Palace Museum of Korea, Jungmyeongjeon and Seokjojeon of Deoksu Palace, and the Grand Greenhouse of Changgyeong Palace, all in Seoul, according to the CHA. Also included are the museum of King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty

Arts & DesignOct. 12, 2020

Family movie 'Pawn' tops 1m admissions on 11th day

"Pawn," a South Korean human drama about a debt collector and his new family, has topped 1 million admissions here, data showed Monday. The family movie attracted 1.07 million viewers Friday, passing the 1 million milestone in 11 days since its release on Sept. 29, according to the data compiled by the Korean Film Council. After debuting at No. 2 on its opening day, the film moved up to the top spot the next day and has since dominated the local box office. Its total viewers stood at

FilmOct. 12, 2020

[Herald Design Forum 2020] Guggenheim director optimistic about art in time of crisis

When museums closed for months due to COVID, many offered virtual exhibitions which some say made art more accessible to the wider public, albeit with limitations. Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, is optimistic about the role of art at this time of crisis. “At a time in which we feel doubt and fear about being together, I am optimistic when I remember that art is a form of expression and information-sharing that can open us up to new ways of th

Arts & DesignOct. 11, 2020

Isang Yun Peace Foundation honors El Sistema founder

Celebrating the legacy of iconic composer Yun I-sang (1917-1995), the Isang Yun Peace Foundation honored Venezuelan conductor, pianist and economist Jose Antonio Abreu (1939-2018) with the 2020 Isang Yun Prize. Since 2007, the Isang Yun Peace Foundation has recognized musicians who carried on Yun’s legacy. According to the foundation, the prize celebrates artists who are actively involved in society and who have made contributions to “peace, reconciliation and harmony.” In 1

PerformanceOct. 11, 2020

Performing arts festival goes for-pay online

The 2020 Seoul Performing Arts Festival will be a contactless event, connecting with audiences at home via livestream. The SPAF, organized by the Korea Arts Management Service under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is an annual festival held in the Daehagno neighborhood in central Seoul. This year, however, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be streamed online. It will be the first major performing arts festival here to adopt a paid online streaming model. The

PerformanceOct. 11, 2020

Event marks 30th anniversary of Russia, Korea’s cultural exchange

The Russia-Korea Arts and Culture Society (KORACS) and The Gorchakov Fund on Thursday jointly held a seminar to mark the 30th anniversary of the two countries’ cultural exchanges and discussed their future relationship. “Following the first forum which was held in 2017 in Seoul, this year’s event was supposed to be held at Moscow. But due to the virus pandemic, it had to take place in virtual space via video conference to connect Moscow and Seoul. I would like to express speci

CultureOct. 11, 2020

3 Wednesday-Thursday dramas kick off together

Three dramas from different broadcasting stations -- JTBC’s “Private Lives,” tvN’s “Tale of the Nine Tailed” and KBS’ “Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol” -- began last week, competing for Wednesday-Thursday viewership. The dramas all had online press conference Wednesday afternoon, before their first episodes, a presage of the head-on competition ahead. The viewership rating of the first two episodes showed tvN’s “Tale of the Nine Taile

TelevisionOct. 11, 2020

[Eye Plus] Eulji-ro 4-ga turns into gallery at night

At nighttime, Euljiro 4-ga in Seoul, long a home to craftsmen and hardware shops, takes on a wholly different look from the day. Walking the streets in the area during the day, you can see a variety of small shops selling ironware, wood, tool supplies and household goods such as lighting and tiles, as well as craftsmen with decades of experience. The streets ring with the roar of machines, and various tools and tiles wait for customers. When night falls and the metal and acrylic shops pull

CultureOct. 10, 2020