Oh My Girl confirms April 2 release

Oh My Girl on Thursday confirmed earlier reports that the K-pop act will release a new record on April 2.According to its agency WM Entertainment, the group is currently putting the finishing touches on the new song, which comes after the EP “Secret Garden” released in January. A teaser image for Oh My Girl’s upcoming release (WM Entertainment)The group at midnight Wednesday uploaded on its official social media pages a teaser image that showed bananas falling from the sky and three monkeys buri

PerformanceMarch 22, 2018

R&B trio Solid returns after 21 years

After disbanding 21 years ago, R&B trio Solid returned with the album “Into the Light” on Tuesday.The group may sound unfamiliar to many young K-pop fans, but those who listened to Solid’s breakout hits “Holding on to Tonight” and “Destiny” in the 1990s may have taken a trip down memory lane when Kim Jo-han, Lee Joon and Jeong Jae-yoon made a surprise announcement about their reunion last week.Consisting of members who all hail from the US, Solid shot to stardom after its debut in 1993, breathin

PerformanceMarch 22, 2018

Daejeon Arts Collective pins hopes on ‘Lucky Thirteen’ for spring show

Daejeon Arts Collective will be holding its 13th group exhibition starting next week.Fifteen artists from six continents will be exhibiting at the spring show, titled “Lucky Thirteen.” Among the artists exhibiting work are KairUs -- duo Linda Kronman from Finland and Andreas Zingerle from Austria, who exhibit around the world but are based in Daejeon. Using various media, they explore topics related to technology such as vulnerabilities in internet of things devices and corporatization of city g

Expat LivingMarch 22, 2018

BTS' 'MIC Drop' remix surpasses 200m YouTube views

The official music video for the "MIC Drop" remix from BTS exceeded 200 million views on YouTube on Thursday, becoming the seventh video by the K-pop sensation to pass the threshold, the group's agency said.The video for the remix of "MIC Drop" topped 200 million at about 11:43 a.m., according to the Big Hit Entertainment.The song, originally released in September on the album "Love Yourself: Her," was released again in November as a remix by Steve Aoki. The remix later debuted on the Billboard

PerformanceMarch 22, 2018

Ballerina Park Sae-eun says doing or watching ballet most fun

PARIS -- Ballerina Park Sae-eun, a "premier danseur," or first dancer, of the Paris Opera Ballet, watches ballet recitals in her free time. When her mom recently visited her from Korea, the pair went to Germany to watch a ballet show. "I don't have any other hobby except for doing ballet and watching ballet shows. I tried to take some interest in other topics but just couldn't do it. I've lived in Paris for seven years but all I did was ballet. I haven't gone up the Eiffel Tower yet,"Park told Y

Arts & DesignMarch 22, 2018

Day 2 of Seoul Fashion Week

Despite heavy snow, a fashionable, passionate crowd gathered at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Wednesday to enjoy the second day of the 2018 fall-winter HERA Seoul Fashion Week. Various local brands staged creative shows, providing the audience the chance to observe Korea’s fashion industry at the scene. Following are three highlights of the day. Ordinary People (Seoul Collection) (Seoul Design Foundation)Ordinary People went experimental, making use of various materials typically considered unfit f

Arts & DesignMarch 21, 2018

[Herald Review] Navigating the dark corners of a haunted asylum

Editors of CNN were right on the money when they introduced Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital by saying, “The story of this abandoned psychiatric hospital reads like a textbook plot of a horror film.”Directed by Jung Bum-shik, a masterful horror director who made “Epitaph,” the movie “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” follows seven people who meet up via a YouTube project to explore what is supposed to be the most haunted place in Korea.A scene from “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (Showbox)Ha-jun, who runs a YouTub

FilmMarch 21, 2018

Mamamoo’s Solar to hold first solo concerts

Solar of K-pop act Mamamoo will hold her first concerts as a solo artist next month, her agency announced Tuesday.According to RBW, the singer will hold concerts on April 27 and 28 at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. The repertoire will consist of songs from her “Solar Gamsung” project, in which she released reimagined versions of old Korean pop songs. Solar of Mamamoo (RBW)During the concerts, she will also reveal the latest song of the project, along with others written by her.Mamamoo vowed th

PerformanceMarch 21, 2018

Coex to operate Korea’s largest outdoor screen to feature K-pop content

K-pop videos will soon be streamed on a billboard four times the size of a basketball court in Seoul.SMTown Media Facade, made of curved screens and installed on the outer walls of the SMTown Coex Artium, will start operation Sunday, according to the Korea International Trade Association.SMTown Coex Artium is part of the Coex Convention and Exhibition Center in Gangnam, southern Seoul. The building offers experiences related to S.M. Entertainment stars and the agency.  (Yonhap)The new billboard

CultureMarch 21, 2018

[Newsmaker] Film authorities attempted to cover up director’s sex harassment: report

In a report released late Tuesday, the state-run Korean Film Council on Tuesday revealed an attempt to cover up a sexual harassment case by a director against her colleague by officials from its affiliated organization.According to KOFIC, officials at the Korean Academy of Film Arts attempted to conceal actions by director Lee Hyun-joo, who was convicted of a sexual attack on her female colleague in 2015 and was sentenced to a suspended prison term in 2017. Lee has claimed innocence, but announc

FilmMarch 21, 2018

[Album review] Wanna One’s ill-fated album

Wanna One"0+1=1 (I Promise You)”(CJ E&M Music)Albeit efforts to judge the album based on its musicality and not its artists’ off-camera behavior, Wanna One’s new release still needs explanation. Made up of the winners of the second season of the audition program “Produce 101,” this 11-piece K-pop group often says, “Our success is all due to fans’ love and support.” Its second EP “0+1=1 (I Promise You)” is another cupid’s arrow aiming at the hearts of its loyal fans, but it seems to be in trouble

PerformanceMarch 21, 2018

[Video] New melodrama to feature Han Hye-jin as dying woman

The upcoming series “Let’s Look at the Sunset Holding Hands” is a melodrama featuring mid-life adults, a genre which has become relatively rare among the deluge of police thrillers in Korea recently, according to director Jung Ji-in. Han Hye-jin stars as Nam Hyun-ju, a woman who discovers she is afflicted with a fatal hereditary brain tumor. In the last days of her life, she wavers between her architect husband, Kim Do-young, played by Yoon Sang-hyun, and her doctor, played by Kim Tae-hoon.Han H

TelevisionMarch 21, 2018

Medical drama with comedy, but without doctors, 'A Poem, a Day'

Unlike most medical dramas that feature doctors as the main characters, tvN’s new series “A Poem, a Day” depicts staff who are less often in the spotlight. The new Monday-Tuesday drama centers on the lives of physical therapists and radiology technicians, dubbing them “co-medical staff.” It can also be called a “comedical drama,” as it features a combination of comedy and medicine.  From the left, Jang Dong-yoon, Lee Yoo-bi and Lee Joon-hyuk (tvN)Producer Han Sang-jae hopes to set the series apa

TelevisionMarch 20, 2018

Day 1 of Seoul Fashion Week

The 2018 fall-winter HERA Seoul Fashion Week officially began Tuesday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Various local brands staged eye-catching shows, providing the audience the chance to observe Korea’s fashion industry at the scene. Following are three highlights of the day. A.Bell (Seoul Collection)  (Seoul Design Foundation)“Light” was the main keyword here. Around 34 outfits portraying the refraction and reflection of light were showcased. Hues of white, beige, ivory and black were dominant. The

Arts & DesignMarch 20, 2018

[Video] ‘Realway’ looks at Seoul Fashion Week

(Shot and edited by Park Ju-young / The Korea Herald)With the 2018 fall-winter HERA Seoul Fashion Week having just opened, well-dressed visitors off the runway are another element to look forward to.Groups of fashionistas could be seen flaunting their outfits on their way to and from Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, the main venue, on the first day of shows.As a number of fashion bloggers, influencers on Instagram and photographers from newspapers and magazines gather at DDP during the week, vi

Arts & DesignMarch 20, 2018

Son Yeol-eum to helm Great Mountains Music Festival

Pianist Son Yeol-eum has been appointed Great Mountains Music Festival & School’s new artistic director.Son is the fourth artistic director of the music festival, following founder and first artistic director Kang Hyo and co-directors Chung Myung-wha and Chung Kyung-wha, who resigned from their posts in January. Pianist Son Yeol-eum, Great Mountains Music Festival & School‘s new artistic director (GMMFS)In the last year Son reportedly expressed the hope that GMMFS, originally envisioned to promo

PerformanceMarch 20, 2018

Seoul Fashion Week kicks off with modern take on hanbok

The 2018 fall-winter HERA Seoul Fashion Week opened Monday with a showcase of modern interpretations of hanbok, or traditional Korean clothing. Celebrated hanbok designer Kim Hye-soon traveled back in time for her inspiration to create a colorful jewel-toned collection of hanbok made contemporary, which graced the runway at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul.  Models walk down the runway of hanbok opening show for the finale. (Seoul Design Foundation)“This season, I wanted to promote the beaut

Arts & DesignMarch 20, 2018