CNBLUE’s Lee Jung-shin to enlist for military service in end-July

Lee Jung-shin of CNBLUE will leave the K-pop scene to begin his military service on July 31, confirmed the band’s agency FNC Entertainment on Thursday morning. The exact location of his enlistment will remain confidential, as per the artist’s wish. Lee Jung-shin (FNC Entertainment)This makes Lee the second member of the band to serve his military duties, following leader and vocalist Jung Yong-hwa’s enlistment in March.Lee, the group’s bassist, is scheduled to have a busy month before his absenc

PerformanceJuly 5, 2018

GFriend to return with summer EP on July 19

GFriend is ready to join the highly-competitive summer record market. According to the group’s agency Source Music Thursday, the six-piece girl group will release a new summer EP on July 19. The upcoming album marks the act’s first release since its sixth EP “Time for the Moon Night,” which swept local music charts upon release. Teaser images released by the agency featured six pastel-toned ice creams and a red retro style cassette player and a skateboard.  GFriend (Source Music)The K-pop act de

PerformanceJuly 5, 2018

K-Pop Academy opens in Belgium

BRUSSELS -- A K-pop Academy providing a chance to learn Korean pop music and dance techniques opened for a four-week run in Belgium earlier this week at the request of Belgian K-pop fans, the Korean culture center here said Wednesday. The academy, which operates from July 2-27, offers vocal and dance classes to 120 selected Belgian K-pop fans, the center said during a news conference.   (Yonhap) (Yonhap)Vocal trainers and choreographers from South Korea joined the academy for quality education,

PerformanceJuly 5, 2018

[Video] Housewives on YouTube: From cooking, home training to tech reviews

A housewife in her mid-30s, Choi Seo-young describes herself as a tech influencer on YouTube. She mainly reviews electronic goods and home appliances through video clips. With more than 94,000 followers, she has numerous companies offering her test products for review. But in the beginning, some questioned her credibility, citing her gender and profession. “Some thought that it was awkward for a woman, a housewife, to review tech,” Choi said at a press event held Wednesday at Google Campus in so

PeopleJuly 4, 2018

[Video] Kentaro Sakaguchi talks about ‘Color Me True’ and Korea

Japanese movie star Kentaro Sakaguchi visited South Korea and talked about his upcoming movie “Color Me True” at a press conference Tuesday.The 26-year-old actor, who has been garnering massive popularity among J-pop fans in Korea, arrived in Seoul on Monday to promote the film, which will be released on July 11. News on his visit soon plastered social media platforms, while movie tickets that include fan meetup events were sold out in a minute.(Related article: [Trending] Kentaro Sakaguchi to m

FilmJuly 4, 2018

In Sweden, compassion still trumps bigotry

When Sweden opened its doors to more than 165,000 asylum seekers in 2015, half of them children and mostly coming from war-torn Syria, the Swedish government overhauled its education system to accommodate the shortage of 8,000 teachers. The government put in place fast-track training programs for migrant teachers, and facilitated their immigration. It provided daily Swedish language lessons to the new arrivals and gave them vocational training at universities. Municipalities offered housing, hea

BooksJuly 4, 2018

[Album review] Apink’s new album is ‘sick,’ in a bad way

Apink“One & Six”(Loen Entertainment)It may sound like harsh criticism of this group of K-pop sweethearts, but Apink’s new album is sick -- in a bad way. Although Apink has finally reached a point where it can play with musical concepts, the group has taken a step in the wrong direction with “One & Six.” The album is a hodgepodge of “something different,” a nice attempt to change the group’s 7-year-old girlish image, but it lacks impact and falls short of expectations. The album starts off on the

PerformanceJuly 4, 2018

‘Kimchijeon’ over ‘kimchi pancake’

The Korean dish often referred to as kimchi pancake should be instead called by the romanization of its actual Korean name, kimchijeon, claimed a cyber organization promoting online diplomacy, Wednesday.Voluntary Agency Network of Korea is raising questions over the readymade packages by firms here that label their products as kimchi pancake in English.According to VANK’s field research, Ottogi and Sajo, as well as most of the food firms, are promoting kimchijeon as kimchi pancake. (VANK)“Just b

FoodJuly 4, 2018

Transgender singer Ha Ri-su readies new album

Ha Ri-su, considered Korea’s first openly transgender celebrity, is set to mark a comeback to the scene with her first solo effort in six years. According to her agency Mystery Friends on Wednesday, Ha is set to release the single “RE:SU-Again” on July 12. “The upcoming album will depict the life of Ha, who has led a rigorous and tough life more than anyone else. Please listen to it without any prejudice,” an agency official said. Ha Ri-su (Mystery Friends)The lyrics, co-written by Ha, also send

PerformanceJuly 4, 2018

BTS retains presence on key Billboard charts for 6th week

BTS has stayed on two key Billboard charts for the sixth consecutive week, the longest record for a Korean music act, its agency said Wednesday.The latest BTS album "Love Yourself: Tear" ranked 30th on the Billboard chart of the top 200 albums this week, the sixth week in a row that the record has entered the chart since it first landed atop the list in the week starting May 27. (YouTube)The album's lead song, "Fake Love," also ranked 76th in the highly competitive Hot 100 chart, also marking th

PerformanceJuly 4, 2018

[Trending] Japanese actor Kentaro Sakaguchi to meet fans in Korea

As Japanese movie star Kentaro Sakaguchi showed up at Gimpo Airport on Monday afternoon, J-pop fans in South Korea got excited, resulting in a storm of related posts on social media. During his two-day trip, the 26-year-old actor is set to meet Korean fans through various promotion events for his upcoming movie “Color Me True.”  Kentaro Sakaguchi attends the press conference on July 3. (Park Ju-young / The Korea Herald)Sakaguchi played the lead role “Kenji” of the romantic-fantasy film along wit

FilmJuly 3, 2018

[Trending] Speculation of BTS collaborations continues

BTS fans are in for a treat as speculation continues to grow over the next collaboration between the K-pop sensation and other pop stars.Canadian pop singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes became the latest artist to hint at working with BTS when he told listeners of Kiss 92.5’s “Roz & Mocha Show” last month that a BTS collaboration “will happen.”“I have no lyrics on their collaboration yet. It’ll happen,” Mendes told Damnit Maurie from the show, while declining to give a specific date. (Big Hit Enterta

PerformanceJuly 3, 2018

‘Here and Now’: Kumho foundation looks back on 20 years of promoting young classical music talents

Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation will hold “Here and Now” concerts to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul from July 20-21. Founded in 1998, the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series is the foundation’s platform for young talents. Since its launch, the series has helped more than 1,000 local musicians. Many of them went on to be part of the foundation’s other programs, such as the Kumho Rising Star Series and Kumho Artist.Those from the Kumho prodi

PerformanceJuly 3, 2018

Rapper Swings opens fitness center in Seoul

Swings, a Korean rapper who runs his own hip-hop label Just Music Entertainment, is set to open a fitness center named Gym Tipi near Hongik University in Seoul on Wednesday.  (Swings`s Instagam)“Good news! I found exercising interesting and I opened a fitness center myself,” Swings posted on his Instagram account. In the post, Swings also expressed love toward his girlfriend Lim Bora, who is working as a model: “Thank you to my girlfriend Bora for being the best supporter during the exercise.” T

PerformanceJuly 3, 2018

Korea Herald’s multimedia section chief awarded at 3rd anniversary of FNA

An event to mark the third anniversary of the Foreign Language Newspapers Association of Korea took place at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, Tuesday, Reporters from the four English language papers of Korea -- The Korea Herald, the Korea Times, the Joongang Daily and the Aju Business Daily -- gathered for the ceremony and the luncheon hosted by the association to celebrate the occasion. Outstanding reporters from each of the four papers were commended with a plaque. The Korea Herald’s

PeopleJuly 3, 2018

More foreign cartoonists debut in Korea’s webtoon market

A growing number of foreign cartoonists are debuting in South Korea’s webtoon industry, as the local market is expanding at a rapid pace. Japanese cartoonist Akiko Higashimura is one of the foreign cartoonist to join Naver Webtoon, one of the biggest online comic portals in Korea, with “Fake Affair” (literal translation). A screenshot of Akiko Higashimura‘s online comic series “Fake Affair“ (Naver Webtoon)Known for her romance comic series “Princess Jellyfish,” Higashimura’s new work entitled “F

CultureJuly 3, 2018

Cinematographer may have leaked title of ‘Avengers 4’: report

Canadian cinematographer Trent Opaloch, a key figure behind the Captain America film franchise, may have unknowingly revealed the title of the next installment as his filmography on his website included “Avengers: End Game,” according to a US media outlet. After Omega Underground, which specializes in film, reported the revelation, Opaloch changed the title into a working title, “Avengers 4.”  Avengers: Infinity War (Yonhap)Opaloch had worked as a cinematographer for “Captain America: The Winter

FilmJuly 2, 2018

‘Your House Helper’ to offer clean comfort to viewers

‘A clean house can offer an explicable sense of comfort. Upcoming KBS2 drama “Your House Helper” hopes to offer the clean comfort to viewers.The Wednesday-Thursday series will center on a male professional housekeeper. On top of the typical duties of a housekeeper, he listens to his clients’ worries, consoles and comforts them. “People might think that there is not much fun to cleaning. But cleaning, or watching someone clean can be fun. It is great to watch a messy house get cleaned up, with th

TelevisionJuly 2, 2018

Culture Ministry urged to impose stronger penalties for sex crimes

A government committee on Monday rolled out a series of recommendations for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for sexual offenses, including banning the perpetrators from receiving any subsidy. The ministerial committee on measures against sex offenses announced the four major tasks to eradicate sexual violence in the culture sector: implementing a system to prevent and deal with the aftermath of a sex crime, including related legislations and help centers for the victims; banning atta

CultureJuly 2, 2018

Two Canadian contemporary circuses offer flashy escapism

The two renowned Canadian circus companies are presenting shows that offer audiences a dose of escapism from the daily grind. Just around the corner is Cirque Eloize’s “Cirkopolis,” to be staged July 5-8, at the LG Arts Center in Seoul. Cirque Eloize’s “Cirkopolis” (LG Arts Center) Cirque Eloize’s “Cirkopolis” (LG Arts Center)Premiered in 2013, Cirque Eloize’s “Cirkopolis” is an art circus production inspired by futuristic and increasingly technological yet dystopian universes of legendary Germa

PerformanceJuly 2, 2018