[Herald Interview] So Ji-sub wants to be a good man than a good actor

When So Ji-sub was approached to take on the leading role for “Be With You,” the actor first turned it down due to pressure of playing a dad.“I couldn’t imagine myself as a father, so I didn’t think I would be able to do it. If I started shooting, feeling like that, I would hinder the production,” he said in a group interview on Friday. “But I just couldn’t pass it up. I wanted to work in a film that makes me feel good.”In the movie, he plays the role of a young father lamenting the death of his

FilmMarch 13, 2018

[Herald Interview] Son Ye-jin has special place in heart for melodrama

Despite decades of prevailing in Korean cinema, melodrama appears to have relinquished its crown to darker and grittier thrillers and action films. Playing her first role in a melodrama film in years in “Be With You,” Son Ye-jin said she has been wanting to present the audience with a quality melodrama flick for a while.“It’s not so much that I wanted to sustain my nickname ‘Melodrama Queen,’ as that the genre has always been something that I wanted to do,” she said in a group interview in Seoul

FilmMarch 13, 2018

[Herald Review] Just to ‘Be With You’

The past prevalence of melodramas on both small and silver screens has been a divisive issue among Korean audiences. While a great many fans enjoy dramatic tearjerkers, others are against the film’s tendency of turning into a cry fest.“Be With You” -- directed by Lee Jang-hoon and starring So Ji-sub and “Melodrama Queen” Son Ye-jin -- is a film that does a satisfactory job of adding the right amount of sadness. A scene from “Be With You” (Lotte Entertainment)The story follows Woo-jin and his son

FilmMarch 13, 2018

Jeonju Hanok Village gets 20 million visitors over 2 years

Jeonju Hanok Village received more than 20 million visitors in the past two years, according to the city government Tuesday.About 10.9 million people were found to have visited the cluster of traditional Korean houses in Jeongju, North Jeolla Province, in 2017. The figure was 10.5 million in the previous year. The data was compiled based on telecommunication records and credit and debit card usage in the village. Jeonju Hanok Village (Yonhap)The age group that made up the most number of visitors

CultureMarch 13, 2018

Park Shin-hye, So Ji-sub to star in tvN’s new variety show

Actress Park Shin-hye and actor So Ji-sub will star in tvN’s upcoming variety show “Little House in the Woods,” which will be produced by Na Young-suk. According to the two celebrities’ agencies Tuesday, Park and Shin have confirmed their roles in the program that will follow the two big-name stars as they live off the grid in the middle of the woods, out of the reach of people and technology.The two are currently filming the show’s first episode on Jeju Island, according to sources.  Park Shin-

TelevisionMarch 13, 2018

Han Kang's latest novel nominated for Man Booker Int'l Prize

South Korean novelist Han Kang, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, has again been longlisted for the British literary award of world authority.Han's "The White Book" was among the 13 contenders picked from 108 entries for the 2018 prize, according to the announcement on the organizer's website Monday (British local time).It was translated by Deborah Smith, who was a joint recipient, along with Han, of the Man Booker award two years ago for her translation of "The Vegetarian."Fir

BooksMarch 13, 2018

Biting the bullet: How K-pop stars confront military duty

K-pop stars are often forced to leave the limelight in their prime to serve in the military. In South Korea, all able-bodied men are legally obligated to complete a military service term of around two years, as the country is technically still at war with North Korea.In the past, stars often feared that they might be forgotten in the fast-changing entertainment realm where fame can dissipate quickly. But idols nowadays are seemingly answering the call of duty head-on, with joint or phased enlist

PerformanceMarch 13, 2018

Big Bang’s Daesung starts military service

Kang Dae-sung, more widely known as Daesung of Big Bang, began his mandatory military service Tuesday. The singer arrived at Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, to join the Army, starting with a five-week training session. After the basic training period, he will be assigned to an Army unit, where he will carry out the rest of his duty. Daesung salutes before his enlistment Tuesday. (Yonhap)Fans gathered outside the military camp to say goodbye to the star. A large number of the fans were Japanese as Da

PerformanceMarch 13, 2018

Art Sonje holds exhibition to highlight its gallery space

Art Sonje Center is holding an exhibition with the aim of shedding light on the exhibition space itself, under the title of “Point Counter Point.”“Point Counter Point,” which opened on March 3, comprises works of art that specifically play with and respond to the exhibition space, which first opened some 20 years ago.“If the exhibition space has been the means to back up works of art it houses -- which is also the case in many other exhibitions -- this exhibition is more space-centric,” said Kim

Arts & DesignMarch 12, 2018

[Video] An afternoon in Seoul: Making candles

Subtle scents waft through the air in a tiny alley in Seoul’s northwestern Yeonnam-dong. The source is Yvonne Morgun, an artisan candle shop that offers candle making classes for tourists and locals, and its own line of carefully concocted fragrances.The shop’s owner Lee Myung-seong, who majored in Western painting, infuses every item in the shop with her own sensibility -- a mix of coziness and elegance. Each candle glass, label and fragrance has been tailored by Lee. Dried flowers, embroidered

CultureMarch 12, 2018

VIXX confirms new release in April

VIXX is gearing up to release another new song, and presumably a new concept, with its April release.Jellyfish Entertainment on Monday confirmed reports that the K-pop act will release a new record next month, although it is yet unclear specifically when it will be released or what form it will take.  VIXX (Nylon-Jellyfish Entertainment)It will mark the first release in Korea since the EP “Shangri-La/Paradise on Earth” in May of last year. The EP showed the boyband adopting an oriental image and

PerformanceMarch 12, 2018

Big Bang’s Taeyang starts military service

Taeyang of K-pop group Big Bang began his military service Monday. The vocalist will undergo his five-week basic training in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, after which he will be assigned to an army unit, according to his agency YG Entertainment. Fans gathered at the scene to say goodbye to the star on Monday afternoon, while his wife Min Hyo-rin was absent from the scene. Taeyang’s enlistment will be followed by that of bandmate Daesung, who is set to join the army on Tuesday. Big Bang leader G-Dr

PerformanceMarch 12, 2018

BTS wins Best Boy Band at 2018 iHeartRadio awards in US

K-pop sensation BTS won two awards, including Best Boy Band, at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards in the United States.The seven-member act took home the Best Boy Band and Best Fan Army trophies at this year's annual music awards held by the US radio network iHeartMedia at The Forum in Los Angeles on Monday (local time). (Screenshot of iHeartRadio website-Yonhap)BTS beat CNCO, PRETTYMUCH, The Vamps and Why Don't We for the Best Boy Band award. In the Best Fan Army awards, the Korean act beat the

PerformanceMarch 12, 2018

[Trending] #Nine #DearCloud #Jonghyun #King of Mask Singer

Band Dear Cloud‘s vocalist Nine took to MBC’s singing competition show “King of Mask Singer” on Sunday night and commemorated her close friend Jonghyun who took his life in 2017. The number of tweets that include “Nine Unni” surpassed 6,600 on Twitter as of 9 a.m. Monday morning, while the name “Nine” and her band’s name “Dear Cloud” shot to the first rank of Naver’s trending bar on Sunday night after the show. (MBC)The singer, who wore a mask called “Matrix” during the competition, unveiled her

TelevisionMarch 12, 2018

Cherry blossom most soothing among spring flowers: study

The cherry blossom topped the list of spring flowers in generating positive psychological effects, according to the Gangneung-Wonju National University research team. The research team analyzed the impressions and emotions of 40 male and 40 female respondents when they were shown the pictures of forsythia, azalea, Japanese apricot, cherry, magnolia trees with and without the flowers.Respondents were asked to evaluate their impressions from 27 pairs of adjectives such as bright-dark and beautiful

CultureMarch 12, 2018

BTS' 'Fire' music video logs over 300 mln YouTube views

The music video for K-pop act BTS' "Fire" has been watched over 300 million times on YouTube, becoming the band's second video to reach the milestone.The view count for the video, which was uploaded on May 1, 2016, stood at 300,169,178 as of 9:20 a.m. Monday, becoming the second BTS video to rise above the 300-million mark after "DNA." K-pop boy band BTS (Yonhap)"Fire" is the lead track of BTS' "Epilogue: Young Forever" album. It ranked No. 3 on YouTube's 2016 list for the world's most-viewed K-

PerformanceMarch 12, 2018

[Trending] #Small but certain happiness #小確幸

Ever heard the Korean phrase “sohwakhaeng”? The phrase, which means “small but certain happiness,” is currently trending here and simply refers a small piece of happiness that can be easily found in daily life. The concept of the keywords were first introduced in a 1986 essay by Japanese author Murakami Haruki called “Afternoon in the Islets of Langerhans,” where he described a small piece of happiness as eating a freshly-baked loaf of bread with one’s hands, seeing neatly folded underwear in a

CultureMarch 11, 2018

Newly opened exhibition venue spaceD9 brings arts into resonance

Newly opened gallery spaceD9 has brought together works of distinctive artists from Korea and abroad for its inaugural exhibition, “Resonant.” “The gallery decided to name the exhibition ‘Resonant,’ in hopes that people and society could resonate through works of art,” said gallery director Na Yu-ri. SpaceD9’s “Resonant” exhibition initially took off as New York-based Hun Gallery’s “Resonant” series held between 2005 and 2009. Sohn Jung-hee‘s ceramic sculpture, “Satyr” (spaceD9)Located in the Bu

Arts & DesignMarch 11, 2018

Actor Lee Min-ho to start army basic training

Actor Lee Min-ho on Thursday will start his four-week basic training at Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province.The actor‘s agency MYM Entertainment on Sunday confirmed Lee will be joining basic training. The agency added that there will be no official meeting ahead of his entering the center.  Actor Lee Min-ho (MYM Entertainment)After the four-week training, Lee will return to his public service worker duty at the Suseo Social Welfare Center, where he has been serving f

TelevisionMarch 11, 2018

R&B icon, Solid to return with new album

Legendary Korean R&B trio, Solid, is to return to the music scene with a new album after a 21-year absence. After rumors surrounding the band’s return surfaced in the recent months, the trio officially announced that it will release a new album titled “Into the Light” on March 22.  Teaser image of “Into the Light” (Solid)Solid -- consisting of Chong Jae-yoon, Lee Joon and Kim Jo-han -- was an iconic R&B act in the Korean music industry in the 1990s. Debuting in 1993, the group sold over 4 millio

PerformanceMarch 11, 2018