Jungkook ties record for most Billboard Hot 100 hits as K-pop soloist

Jungkook of BTS continues to light up Billboard's Hot 100 chart, setting new records as a K-pop soloist. Two of his songs entered Billboard's Hot 100 main singles chart for the week dated Nov. 4, his agency Big Hit Music celebrated on Wednesday. "Too Much," his latest release dropped in collaboration with Kid Laroi and Central Cee, debuted at No. 44. His solo single "3D (Feat. Jack Harlow)" tallied its fourth consecutive week on the chart, at No. 75, up 18 spots fro

Nov. 1, 2023

K-pop targets global audience with English lyrics

The ratio of English words used in K-pop songs is rapidly increasing in line with the genre's popularity overseas. English words took up 41.3 percent of the lyrics of K-pop girl groups’ releases that landed on Circle Chart’s Digital Chart Top 100 in the first half of this year, according to Circle Chart. This is an increase of 18.9 percentage points compared to 2018, when the figure marked 22.4 percent. Breaking it down by group, 53.6 percent of the words in (G)I-dle’s rel

Oct. 31, 2023

G-Dragon to undergo police questioning, drug test Monday

K-pop artist G-Dragon is set to attend a police questioning session next week over allegations of illegal drug use. According to the statement from the singer's lawyer on Tuesday, G-Dragon will voluntarily attend the questioning at the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday. G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong, is currently under a police probe without detention on suspicion of violating the drugs control act. On Friday, the singer and rapper denied the suspicions and vowed to f

Oct. 31, 2023

Hong Xa-bin of ‘Hopeless’ wins Rising Star award at London East Asia Film Festival

Hong Xa-bin, who plays 18-year-old high school student Yeon-kyu in rookie director Kim Chang-hoon’s feature debut film “Hopeless,” won the Rising Star Award at the London East Asia Film Festival on Monday. In this noir film, Hong showed a detailed emotional buildup and sensitive acting performance to portray Yeon-kyu who lives with an abusive stepfather and an enervated mother. His character is even asked to leave the Chinese restaurant where he works part-time. Then, he meets

Oct. 31, 2023

‘Cenozoic Life’ to open 49th Seoul Independent Film Festival

The Seoul Independent Film Festival, the country’s one and only independent film festival with a competition showcase, has chosen director Im Jeong-hwan’s “The Cenozoic Life” for this year’s edition as its opening film. “The Cenozoic Life” follows Kim Min-joo, played by Kim Sae-byuk, who goes to Lithuania to find her missing husband. She stays with Oh-young, her college friend who emigrated to the country long ago, but she gets kicked out upon Oh-young&#

Oct. 31, 2023

[Herald Review] Up-close experience with aespa makes VR concert worth it

How many times in life do we get the chance to see our favorite stars stand a meter in front of us, looking straight into our eyes as they perform? The Korea Herald got to experience girl group aespa's first virtual reality concert firsthand, which was a rare and unforgettable moment. The event kicked off in Seoul on Wednesday as part of the launch of SM Entertainment's VR concert brand, "Lynk-Pop," introduced by SM's subsidiary, Studio Realive (formerly Studio Kwangya),

Oct. 31, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Ex-Treasure Bang Yedam to debut as solo act

Bang Yedam, formerly of Treasure, is planning to return as a solo musician, according to agency GF Entertainment on Monday. He is gearing up to release his first solo album on Nov. 23 and will drop a pre-release from the EP on Nov. 10, added the company. He came under the spotlight through an audition show in 2013, where he was touted as a child prodigy, and after five years of training under label YG Entertainment, he debuted as a member of Treasure in 2020. The left the band and the labe

Oct. 30, 2023

Taemin of SHINee returns solo with 4th EP ‘Guilty’

Taemin of SHINee returned to the music scene with a solo album for the first time in two years and five months on Monday. His fourth mini album, “Guilty,” is led by the title track “Guilty,” and carries five other tracks including “The Rizzness,” “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not,” “Not Over You,” “Night Away” and “Blue.” “I tried to portray my identity in this album by accentuating my musical characteris

Oct. 30, 2023

‘Iron Mask’ wins best picture at London East Asia Film Festival

Director Kim Sung-hwan’s feature debut film “Iron Mask” won the best picture award at the London East Asia Film Festival, the film’s distributor The Coup Distribution said Monday. Launched in 2016, LEAFF aims to support collaboration in East Asian filmmaking amid a shift in the cinematic landscape of East Asia, as well as to move away from cultural and cinematic borders. The festival introduces films from over 13 countries including Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Ko

Oct. 30, 2023

[Herald Interview] Chung Ji-young sheds light on society's forgotten in 'The Boys'

According to filmmaker Chung Ji-young, “The Boys” was originally titled “Accusation,” a stronger and more straightforward title to level accusations against authority. “Changing the title to ‘The Boys’ had to do with the message I wanted to tell through the film. I wanted to show how those with power and authority approach the isolated, poor young boys, and how ordinary people like us don’t even care about those groups of minorities,” directo

Oct. 30, 2023

[Herald Interview] Pleasantly surprised

Having recently made her Netflix debut in nine-part romance series “Doona!” singer and actor Suzy shared how she was blown away upon learning that the show ranked No. 6 globally among the streaming service’s TV shows. Suzy had not anticipated such global interest, feeling the show was largely based on Korean culture and so would be familiar mostly to Koreans. “I personally thought that Korean viewers would be the only ones who could easily empathize with most of the scene

Oct. 30, 2023

JYP's Japanese girl group NiziU debuts in Korea with single album ‘Press Play’

JYP Entertainment’s Japanese girl group NiziU officially debuted in South Korea with its first Korean single album, “Press Play,” on Monday. The nine-member group debuted in December 2020 as part of the agency’s project to localize K-pop in different places, “Globalization by Localization.” NiziU was trained under JYP’s strategic K-pop training system, which focuses on differentiating the group from other local bands bands through developing a K-pop iden

Oct. 30, 2023

NiziU wins best pop video at MTV VMAJs

JYP Entertainment’s girl group NiziU has won the best pop video award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2023. According to MTV, NiziU’s titular track of its 5th single album “Paradise,” also the theme song of “Doraemon the Movie,” won as this year’s best pop video. Before this, NiziU had received the best dance video award at MTV VMAJ in 2020 with its pre-debut single “Make You Happy,” and the best buzz award -- given to artists who have ge

Oct. 29, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen reclaims sales record title with 11th EP

Seventeen set a new first-week sales record, selling over 4.62 million copies of its 11th EP in four days, according to a local tally on Friday. This surpasses Stray Kids’ “Five-Star,” which logged 4.61 million in sales and dethroned Seventeen’s previous EP “FML,” which sold more than 4.55 million in the first week. The EP “FML” still holds a record, though, as the first album in K-pop history to sell more than 3 million units on the day of releas

Oct. 27, 2023

Revamped 'Sister Act' with diverse cast gets ready for international premiere

The remake of the musical "Sister Act, which is getting ready for its world premiere on Nov. 4 in Busan, caused a buzz when it showcased its diverse cast at an open rehearsal at Dongseo University in the southern port city on Wednesday. The production house behind the musical is South Korea's EMK Musical Company, known for its success in turning international productions into popular musicals here. "Sister Act" is a blend of Korean and American talent, including cast members

Oct. 27, 2023

Argentinian politician's old tweet mocking BTS angers fans

An Argentinian vice presidential candidate’s old X post in which she said the name of boyband BTS sounded like “a sexually transmitted disease” has recently gone viral, angering the septet’s fans worldwide. Far-right politician Victoria Villarruel on Feb. 11, 2020, made the comment in response to another X (formerly Twitter) user who said the band's name sounds like the name of a health insurance company. The 48-year-old politician's comments at the time were me

Oct. 27, 2023

Seventeen 1st K-pop artist to speak at UNESCO

K-pop boy band Seventeen is heading to Paris in November to speak and dance at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization headquarters as the first K-pop artist in history to do so. "Seventeen will take the stage at the 13th UNESCO Youth Forum at 7 p.m., local time, on Nov. 14," the band's agency Pledis Entertainment said Friday, adding, "They will be assigned a special session and give a speech and perform for about an hour." The Youth Forum is

Oct. 27, 2023

‘12.12: The Day,’ story of 1979 Coup, confirms Nov. 22 release

“12.12: The Day,” a political drama revisiting a coup led by a Korean military that took place in 1979, is set to be released Nov. 22 in Korean cinemas, its distributor Plus M Entertainment said Friday. The film covers the nine hours on Dec. 12, 1979, during an attempted coup in Seoul. Although the film’s motif is based on a real event, the names of the characters have been altered to allow for a fictionalized plot line, according to the director Kim Seong-su, who has helmed va

Oct. 27, 2023

Seoul International Pride Film Festival kicks off on Nov. 2

The country’s largest queer film festival, Seoul International Pride Film Festival, kicks off on Nov. 2 at CGV Myeongdong Cine Library. The weeklong festival will screen queer movies from 39 countries, including 27 world premiere films, 13 Asia premiere films and three Korea premiere films. The British queer thriller flick “Femme” by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping will open the festival. “Femme” follows a young man called Jules, who becomes the target of a horrifi

Oct. 27, 2023

G-Dragon denies illegal drug use

K-pop singer G-Dragon on Friday flatly denied rumors that he had used illegal drugs. "First of all, I have not taken any drugs," he said through a statement released by his attorney, refuting the accusation point-blank. "I am also unrelated to the drug use act violation case being reported in the news recently," he reiterated, adding, "However, as many people are worried, I will fully cooperate and do the best I can in the police investigation." G-Dragon, whose real

Oct. 27, 2023