From Itaewon to Hollywood, Park Seo-joon enters Marvel universe

Upcoming American superhero film “The Marvels” director and co-writer Nia DaCosta said she cast Park Seo-joon after watching the 2020 hit TV drama “Itaewon Class” during the pandemic. Park Seo-joon plays the role of Prince Yan of Aladna in "The Marvels," making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Hollywood. “I was really into Korean dramas, films and K-pop when I was younger at 17, 18 and I just fell in love with this Korean pop culture. I watch

Nov. 7, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen hits Billboard 200 at No. 2 with 11th EP

The 11th EP from Seventeen notched second place on the Billboard 200, according to the preview article published by the American publication on Monday. EP “Seventeenth Heaven” sold over 5 million copies in the first week and rewrote album K-pop sales records. The mini album claimed the top spot on Oricon’s weekly and weekly combined album rankings, cementing its status as the international artist that topped both charts with the most albums at 11. At home, the band picked up f

Nov. 6, 2023

Zerobaseone reaches 'Melting Point' with 2nd EP

Million-seller rookie group Zerobaseone is taking the next step in its youthful journey with its second EP, "Melting Point." The new album came out Monday afternoon, marking the group's swift return to the K-pop scene four months after making its debut in July. In their last album, "Youth in the Shade," the boys sang about how the uncertainties in their endeavors made their youth shine. In the new album, the boys overcome ambivalence and gain confidence in themselves.

Nov. 6, 2023

From horror to romance, November is new battlefield for local films

With various genres of Korean films slated to hit theaters this month, November has become a new battlefield, a season that had been regarded as relatively less competitive compared to summer and winter holiday seasons. Last November, rookie director Ahn Tae-jin’s 9 billion-won budget “Night Owl” attracted 2.5 million moviegoers, becoming a box office hit. The film grabbed attention for combining thriller elements in a period setting. Actor Ryu Jun-yeol starred as a blind acupu

Nov. 6, 2023

[Herald Review] ‘Vigilante,’ a reflection of public outrage against criminals

“Vigilante,” director Choi Jeong-yeol’s crime/action thriller based on a webtoon of the same title by Kim Kyu-sam, offers a reflection of growing public frustration and fury over what some view as the justice system's failure to adequately punish those who commit the most heinous crimes. Accidents caused by drunk drivers, drugs, domestic violence, attempted murders and insurance fraud are all crimes we read about in the news on a near-daily basis. For Kim Ji-yong (Nam

Nov. 6, 2023

Enhypen's new album to be led by 'Sweet Venom'

Enhypen will continue its serenade of love with "Sweet Venom," the track leading the group's new EP, "Orange Blood." The boy band's agency Belift Lab on Monday released the track list for the upcoming album. "Sweet Venom" picks up the story from the band's previous title song, "Bite Me," which fronted the EP, "Dark Blood." The song tells of a boy's promise of love, which is so strong that not even the lethal poison seeping thr

Nov. 6, 2023

Jungkook on top: BTS singer racks up more landmark feats with 'Golden'

Jungkook of BTS continues his record-setting streak as a K-pop solo artist with his first album, "Golden." According to Spotify on Saturday, local time, the 11-song album racked up 39,653,740 streams in total with release on Friday, logging the highest first-day stream counts by a K-pop solo artist's album on the platform. Jungkook's songs dominated Spotify's Daily Top Song Global chart, with pre-released "Seven" reclaiming the top spot, while the newly unveile

Nov. 5, 2023

Le Sserafim lands on UK, US charts with 'Perfect Night'

K-pop girl group Le Sserafim's English song "Perfect Night" debuted on several music charts in the US and UK. Following its release last Friday, "Perfect Night" entered three charts run by Official Charts, the UK's biggest song data provider. It made its first appearance on the singles download chart at No. 44, and tallied No. 12 on the independent singles breakers chart and No. 52 on the single sales chart, topping its own records on the latter two charts. On Spoti

Nov. 5, 2023

[Herald Review] ‘Iron Mask,’ a rare kendo film filled with wordless yet powerful scenes

“Iron Mask,” which has the Korean title of “One-Ten-Thousandth of a Second,” follows the story of Kim Jae-woo (Joo Jong-hyuk), who joins the boot camp to be selected for the national kendo team. The film centers around Kim's encounter with Tae-su (Moon Jin-seung), who killed Jae-woo's older brother when he was young. The movie’s Korean title is intended to show how the competition’s victory is decided within a very short amount of time. Throughout th

Nov. 4, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Ive hits 100m views with ‘Kitsch’ music video

Ive amassed 100 million views with the music video for “Kitsch,” according to agency Starship Entertainment on Friday. It is the group’s fifth music video to reach the milestone, following those of “Eleven,” “Love Dive,” “After Like” and “I Am.” “Kitsch” -- along with “I Am” – fronted the six-member act’s first studio album, “I’ve Ive,” which came out in April. The LP sold mor

Nov. 3, 2023

NTOK Live+ to screen latest plays from UK, Netherlands

The National Theater of Korea will screen three plays in November as part of “NTOK Live+,” a program introducing prominent overseas theatrical performances. Three classic plays -- Shakespeare’s “Othello,” Euripides’ “Medea” and Chekhov’s “The Seagull” -- have been reinterpreted by the National Theatre in London, the International Theater Amsterdam and the Jamie Lloyd Company in London, respectively. All three works are being scree

Nov. 3, 2023

Korean National Ballet returns with comic 'La Fille Mal Gardee'

The Korean National Ballet is set to mesmerize audiences with "The Wayward Daughter" ("La Fille Mal Gardee" in French), a delightful comic ballet that portrays the love story of an ordinary couple. The performance is scheduled to take place at the Seoul Arts Center's Opera Theater from Nov. 8 to 12. Choreographed by Jean Dauberval in 1789, this ballet piece stands as one of the oldest surviving full-length ballets. Last year, the Korean National Ballet introduced its ren

Nov. 3, 2023

Tving’s ‘High School Mystery Club’ to return with season 3

Korean streaming service Tving recently confirmed the return of its franchise entertainment show “High School Mystery Club” with a third season. “High School Mystery Club” (2021-22), the service's first-ever original show, revolves around five high school girls -- who are not in fact actual students, transferring to a suspicious school where a mysterious murder case and strange phenomenon occur. The same cast -- TV personality Park Ji-yoon, Jaejae, comedian Jang Do-y

Nov. 3, 2023

Shin Min-a turns from professor to countryside eatery owner in ‘Our Season’

Actor Shin Min-a turns into eatery owner Jin-joo, who sells homecooked food based on her mother’s recipes in “Our Season,” which confirmed its release in local theaters on Dec. 6. Veteran actor Kim Hae-sook appears as Shin’s mother, Bok-ja, who has come to visit her as part of her “vacation from heaven,” following the lead of a guide who has arranged the visit down from heaven, played by Kang Ki-young. While Bok-ja can see her daughter from a close distance, J

Nov. 3, 2023

Jungkook welcomes 'golden moment' of his life with 1st solo album

Jungkook of BTS presents his journey since debuting on the K-pop scene, showing that he is now living the “golden moment” of his life, in his first official solo album, “Golden” which dropped Friday. "Golden” carries 11 tracks and is led by the title track, “Standing Next to You.” Jungkook’s previously released singles “Seven” and “3D” are also included in this album. “The title track is of the retro funk genre an

Nov. 3, 2023

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Brave Citizen” (South Korea) Opens Oct. 25 Drama/Action Directed by Park Jin-pyo Substitute teacher So Si-min (Shin Hae-sun), a former boxer, dons a cat mask and takes justice into her own hands when she notices the bullying antics of Han Soo-gang (Lee Jun-young), dubbed "crazy dog," who constantly gets into fights with other students. “Killers of the Flower Moon” (US) Opened Oct. 19 Drama/Crime Directed by Martin Scorsese A series of murders target the Osa

Nov. 3, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen sweeps charts in Japan with 11th EP

Seventeen placed its 11th EP atop four charts listed by Billboard Japan, according to the latest tally published Wednesday. “Seventeenth Heaven” also landed atop Oricon’s weekly albums ranking, becoming the group's seventh consecutive and 11th in total to do so. The band has the most albums achieve the feat on the weekly chart, according to agency Pledis Entertainment. The mini album sold more than 5.09 million copies in the first week, setting the new high mark for first-week

Nov. 2, 2023

SPO and Lim Yun-chan to perform together in Seoul in January

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and piano sensation Lim Yun-chan will take the stage together in January, according to MOC Productionon on Thursday. The SPO, under the new music director Jaap van Zweden, will kick off its new season in January next year. The collaboration with Lim will take place Jan. 25 at the Seoul Arts Center and Jan. 26 at the Lotte Concert Hall as part of the SPO's regular concert. Before the January concerts, Lim, who won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Pia

Nov. 2, 2023

Jungkook, Red Velvet, Stray Kids, new YG girl group among year-end lineup

The year-end is set to be filled by some of the biggest and most-anticipated names from K-pop, including those from the nation's top powerhouses SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment and Hybe. Topping the list, which is full of over a dozen names, is BTS's Jungkook, who will drop his first solo album, "Golden," on Friday. The album will be fronted by "Standing Next You," another gem produced by Andrew Watt and Cirkut, the producers behind Jungkook&

Nov. 2, 2023

Viviz goes all out for 4th EP ‘Versus’

The members of K-pop girl group Viviz poured all their energy and efforts into creating the group's fourth EP “Versus” over the course of their 10-month break. “We used a lot of our time to come up with an album that can show various facets of our group, Viviz. We wanted to show that we are a group with a wide spectrum,” said Viviz in a press release Thursday. The trio’s fourth EP is led by the title track “Maniac” and four sidetracks “Unti

Nov. 2, 2023