TVXQ to hold 20th-anniversary concert next month

Legendary K-pop boy group TVXQ is celebrating its 20th debut anniversary by holding a standalone concert on Dec. 30-31 in Seoul. According to SM Entertainment, the concert is titled “20&2” and the venue will be announced soon. TVXQ’s offline standalone concert in South Korea comes for the first time in four years and nine months. The duo is expected to perform the singles comprising its ninth LP, which is set to be released before the concert on Dec. 26, as well as its prev

Nov. 2, 2023

J.Y. Park and Kim Wan-sun to collaborate on new song

K-pop legends J.Y. Park and Kim Wan-sun are collaborating on a new song, "Changed Man," set for release on Nov. 20, according to JYP Entertainment on Thursday. The song, which brings back the synth pop sounds of the 1980s -- a perfect fit for Kim, who was one of the era's most celebrated stars. Kim debuted in 1986 and reigned in the 1980s and 1990s with her sensational concept and charismatic performances. Her biggest hit was "Pierrot Smiles at Us," which was released in

Nov. 2, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] NewJeans stays strong on Billboard 200

The second EP from NewJeans charted on the Billboard 200 dated Nov. 4, extending the group's streak to its 14th week in a row. The rookie girl group’s EP, “Get Up,” ranked No. 98, down from the No. 84 spot it held last week, but it recorded the second-longest streak for a K-pop girl group, only after Blackpink’s first studio album, “The Album,” that hung on for 26 weeks. The album hit the main albums chart in August at No. 1. Meanwhile, main tracks from the m

Nov. 1, 2023

Weeekly invites listeners to enter universe where dreams come true

K-pop girl group Weeekly hopes to reach new heights with its fifth EP, “ColoRise,” which was released Wednesday. The release marks the group's comeback after a year and seven months. “For fans who have waited for us, we wanted to show you that we made use of this time to enhance our talents. This album is proof that we are ready to show that we are capable of taking on new music genres,” said Park So-eun of Weeekly during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. W

Nov. 1, 2023

[Herald Review] ‘Zzz’ lulls audience to sleep through onstage performance

A new contemporary performance taking place in Seoul gently lulls its audience to sleep. The three-hour performance of "Zzz," which kicked off Tuesday at the Quad in Daehagno, allows the audience to lie down and take a nap at any time during the show. Choreographer Hwang Soo-hyun, known for "Sense of Black" and "Cavae," has long strived to break the barriers between the stage and the audience, delving into unique sensory experiences during her performances. In April

Nov. 1, 2023

Dreamcatcher to present new album 'VillanS' on Nov. 22

Girl group Dreamcatcher is returning. The band's label Dreamcatcher Company on Wednesday announced the septet will drop a new album on Nov. 22. The ninth EP from the group, "VillainS" will be Dreamcatcher's first release since "From Us" in May. The promotions scheduler for the album released by the company showed it would release content ranging from individual teaser videos and images to lyrics spoiler clips and a dance preview in the lead-up to the release. Consis

Nov. 1, 2023

Director touts Netflix’s ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ as warm tale for adults

Director Lee Jae-gyu, most recently known for “All of Us Are Dead,” has returned with comedy series “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” a Netflix original series set in a psychiatric ward. Park Bo-young stars as a kind-hearted nurse working at a psychiatric ward, dealing with a variety of patients and colleagues. Lee Jung-eun (“Parasite,” “Our Blues”) appears as a head nurse who supports Da-eun. Yeon Woo-jin stars as Go-yoon, a doctor in charge of proctologi

Nov. 1, 2023

Women’s stories continue to resonate with Korean viewers

More drama series with diverse women in the lead are expected to dominate South Korean TV screens over the remainder of the year. Several new shows last year, including “Juvenile Justice,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Under the Queen’s Umbrella” and “Twenty-Five Twenty-One,” garnered greater-than-expected attention from viewers with their strong, independent women. This year, TV dramas with bold, no-nonsense women have proved a strong trend

Nov. 1, 2023

Davichi to return with new single next month

K-pop pop-ballad duo Davichi is returning with a new single on Nov. 15, according to WakeOne Entertainment. The duo’s last release was their sixth EP “Season Note” in May last year. Davichi, consisting of Lee Hae-ri and Kang Min-kyung, made its debut in February 2008 with its first studio album “Amaranth.” Since its debut, the duo has made a name for themselves with outstanding vocals that go in harmony with one another. Prior to the upcoming release, Davichi is hol

Nov. 1, 2023

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