First episode of ‘The Sword of Aramun’ quashes fans’ concerns over new lead actors

Cable channel tvN’s fantasy period series “Arthdal Chronicles” (2019) has returned for a second season -- “The Sword of Aramun” -- with new lead actors, garnering plenty of interest from viewers with its first two episodes. Prior to the premiere of “The Sword of Aramun” on Sept. 9, drama fans -- especially those who enjoyed “Arthdal Chronicles” -- were concerned over whether the new leads, Lee Joon-gi and Shin Sae-kyeong, would be a natural f

Sept. 11, 2023

Violist Lee Hae-sue takes top prize at ARD competition

South Korean violist Lee Hae-sue took home the first prize and audience prize at the 72nd ARD International Music Competition Munich on Sept. 10 at Hercules Hall in Munich. The 23-year-old violist received 19,000 euros ($20,000) in prize money and an opportunity to perform with the Osnabruck Symphony Orchestra. The ARD International Music Competition covers harp, double bass, piano trio and viola. Some 50 musicians competed in the viola category, held Sept. 2- 10. For the final round, Lee pe

Sept. 11, 2023

Treasure to release Japanese versions of ‘Bona Bona’ and ‘Move’

YG’s boy group Treasure is set to release Japanese versions of “Bona Bona,” the title track of its latest LP, and “Move,” the single of the group’s first unit, T5. The group announced the release during its fan meeting held in Kobe, Japan, from Friday to Sunday. Treasure performed the Japanese versions of these tracks at the fan meeting. The group is currently on its Japan fan meet tour, “Hello Again,” which began on Sep. 1 in Fukuoka to meet with

Sept. 11, 2023

Rapper B.I to return with new EP in November

B.I is will drop the second part of his “Love or Loved” album on Nov. 10, according to 131 Label on Monday. “Love or Loved” is B.I’s extensive global album project that began with the five-track EP “Love or Loved Part. 1” in November last year. The new album revolves around the word “loved,” different from the previous one which revolved around ongoing “love” stories. B.I will drop one of the singles in the new album on Sep. 29 an

Sept. 11, 2023

[Herald Interview] Cravity says 'follow your gravity' in 'Sun Seeker'

Through its new album, "Sun Seeker," boy band Cravity tells its fans to follow their sun and go toward where their hearts gravitate. Ahead of the new album release on Monday, the nine-piece group on Thursday held a joint press interview with local media in Seoul and introduced the new album. According to the members, it continues the story they had rolled out through its previous album, "Master: Piece," released in March. "With the last album, we asked our listeners, �

Sept. 11, 2023

BTS V's 'Layover' sells over 1.67m copies on debut day, record for K-pop soloist

The debut solo album by V, a member of K-pop supergroup BTS, sold about 1.67 million copies on the day of its release, breaking the first-day sales record for K-pop soloists, data showed Saturday. According to the data from Hanteo Chart, a leading local tracker of physical album sales, "Layover" sold 1,672,138 copies Friday, when it was released, setting a new first-day sales record for K-pop soloists. It also marked the biggest first-week sales of an album by a K-pop soloist, with the

Sept. 9, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] TXT logs 2.35m sales in preorders with 3rd LP

Tomorrow X Together’s upcoming third studio album has sold 2.35 million units in preorders, according to distributor YG Plus on Friday. Preorders for LP “The Name Chapter: Freefall” started eight days ago, and already surpassed those of the group's previous album and fifth EP, “The Name Chapter: Temptation,” which sold 2.34 million preorders. The third LP is due out Oct. 13. Next week, the band will give fans a taste of the album, dropping “Back for More&rdqu

Sept. 8, 2023

World Pansori Association recruits singers for 20-hour pansori relay project

The World Pansori Association is seeking pansori singers to be part of its very first World Pansori Festival commemorating the 20th anniversary of pansori's UNESCO recognition. On Nov. 7, the date when pansori was inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage list, the association will present the “20-hour Pansori Relay Project” over two days at Seoul's Namsan Gukakdang. The performances will be streamed worldwide on YouTube. The association is seeking 60 pansori singers, welc

Sept. 8, 2023

Netflix’s ‘The Devil’s Plan’ to premiere in September

Global streaming platform Netflix confirmed the release of a new mind game survival show titled “The Devil’s Plan” in September. Starring 12 South Korean TV celebrities -- including Seungkwan of K-pop boy band Seventeen, renowned host Park Kyeong-rim, actor Ha Seok-jin, Canadian professional gamer Guillaume Patry and more -- “The Devil’s Plan” awards the final winner 500 million won ($375,000) prize money. Brought together for a week, the participants compete

Sept. 8, 2023

‘Moving’ screenwriter Kang Full presents special posters

Webtoon creator Kang Full has expressed his gratitude to fans of “Moving” in special cartoon illustration posters, which have been released on all Disney+ social media accounts. “Moving” started as a webtoon project on Daum Webtoon, garnering more than 200 million accumulated reads in Korea. Global streamer Disney+ adapted the webtoon, releasing 20-part action fantasy series “Moving” on Aug. 9. According to the streamer, “Moving” made history by be

Sept. 8, 2023

Musical 'Frida' continues as actor faces school bullying allegations

Amid allegations of school bullying made against her, Kim Hieora, best known for her role in Netflix series "The Glory," will continue to play her part in "Frida" as scheduled, according to the stage musical's production company EMK Musical on Friday. Kim, who has been accused of bullying in her middle school years, has denied all such allegations. Kim plays the titular role of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, as one of three cast in the role in "Frida," which start

Sept. 8, 2023

Yuju to drop 2nd digital single 'Dalala'

K-pop artist Yuju is dropping the new digital single “Dalala” on Sept. 20. Konnect Entertainment announced her return Friday by releasing a teaser poster for the upcoming second digital single on Yuju's social media. The teaser poster shows Yuju holding a cassette tape with butterflies all around. Her return comes six months since her second EP, titled “O.” Yuju debuted with the now-defunct K-pop girl group GFriend in 2015 and expanded her career as a solo artist in

Sept. 8, 2023

V hopes to take many 'layovers' before achieving ultimate goal

V describes the process of bringing up his first solo album “Layover” as one where he finds his true self. “I think you would be able to find a new trait of V in this album. I was a flashy person onstage, but for this album, I tried to minimize this flashiness and rather show my true color. I started with vocal lessons all over again, during which I learned a lot about myself and tried to improve my weaknesses. I put in everything I like and do well in this album,” V said

Sept. 8, 2023

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Sleep” (South Korea) Opened Sept. 6 Mystery/Thriller Directed by Jason Yu A pregnant Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) finds out her husband Hyun-soo (Lee Sun-kyun) starts exhibiting strange behaviors while asleep. Overcome with anxiety that he may cause danger to the family, Soo-jin goes to great lengths to protect them and their baby. “Oppenheimer” (US) Opened Aug. 15 Drama/Thriller Directed by Christopher Nolan Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is appointed to lead the top-secret

Sept. 8, 2023

Art performance invites 100 participants to read newspapers on stage

Sung Neung-kyung, a 79-year-old conceptual artist known for his ongoing exploration of various mediums of communication like newspapers and photography, organized a unique performance art event on Wednesday. Sung invited a hundred foreigners to join him on stage at L'espace etnah's Lightroom Seoul hall in eastern Seoul, for a collective art performance project, where they jointly read newspapers aloud as a group performance. The Korea Herald newspapers were used for English-readers, al

Sept. 7, 2023

[Herald Interview] From his fingertips, composer and conductor Choi Jae-hyuck brings music to life

Choi Jae-hyuck, winner of the first prize in composition at the Geneva International Music Competition in 2017, is set to unveil his first organ concerto next month. Choi has been working on the piece since 2020 when he first came up with the idea to create an organ piece, after feeling captivated by the instrument. "I spent one year redoing the first page several times. After that it got easier," Choi told reporters during an interview on Tuesday. Part of the challenge stems from the

Sept. 7, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] NewJeans surpasses 200m Spotify streams with ‘Super Shy’

NewJeans garnered 200 million plays on Spotify with “Super Shy,” said agency Ador on Thursday. It is the group’s fifth song to reach the milestone on the platform and did so in 60 days, the shortest time for the rookie group. “Super Shy” is one of the three focus tracks from its second EP, which amassed 500 million streams with six tracks. Meanwhile, the single slid down to No. 95 on Billboard’s Hot 100 dated Sept. 9. It is staying on the chart for eight stra

Sept. 7, 2023

Jungkook becomes 1st K-pop solo artist to headline Global Citizen Festival

Jungkook of BTS is headlining the 2023 Global Citizen Festival to be held in New York's Central Park on Sep. 23. The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music festival organized by Global Citizen, a New York-based international civic group, where fans take action toward ending extreme poverty in order to earn free tickets. The festival began in 2012 to raise awareness about extreme poverty, famine and climate change. BTS previously contributed a prerecorded performance for 2021's Glob

Sept. 7, 2023

Rocket Punch aims for “boom” with new single

Rocket Punch is ready to steal the hearts of fans with its new single album, “Boom,” which comes a year after the group’s second single album “Flash.” The group returned with a high school teen concept styled to accentuate the members' loveliness. The new album carries three tracks led by the title track “Boom” which is of the pop dance genre composed with addictive synth sounds and a rhythmical bass line. “We wanted to come back with a bright

Sept. 7, 2023

tvN's ‘The Sword of Aramun’ to revamp original series

"The Sword of Aramun," a fantasy series on tvN, aspires to achieve success as a sequel, featuring numerous changes compared to its original project, "Arthdal Chronicles" (2019). “I think it is safe to say that everything -- apart from Kim Ok-bin and myself, has changed,” said Jang Dong-gun, who played one of main characters and kingpin Tagon in “Arthdal Chronicles,” during a press conference on Tuesday. “I was concerned about feeling unfamiliar w

Sept. 7, 2023