BTS' V releases 3 songs ahead of solo debut

BTS' V on Monday released a series of songs ahead of his solo debut, scheduled for early September. At 1 p.m. on Monday, the singer put out three self-made songs -- "Scenery," "Winter Bear" and "Snow Flower" -- all of which he had previously unveiled for free streaming. The song releases come as V gears up to drop his first solo EP, "Layover," on Sept. 8. V released "Scenery" in January 2019 for free download on SoundCloud. He composed and p

Aug. 28, 2023

Hybe to launch girl group audition project in the US

South Korea's Hybe and Universal Music Group affiliate Geffen Records are embarking on a global girl group project together, Tuesday. Hybe, the company behind global K-pop phenomenon BTS, on Monday in Korea announced it is set to hold a press conference in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon there to unveil its global girl group audition project called "The Debut: Dream Academy." The event will give a first look into the long-awaited female pop group project that the two companies hav

Aug. 28, 2023

[Herald Interview] Musical actor Cha Ji-yeon hopes to tell her story in first solo concert

Korean actor Cha Ji-yeon made her debut on the musical stage in 2006 as Rafiki, the wise monkey and advisor to the king, in “The Lion King." She was working as an office worker when she got the role after years of discouraging auditions and falling victim to scams in her attempt to rekindle her passion for music and performance. As a child, she had performed alongside her maternal grandfather and uncle, both esteemed masters of "pansori gosu," the skilled drummers who perfor

Aug. 28, 2023

Actor Jung Yu-mi says director Bong recommended joining the cast of ‘Sleep’

Actor Jung Yu-mi said it was director Bong Joon-ho who recommended she join the cast of “Sleep,” a mystery thriller by rookie director Jason Yu. Yu worked with Bong as an assistant for “Okja" (2017). “Director Bong said a person he knows well wrote a scenario and that he hoped I would take a look at it,” Jung told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Aug. 22. She appreciated the succinct and straightforward story. "There were no unnecessary things

Aug. 28, 2023

[Herald Interview] Proud Korean Peggy Gou aims to make 'timeless' music

Peggy Gou is a superstar DJ doing tours around the world year-round. Her shows are always sold out across mostly European cities. Gou’s latest single “(It goes like) Nanana” has been on the UK top 10 singles chart for 10 straight weeks, and topped the charts in the Netherlands and Belgium over the summer. Although she may not be as widely known as BTS in her home country, Gou is a proud South Korean, born and bred in Incheon. “When people see other Asian performers and as

Aug. 27, 2023

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Oppenheimer” (US) Opened Aug. 15 Drama/Thriller Directed by Christopher Nolan Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is appointed to lead the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and his fellow scientists are directly involved in developing the atomic bomb from scratch, without knowing their research would forever change the course of history. “Concrete Utopia” (South Korea) Opened Aug. 9 Thriller/Disaster Directed by Um Tae-hwa Residents of Hwanggung Apartment buildin

Aug. 26, 2023

[Herald Interview] Go Youn-jung finds familiarity in playing Hui-soo

It can take a lot of analysis and effort for an actor to transform into a character. But for rising star Go Youn-jung, playing Hui-soo -- a high school girl with a superhuman healing ability in Disney+’s latest action fantasy series “Moving" -- came naturally. She was auditioning for "Moving" not for a particular role, but when she read Hui-soo’s lines, she felt comfortable. “Playing a character or reading lines without knowing the background story is alway

Aug. 26, 2023

BTS Jungkook's 'Seven' third most-streamed song on Spotify this summer

BTS member Jungkook's debut solo single, "Seven," became the third most-streamed song of the summer on the global streaming platform Spotify, his agency said Saturday. "Seven" was ranked only behind "Ella Baila Sola" by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma at No. 1 and Bad Bunny's "Where She Goes" on Spotify's "most-streamed songs of the summer" list, BigHit Music said. Jungkook achieved the feat in only about 40 days following the releas

Aug. 26, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Overexcited fan grabs BTS’ V in Japan

    An overexcited fan grabbed BTS member V by his hair in Tokyo on Wednesday, according to media reports. The singer was visiting the newly renovated flagship store of Celine in Omotesando as the global ambassador of the French house. It was first time in about four years since the artist visited the Japanese capital. He greeted fans who had gathered on the street, waving and even giving high fives. While he was trying to get in the vehicle to leave, a woman reached out and grabb

Aug. 25, 2023

EBS lecture series ‘Great Minds’ to return with season 3

Public education broadcaster EBS confirmed the return of its lecture series, “Great Minds,” with a third season, featuring world-renowned academics. “Great Minds Season 3” will offer insights on major challenges faced by South Korean society, including artificial intelligence-based education, the country’s record-low fertility rate, nature, trade and more. According to the broadcaster, he series is scheduled to feature a total of six Nobel laureates -- American scho

Aug. 25, 2023

DKB hopes to reach global audiences with English single 'All yours'

K-pop boy band DKB hopes to expand its reach beyond Korea's borders with the help of its latest English-language single, according to Brave Entertainment. DKB released its sixth mini album repackage, “We Love You,” on Aug. 14 which is led by two title tracks, “All yours” and “Told You.” The single, “All yours,” which garnered love from many foreign fans, is the group’s first song released completely in English. “We wanted to give b

Aug. 25, 2023

NewJeans' 'Super Shy' most popular summer song on TikTok

Global short-form video platform TikTok announced Friday that K-pop girl group NewJeans’ “Super Shy” generated the most music-based content in Korea this summer. TikTok’s “Song of the Summer” list by country and globally shows the top 10 popular singles used to create short-form content from June to August by collecting data on the most used songs within the platform. K-pop sensation NewJeans topped the list for Korea with its latest single “Super Shy.&r

Aug. 25, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink to wrap up tour at Korea’s largest concert venue

    Blackpink will host the final concert of its tour at Gocheok Sky Dome, the largest indoor concert hall in Korea, according to label YG Entertainment on Thursday. The group is the first female K-pop act to perform at the venue, which can accommodate about 20,000 audience. The concert will be held on Sept. 16-17 and the second day’s live performance will be streamed online as well. The gig closes off the group’s “Born Pink” tour that spanned across 34 cit

Aug. 24, 2023

[Herald Interview] Lee Sun-kyun credits director Jason Yu of ‘Sleep’ for allowing him to just focus on acting

Prolific actor Lee Sun-kyun said the experience of working with rookie director Jason Yu on the soon-to-release “Sleep” gave him the opportunity to just focus on acting, with no need to concern himself with unnecessary things. “After a long interval, ‘Sleep’ was a project that allowed me to just focus on acting, liberated from concerns about characters or being sidetracked by other things like changes in the plot (thanks to the director’s preparedness),”

Aug. 24, 2023

Fantasy Boys to debut on Sept. 21 without winner Yu Jun-won

Fantasy Boys, the project group from MBC's namesake idol audition show, will debut without the No. 1 winner Yu Jun-won, as a feud continues between Yu and the group's agency over his contract. The team's management agency PocketDol Studio on Thursday announced that the band is set to debut on Sept. 21, pulled forward from the originally announced Sept. 25. The announcement comes a day after the agency released a statement saying Fantasy Boys will debut as an 11-piece without Yu du

Aug. 24, 2023

[Herald Interview] 'Queendom Puzzle' winners to debut as El7z Up

The top seven finalists of "Queendom Puzzle" are aiming to show a never-before-seen girl group chemistry as El7z Up. A total of 26 participans competed in the Mnet girl group reboot program over the past four months for seven spots on the project group El7z Up, to be launched next month. One member each from seven different already existing or inactive groups compose the team: H1Key's Hwiseo, WJSN's Yeoreum, Rocket Punch's Yeonhee, woo!ah!'s Nana, Lovelyz's Kei

Aug. 24, 2023

Yerin gains new insight working as solo artist

Yerin returned with her second solo mini album “Ready, Set, LOVE” on Wednesday ready to take the listeners back to the ’80s. The new album carries four singles led by the title track “Bambambam” which is a combination of city pop and synth-wave disco. “I wanted to work with a concept and musical genres that I’ve never tried before, so I came up with the retro concept for this album. The title track has an addictive melody. I’m sure the song will ke

Aug. 24, 2023

SBS Premium collects K-pop data through interactive content

SBS Premium, a website that explores major current events through expert and data-based news insights, released the second installation of its interactive “K-POP Spelling Quiz” in late July. The interactive quiz asks users to choose the correct Korean spelling of the lyrics of a song that participants listen to for 15 seconds. Participants then get a score ranging from zero to 100 and a “wrong answer note” to improve Korean spelling skills. The “K-POP Spelling Quiz&

Aug. 24, 2023

[New on the Scene] Bong Joon-ho protege Jason Yu puts focus on storytelling in ‘Sleep’

Jason Yu, who makes his feature film debut with mystery thriller “Sleep” on Sept. 6, already had garnered worldwide attention even before the movie’s opening here, with his film invited to the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May. “Sleep,” starring Lee Sun-kyun and Jung Yu-mi as newlyweds, is set in motion by Hyun-soo's (Lee) strange behavior while sleeping. His pregnant wife Soo-jin (Jung) tries to stop him some way or another, in the film that screened in the non

Aug. 24, 2023

Wavve to stream 93 independent short films

South Korea's largest streaming platform Wavve announced Wednesday that it will offer a total of 93 short independent movies. In collaboration with the biggest local independent film distributor Indiestory, the streamer released 45 projects, including the early works of renowned filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, Cannes-winning director Park Chan-wook and more. “Judgement” (1999), a 26-minute black comedy film helmed by Park, revolves around two different families who claim the unidentifie

Aug. 23, 2023