Tomorrow X Together, Jonas Brothers tune into Jersey Club with remix

K-pop band Tomorrow X Together and American pop trio Jonas Brothers released a remix of their collaborative single "Do It Like That" on Wednesday. The remix, which the the Korean band's agency Big Hit Music of  described as a Jersey Club genre infused with UK drill beats, came out at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 days following the joint single's release. The new edition, peppered with the UK garage-style electronic piano sounds, offers a different pleasure to the ear from the upbeat an

July 19, 2023

Trendz expands global activities

K-pop boy group Trendz is expanding its reach into the overseas music market. Trendz, a seven-member group, is visiting Kazakhstan this Saturday as they’ve been invited to perform at an event to celebrate a year of mutual cultural exchange between Korea and Kazakhstan. As this will be their first time visiting Kazakhstan, the group will present diverse performances including the performance of its debut single “TNT,” and other hit tracks “Who,” “Vagabond,&rdqu

July 19, 2023

Jung Woo-sung’s ‘A Man of Reason’ sells to 153 countries

Actor Jung Woo-sung’s directorial debut film, “A Man of Reason,” will be available at cinemas in 153 countries around the world, according to the distributor Acemaker Movieworks. Jung directed and acted in the film, playing the role of protagonist Soo-hyuk. The movie is slated for release on Aug. 15 in South Korea. “A Man of Reason” follows the story of Soo-hyuk, who has spent 10 years in prison in place of his gangster boss, Eung-gook (Park Sung-woong). After he is

July 18, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ J-Hope floats teaser for solo physical album

J-Hope of BTS uploaded teaser photographs for the physical album edition of his first solo studio album “Jack In The Box” on Tuesday. He is donned up in black and white suits complete with head gear, posing inside a big teal blue box for the album dubbed “Hope Edition.” The original album was released online in July last year and the upcoming album will include three live performances he put on at Lollapalooza festival in Chicago last year as well as two instrumental son

July 18, 2023

Pentaport Rock Festival to hit Incheon in August

Incheon is in for a wave of rock nostalgia in August with the annual Pentaport festival bringing in some legendary names this year. Slated to take place on Aug. 4-6 at Moonlight Festival Park in Songdo district, 2023 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival is set to be headlined by several long-celebrated bands over its three-day run. The first day will be led by Japanese punk rockers Ellegarden, which recently ended its 16-year hiatus with a reunion album and a national tour in Japan. Ellegarden will b

July 18, 2023

Music bodies sides with agency in Fifty Fifty scandal

The Korea Entertainment Management Association publicly sided with K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty’s agency Attrakt on the allegations and controversy surrounding the group in a press statement on Tuesday. “We urge Fifty Fifty and Attrakt to resolve their dispute revolving around the exclusive contract between them so that they do not continue to create a stir in the industry,” said KEMA. Attrakt is alleging that there has been a buyout attempt of Fifty Fifty after its rise to sta

July 18, 2023

Rapper B.I to launch first Europe tour in September

South Korean musician B.I is embarking on his first European concert tour, "Love or Die," in September, 131 Label said Tuesday. Between September and October, the rapper-producer will hustle through 16 European cities with his gigs. Kicking off in Utrecht in Netherlands on Sept. 19, B.I will take the series next to Luxembourg City, France's Paris, Spain's Barcelona, Switzerland's Zurich and Poland's Warsaw through September. In the next month, he will perform in Estonia's Tallinn, Finl

July 18, 2023

Director says ‘D.P. 2’ focuses on narratives of individual soldiers

While many viewers showed their support for “D.P.” series launched in 2021 for its realistic depictions of South Korean Army life and its controversial sides, the director explained that the upcoming "D.P. 2" focuses more on the narratives of the individuals. Short for “Deserter Pursuit,” the series centers on the lives of Private Jun-ho (played by Jung Hae-in) and Sergeant Ho-yeol (played by Koo Kyo-hwan), to uncover the motivations behind soldiers' attemp

July 18, 2023

K-pop album exports hit record high in H1

K-pop album exports for the first half of the year came to a record high, buoyed by sales in Japan and the US, the world's largest music market. South Korea’s album exports were tallied at $132.93 million, as of June — a 17.1 percent jump on-year, according to the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday. Japan holds the throne as Korea’s largest K-pop importer, posting $48.5 million in imports in the first half of this year. The US logged the second-highest demand for K-pop album

July 18, 2023

Woodstock Korea postponed due to rain safety concerns

The Woodstock festival initially scheduled to take place for the first time in Korea from July 28-30 has been postponed to October, the festival's main organizer SGC Entertainment announced Friday. The company addressed safety concerns arising from the rainy season, while adding that it plans to enhance the festival lineup in light of the delay, according to local media reports. “Due to safety concerns and to improve the overall quality of the program, we have decided to postpone the

July 17, 2023

NCT Dream rides MBTI wave with 3rd LP ‘ISTJ’

NCT Dream has returned with the concept of using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as the main concept of its third studio album, "ISTJ," which was released Monday. The K-pop boy band jumped on the current MBTI craze in South Korea by naming its album and its title track “ISTJ,” one of MBTI’s 16 personality types. “Producer Kenzie made this song for us. We loved the concept as MBTI is trending in Korea and we wanted to introduce the trend to people around the worl

July 17, 2023

Seo Hyun-jin, Gong Yoo to star in Netflix's 'The Trunk'

Seo Hyun-jin and Gong Yoo were confirmed as lead actors in Netflix’s Korean original series “The Trunk” on Monday. Seo Hyun-jin, 38, will make her Netflix debut with “The Trunk” as In-ji, an employee in a matchmaking company called New Marriage. “Train to Busan” star Gong Yoo, who mesmerized viewers in Netflix’s “Squid Game” (2021) and “The Silent Sea” (2021), will co-star in the series, playing the role of Jeong-won, a musi

July 17, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s YouTube channel logs record 90m subscribers

Blackpink amassed 90 million subscribers through its YouTube channel, an all-time world record for an artist, according to label YG Entertainment on Monday. The channel launched in June 2016 and reached among the top five in terms of subscribers three years ago before becoming No. 1 among artists in September 2021, dethroning Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, the music video for “As If It’s Your Last” received 1.3 billion views on the platform as of Friday. It is the group’s fif

July 17, 2023

[New on the Scene] Director delves into 12-year-old’s complex world

We have all experienced a time when we wanted to keep a secret from our school friends -- especially if it pertained to feelings of embarrassment about our parents’ work. Director Lee Ji-eun, who made her feature film debut with “The Hill of the Secrets” which opened Wednesday, remembers her time at elementary school when teachers would conduct surveys about the jobs of students’ parents. “It’s a single piece of paper but it contains a complex world of social

July 17, 2023

Enhypen joins star-studded lineup for Heart Dream Awards

Boy band Enhypen will join the nation's biggest singers and bands at the 2023 K Global Heart Dream Awards next month, organizers said Monday. In addition to Enhypen, rookie band Boynextdoor and co-ed quartet Kard will also join the lineup for the event on Aug. 10 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena -- also known as KSPO Dome -- located inside the Olympic Park in Seoul. Solo singers Kim Jae-hwan, Paul Kim and Lee Seung-yoon were also on the latest list of performers that was released. Heart Drea

July 17, 2023

BTS' J-Hope to drop physical edition of 'Jack In The Box'

BTS' J-Hope continues to unveil new solo projects even as he serves the military, heralding a new edition of his solo album next month. The group's agency Big Hit Music on Monday announced that J-Hope will drop "Jack In The Box (Hope Edition)" on Aug. 18. The forthcoming album is a renewed and physical version of the rapper's first solo album "Jack In The Box," which had only been released digitally in the form of "Weverse Album" in July 2022. The LP

July 17, 2023

Line up for SM pre-debut reality show ‘NCT Universe: LASTART’ unveiled

SM Entertainment unveiled all 10 trainees who will take part in its pre-debut reality show, “NCT Universe: LASTART.” The trainees go by the names: Riku, Ryo, Haruta, Kassho, Jungmin, Anderson, Minjae, Ryu, Heitetsu, and Sakuya. These trainees are candidates who will debut as NCT’s new subgroup, one of the three new groups that the K-pop powerhouse plans to launch this year. Through the pre-debut reality show, SM will show the process of evaluating the 10 candidates to select th

July 17, 2023

[Herald Interview] Singing together changes lives, says founder of diverse children's choir

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), a renowned multicultural youth chorus known for its exceptional talent and pioneering diversity model, embarked on its first journey to South Korea this month. A delegation of 100 choristers, aged between 11 and 18, set foot in Gangneung, a coastal city in Gangwon Province, to participate in the 12th World Choir Games from July 3 to 13. Over the course of the 11-day event, the choir showcased its virtuosity and brilliance, earning five go

July 17, 2023

Top film distributors compete with summer blockbusters

Four new blockbusters are set to hit local cinemas this summer, complete with large production budgets and star-studded lineups. Film distributors hope to attract large audiences in the aftermath of the pandemic, but moviegoers' expectations remain low. With the abundance of high quality content available on streaming platforms and soaring ticket prices, Korean audiences have shown a growing trend of consuming content at home, only venturing to cinemas if the ticket is truly worth the price

July 16, 2023

BTS' Jungkook tops US, Japan charts with 'Seven'

BTS' Jungkook has topped US and Japanese music charts with his new solo song "Seven." Following its release on Friday, "Seven (feat. Latto)" soared straight to Spotify's Daily Top Song Global Chart, becoming the first K-pop solo song to enter the chart at No. 1. Spotify, the world's biggest streaming music platform, said the song took the top place with 15,995,378 streams in just a day, an all-time high set by a new release. Along with "Seven," the tune's instrument

July 16, 2023