[Today’s K-pop] EXO’s Baekhyun signals return with livestream

Baekhyun of EXO went live on the band’s YouTube channel Monday evening, a day after he completed his military service. He will chat with fans and share episodes from when he shot his own vlogs. He served his duty as a social service agent from May 2021 and was discharged Sunday. He uploaded a handwritten letter addressed to his fans last month, thanking them for not forgetting him and promising them that he is ready to give it his all. With Baekhyun back, the band is likely to make a full

Feb. 6, 2023

Enhypen successfully wraps up first world tour ‘Manifesto’

K-pop boy group Enhypen successfully wrapped up its first world tour “Manifesto” in the Philippines' capital Manila on Sunday. Starting from Seoul last September, the septet visited a total of 12 cities around the world and held 22 concerts over the past 5 months. The group proved its global popularity, selling out 19 of 22 world tour gigs despite it being their first. In Japan alone, the act attracted 140,000 fans to their eight concerts held in the country. In particular, Enhy

Feb. 6, 2023

No win, but multiple nods still make BTS shine at Grammys

In its third year of contending at the Grammys, K-pop phenomenon BTS ends the night technically empty-handed again. But experts assure this does not mean a failure at all. The 65th Grammy Awards' ceremony took place Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. BTS did not attend the event in person. This year saw the group get multiple Grammy nods for its first time, including in the best music video category for "Yet to Come" and in the best pop duo or group performance c

Feb. 6, 2023

CGV to screen 17 Oscar-nominated films

South Korean multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV said Monday that a total of 17 films nominated for the 95th Academy Awards will be screened at its cinemas across the country starting Saturday and until March 21. The list of films includes works yet to be released in Korea, such as “Tar,” “The Whale,” “The Quiet Girl,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “EO” and “Close.” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” directed by Danie

Feb. 6, 2023

TXT tops Billboard main album chart

Tomorrow X Together, also known as TXT, has topped the Billboard 200 chart with its fifth mini album “The Name Chapter: Temptation,” Billboard said Monday. The five-piece act, which debuted in March 2019, became the fifth Korean artist to land at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart after BTS, SuperM, Stray Kids and Blackpink. The five-song set earned 161,500 equivalent album units in the US in the week ending Feb. 2, according to Luminate. TXT said the achievement was a "dream come

Feb. 6, 2023

[Herald Interview] Bae Doo-na wants to spread social message through her film

After 25 years of acting, Bae Doo-na doesn’t want her real personality off camera to be too distinctive -- it may influence how the audiences view the characters she plays. Rather than drawing attention to herself, she wants to spread messages on social issues through her work. “Next Sohee” is based on a true event. It is about a 2017 incident in which a high school student took her own life after taking a grueling job training program at a call center. Bae plays a detective

Feb. 6, 2023

Will BTS make history with its first win at 65th Grammy Awards?

For the third time straight, K-pop megastar BTS is aiming at the Grammy Awards, which will be held on Monday. This year, BTS has been nominated for several awards, including for their song “Yet To Come” in the Best Music Video category, for “My Universe” in the Best Pop Duo or Group Performance category, and for “Music of the Spheres” in the Album of the Year category. “Yet To Come” is the titular track of the act’s first anthology album rele

Feb. 5, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Twice to return next month with 12th EP ‘Ready To Be’

Twice is making a comeback on March 10 with its 12th EP “Ready To Be,” said label JYP Entertainment on Friday. The EP comes about seven months since its previous album “Between 1＆2” that notched third place on Billboard 200, its third entry among top ten on the chart. The 11th EP was the fifth most-sold album in US last year, according to music sales data provider Luminate. The group dropped the English-language single “Moonlight Sunrise” last month as a pre-

Feb. 3, 2023

[Herald Interview] Top musical producer Shin Chun-soo sets sights beyond Korea

Shin Chun-soo, chief producer of OD Co., has been dealing with thyroid problems recently, a condition he described as even harder to deal with than his open-heart surgery two years ago. Shin confesses to being less and less stimulated by company. Once an extrovert, he has retreated to literature and musical books in his enduring search for inspiration. But when he talks about musicals and his upcoming projects in and outside Korea, his face lights up. Shin was originally a wannabe movie director

Feb. 3, 2023

Stray Kids' 3Racha becomes regular members of Korea Music Copyright Association

Three members of the K-pop boy band Stray Kids have become official members of the Korea Music Copyright Association. KOMCA recently announced a list of 25 musicians who have been promoted to regular members, and among them were Stray Kids' Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. Since the beginning of the band's career in 2018, the three members have been writing almost all Stray Kids songs under their producing unit name 3Racha. Their songs include the act's chart-topping hits "Hellev

Feb. 3, 2023

[Herald Review] Classic play ‘Seagull’ brings authenticity, sincerity to stage

The classic tale of Anton Chekhov’s play “The Seagull” fills the stage for two hours and 10 minutes with sympathetic characters and their presence. Classical plays suffer from the general prejudice that they are boring, but in "The Seagull" directed by 88-year-old actor Lee Soon-jae, the cast of veteran actors delivers Chekhov's message that still resonates with audiences today. Set in a countryside mansion belonging to Sorin, a retired civil servant, the play st

Feb. 3, 2023

‘Devil’s Deal’ depicts instinctive desire, betrayal in crime noir

Director Lee Won-tae returns with another crime noir flick, “The Devil’s Deal,” four years after he was invited to the Cannes Film Festival for 2019’s "The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil.” Reunited with “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil” actor Kim Moo-yeol, director Lee said he cast Cho Jin-woong early on and the acting roster was “nicely completed” when “Reborn Rich” actor Lee Sung-min joined at last. “From when I was re

Feb. 3, 2023

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

“Babylon” (US) Opened Feb. 1 Drama Directed by Damien Chazelle Set in Hollywood’s late 1920s, “Babylon” chronicles the rise and fall of ambitious dreamers -- singers, actors and filmmakers -- in the movie industry, depicting Hollywood’s transition from silent to sound films. The film, starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, is director Damien Chazelle's follow-up to the well-regarded La La Land in 2016 and First Man in 2018.     “BTS

Feb. 3, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] TXT youngest group to sell 2m albums

Tomorrow X Together sold two million copies of its fifth EP as of Wednesday about one month short of its four-year debut anniversary, according to a local tally published Thursday. It recorded 2 million first-week album sales in the shortest time among K-pop artists. It is also the second K-pop group to sell over 1.8 million units on the day of release after BTS, label Big Hit Music highlighted. The EP, titled “The Name Chapter: Temptation,” headed straight to the top of Oricon&rsqu

Feb. 2, 2023

'Boys Planet' strives to thwart vote-rigging concerns

Yet another K-pop audition program is on the way with Mnet's new competition show "Boys Planet," set to premiere Thursday. Mnet, the nation's biggest K-pop channel, operated by the entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, has introduced many aspiring artists through its countless survival shows in the past few years, and with "Boys Planet," the company and its producers aspire to uncover more of the industry's undiscovered talents. A spinoff of the girl group debut p

Feb. 2, 2023

J-Hope of BTS drops teaser trailer for ‘J-Hope IN THE BOX ‘ documentary

Disney Plus released another trailer for the documentary of BTS’ J-Hope “J-Hope IN THE BOX” on Thursday. The trailer titled “J-Hope meets Jung Ho-seok” shows J-Hope, the K-pop superstar, interviewing his normal self as Jung Ho-seok, which is his real name. “J-Hope IN THE BOX” is a documentary produced by BTS’ agency Hybe. The documentary follows J-Hope for around 200 days, documenting his journey in releasing his solo debut album “Jack in the

Feb. 2, 2023

Berlin festival-bound ‘Kill Boksoon’ set for March 31 Netflix release

Upcoming action thriller “Kill Boksoon” confirmed its release on Netflix for March 31. The release follows the film's world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival later this month. The film features Cannes-winning actor Jeon Do-yeon as Gil Bok-soon, a single mom who juggles being a professional killer and raising her teenage daughter Jae-young (Kim Si-a). Although Gil has an unblemished track record as an assassin and never has never missed a target, she decides

Feb. 2, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink expands tour yet again

Blackpink added another city and more dates to its ongoing tour, according to label YG Entertainment on Wednesday. The quartet’s ever-expanding international tour will now include a concert in Mexico City slated for April 26 and two concerts each in Melbourne and Sydney, due on June 10-11 and 16-17. Separately, Lisa logged 900 million streams on Spotify with her solo album “Lalisa.” This is the first time a K-pop solo musician achieved the feat on the platform. “Lalisa&r

Feb. 1, 2023

Viviz blazes charisma and attitude with 3rd EP 'VarioUS'

K-pop girl group Viviz is back to boast a new spectrum of colors with its third EP "VarioUS." The members -- Eunha, SinB and Umji -- held a media showcase in Seoul on Tuesday ahead of the album's release scheduled at 6 p.m. Stressing "v" and "us" in the name, the new album is packed with various new aspects of Viviz that had not been unveiled before. "The album embodies the fierce side of Viviz, which we've only been able to get a glimpse at through s

Feb. 1, 2023

[Herald Review] ‘Next Sohee’ a blunt portrayal of how adults destroy the dreams of youths

The character of Kim So-hee, played by Kim Si-eun, is an impulsive, hot-tempered high school student whose passion is dancing. The film opens with So-hee, in an empty dance studio, practicing over and over again to master a choreography. But this free spirit gradually collapses as she begins an internship at a grueling call center, part of her school’s curriculum, despite studying pet care. So-hee, nevertheless, tries to remain hopeful so as to not disappoint the adults in her life -- her

Feb. 1, 2023