BICOF seeks to entertain comics, webtoon lovers with returned offline festival

Bucheon International Comics Festival is scheduled to kick off its four-day event from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. The festival returned after a two-year break as South Korea removed its major COVID-19 social distancing restrictions earlier this year. The theme of this year’s festival is “Another universe,” highlighting the ideas from fantasy and imagination. Dividing the world into real and virtual, offline and online, digital

Sept. 14, 2022

Lee Jung-jae's girlfriend is a rich heiress

Actor Lee Jung-Jae’s win of the Emmy award for his role in Netflix-original series “Squid Game” on Monday created a buzz worldwide but there was someone else who shared the limelight with him -- his longtime girlfriend Lim Se-ryung. Sporting a white Dior dress, she hit the red carpet hand-in-hand with the actor in Los Angeles. Lim, 45, is by no means just a celebrity’s girlfriend. She is the vice chairman of Daesang Group, one of the largest food conglomerates in South Ko

Sept. 14, 2022

Weki Meki’s Choi Yoo-jung kicks off solo career with debut single ‘Sunflower’

Choi Yoo-jung of K-pop girl group Weki Meki has opened a new chapter in her music career as a soloist with her new single “Sunflower,” aiming to show her passion for music and her fans like a sunflower. In a press showcase event held at Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, ahead of the album’s online release at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Choi said her first solo EP is a new challenge for the artist to deliver a brand new side of herself, alongside her musicality to a wider range of l

Sept. 14, 2022

[Feature] What’s behind the ‘K’ in Korean popular music?

The first music video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, the most-streamed group on global music platform Spotify and the bestselling foreign touring act in Japan -- these are feats achieved by K-pop stars Psy, BTS and TVXQ, respectfully. A handful of years ago, entering the Billboard charts was a tough milestone, especially for non-English-speaking artists or those outside the US market. But recently, Korean singers have created a space for themselves on the charts and in the world’s bi

Sept. 14, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s “Whistle” music video tops 800m views

The music video for Blackpink’s debut song “Whistle” reached 800 million views on YouTube on Monday, according to label YG Entertainment on Tuesday. It is the group’s eighth video to reach the milestone following the videos for songs including “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” “Kill This Love” and “Boombayah.” “Whistle” is one of the group's double main tracks from its debut single “Square One” that came out in August 2016. The

Sept. 13, 2022

[Herald Review] Songolmae reunion concert takes audience on '80s nostalgia trip

There's a saying that new things are always better than old, but the power of a classic is something to hold on to. It brings back old memories and allows us to reminisce on the good old days. To revive Korean listeners’ memories of the 1980s, renowned rock band musicians Bae Cheol-soo and Koo Chang-moo gathered for a nationwide concert tour after 38 years apart. The rock 'n' roll event was the ticket to an adventure back in time for both the artists and audience of some 9,5

Sept. 13, 2022

Lee Jung-jae, Hwang Dong-hyuk make history at Emmys

The lead actor and director of the global hit series "Squid Game" each brought home an Emmy on Tuesday. Actor Lee Jung-jae won the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for his role in "Squid Game," while the series' creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, won the Emmy Award for outstanding directing for a drama series. Lee, 49, who rose to international stardom as the character Seong Gi-hun, a down-on-his-luck middle-aged man, in Netflix’s global phenomenon &l

Sept. 13, 2022

[BREAKING] 'Squid Game' Lee Jung-jae wins Emmy

Lee Jung-jae, who played down-on-his-luck middle-aged man Seong Gi-hun in global hit Netflix series “Squid Game,” won the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series on Tuesday. Lee was nominated in the category along with actors Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong of “Succession,” Adam Scott of “Severance,” Jason Bateman of “Ozark” and Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul.”

Sept. 13, 2022

[BREAKING] 'Squid Game' director Hwang Dong-hyuk takes home Emmy

Global sensation “Squid Game” won the Emmy Award for outstanding directing for a drama series, presented Monday evening in Los Angeles. “Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was nominated in the category along with Jason Bateman of “Ozark,” Ben Stiller of “Severance,” Karyn Kusama of “Yellowjackets” and Mark Mylod, Cathy Yan and Lorene Scafaria of “Succession.”

Sept. 13, 2022

Seventh year into career, NCT Dream declares the start of its era

K-pop boy band NCT Dream held its two-day concert in Seoul and declared the start of the "NCT Dream era." Titled "The Dream Show 2 - In A Dream," the event kicked off on Thursday at the Olympic Stadium inside the sports complex in Jamsil, southern Seoul. It was the act's first in-person concert in two years and 10 months since their last show in 2019 at the Jangchung Arena in Seoul. The Seoul Sports Complex was painted in the act's symbolic color of lime green on Thursday a

Sept. 13, 2022

Lee Jung-jae to star in new ‘Star Wars’ series

Top actor Lee Jung-jae is to join the new Disney+’s “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” helmed by Emmy-nominated creator Leslye Headland. Lee will take a male lead in “The Acolyte,” according to the US online entertainment trade publication Deadline, but the detailed information about his character and role are yet to be revealed. “There are many speculations about Lee’s role in ‘The Acolyte.’ We do not have any official statement t

Sept. 12, 2022

MBC to broadcast '2022 MLB World Tour: Korea Series' in Nov.

  Terrestrial broadcaster MBC announced that it will exclusively broadcast four exhibition games between the All-Stars of Major League Baseball and the Korean Baseball Organization in November. For the first time in 100 years, a team of major league talents, including the big leaguers from South Korea who played in the majors this season, will play offseason exhibition games in South Korea. The exhibition games will take place in Busan at the Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium, the home of KBO cl

Sept. 12, 2022

50 days into debut, NewJeans sets new records with ‘Attention’ on Spotify

Less than two months since its debut, NewJeans is taking the music world by storm with its namesake debut album, setting new records on Spotify, the world’s largest streaming platform. According to the music platform, the rookie band reached the highest number of monthly listeners on Spotify among fourth-generation K-pop bands, garnering more than 8.8 million listeners over the past 28 days. NewJeans also became the first K-pop act to log a debut track on the global music platform’s

Sept. 12, 2022

Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung to attend BIFF next month

Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung Chiu-wai will attend the 27th Busan International Film Festival to receive the Asian Filmmaker Of The Year. The award will be presented to the actor during the opening ceremony on Oct. 5 at the Busan Cinema Center. "Since his 'City of Sadness' won the Golden Lion Award at the 1989 Venice International Film Festival, he has been one of the greatest actors of our time for over 30 years,” BIFF director Huh Moon-young said of Leung during an online press

Sept. 12, 2022

What to watch before seeing ‘Confidential Assignment 2’

If you have plans to see the Korean film “Confidential Assignment 2: International" directed by Lee Seok-hoon during the Chuseok holiday, here's what to watch before you head to the cinema. Original movie Although there won't be any problems without having watched the first movie, the audience can have fun comparing the two as there are many original movie references in the new film “Confidential Assignment 2: International." Helmed by Kim Sung-hoon, the original

Sept. 10, 2022

[Graphic News] Monthly K-pop album sales top 10m for first time

　Monthly sales of K-pop albums surpassed a combined 10 million for the first time in July thanks to the continued expansion of the global fandoms of idol groups, a market tracker said. 　According to Kim Jin-woo, head researcher of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, combined sales of the nation’s top 400 physical albums reached 10,827,324 copies in July, a 40.2 percent jump from the previous month. 　It marked the first time that monthly sales have topped 10 millio

Sept. 9, 2022

Yim Jae-beom puts behind 7 years of sorrow with new LP 'Seven,'

Legendary vocalist Yim Jae-beom is back with his first new album in seven years, his seventh full-length album "Seven," with which he is putting a comma after a painful period and moving on. Set for release Tuesday, "Seven," (read as "seven comma") is Yim's first album since he left the music scene after losing his wife to cancer in 2016. Yim's father also passed away soon after. The 13-track album is divided into three chapters that follow the journey of a man w

Sept. 8, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen to drop 1st EP in Japan in November

Seventeen will put out its first EP in Japan on Nov. 9, announced agency Pledis Entertainment on Wednesday. EP “Dream” will consist of four tracks – titular track and Japanese-language version of “Rock With You,” main track from ninth EP “Attacca” and “All My Love” from special album “;[Semicolon]” as well as a rearranged version of “Darl+ing” from fourth LP “Face The Sun.” Main track “Dream” w

Sept. 7, 2022

Closing their 7-year story, Dia says 'Rooting For You'

Ahead of officially marking an end to its seven-year journey together, Dia says "Rooting For You" to its fans and members with its last single. Pocketbol Studio on Tuesday announced Dia will drop its final single as a group on Sept. 15. The six-piece girl group is set to disband when its contract terminates on Sept. 14. The agency unveiled the cover image of the upcoming single, which showed a calendar page of when Dia debuted -- September 2015 -- marked with the act's memorable fir

Sept. 7, 2022

Rookie directors all nerves about ‘Kim Min-young’ release

Although two rookie directors of “Kim Min-young of the Report Card,” Lee Jae-eun and Lim Ji-sun, have won many awards at film festivals, including the grand prize in the Korean competition category at the 22nd Jeonju International Film Festival, they are very nervous about the film being released. “One thing we worry about is that at film festivals moviegoers who love independent films watched our movie. So we think that the feedback was a bit nicer. We worry that we will fa

Sept. 7, 2022