Blackpink to perform ‘Pink Venom’ at 2022 MTV VMAs

Blackpink is set to make its US award show debut at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards this month. The K-pop quartet has been named among the lineup of performers of the VMAs this year, the band’s agency YG Entertainment said Tuesday. “Blackpink is preparing for a special stage to light up the ceremony,” YG said in a statement. “All the members and the staff of the company are doing their best to present a meaningful moment for the global fans.” The MTV VMAs -- one

Aug. 16, 2022

Billie Eilish back in Seoul after 4 years for one-day concert

American pop star Billie Eilish returned to Seoul for a one-day concert on Monday, her second concert in Korea since the first four years ago. The event took place at 8 p.m. at Gocheok Sky Dome on Korean Liberation Day, a holiday that commemorates Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule 77 years ago. In 2018, she held the concert on the same day, Aug. 15, at the 2,000-seat Yes24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul. The show was part of Eilish’s world tour for her second full-length

Aug. 15, 2022

[Herald Review] Lee Jun-ho presents romantic summer night at ‘Before Midnight’

From when the blue sky turned rosy pink then into an inky black, singer and actor Lee Jun-ho, who is also from the K-pop boy group 2PM, presented a romantic summer night to the audience at his fan concert titled, “Before Midnight.” The Sunday concert, which was the last day of the singer-actor’s three-day show held at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium at Seoul’s Olympic Park, attracted nearly 5,000 fans to the venue. Since it was a concert and fan meeting combined, Lee p

Aug. 15, 2022

Showbox to look into rumors on viral marketing against ‘Emergency Declaration’

One of the top four Korean film distributors, Showbox announced that it is looking into rumors that there might be a company intentionally producing negative reviews about its film “Emergency Declaration,” directed by Han Jae-rim. “If true, it could harm the Korean film industry as a whole in the long term, so we are looking into the case, regardless of its relevance to ‘Emergency Declaration,’” an official from Showbox said. This rumor has been spreading

Aug. 15, 2022

K-pop invasion: From a local trend to a global phenomenon, and beyond

In 2012, K-pop took a leap forward in the global music industry. In the summer, Psy set several unprecedented records on music charts and gained international stardom with his megahit “Gangnam Style.” Later on, the word “K-pop” was listed on the Oxford English Dictionary’s vocabulary list as “Korean pop music.” A decade has passed, and K-pop is no longer considered just a regional music genre that temporarily caught the eyes of a global audience. It ha

Aug. 14, 2022

K-dramas: The making of a global breakthrough

Last month, Netflix revealed the list of its most-streamed TV shows of all time. “Squid Game,” which topped the list with 1.65 billion hours, also claimed the top spot in terms of the consecutive number of days it was ranked No. 1 worldwide. The global success of “Squid Game” is not only grounded in its quality and universal appeal, but also the existence of streaming platforms like Netflix that launched it and other local shows alike to an international audience. Wit

Aug. 14, 2022

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Hunt (Korea) Opened Aug. 10 Spy-action Directed by Lee Jung-jae In the 1980s, two elite agents at the Agency of National Security Planning, Park Pyung-ho (Lee Jung-jae) and Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung) chase after a North Korean spy who leaked top secret intel. The agents go head-to-head in an intense confrontation and competition to prove their loyalty for the country and their respective units. With their growing obsession to hunt down the spy, the agents start to suspect and investigate

Aug. 13, 2022

20 years on, K-webtoons have become first movers

In August 2002, the online portal site Daum created a category called “Webtoon” on its platform. Following Daum, South Korea’s largest online portal and search engine Naver launched a similar platform in 2005. Twenty years after their conception, webtoons have become a veritable industry of their own. South Korean webtoons have emerged as a strong multiuse source that create enormous economic value not only in Korea, but also globally. Domestically, it raked in 1.053 trillion

Aug. 13, 2022

From ‘Shiri’ to ‘Parasite,’ Korean films came a long way

“Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae said he could not enjoy drinks with fellow actors and directors after the VIP screening event of his directorial debut film“Hunt” held on Aug. 2. He explained that it was because he had a Zoom meeting to promote the film to foreign fans the next morning. Lee’s film has been sold to 144 countries including France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia and Brazil, even before its local release on Aug. 11. “Tomorrow morning, I also

Aug. 13, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Astro’s Cha Eunwoo to host 1st solo fan meet event in Seoul

    Cha Eunwoo of Astro will greet fans on his own for the first time in Seoul on Sept. 3, according to agency Fantagio on Friday. 　 It will be the finale of his solo fan meet tour “Starry Caravan” that started in Indonesia last month. The meet and greet event also were held in Thailand and Philippines. 　 Cha debuted in 2016 as a member of Astro and branched into acting in 2017 with drama “Hit The Top.” His first acting gig was a role in 2014 drama “

Aug. 12, 2022

Jecheon International Music & Film Festival returns in full force with in-person events

Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, the only music-themed film festival in Korea, kicked off on Thursday at the Uirimji Stage of Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. Returning to a full-scale format, the slogan of this year‘s six-day festival is “a tempo,” -- meaning “return to the original tempo” in music, signaling hopes for recovery from the pandemic. The festival opened with Polish screenwriter Bartosz Blaschke’s directorial debut “Son

Aug. 12, 2022

Cannes-winning ‘Decision to Leave’ selected for Oscar entry

Park Chan-wook’s romance-thriller “Decision to Leave” will represent South Korea at the Academy Awards next year, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) announced Thursday. The council said it selected the Cannes-winning film as the country’s entry for best international feature film for the 95th Academy Awards, which is scheduled for March next year. The jury of five experts in the film industry explained that they considered many factors, including directorial recognition, c

Aug. 12, 2022

Hyperound K-Fest 2022 to be held in Abu Dhabi next month

A Korean music festival in Abu Dhabi, dubbed “Hyperound K-Fest 2022,” will be held on Sept. 10 at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, the largest indoor entertainment venue in the Middle East. Jointly hosted with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism and Yas Island, the one-day festival aims to bring artists who continue to spread K-music around the globe. The star-studded list of artists slated to perform in the UAE are up-and-coming K-pop rookie boy band P1harmony, South

Aug. 11, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink unveils teaser for upcoming pre-release

Blackpink floated two sets of teaser photographs for “Pink Venom,” a pre-release single from its second studio album, on Thursday. 　 The four members each struck a pose for the camera in the second batch of photographs, a darker version of the chic first set. 　 “Pink Venom” will drop on Aug. 19 in advance to the full release of LP “Born Pink” slated for Sept. 16. 　 From October, the quartet will tour the world starting from Seoul hopping over to North Americ

Aug. 11, 2022

Independent thriller movie ‘Drown’ to compete with big budget films this summer

While local theaters are packed with big-budget Korean films like “Hansan: Rising Dragon,” “Emergency Declaration” and “Alienoid,” director Lim Sang-su hopes his independent film “Drown” will attract moviegoers with its own charm. “There are many good movies in theaters now. But I would like to emphasize the importance of the diversity of movies. We have a unique mysterious story and I think audiences will enjoy this,” actor Lee Jong

Aug. 11, 2022

[Herald Interview] Babylon sings eternal beauty of classics, originals in ‘Ego 90’s’

The value of classics lies in its everlastingness, and such a trait shines even brighter at a time when the world seems to evolve too fast while our heart still lingers on the past. But the past is where our present lies, and South Korean musician Babylon, whose real name is Lee Jong-min, takes listeners on a ride back to the 1990s and 2000s Korean pop music with his latest album “Ego 90’s.” “Making music, I held onto the one immutable law, that no matter how fast trend

Aug. 11, 2022

Former Le Ssserafim member Kim Ga-ram breaks silence, denies bullying

Kim Ga-ram, a former member of rookie girl group Le Ssserafim, spoke out about the bullying rumors against her that eventually led to her departure from the band. Kim on Wednesday posted a letter on her friend’s Instagram account, explaining her side of the unsolved bullying controversy. The statement begins with an apology for coming forward so late. Kim continued, claiming that she has “never” used violence or bullying against others. She broke her silence 21 days after her

Aug. 11, 2022

[Video] From K-pop to Boys’ Love drama: meet this idol changing the K-drama scene

DKZ’s Jaechan dropped out of high school to become a K-pop idol, but not everything went as he imagined. Then “Semantic Error,” Korean streaming platform Watcha’s first original “BL” (Boys’ Love) series, changed his life. Playing the lead role, he won the popularity award at the very first Blue Dragon Series Award. Learn more about the sensational series that topped the platform for 8 weeks straight and how this K-pop idol made a big step forward for LG

Aug. 11, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] NCT Dream reschedules concert for September

NCT Dream will host a standalone concert in Seoul on Sept. 8-9, announced label SM Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 The seven-piece act was slated to perform in Seoul for three days last month, but the concerts were canceled at the last minute as two members – Mark and Renjun – tested positive for COVID-19. 　 Some fans were not happy that the band’s second concert was canceled, not postponed, but the fact that the new venue is Olympic Stadium, the largest concert venue in Seoul

Aug. 10, 2022

Blackpink to drop 2nd LP ‘Born Pink’ next month, begin world tour

Global K-pop sensation Blackpink is returning with its 2nd LP titled “Born Pink” on Sept. 16, marking its return to the music scene after nearly two years away. On Wednesday, the band’s agency YG Entertainment dropped a teaser image with the date “2022.09.16,” the date of its second album release. “As the title suggests, ‘Born Pink’ shows the confidence and splendor Blackpink is known for. The album will be brimming with Blackpink’s uniq

Aug. 10, 2022