Xdinary Heroes say ‘Hello, World!’ with first EP

As temperatures begin to soar, rookie rock band Xdinary Heroes released its first EP, titled “Hello, World!” on Wednesday evening, adding a sweet ode to the season with the new album. This marks the band’s return eight months after it last dropped its debut single, “Happy Death Day,” in December last year. The rookie rock band under JYP Entertainment’s artist label Studio J is just the agency’s second pop-rock band to debut in nearly six years, foll

July 20, 2022

CJ Group's Lee Mie-kyung receives special award from Int'l Emmys

South Korean entertainment giant CJ Group executive Lee Mie-kyung, widely known as Miky Lee, has received a special achievement award from the International Emmy Awards for her contribution to international television. According to the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Tuesday (US time), Lee was named the honoree of this year's Directorate Emmy Award, given to individuals or organizations in management, programming and international relations for yearslong contribution

July 20, 2022

[Herald Interview] Kim Tae-ri defends criticisms of fantasy sci-fi flick ‘Alienoid’

The first installment of the two-part film “Alienoid,” directed by Choi Dong-hoon, has received mixed reviews from local film critics since the press screening at Yongsan CGV on July 13. Some critics say that the movie bravely presents a genre unique in Korean film history, while those who criticize the film argue that it has too many characters and the story is hard to follow. Korean actor Kim Tae-ri defended the film by saying, “there is a reason why we say that the seco

July 19, 2022

[Herald Interview] Kim Woo-bin recalls day he returned to set after recovering from cancer

Kim Woo-bin recalled the day he returned to the set for the upcoming film “Alienoid,” directed by Choi Dong-hoon, during an interview with local reporters Monday. It was the first movie he worked on after being diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer in 2017. “I was working on the movie ‘Wiretap’ with Choi Dong-hoon when I was diagnosed with the disease and the project was halted. So, if I were to return, I thought I had to do Choi Dong-hoon’s movie,” K

July 19, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen tops iTunes chart in 28 regions with repack

The focus track from Seventeen’s repackaged album landed atop iTunes top songs chart in 28 regions, said agency Pledis Entertainment on Tuesday. 　 “_World” is a hybrid of funk and urban R&B genres and fronted “Sector 17,” the band’s repackaging of the fourth LP “Face The Sun,” which sold over 935,000 copies of the physical album on Monday, the day it was released. Preorders for the album reached more than 1.2 million units. 　 The 13-member a

July 19, 2022

Chung Myung-whun returns as pianist with chamber music ensemble

Conductor Chung Myung-whun will return to the stage as a pianist with a chamber music ensemble as part of a nationwide tour this fall. He will be joined by four other musicians: Violinist Kim Su-yoen, a concertmaster at Konzerthausorchester Berlin; violist Kim Sara, who joined the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as a principal viola from the 2019-20 season, cellist Song Young-hoon and double bassist Sung Min-je. Kim Su-yoen, Song and Sung have previously performed with Chung on the stage. The pi

July 19, 2022

BTS officially appointed honorary ambassadors for 2030 Busan World Expo

Members of K-pop phenomenon BTS have officially embarked on their roles as honorary ambassadors for South Korea‘s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan. The bidding committee on Tuesday afternoon held an appointment ceremony at the band’s label Hybe‘s headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, officially naming the seven members as public relations ambassadors for the 2030 Busan World Expo bid. BTS is the world’s most popular K-pop group consisting of seven members: RM, Jin,

July 19, 2022

[Herald Interview] Rising conductor Kim Eun Sun to make Korean debut

Conductor Kim Eun Sun started her role as music director of the San Francisco Opera last August, becoming the first woman ever to lead the opera company, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. The descriptors first female and sometimes first Asian also follow as she makes history throughout her career. Those labels don’t register while she’s in rehearsals and concerts, she said. But it is when she’s outside those rehearsal rooms and concert halls that she real

July 19, 2022

Blackpink’s Jennie to make acting debut in HBO drama ‘The Idol’

Jennie of popular K-pop girl group Blackpink will make her acting debut in the upcoming HBO drama series “The Idol,“ according to her label YG Entertainment on Tuesday. Co-produced by Canadian singer Abel Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, Sam Levison and Reza Fahim, the series is set against the backdrop of the music industry in Los Angeles. The story revolves around a self-help guru and cult leader who develops a complicated yet romantic relationship with an up-

July 19, 2022

Hyolyn hopes to shake off burden from ‘Summer Queen’ title with new EP ‘iCE’

K-pop singer Hyolyn, known as the “summer queen” in the local music scene for her powerful vocals and summery hit songs, has returned to the stage with her third EP, titled “iCE,” hoping to introduce a wide spectrum of her musical style and color. “iCE” marks the artist’s return after nearly a two-year hiatus since her second EP “Say My Name” was released that August. The musician also participated in producing the new album, as well as writ

July 18, 2022

Experimental Film and Video festival explores cinematic conventions

A total of 34 films are in the running for awards at the Seoul International Experimental Film and Video Festival (EXiS), which kicked off last Thursday. This year, 12 films were selected for the Korean Competition Section and 22 films for the International Competition Section from more than 1,400 submissions from 72 countries. Among the films premiering at EXiS are “Night Scene Charminar” by Gautam Valluri, which features a sleepwalker roaming around a night market in Old Hyderab

July 18, 2022

Tooniverse to air hit Nickelodeon animated series

Tooniverse, a leading South Korean animation channel and an affiliate of South Korea’s entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM, will air Nickelodeon series starting in August. Titled “Nickelodeon Time,” Tooniverse will present hit American animated series daily from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The animated comedy series “SpongeBob SquarePants” is set to air at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 5:30 p.m. on weekends. The show, featuring a square yellow sponge character, ha

July 18, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Ateez announces follow-up world tour dates

Ateez announced plans for world tour dates scheduled for later this year. 　 “The Followship: Break the Wall” will be a follow-up to the band’s current tour, “The Fellowship.” A two-day concert in Seoul at the end of October will kick off the tour that will bring the band to six cities in the US in November. The following month, the band will head to Toronto before flying to Chiba, Japan. 　 The group has been hosting “The Fellowship,” hopping from Seoul

July 18, 2022

[Herald Review] 33,000 fans join Psy for summer night rave

Over the weekend, concertgoers at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul were soaked in water as global K-pop star Psy’s signature summer concert “Summer Swag” returned for the first time in three years. During the nearly four hours of pure madness and fun, some 33,000 fans quenched their thirst for the long-awaited seasonal concert with the singer’s numerous hits while being sprayed with water. The Sunday concert, which was the last day of the singer’s three-day extravag

July 18, 2022

[Reporter’s Notebook] I never thought I would be a K-pop fan. Until I was.

My life switching between continents as a third-culture kid gave me a crystal-clear music taste. I was an avid fan of Justin Bieber, Boys Like Girls and Cody Simpson a decade ago, when Girls’ Generation, Big Bang and Super Junior were major drivers of the Korean Wave. None of these singers would make it onto my iPod playlist. Please allow me to be candid. I never knew I would be interested in K-pop, nor would I have ever expected myself to listen to idols’ songs. While Shinee w

July 18, 2022

Seventeen to drop repackaged album

K-pop boy group Seventeen will return Monday with a repackaged version of its fourth studio album, "Face the Sun." The new album titled "Sector 17" is to hit online music services at about 6 p.m., according to the band's agency, Pledis Entertainment. "Sector 17" will have four new songs, including "_World," "Fallin' Flower" and "Cheers," in addition to nine tracks off "Face the Sun," the agency said. The main track,

July 18, 2022

K-pop girl group aespa debuts at No. 3 on Billboard albums chart

k"Girls," the second EP from South Korean girl group aespa, landed at No. 3 on US Billboard's main albums chart. Billboard has said in an article Sunday (US time) that the quartet reached the milestone on the upcoming Billboard 200 chart for this week by earning 56,000 equivalent album units in the United States. "Girls" became the second highest-charted album by a K-pop girl group after BLACKPINK hit No. 2 with its first full-length album "The Album" in 2020.

July 18, 2022

K-pop album sales hit record high in first half

Sales of K-pop albums have once again renewed their all-time-high level in the first half of this year, with the music continuing to be in its heyday, a local market tracker said. According to Kim Jin-woo, head researcher of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, on Sunday, combined sales of the nation's top 400 physical albums have risen to 34.9 million copies in the first half, up 34.6 percent from a year ago. It was the highest first-half sales figure of all time. Fir

July 18, 2022

[Unveil] Choreographer Hyojin Choi on life before and after ‘Street Woman Fighter’

The 2021 TV competition “Street Woman Fighter” has changed the scene for dancers. The show put dancers, who usually played a support role on the stage, in the spotlight and gave them their own fan bases. Hyojin Choi said she could feel the change after her time on the popular show. “I’ve been dancing since I was a student, and at that time, everyone from my school teachers to my family had this image about dancing: ‘How is that going to make a living?’ &ls

July 18, 2022

[Herald Interview] Hitmaker Choi Dong-hoon feels pressure with high-budget film ‘Alienoid’

From his debut feature “The Big Swindle” (2004) to his most recent megahit film “Assassination” (2015), which attracted over 10 million viewers, there is not a single movie out of the six directed by Choi Dong-hoon that has failed to appeal to Korean audiences. The 51-year-old director’s other crime film “The Thieves” also broke the 10-million mark when it was released in 2012. Many people might assume that the word “failure” is simply n

July 17, 2022