Oh Young-soo bags trophy at Golden Globes

Oh Young-soo of “Squid Game” won the best supporting actor in television category at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, held Monday, Korean time. Referred to as Player 001, Oh played an ordinary old man Oh Il-nam, who wished to have fun before his death, in the global sensation “Squid Game.” The 79-year-old actor was nominated for the best supporting actor prize along with Brett Goldstein of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” Billy Crudup and Mark Duplass of Apple TV

Jan. 10, 2022

Kakao Entertainment to release its first NFTs

Kakao’s first webtoon NFTs of its global intellectual property “Solo Leveling” is scheduled to go on sale at a digital art platform and marketplace Klip Drops starting on Jan. 12. Drawn by the webtoon’s illustrator Jang Sung-rak, two of the most famous scenes -- the last scene of the final episode and an iconic scene from the 172nd episode -- will be released as the company’s NFTs. The two NFTs can be bought for 600 KLAY coins, with the first and second NFTs price

Jan. 9, 2022

‘Squid Game’ vies for controversy-ridden Golden Globes

The global sensation “Squid Game” is competing in the Golden Globe Awards in a year which saw the awards, mired in a number of controversies, being boycotted by several studios and actors. The awards show, which takes place at 11 a.m., Monday (Korean time) is being neither broadcast nor streamed live. The boycotts come despite the Hollywood Foreign Press Association attempts to respond to criticisms over lack of diversity. This year’s nominations include several actors and p

Jan. 9, 2022

BTS, IU win top prizes at 36th Golden Disc Awards

BTS and IU won the top prizes Saturday at the 36th Golden Disc Awards, the annual South Korean event that honors achievements in the local music industry. BTS took home album of the year award at a ceremony at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome for its album “Be,” which was released in November 2020. It was the fifth consecutive year that the group won the top honor in the album category. The group also won three additional awards, including the Seezn most popular artist award, digita

Jan. 9, 2022

[Herald Interview] Cho Jin-woong stays focused to be goal-oriented police officer

When actor Cho Jin-woong sets foot on a set, it means he is totally ready to transform himself into his character. “Before we start shooting, I have to figure out everything about my character. Otherwise, I would keep on bugging my directors,” Cho said. “When I am on a set which is fully decorated by the art team with my costume on, I have to be completely ready to be the character I am playing,” Cho said. “Until I reach that point, I race to this goal, just like

Jan. 8, 2022

[Today's K-pop] Stray Kids to host 2nd fan meeting next month

　 Stray Kids will meet fans at in-person events on Feb. 12 and 13, announced label JYP Entertainment on Friday.   　 The band announced its plan for 2022 and the fan meetings will be the first to be realized. It will be the second official fan meetings for the eight-member act and will be held in southern Seoul under the title “SKZ’s Chocolate Factory.” In the poster that came with the news, the bandmates went for candy-colored sweetness.   　 The band hit a career hi

Jan. 7, 2022

BTS tops digital song sales for 2nd consecutive year in US

K-pop superstar BTS has grabbed the honor of having the most sold digital song of the year in the United States for the second time. "Butter" was the most sold digital song of the year in the country with 1.89 million downloads sold, according to an annual year-end report released jointly by MRC Data and Billboard on Thursday (US time). In 2020, the group's "Dynamite" was the top seller with 1.26 million sold. The summery disco-pop song was released in May as the group's se

Jan. 7, 2022

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

A Year-End Medley (Korea) Opened Dec. 29 Romance Directed by Kwak Jae-yong  Emros Hotel manager So-jin (Han Ji-min) secretly loves her best friend Seung-hyo (Kim Young-kwang). However, So-jin dares not tell him about her feelings and Seung-hyo drops the news that he is marrying Young-joo (Go Sung-hee). Meanwhile, Hotel Emros is full of guests who came to stay for diverse reasons. The King’s Man (UK) Opened Dec. 22 Action Directed by Matthew Vaughn In the early years of the 20th cen

Jan. 7, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] BTS cancels US trip as Grammy Awards postponed

BTS will not be travelling to the US as the Grammy Awards were officially postponed, said label Big Hit Music Thursday. 　 The awards ceremony was originally to be held on Jan. 31 in the US in Los Angeles, but the Recording Academy and CBS decided to postpone the event out of concern for the omicron variant, said a joint statement released on Wednesday in the US. A future date will be announced soon, it added. 　 The seven-member band was to fly to participate in the show as one of the candidates

Jan. 6, 2022

In their third year, Enhypen is ready to make 2022 big with repacked album

Earlier last month, rumors floated that boy band Enhypen is putting out a new album in January, only three months after they released their first full-length album, “Dimension: Dilemma,” sending fans abuzz with excitement. The seven-member band finally responded to the buzz by teasing a snippet of their upcoming album on Dec. 27. Although not much has been revealed about their upcoming song and album, Enhypen triggered fans’ curiosity by releasing concept pictures and a pre

Jan. 6, 2022

2022 LCK Spring to return with fans

Attempting to excite fans and elevate the level of play in League of Legends Champions Korea, one of the changes for this year’s upcoming season is the reopening of LOL Park for fans, audience and spectators, said the secretary general of LCK Aiden Lee in a press conference at CGV Yongsan, central Seoul, Wednesday. “A total of 10 teams -- T1, Gen.G, Damwon Kia, Liiv Sandbox, Nongshim RedForce, Hanwha Life Esports, DRX, KT Rolster, Fredit Brion and Kwangdong Freecs -- are scheduled

Jan. 6, 2022

‘Squid Game’ team to be absent from Golden Globes

Actors Lee Jung-jae, Oh Young-soo and director Hwang Dong-hyuk will not be attending the 79th Golden Globe Awards. According to Lee’s agency, Artist Company, the actor decided not to participate in the awards ceremony after careful consideration. “Though it is a great honor to be nominated for the Golden Globes, Lee will be absent from the awards ceremony after considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, self-quarantine regulations and Netflix’s decision to not submit

Jan. 6, 2022

BTS' Japanese compilation album tops 1m copies in sales

K-pop superstar BTS sold more than 1 million copies of its latest Japanese compilation album, data showed Thursday, becoming the first South Korean pop singers to achieve the feat since 2005. According to the data from Japanese music market tracker Oricon, the album titled "BTS, The Best" added 3,000 during a week from Dec. 27 to its total sales of 1,002,000 copies. This made the group the 14th foreign act in the country with a million-selling album based on Oricon's data. Among Sout

Jan. 6, 2022

[Exclusive] Brave Girls eyes return with new album as early as February

Brave Girls, a K-pop girl group that rose to surprise stardom from the brink of disbandment, is gearing up for the release of a new album sometime between February and March, an industry source told The Korea Herald on Thursday. “Brave Girls previously planned to drop new songs around the Christmas season. However, the schedule has been delayed," the source said, adding that the upcoming release type is undecided, but is unlikely to be a single. The four-piece act was also thinkin

Jan. 6, 2022

Kakao Entertainment to release four webtoon series

Kakao Entertainment on Wednesday revealed four webtoons -- “Call Sign,” “Strange Neighbor” (unofficial translation), “Return of the Disastrous Hero” (working title) and “The Unwelcome Guests of House Fildette” -- as some of the most anticipated projects to be released in the first half of the year. “Call Sign,” written by the Kakao Page’s best-known author Cho Seok-ho, revolves around a rookie firefighter who has the ability to

Jan. 5, 2022

‘Tracer’ won’t tax viewers: director

Television director Lee Seung-young, who was behind popular crime thriller “Missing Noir M” (2015) and “Voice Season 2” (2018), said that his upcoming Wavve series “Tracer” is a family-oriented drama. “Many viewers might consider the drama to be serious, because we will be talking about government officials working on taxes. But all characters have unique charms that will exceed the viewers’ expectations,“ Lee said during an online press co

Jan. 5, 2022

[Today’s K-pop] Enhypen teases upcoming repackaged LP

Enhypen gave fans a sneak peek of its repackaged first studio album, “Dimension: Answer,” with a preview clip Wednesday. 　 The trailer starts with “Polaroid Love,” which was unveiled in advance at a fan meet event in November. It transitions to a snippet from the last track “Outro: Day 2,” before ending with a line from the main track “Blessed-Cursed” -- which translates to “Wake up now open your eyes.” 　 The repackaged album consists o

Jan. 5, 2022

National Contemporary Dance Company to offer 8 programs for 2022

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company will offer eight programs, ranging from new creations to its signature repertoire, this year. KNCDC’s first performance is set to kick off in April with “Writing Using,” which is created by renowned choreographer Ahn Ae-soon, KNCDC’s second artistic director, according to the state dance company Tuesday. The production will show the story of the feelings of the dancers’ bodies through dance. “Tiny, Round, Clu

Jan. 5, 2022

Chung Myung-whun to be named honorary music director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra

Renowned South Korean conductor Chung Myung-whun will reportedly be appointed as honorary music director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra, according to media reports on Wednesday. The news came days after Chung saved the orchestra’s Christmas Eve concert by leading the concert on behalf of Pietari Inkinen, the orchestra‘s music director who was unable to enter the country because of toughened self-quarantine rules. He also held the baton at concerts in December 2020 and August 2021 fo

Jan. 5, 2022

Is Korean media silencing LGBT voices?

A rendition of Lady Gaga’s LGBT anthem “Born This Way” with a missing lyric by a South Korean group on New Year’s Eve has caused controversy, with experts calling it “LGBT erasure.” The controversy comes after a local TV broadcaster faced criticism last year for editing out kissing scenes between two men in the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” During an annual year-end bell ringing ceremony held by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, w

Jan. 5, 2022