'Squid Game' wins three nominations at Critics Choice Awards

South Korea's sensational survival drama "Squid Game" has been nominated in three categories, including best drama series, at the 27th Critics Choice Awards. According to the nominations announced by the Critics Choice Association Monday (US time), "Squid Game," a Netflix original, was listed in the categories best drama series, best actor in drama series and best foreign language series. In the best drama series section, "Squid Game" will compete with seven other

Dec. 7, 2021

Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra unveils programs for upcoming season

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra has unveiled its schedule for the first half of 2022, with 15 concerts planned. SPO music director Osmo Vanska kicks off the season by taking the baton for Mozart‘s Requiem on Jan. 29 and 30. The music director, who has been leading the SPO since January 2020, will team up with violist Richard Yongjae O‘Neill on May 19 and 20. 　 In March and April, Vanska will collaborate with Augustin Hadelich, an Italian German American Grammy-winning classic

Dec. 6, 2021

Weird at first, addictive later; Xdinary Heroes says ‘Happy Death Day’ is their identity

In an industry where fluffy tunes often top the charts, making it big as a band is no easy task. But rookie boy band Xdinary Heroes believes they can make it to your next playlist. Produced by K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment, home to globetrotting acts like boy band 2PM and girl group Twice, the sextet threw their glitzy hats into the ring Monday evening hoping to follow in the footsteps of label mates Day6, the current pop-rock kings of K-pop. The band is made up of Gunil, who plays the

Dec. 6, 2021

Two Lotte Concert Hall artists-in-residence prepare challenging yet appealing concerts

Lotte Concert Hall, a major classical music concert venue in South Korea, on Monday unveiled two artists-in-residence and the programs they have designed. Pianist Shin Chang-young and cellist Mun Tae-guk will each present two concerts next year as its artists-in-residence. This is the second year that the concert hall is running the program. “The biggest attraction of the artist-in-residence program is that I can try more challenging things that I’ve been dreaming about. So I t

Dec. 6, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Enhypen to release new album in January: report

Enhypen is putting out a new album next month, according to a local media report Monday. 　 It has been only three months since it released their first studio album “Dimension: Dilemma” which sold over 1 million copies and ranked No. 11 on Billboard 200 -- a feat for a rookie band that debuted in November 2020. The LP also topped a number of Japan’s Oricon charts. 　 The band debuted on Billboard 200 with its second EP “Border: Carnival” that hit the chart at No. 18

Dec. 6, 2021

‘Sing Again 2’ to feature more talented unknown singers

JTBC’s hit music competition “Sing Again” is returning with a second season, featuring a lineup of heavy hitters who hope to become famous after having been largely forgotten. Just like before, the second season of “Sing Again” aims to give a second chance to singers who never quite rose to the top ranks of the entertainment scene, despite their superb singing and performing skills. This season, viewers will see 73 singers audition on the program. The program&rsq

Dec. 6, 2021

JYP unveils new boy band Xdinary Heroes

K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment on Monday revealed its much-anticipated first boy group in six years since the debut of Day6 in September 2015. Xdinary Heroes is to land in the highly competitive K-pop music scene, dropping its debut digital single titled "Happy Death Day" at 6 p.m. During a media showcase for the upcoming release, which was livestreamed from a music hall in Seoul, the band members said they are so thrilled to become finally able to make their debut. "I'm ne

Dec. 6, 2021

Four movie stars become directors of their own story

Korean movie stars Park Jeong-min, Lee Je-hoon, Son Suk-ku and Choi Hee-seo are stepping behind the camera to direct a slate of short films for Korean streaming platform Watcha’s “Unframed” project. The omnibus short film project is jointly organized by Watcha and HardCut, a new production company co-founded by actor Lee Je-hoon, film producer Kim Yoo-kyung and film director Yang Kyung-mo. The project aims to gather unique and unconventional stories and marks the directorial

Dec. 6, 2021

Gina Alice Redlinger releases debut album

Gina Alice Redlinger’s marriage to superstar pianist Lang Lang has perhaps dominated the headlines more than her professional career as a pianist, though this may be set to change. On Thursday, the 27-year-old Korean German musician, who has trained as a pianist for 23 years, released her debut album, “Wonderworld,” produced by Universal Music. Featuring 30 pieces that cover a variety of genres, including classical, modern, traditional and even Korean children songs, the br

Dec. 6, 2021

Web comic-based dramas turn viewers’ attention to original works

As an increasing number of web comics make the jump from online to both local television channels and global over-the-top platforms, the rich storylines of the original works are once again enjoying the spotlight. While the web comics brought local broadcasters smash hit dramas, the success of the adaptations have also played an essential part in growing the popularity of webtoons. Web comics, also known as webtoons, are comics posted online that are read by scrolling down the screen, mostly

Dec. 6, 2021

BTS members return home, loaded with honors in LA

Three members of the K-pop superband BTS returned home Monday from Los Angeles where it secured a top music honor and had four sold-out live concerts. Jimin, Jin and Jungkook arrived amid a flurry of camera flashes from their fans and journalists at Incheon International Airport at about 5 a.m. and returned home after undergoing a quarantine procedure. BTS took home the artist of the year, considered the top honor, at this year's American Music Awards, one of the three major music awards in

Dec. 6, 2021

18-day Live Club Day lights up Seoul’s indie stages after 2-year break

A longtime staple of Seoul’s indie scene, Live Club Day resumed Friday after a two-year hiatus, at CJ azit Gwangheungchang in Mapo-gu. Normally a monthly one-day event, the Live Club Day is being this time in a festival format running until Dec. 21. Over the three weeks, 32 bands will perform in concert halls and clubs in Hongdae, long the center of live indie music in Seoul. Singer-songwriters Park So-eun, Song Ye-rin and vocalist Lee Luli starred on the opening day. It was the first

Dec. 5, 2021

BTS song 'Butter' picked as Record of the Year by Variety magazine

K-pop superstar BTS' mega-hit single "Butter" has been selected as the Record of the Year by US magazine Variety, the label behind the group said Sunday. BTS won the award for its second English-language single "Butter" during Variety's Hitmakers event held in Los Angeles on Saturday (local time). "The song 'Butter' holds a special place in our heart," BTS said in a video speech. "We shared the song with everyone in hopes of lifting spirits, and the energy a

Dec. 5, 2021

[Herald Interview] Actor Yoo Ah-in believes our world is not much different from ‘Hellbound’

“Having blind faith about unverified information and online-offline bullying with that knowledge are very common in our modern society,” Yoo Ah-in said in an online interview with a group of reporters Wednesday. “There were reviews about ‘Hellbound’ less than an hour into its release. People were making a huge fuss about the information that they heard from a five-minute YouTube video, believing that was the absolute truth. The collective madness, hatred and viole

Dec. 3, 2021

[Video] Why you should watch this if you went to (or wanted to go to!!) BTS PTD ON STAGE

Watch this video if you've been to (or wanted to go to!!!) BTS Permission To Dance On Stage concert! BTS held its first offline concert in two years at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles this week, gathering more than 200,000 ARMYs in LA. Eager to find out what BTS said during #PTDONSTAGE ?! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/konnect_kh/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@konnect_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/konnect_kh By Team Konnect Kim Min-jung (minjung.kim@heraldcorp.com) Jung Ji-eun

Dec. 3, 2021

BTS tops 9 of Billboard's year-end charts for 2021

K-pop superband BTS has topped nine of Billboard's year-end charts for 2021, including the year's top duo/group category. According to Billboard on Friday, BTS ranked No. 1 on the lists of Top Artists - Duo/Group, Hot 100 Artists - Duo/Group, Billboard 200 Artists - Duo/Group, Billboard Global Excl. US Artists, Digital Song Sales Artists and World Albums Artists. The band's 2020 hit song "Dynamite" led the year-end Billboard Global Excl. US chart, while "Butter" stood atop

Dec. 3, 2021

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Spiritwalker (Korea) Opened Nov. 24 Action Directed by Yoon Jae-keun I-an (Yoon Kye-sang) is an intelligence agent. One day he gets into a car accident. When he wakes up he is in a different body and also finds out that he cannot remember anything. After that day, he keeps losing his memory regularly and also wakes up in a different body every 12 hours. I-an figures out that he has to find his original body to solve this situation and starts looking for it. Nothing Serious (US) Opened Nov. 24 Ro

Dec. 3, 2021

BTS members sell W10b worth of Hybe shares

Three members of K-pop sensation BTS have sold shares in their management agency Hybe, realizing profits worth around 10 billion won ($8.49 million) in the last two months, according to the company’s announcement on DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, Thursday. Jin, J-Hope and RM dumped a total of 9.95 billion won-worth of stocks during regular trading sessions, which were gifted from the agency ahead of its market debut on South Korea’s mai

Dec. 2, 2021

[Herald Interview] EPEX talks about teenage love in ‘Do 4 You’

Being in love is like walking a thin line between the utmost happiness and constant anxiety, and rookie boy band EPEX talks about such roller-coaster of emotions in their new album “Bipolar Pt. 2: Prelude of Love.” Back with a vibrant and quirky title song “Do 4 U,” the eight members were more hyped up than four months ago when they first met with The Korea Herald for an interview following their debut with “Bipolar Pt. 1: Prelude of Anxiety.” Running the e

Dec. 2, 2021

CJ ENM says K-pop is ‘just beginning’

CJ ENM, the entertainment arm of conglomerate CJ Group, conducted a panel on the future of K-pop and laid out the company’s blueprint in the US during a countdown event to 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Los Angeles. The event, held on Tuesday in CGV theater in LA, was attended by CJ ENM America CEO, Angela Killoren, CJ ENM director of US music business, Jake Hong, Apple Music’s radio host, Brooke Reese, and Twitter’s managing director of K-content, Kim Yeon-jeong, and hosted

Dec. 2, 2021