[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Jennie sets record as solo

Jennie of Blackpink set another record as a solo musician, as her song “Solo” surpassed 300 million streams on Spotify, label YG Entertainment said on Thursday. 　 This is the first time a K-pop solo act’s song has reached the milestone. 　 The song came out in November 2018 as the band’s first solo project. Not only did it sweep every major music chart in Korea but also topped iTunes song charts in 40 regions. She became the first K-pop female musician to top the iTunes

July 1, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Twice tops Japan charts with prerelease

Twice landed at the top of real-time charts in Japan with its new song “Perfect World,” which was released Wednesday in advance of the release of the same-titled album.   　 The song shot to No. 1 on real-time charts including that of Line Music. The main track, along with the music video, was unveiled before the group’s third full Japanese album set to come out on July 28.   　 In the music video, the bandmates appear charismatic and alluring, depicting the image of

June 30, 2021

Orchestra to present fantasy period musical

The Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra is to present its new original musical, “Geumak,” Aug. 18 to 29 at the Gyeonggi Arts Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The fantasy period musical is set in the Joseon era (1392-1910). A mysterious event surrounding a forbidden music score from the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-AD 935) unfolds at Jangagwon, the institution in charge of court music and dance. The orchestra’s Artistic Director Won Il directs the production. Won was the music director fo

June 30, 2021

An invitation to S.M. Entertainment’s futuristic cultural universe

S.M. Entertainment recently announced plans to augment its business portfolio and garner more fans to engage in the process. The label held an online YouTube event Tuesday morning to share its futuristic visions and strategies to lead the entertainment industry. SM Congress 2021 was the first event of its kind since the company was established in 1995. Lee Soo-man, the chief producer and founder of the label, said, “S.M. has been and is a content-based company. Our metaverse content

June 30, 2021

US documentary film on NK, ‘Assassins’ accepted as art film after reevaluation

The 104-minute documentary film on the 2017 murder case of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother Kim Jong-nam has been approved as an art film after reevaluation by the South Korean film authority. The local importers and distributers of the film -- The Coup, Watcha and Kth -- announced Tuesday that the Korean Film Council has officially confirmed the film now qualifies art movie status. “Assassins” had initially been informed of its denial as an art film by KOFIC on

June 30, 2021

Horror films set to chill S. Korean audiences in summer

A slew of homegrown horror and thriller films are ready to make audiences feel a shiver cascading down their spines and forget the oppressive summer heat outside in the coming months. The action thriller "Midnight," scheduled to be released simultaneously in theaters and via streaming platform Tving on Wednesday, will open the prime months of July and August for scary movies. The film, a directorial debut of Kwon Oh-seung, follows a deaf girl who is stalked by a serial killer after w

June 30, 2021

Mass K-pop concert to take place in person next month amid pandemic

In line with eased social distancing rules, a mass K-pop concert will be held in person here next month for the first time since the new coronavirus pandemic broke out early last year, organizers said Wednesday. "Together Again, K-pop Concert" will kick off at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in the Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul at 5 p.m. July 17, according to the Korea Management Federation (KMF). The long-awaited offline concert will be co-hosted by the KMF and Arirang TV, th

June 30, 2021

‘Paik Jong-won Class’ serves up Korean dishes with a twist

Star chef Paik Jong-won is casting his net yet wider, with a show aimed at introducing Korean cooking to an international audience. “Paik Jong-won Class,” also starring Korean singer Sung Si-kyung, invites “trainees” from across the world to learn Korean recipes. Most of the participants have no culinary background, but the team behind the show hopes they will put their own spin on the dishes, giving Korean viewers new ideas to try out in the kitchen as well as an intr

June 29, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ “Butter” video tops 400m views

The video for BTS’ historic hit “Butter” has surpassed 400 million views on YouTube. 　 It is the band’s 13th video to reach the milestone. 　 The video drew over 3.9 million concurrent viewers when it was released May 21, a record high. Within 24 hours, it drew over 108.2 million views on YouTube, the most for a music video on the platform in 24 hours. 　 The summer anthem of this year is rewriting history, having stayed at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 for five co

June 29, 2021

EIDF recruiting audience panel

The EBS International Documentary Film Festival started recruiting audience panels on June 21. The participants will cast votes for the grand prize, the Grand Prix prize, and the audience panel award under the two main competitive sections, “Festival Choice: Global” and “Festival Choice: Asia.” The panels will also have to choose the best audience panel award as well. The winner of the audience panel award will be decided by adding up the audience panel’s votes

June 29, 2021

Explore Wild West with Puccini opera

The Korea National Opera is set for the Korean premiere of Puccini’s 1910 opera “La Fanciulla del West.” The upcoming performance, set to run from Thursday at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, features sopranos Karine Babajanyan and Lilla Lee, tenors Marco Berti and Oliver Kook. Puccini wrote the opera after watching the play “The Girl of the Golden West,” written by the American author David Belasco, in New York. The opera is set in a mining camp in Calif

June 29, 2021

BTS tops Billboard Hot 100 for 5th straight week with 'Butter'

Superband BTS retained the top spot on Billboard's main singles chart for the fifth straight week with its upbeat summer number "Butter," once again outpacing the group's chart record. "Butter" holds at No. 1 with 12.4 million US streams and 128,400 downloads sold (up 15 percent) in the week ending June 24. It also attracted 27.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 6 percent) in the week ending June 27," Billboard said Monday (US time) on its Twitter account.

June 29, 2021

2PM reunited after 5 years with new album ‘Must’

Boy band 2PM made a bit of K-pop history on Monday, when it staged the first return by a second-generation idol group after a five-year hiatus. It’s only been 100 days since Junho, the last of the members to serve the armed forces, was discharged from his compulsory military service. Dropping their seventh studio set “Must,” the group conducted an online press conference, first time in five years the six members stood officially in front of the media to introduce their mus

June 28, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] 2PM happy to keep promise with 7th LP

2PM returned after five years with its seventh full album “Must." 　 It is first time in almost five years since all six members put together an album since the fifth LP “Gentlemen’s Game.” 　 “Time has changed a lot. There are many who have been expecting us, and there also would be those who don’t know us,” said Jun K at the online media conference. 　 “I hope many would find out what appeal 2PM has and which color each of the member has,&r

June 28, 2021

Buddhist monks-turned-exorcists save the day in ‘The 8th Night’

The director of the highly anticipated Korean mystery thriller “The 8th Night” Kim Tae-hyung said his new movie is unique because it features Buddhist monks in a way moviegoers have never seen them before. “Our movie shows that Buddist monks can also appear as exorcists,” the director said during an online press conference held on Monday, ahead of the film’s Netflix release on Friday. “I agree with the director. I am a Christian but I have wondered why onl

June 28, 2021

Soprano Sua Jo releases debut album

Soprano Sua Jo, known locally as Jo Su-a, has released her debut album “La Prima Donna” under the Sony Classical label Monday. According to Sony Music Entertainment Korea, the album features well-known arias such as “Lascia Ch’io Pianga” and “Ombra Mai Fu” from Handel’s 1711 opera “Rinaldo,” and Italian baroque music such as “Amarilli, Mia Bella” and “Amor Ch’attendi” written by Caccini and “Caro Mi

June 28, 2021

[Herald interview] Today’s K-pop is more intricate, complex

Unlike most music critics who jump into the world music at a young age, K-pop music critic Cha woo-jin confesses he was not a music lover as a youngster. At home after school, he reached for comics, short stories and movies rather than music. Things changed when he entered his teens. “There was a moment as a teenager when I sensed an earnest desire for music,” he said. Looking back, Cha thinks that spark came when he had grasped the meaning of the long-held definition of music -- m

June 28, 2021

'Hard Hit' tops S. Korean box office over weekend

The South Korean actioner "Hard Hit" topped the local box office over the weekend, recording the biggest opening-weekend score for homegrown movies this year, data showed Monday. The film, released Wednesday, attracted 253,000 people over the Friday-Sunday period, taking the No. 1 spot at the South Korean box office on its first weekend, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. The figure was the largest first weekend admission record set by a South Korean film throughout 20

June 28, 2021

Cho Seong-jin to release new Chopin album

Concert pianist Cho Seong-jin, the first Korean to win the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, is to release a new album featuring Frederic Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Aug. 26. Like the debut studio-recorded album in 2016, Cho joined hands with the London Symphony Orchestra led by the Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda. Though Cho has performed the work on multiple occasions including the debut performance at the BBC Proms in 2018, it is the first time for the concer

June 27, 2021

Stray Kids’ Hyunjin resumes activities after bullying controversy

Hyunjin of K-pop boy band Stray Kids has resumed his activities with the group after taking time out due to accusations that he had bullied a classmate in middle school. The act’s agency, JYP Entertainment, officially announced Saturday that Stray Kids had released a new record, “Mixtape: Oh,” as a whole group including Hyun-jin. In February, a former classmate who did not want his identity made public posted a message online saying he had suffered “severe emotional st

June 27, 2021