[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen is back, full of love, confidence

Seventeen held a media conference in Seoul on Friday to celebrate the release of its eighth EP “Your Choice.” 　 The band is returning eight months after its last release and leader S.Coups thanked fans for loving and waiting for them. 　 The main theme of the new music is the power of love, “a story of mature love seen from Seventeen’s perspective,” said Woozi. 　 “In addition to the addictive sounds and strong performances, we are focusing on showing new side

June 18, 2021

Yeowoorak fest aims to introduce a world of different sounds

Yeowoorak Festival, an annual gugak, or traditional Korean music, event, will return to the National Theater of Korea from July 2 to 24, after being held online last year. Now in its 12th year, the festival has established itself as a grounds for new experiments in gugak. And this year, the festival breaks away from having an artistic director and music director, and instead appointed a creative director to head the festival. Park Woo-jae, an acclaimed geomungo player was named as this year&rs

June 18, 2021

‘Hospital Playlist 2’ records highest first episode viewership rating in tvN history

The second season of hit medical drama series “Hospital Playlist” got off to an auspicious start Thursday, recording the highest first-episode viewership rating in tvN history. Thursday night’s episode recorded an average viewership rating of 10 percent, according to Nielsen ratings, making it the first tvN drama series to chart double-digit ratings on day one, as it reached as high as 12.4 percent at its peak. The TV drama written by Lee Woo-jung and directed by Shin Won-ho

June 18, 2021

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Whispering Corridors 6: The Humming (Korea) Opened June 17 Horror Directed by Lee Mi-young Eun-hee (Kim Seo-hyung) is posted as a vice principal at a girls high school where she was once a student. After starting work at the school, she begins having hallucinations. One day, Eun-hee unexpectedly meets student Ha-yeong (Kim Hyun-soo) in a hidden washroom at the school that is now used as a storage space, and they hear a mysterious humming sound.  A Quiet Place Part II (US) Opened June 16

June 18, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Brave Girls are ready for summer

Brave Girls hosted a media showcase in southern Seoul on Thursday to introduce its fifth EP “Summer Queen.” 　 It has been 10 months since the release of the group‘s last EP “We Ride,” and during that time, the girl group has become a surprise sensation, climbing up to the top of music charts with songs from past albums. 　 “This is the first time we’ve prepared with so much fun and excitement,” said Minyoung. 　 “When the music video started

June 17, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink makes movie to mark 5th anniversary

  Blackpink is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its debut with a movie that will hit cinemas in over 100 countries, said label YG Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 Titled “Blackpink The Movie,” it will premiere Aug. 8, although release dates may differ in some countries. The film will show the quartet reminiscing over shared memories and include never-before-seen interviews with the bandmates. 　 There will also be performances from its January digital concert “The Show,&r

June 16, 2021

‘Everglow’: love story of couple with more than 30-year age gap

“Everglow,” directed by So Jun-moon, depicts the love story of Jin-ok, a 70-year-old female diver of Jeju Island, also known as “haenyeo,” and a 30-something documentary producer Kyung-hoon. The unconventional love story was a shock to veteran actor Go Doo-shim, 70, who plays Jin-ok in the upcoming film. “Ji Hyun-woo and I have somewhat of an age gap. I was an actor who did not get to perform in many romantic films so I craved them. But when I read the script, I

June 16, 2021

Musical ‘Beetlejuice’ opening postponed to late June

The opening of the licensed Korean-language musical “Beetlejuice” -- a production based on Tim Burton’s iconic film -- will be postponed to June 29 for technical improvements, according to CJ ENM, the co-producer of the show. Describing the musical as a tech-heavy show, an official from the entertainment company told The Korea Herald, “We have decided to move back the opening date after concluding that we need more time to thoroughly prepare the technical elements for

June 16, 2021

New BTS Japanese album ships 1.1m units on 1st day: agency

A Japanese-language compilation album of BTS songs has shipped 1.1 million units on its first day, the band's agency said Wednesday. Shipments of "BTS, The Best," the seven-piece band's new album, surpassed 1.1 million units on its first day of release in the Asian country, according to Big Hit Music. The 23-track album includes Japanese-language songs such as "Film Out," "Your Eyes Tell" and "Crystal Snow." It also includes Japanese versions of the band

June 16, 2021

Netflix promotes Korean executives to strengthen its Asian strategy

US media giant Netflix has promoted two Korean content experts to its senior creative leadership team as part of a strategy to strengthen its foothold in South Korea and the rest of the populous Asian region. According to Netflix, in a latest leadership reshuffle, Kim Min-young, formerly vice president of content for Korea, was appointed to take charge of content-related operations across Asia, excluding India. Kim has played a major role in helping the streamer pull off bullish growth in the

June 16, 2021

BamBam kicks off solo career with debut Korean EP 'riBBon'

BamBam, the versatile Thai rapper-singer from disbanded K-pop boy band GOT7, has taken his first step as a solo artist with his new album "riBBon," which he wrote. The six-track album, released late Tuesday, is his first album as a solo musician after members of the septet left their label JYP Entertainment in January following a seven-year stint. BamBam has since signed with Abyss Company, which manages other Korean acts like Sunmi and Urban Zakapa. In an online media event late Tue

June 16, 2021

'Cruella' becomes 5th movie to top 1m admissions in S. Korea this year

Disney's live action film "Cruella" has become the fifth movie to attract over 1 million viewers in South Korea this year, box office data showed Wednesday. The crime comedy flick, released on May 26, drew more than 24,000 people Tuesday, bringing its combined total to over 1.01 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. The movie topped the daily box office for five consecutive days from Friday. Among the movies released here in 2021, "Cruella" is the

June 16, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] GOT7’s Bambam takes 1st step as solo artist

Bambam of GOT7 held an online media showcase for the release of his solo debut EP “riBBon” on Tuesday. 　 “I am all nerves,” he acknowledged, but he expressed hope that fans would love the music video, especially since so many were enthusiastic about the teaser clips and highlight medley that had been released earlier. He added that he shot the video snippet for the highlight medley himself. 　 “I really put a lot into this album -- I even tried mixing,” said

June 15, 2021

Cinema operators to give ticket revenues to distributors of ‘Escape from Mogadishu,’ ‘Sinkhole’

The Korean Theater Association, which includes the top three local multiplex operators -- CGV, Lotte Cinema, Megabox -- among its members, has thrown a lifeline to two film distributors to encourage the release of their high-budget movies, “Escape from Mogadishu” and “Sinkhole,” it announced on Tuesday. Instead of splitting the ticket sales 50:50 between theaters and film distributors as is the practice, the theaters will forgo ticket sales proceeds until the amount rea

June 15, 2021

2021 Music in PyeongChang fest hopes to bring spirit of being alive center stage

The 18th Music in PyeongChang is set to kick off July 28 with performances around Gangwon Province, including the festival’s main venue, Pyeongchang Alpensia Resort’s concert hall. Under the theme “san (alive),” a total of 13 concerts will be held this year, along with two special concerts, seven touring concerts, and master classes conducted by artists participating in the festival. “The word ‘san,’ can be interpreted as ‘alive,’ or &lsq

June 15, 2021

S. Korean composer first in Asia to win Claudio Abbado Composition Prize

South Korean composer Shin Dong-hoon has won the Claudio Abbado Composition Prize, a prestigious award from the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, organizers announced on Monday. Shin, 37, is the first Asian winner and the sixth recipient of the prize, named after Italy’s legendary conductor Claudio Abbado, who also served as the artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. The award is given to young composers with outstanding talents, but does not designate a specific date or

June 15, 2021

BTS smashes record as 'Butter' tops Billboard Hot 100 for 3rd week

Supergroup BTS once again outran its own track record as the summery single "Butter" ranked No. 1 on the latest Billboard's main singles chart for the third straight week. "Butter" holds at No. 1 with 15.4 million US streams and 138,400 downloads sold in the week ending June 10. It also attracted 24.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 10 percent) in the week ending June 13," Billboard said Monday (US time) on its Twitter account. The result beats the seven

June 15, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] UP10TION introduces 2nd full album

UP10TION held an online media showcase event Monday to introduce its second full album, “Connection.” 　 “We are returning after a long while and I was so excited and nervous that I couldn’t sleep well,” confided Kuhn. The band members poured a lot into the new album, he added. 　 The new LP is a spinoff from last year’s ninth EP, “Light Up,” and comes in two versions -- “Silhouette” and “Illuminate.” The former focuses on th

June 14, 2021

EXO adds another million-seller with latest album

K-pop boy band EXO has added another album to its list of million-selling albums with the latest release "Don't Fight the Feeling," its management agency said Tuesday. The EP, released last week, has sold 1.09 million copies as of Sunday, becoming the nine-member group's sixth million-selling album, according to SM Entertainment. The group first earned a million-selling album record with its debut studio album "XOXO (Kiss & Hug)" in 2013. "Don't Fight the Feeling&

June 14, 2021

TXT soars to No. 5 on Billboard main albums chart

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) saw its latest album land at fifth place on the Billboard main albums chart in its best record since debut. "South Korean pop quintet Tomorrow x Together notches its first top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as 'The Chaos Chapter: Freeze' debuts at No. 5 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned," the Billboard reported Sunday (local time). Album sales accounted for a majority of the total with 39,000, while the remaining units came from digital

June 14, 2021