Unsure about box office recovery, Korean film industry delays releases for summer season

Although the local box office shows some signs of recovery before the summer peak season, the pandemic-hit Korean film industry still remains wary of releasing big-budget films in the near future. The South Korean box office recently made a long-waited turnaround thanks to a bullish run by "F9," the latest chapter in the "Fast and Furious" series. Released on May 19, the Hollywood blockbuster posted 400,000 viewers on opening day to set the biggest first-day score since the

May 26, 2021

Musical ‘Beetlejuice’ arrives in Seoul for first run outside of Broadway

Musical “Beetlejuice” is set for a Seoul run, its first official showing outside of Broadway. The Korean-language licensed version of Broadway musical “Beetlejuice” is scheduled to open June 18 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. Based on the iconic 1988 Tim Burton film of the same title, the musical had its Broadway premiere in 2019, following a pilot run a year earlier. The Korean staging marks the first licensed version of the musical.

May 26, 2021

Leenalchi, Ambiguous Dance Company return to LG Arts Center

Korean traditional music-inspired band Leenalchi and dance group Ambiguous Dance Company have teamed up once again to perform at LG Arts Center, June 11-12. Leenalchi will perform their latest digital single “Yeobonari” and 10 songs from “Sugungga,” their first full-length album released Feb. 16. Ambiguous Dance Company, which performed with Leenalchi at LG Arts Center‘s Rush Hour Concert last year, will once again join the band onstage. Leenalchi is an alternativ

May 26, 2021

New BTS song 'Butter' makes splash on Billboard, Oricon charts

K-pop supergroup BTS' new single "Butter" has stormed major music charts in the United States and Japan following its release last week, the band's agency said Wednesday. The English-language single debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard's pop airplay chart, which measures airplay of pop songs at some 160 key US radio stations from every Monday to Sunday. The song's debut ranking is higher than the band's 2020 smash hit "Dynamite," which debuted at No. 30 on the same chart. &q

May 26, 2021

[Herald Interview] Lee Je-hoon on what is left behind after death

For an actor, it would be an honor to leave behind a collection of works someday, Lee Je-hoon, 36, said. Of all the steps in Lee’s 14-year acting career, Lee said he was the most nervous about the recent release of Netflix original series “Move to Heaven.” He stars in the series as Sang-gu, an ex-convict who works as a “trauma cleaner,” cleaning up crime and accident scenes and organizing the belongings of the deceased. “I was the most nervous about this

May 25, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ RM writes song for TXT

RM of BTS participated in writing the lyrics for a song on Tomorrow X Together’s upcoming album, according to a song list that Bit Hit Music shared Tuesday. 　 TXT’s second studio album, “The Chaos Chapter: Freeze,” goes on sale May 31. RM co-authored the words for lead track “0X1=Lovesong,” about a boy who firmly believes in his love despite the chaos he has tumbled into. 　 It is a collaborative effort by a score of songwriters, including Hybe Chairman Bang

May 25, 2021

[Herald Interview] Seo In-guk says ‘Pipeline’ differs from other caper movies

Director Yoo Ha’s latest movie “Pipeline” does not follow the rules of traditional heist movies, according to actor Seo In-guk who stars in the film. “The biggest difference is that the main characters are not professionals,” Seo said during an interview with a group of reporters on Monday. “Except for my character Pindol, all of them are ordinary people. Even Pindol who has experience being part of oil theft, only did the drilling. They are a ragtag group o

May 25, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] EXO floats teasers for special album

EXO shared teaser photos of Xiumin and Dio for its forthcoming special album on Monday. 　 The band is rolling out “Don’t Fight the Feeling” on June 7 and its label, S.M. Entertainment, dropped the first batch of photographs of the two since they returned to the music scene after serving their military duty. It is the first album the two performers have taken part in since 2018.  　 Although Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Suho and Chen would not be able to join the promotional

May 24, 2021

Pianist Park Yeon-min wins the George Enescu competition

Pianist Park Yeon-min, 31, has won the first prize at the 2020/2021 George Enescu International Competition’s piano discipline on Sunday. By winning the competition, Park will receive 15,000 euros ($18,000) in prize money, and an invitation to the 2022 George Enescu Festival. She was followed by Adela Liculescu from Romania and Marcin Wieczorek from Poland, who came in second and the third, respectively. After studying at Seoul National University, Park earned her master’s degree

May 24, 2021

BTS pop-up stores to additionally open in Asian cities

K-pop superstar BTS has opened or will open additional offline pop-up stores in four Asian cities to meet rising demands for merchandise among the group's fans in the populous continent, its management agency said Monday. A BTS Pop-up: Map of the Soul store, which offers products themed around the seven-piece band's 2020 hit album "Map of the Soul: 7," already opened in Bangkok on May 1 to run through July 25, according to Hybe IP, an intellectual property arm of K-pop powerhouse Hybe

May 24, 2021

SIFF to screen Korean independent films in Spain

The Seoul Independent Film Festival will introduce Korean independent movies during the 4th Indie & Doc Korean Cinema Fest, which will be held from June 1-13 in Madrid, Spain. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid, Spain, this year’s annual Korean indie film fest will double in size and screen 18 movies, according to the event organizer. The fourth edition of the festival will have three sections -- a short films section with the theme of people and t

May 24, 2021

'F9' tops 1m admissions in first week of release

"F9," the latest chapter in the "Fast and Furious" series, has topped 1 million attendees in its first week of release in South Korea, local box office data showed Monday. The action blockbuster attracted 628,000 people over the Friday-Sunday period, bringing its combined total to 1.13 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. It became the fourth title to surpass the 1 million threshold in 2021, following Disney-Pixar fantasy "Soul," Japanese a

May 24, 2021

BTS scoops up four Billboard Awards

K-pop boy band BTS has won four prizes, including the major title of Top Selling Song, at this year's Billboard Music Awards (BBMA), the most for the group at the event ever. The septet was awarded Top Selling Song, Top Duo/Group, Top Song Sales Artist and the fan-voted Top Social Artist during the BBMA ceremony that was aired live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday (US time). It is the first time the band has won more than two titles at the BBMA. In 2019, it took home the Top

May 24, 2021

Seo In-guk returns as leader of oil thieves in comedy-crime film “Pipeline”

Actor Seo In-guk is returning to the big screen as a leader of a ragtag team of oil thieves in the upcoming comedy-crime film “Pipeline,” directed by Yoo Ha. “I was surprised that a movie about this topic is being created,” Seo said during the press conference Thursday that followed a press screening. “I was not familiar with the concept of thieves that steal oil from the pipeline. I have never seen any Korean movie with a similar subject.” In the new movie

May 23, 2021

New BTS song 'Butter' sweeps iTunes charts in 101 regions

K-pop dynamo BTS has topped more than 100 regional iTunes chart with its latest single "Butter," its management agency said Saturday. The vibrant pop-dance number, released at 1 p.m. on Friday here, debuted at No. 1 on iTunes Top Songs chart in 101 regions, including the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany, according to Big Hit Music. The music video for the song has also made a splash around the world. It broke 10 million views on the septet's official YouTube channel in just

May 22, 2021

[Herald Interview] Finding silver lining in Bach, pandemic

Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001-1006) is an iconic collection for violinists. Violinist Clara Jumi Kang, 34, will take on the work -- “the violin Bible” as she calls it -- presenting the complete cycle in one performance. “It is a project I have been dreaming of since I was in my early 20s,” Kang said in a recent email interview with The Korea Herald. The Korean-German virtuoso has performed with leading orchestras around the world. She i

May 22, 2021

Back with ‘Butter,’ BTS talks new English single, power of music and eighth anniversary

After breaking record after record with “Dynamite” last year, BTS is ready make another big splash with the brand-new summer bop “Butter.” The group’s second English-language single, “Butter” is an upbeat dance pop anthem with a seasonal vibe, peppered with dazzling synths and an infectious hook. The seven-piece act held an offline global press conference in Seoul on Friday evening, right after the song’s release, where the musicians talked about

May 21, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] BTS’ ‘Butter’ video storms past 10m views in 13 minutes

The video for BTS’ newest single, “Butter,” drew 10 million views on YouTube within 13 minutes of its release on Friday. 　 This tops the record set by the band’s megahit from last summer, “Dynamite,” which reached that number in 20 minutes. “Dynamite” also garnered 101.1 million views in 24 hours, the highest figure in YouTube’s history. 　 The septet rolled out the digital single with a showcase in southern Seoul on Friday and will put out

May 21, 2021

Members of BTS fan group Army react to new single, ‘Butter’

K-pop powerhouse BTS’ new single landed well with fans Friday. Fans are brimming with excitement and pride as the song melts into their hearts. Here is a little sneak peek into how members of the BTS fandom community, Army, are reacting to the globe-trotting group’s digital single. One fan wrote, “BTS’ music video clip has our hearts!” The tweet garnered more than 680 likes and around 2,000 retweets in 30 minutes. Another fan tweeted, “BTS is insane for t

May 21, 2021

Culture Ministry vows action on pirated K-pop songs

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Friday that it would take action against Chinese music labels that infringed copyrights by uploading translated versions of K-pop songs on YouTube. There has been active discussion online about the practice of registering translated K-pop songs as original works by Chinese artists, without approval from the rightful copyright holders. IU’s “Tear Drops in the Morning,” Brown Eyes’ “Already One Year” and

May 21, 2021