[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

More Than Family (Korea) Opened Nov. 12 Drama, Comedy Directed by Choi Ha-na Toe-il (Jung Soo-jung) finds out she is pregnant. The father of the baby is Ho-hoon (Shin Jae-hwi), a student she has been tutoring. She plans to marry Ho-hoon, who is younger than her, and while preparing for the wedding she suddenly decides to look for her own biological father, who abandoned her and her mother many years ago. But she cannot remember much about her father -- not even his face or his first name. 

Nov. 20, 2020

Despite pandemic, lights are on at Korea’s stages

In a year that has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt lives and devastate economies around the world, Korea has sought innovations to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The following is the first article of a four-part series on how Korea is creating a new normal during the pandemic, produced in partnership with The Korea Foundation -- Ed. While the performing arts scene is one of many industries hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in Korea, the stage lights are still

Nov. 19, 2020

BTS' agency Big Hit takes over rapper-producer Zico's agency

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency-label behind K-pop megastars BTS, on Wednesday announced its takeover of KOZ Entertainment. KOZ was launched in 2018 by the popular 28-year-old rapper and producer Zico, who has chart-topping hits like "Any Song." It represents Zico himself as well as Dvwn. Big Hit said the takeover is expected to help the agency-label diversify its business portfolio. "We are happy to join hands with Zico, who is a top-ranking producer and artist," BTS ch

Nov. 18, 2020

S.M.’s virtual hybrid girl group aespa makes grand debut

Aespa, a new girl group under S.M. Entertainment, made its highly-anticipated debut with “Black Mamba” on Tuesday. The four-piece band, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, unveiled the single via its YouTube and SM Town channels, opting out of any press event and leaning toward a rather online-oriented approach to showcase itself to the world. Inspired by the futuristic “avatar” theme, the group’s name comes from “avatar, experience and asp

Nov. 18, 2020

TXT debuts at No. 25 on Billboard 200 with latest EP

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) ranked No. 25 on Billboard's main albums chart this week with its latest album. Released on Oct. 26, the five-track EP "Minisode1: Blue Hour" landed at 25th on the Billboard 200 chart refreshed Tuesday (US Time), a record high for the group. The US music tracker earlier said in its Twitter post that the band ranked at No. 26 on its main albums chart but confirmed the group's ranking to be a notch higher on its official chart. It is the firs

Nov. 18, 2020

BTS drops teaser video for upcoming song 'Life Goes On'

K-pop superstar BTS has unveiled a teaser music video for "Life Goes On," the lead track of its much-anticipated album "BE." The 26-second video, uploaded on its management agency's social media accounts on Wednesday, shows the septet smiling and contemplating in front of a camp fire. It then rotates to a scene where the septet is comfortably sitting around in pajamas. Like the band had hinted about its behind-the-scene production roles, the band's youngest member Jungkook

Nov. 18, 2020

Kakao TV’s ‘No, Thank You’ brings popular Instatoon to life

Mobile content streaming platform Kakao TV will kick off its latest original drama “No, Thank You” on Saturday at 10 a.m. through its mobile app, KakaoTalk. “No, Thank You” is based on popular webtoon “Myeoneuragi” by Soo Shin-ji, serialized on Instagram in 2016 with 600,000 followers. “Myeoneuragi” is a term coined by Soo to describe the period when a daughter-in-law, or “myeoneuri,” is new to the family and wants to be liked and com

Nov. 17, 2020

Avatar idols take center stage

Large K-pop labels that have almost recovered from their pandemic losses thanks to strong album sales and successful virtual concerts are now turning their eyes to a more futuristic idea – avatar idols. Over the past month, Big Hit Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment have made separate investments, worth a combined 17 billion won ($15.3 million), in Naver Z, the developer of the avatar app Zepeto. It is rare for the rival firms to have a stake in the same company. Nav

Nov. 17, 2020

TXT debuts at No. 26 on Billboard with latest mini album

The latest album by K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) ranked 26th on Billboard's main album chart this week. Released on Oct. 26, five-track EP "Minisode1: Blue Hour" debuted at No. 26 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, the US music tracker said in a Twitter post on Tuesday. The chart will be refreshed later in the day. This is the first time that the boy band entered the top 100 on Billboard 200. Its debut album, "The Dream Chapter: Star," released in March last yea

Nov. 17, 2020

Han Ji-min, Nam Joo-hyuk team up again in romance remake ‘Josee’

After the trailer of the romance film “Josee” was presented during an online press conference Tuesday, the two lead actors -- Han Ji-min and Nam Joo-hyuk -- began crying. “Watching the trailer brought back all the emotions that I felt when filming,” Nam said. After fixing their makeup, Han and Nam shared their experiences of teaming up again in “Josee” after working together on the 2019 TV drama “The Light in Your Eyes.” “Even when we w

Nov. 17, 2020

Tech-savvy musical offers ride on DMZ ‘peace travel’

A new high-tech musical is to promote “peace travel” in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. “Wonder Ticket,” organized by the KTO, will stream online from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31, promoting the travel industry in the DMZ. The story of the musical takes off at an abandoned steam locomotive -- which currently sits at Jangdan Station in Imjingak, located on the banks of Imjin River in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The trai

Nov. 17, 2020

BLACKPINK's 'Ice Cream' racks up 400m views on YouTube

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK's music video "Ice Cream" has topped 400 million views on YouTube, its management agency said Tuesday. The music video hit the milestone around 2 p.m. Monday, some 80 days after its release, according to YG Entertainment. It is the quartet's 10th music video that has surpassed the 400 million mark on the global video-sharing website. "Ice Cream," featuring Selena Gomez, is a bubblegum pop track off the band's latest album, titled "The Albu

Nov. 17, 2020

BTS' 'Dynamite' music video tops 600m YouTube views

The music video of "Dynamite," K-pop superstar BTS' latest single, has surpassed 600 million views on YouTube, its agency said Tuesday. The dance video reached the milestone Monday midnight, nearly three months after it was released on the video-sharing site on Aug. 21, according to Big Hit Entertainment. It is BTS' ninth video to have achieved the feat, following "DNA," "Boy With Luv," "Fake Love," "MIC Drop Remix," "Fire," "Blo

Nov. 17, 2020

Pianist Cho Seung-jin to have finale recital in Seoul

Concert pianist Cho Seung-jin, 26, will wrap up his much-appreciated nationwide tour across Korea with an encore recital in Seoul on Nov. 28. The nationwide tour kicked off in Gwangju on Oct. 28 and was followed by more recitals in Daegu, Busan, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, and Seoul. It was to wrap up at Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on Nov. 9. However, as tickets sold out within a few minutes of their release, the organizers added more recitals in Seongnam and Suwon in Gyeonggi Prov

Nov. 16, 2020

BTS clinches four prizes at People's Choice Awards

K-pop superstars BTS has swept prizes from the People's Choice Awards 2020, the event's organizers said. The septet won the categories of the Group of 2020, Song of 2020, Music Video of 2020 and Album of 2020 at the annual ceremony, held online on Sunday (US time). Its Billboard-winning hit "Dynamite" helped the group earn No. 1 prizes in the best song and the best music video sections, while its fourth full-length album, "Map of the Soul: 7," released in February, was name

Nov. 16, 2020

Born-to-sing sibling duo AKMU keeps evolving in new single

AKMU, the ever-evolving sibling duo acclaimed for its witty and profound takes on love and life, is back with the new single "Happening." The single, set for release at 6 p.m. on Monday, is brother and songwriter Lee Chan-hyuk and sister Su-hyun's first song together since their landmark studio album "Sailing" that signaled a major step into adulthood. In a press release distributed by YG Entertainment, Chan-hyuk said the single is for "people who were hurt or have fea

Nov. 16, 2020

JTBC ‘Sing Again’ to give singers another shot

While audition shows are a dime a dozen on Korean television, JTBC’s newest program “Sing Again” promises to be a new type of singing program that will touch the hearts of viewers. “Sing Again” features actor and singer Lee Seung-gi as its host and eight judges who will evaluate 71 singers auditioning for the program. As opposed to previous audition programs that tried to find new talent, each “Sing Again” contestant has released an album before. Singe

Nov. 16, 2020

Why US music magazines are flocking to Seoul

US music publication Rolling Stone recently announced plans to launch a Korean-language edition this month with the aim of broadening its K-pop coverage. The iconic magazine, which has 11 international editions, will publish a bimonthly print edition in South Korea that features original content and on-the-ground reporting as well as syndicated articles. Rolling Stone is the latest US music publication seeking its niche in the globally expanding K-pop industry. Its bigger rival Billboard, wh

Nov. 16, 2020

[Herald Review] ‘Notre Dame de Paris’ performs to packed theater

The whole world watched the beloved Notre Dame Cathedral burn down last year, but the iconic cathedral is resurrected onstage in Korea every evening to the sound of music. The original French production of musical “Notre Dame de Paris” kicked off its Seoul run Tuesday at the Blue Square Interpark Hall near Itaewon, central Seoul.   The production got off to a bumpy start when 14 of its 30 staff members were confirmed with the COVID-19 infection upon their arrival in Korea in

Nov. 16, 2020

Netflix turns console games into visual content

With the recent releases of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, Netflix is gearing up to capture video gamers with visual content based on popular game universes. The easy access to Netflix offered by the new XSX and PS5 released this month makes the visual content on Netflix more appealing to gamers and makes the consoles all-round multi-entertainment tools. The PS5 media remote is equipped with a Netflix button, giving users instant access to Netflix, and Xbox users can easily download Netfli

Nov. 15, 2020