Horrors, zombie thrillers set to attract TV viewers in coming weeks

On chilly fall nights, monsters, ghosts and zombies are poised to thrill or even scare South Korean TV viewers and binge-watchers. The horror show "Sweet Home," based on a famous web cartoon with the same title, will be released on Netflix later this year. The series is about a student who faces scary experiences after moving into a new apartment, where its residents turn into monsters. It has drawn wide attention from viewers as the Netflix debut by renowned South Korean director L

Oct. 2, 2020

BTS teases upcoming album 'BE' on Jimmy Fallon show

K-pop superstar BTS teased its upcoming new album "BE" on Thursday (Korean time), appearing on the "BTS Week" special on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." The show's weeklong series running for five days through Friday is designed to showcase different music performances of the seven-member band each night, including live performances, comedy bits and virtual interviews. "The album mainly carries the grief, happiness and other feelings we have n

Oct. 1, 2020

TWICE to drop 2nd full-length album this month

Marking the fifth anniversary of its debut this month, K-pop girl band TWICE will drop its second full-length album in October, its management agency said Thursday. According to JYP Entertainment, the band will officially release the new album on Oct. 26 and return to the K-pop scene for promotional activities. The release will be the band's second full-length album following its first, "Twicetagram," that came out in October 2017. TWICE will celebrate its fifth anniversary this mon

Oct. 1, 2020

BTS agency set to make splash on market debut

Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstar BTS, will make its debut on the main bourse this month, arguably emerging as the top entertainment pick by investors this year. The company will open subscription for retail investors Monday and Tuesday at an initial public offering (IPO) price of 135,000 won ($115). The firm set its listing date for Oct. 15. Based on the offering price, Big Hit Entertainment is forecast to raise 962.6 billion won through the planned IPO, with its

Oct. 1, 2020

[Newsmaker] BTS tops two Billboard charts with latest hit 'Dynamite'

South Korean boy group BTS topped two of Billboard's main charts with its new single "Dynamite" this week, Billboard said Tuesday. "Dynamite" returned to the top spot on Billboard's main singles chart, the Hot 100, after spending two seeks at No. 2. The song had spent two weeks at the top of the singles chart after debuting at No. 1, becoming the 20th song in Billboard's history to spend the first two consecutive weeks of its debut at the top spot. With the rebound of its

Sept. 30, 2020

BTS performs 'IDOL' on Jimmy Fallon show

Dressed in the traditional Korean attire of "hanbok," K-pop superstars BTS on Tuesday (Korean time) opened the "BTS Week" special on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" with its hit song "IDOL." The show's weeklong series running for five days through Friday is designed to showcase different music performances of the seven-member band each night, including live performances, comedy bits and virtual interviews. In a prerecorded live stage perfo

Sept. 29, 2020

Online content for the Chuseok holidays

Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, is all about families returning to their hometowns and paying tribute to their ancestors by visiting graves and sharing a big meal. Also, the Chuseok holidays are the busiest time of the year for movie theaters with lots of new family movies being released. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has the Health Ministry strongly encouraging the public to stay home and keep a safe distance during the nation’s major traditional holiday. Although foll

Sept. 29, 2020

Despite reopening, public stage struggles with uncertainty

Though state-run culture facilities reopened Monday, uncertainties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic remain. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Friday that 23 museums and libraries and 11 government-run performing arts venues would reopen Monday after a monthlong shutdown. Despite them reopening, however, the performing arts sector continues to struggle. The Art Council Korea,, also known as Arko, under the Culture Ministry, canceled its Arko Partner project Thursday, cancel

Sept. 29, 2020

BTS' upcoming online concert to feature up-to-date technologies

K-pop sensation BTS will catch the eyes of its long-waiting fans with fresh up-to-date viewing experiences at its upcoming live online concert next month, its management agency said Tuesday. The online concert titled "BTS Map of the Soul ON:E" will be livestreamed at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 and at 4 p.m. on Oct. 11, according to Big Hit Entertainment. During the two-hour event, the septet will perform on a scale equivalent to an offline concert, featuring augmented reality and extended re

Sept. 29, 2020

BLACKPINK becomes No. 2 global artist by YouTube subscribers

South Korean girl group BLACKPINK became the second most-subscribed musician on YouTube on Tuesday, its management agency said. The official YouTube channel of BLACKPINK saw the number of its subscribers surpass 48.8 million, pushing down the American DJ Marshmello to No. 3, according to YG Entertainment. Justin Bieber topped the list with 57.2 million subscribers. The group's popularity on the global video-sharing platform hiked after it dropped its hit song "How You Like That" in

Sept. 29, 2020

BTS reclaims top spot on Billboard singles chart after 2 weeks at No. 2

WASHINGTON  -- South Korean boy group BTS' recent hit "Dynamite" has returned to the top spot on Billboard's main singles chart, helped by the recent release of remixes, Billboard reported Monday. On Billboard's latest Hot 100 chart dated this Saturday, "Dynamite" finished first and was trailed by the former No. 1 song "WAP" by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion. "Holy" by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper and "Laugh Now Cry Later&quo

Sept. 29, 2020

Fans create 2nd forest in Seoul in celebration of BTS leader RM's birthday

A second fan-made forest named after RM, the leader of the popular K-pop boy band BTS, in celebration of his birthday opened in Seoul on Monday, an environmental group said. At "RM Forest No. 2," located on the Ichon side of Han River Park, three hackberry trees and 200 stocks of spirea were planted to celebrate RM's 26th birthday, which fell on Sept. 12, according to the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement. It said RM's fans donated a total of 20 million won ($17,000) for t

Sept. 28, 2020

KBS Orchestra to bring LoL music out of screen and onto stage

Music from the hit online video game League of Legends will be brought to life by an orchestra here. “League of Legends Live: The Orchestra” will be held at the Sejong Center of Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Nov. 27-28. It will mark the first time that the Sejong Center is presenting a show with music from a video game. It will also be the first League of Legends concert hosted by Riot Games in Korea. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video ga

Sept. 28, 2020

‘Samjin Company English Class’ brings back ’90s vibe

It was the ’90s vibe that director Lee Jong-pil was after in his upcoming film “Samjin Company English Class,” which captures the mood of the country when it was on the cusp of globalization. The viewers are first introduced to three young women who work for Samjin Company -- Lee Ja-young, played by Ko Ah-sung, Jung Yoo-na, played by E Som, and Sim Bo-ram, played by Park Hye-soo. The year is 1995. The three women have been working at the company for eight years and are bett

Sept. 28, 2020

Local streaming service provider Wavve tops 10m subscribers

The number of subscribers of the local video streaming service giant Wavve has topped 10 million on rising demand for a wide variety of content, the company said Monday. Wavve was launched last year by South Korea's top mobile carrier, SK Telecom Co., and terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS. "Despite a slight slowdown in the first half of this year, our memberships have been on a strong rise since July thanks to new releases of Wavve original series and exclusive foreign titles,&quo

Sept. 28, 2020

[Herald Interview] Chamber music festival to bring spring to Seoul in October

A spring music festival will be happening in the fall -- perhaps not so unusual in a year that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 15th Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music will now take place in mid-October, after the original May schedule was put on hold following the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus. Violinist Kang Dong-suk, the artistic director of the festival who has led the SSF since 2006 when the festival was founded, recently arrived from France and completed

Sept. 28, 2020

BTS to drop new album 'BE' in Nov.

K-pop superstars BTS will drop their new album "BE (Deluxe Edition)" next month, the band's agency announced Monday. "BTS's new album 'BE (Deluxe Edition)' will be released on Nov. 20," Big Hit Entertainment, the band's label-agency, announced on the group's online fan community BTS Weverse. It said the upcoming album will be a special album "carefully crafted" by BTS, but did not elaborate on details. "This album is made more special by direct involvement f

Sept. 28, 2020

S.M. Entertainment aims to lead contactless era with Disney-like IP

Korean entertainment behemoth S.M. Entertainment is changing to adapt to the contactless era while utilizing its intellectual properties. “Like how Disney achieved an IP empire, K-pop will overcome this (pandemic) situation and become a genre that forms an IP empire in the music industry,” said S.M. Entertainment co-CEO Lee Sung-soo on Friday in his speech at MU:CON Online 2020. MU:CON is a four-day international music industry annual gathering organized by the Korea Creative Cont

Sept. 27, 2020

Fresh, bizarre world of Netflix’s ‘School Nurse Files’

The first season of Netflix original drama series “The School Nurse Files” was released Friday, bringing Chung Se-rang’s fantasy novel “School Nurse Ahn Eun- young” to life in over 190 countries around the globe. The highly anticipated drama series reached the top of the list of most popular TV shows on Netflix in Korea upon its release, according to data analytics firm FlixPatrol. The six 50-minute episodes of the first season of “The School Nurse Files&rd

Sept. 27, 2020

BTS video surpasses 400m views on YouTube

The music video of "Dynamite," K-pop superstar BTS' latest single, has surpassed 400 million views on YouTube, its agency said Saturday. The dance video reached the milestone Friday at 10:30 p.m., 35 days after it was posted on the video-sharing site, according to Big Hit Entertainment. It garnered the number in the shortest time among K-pop videos. The video attracted 101 million views in the first 24 hours of release on Aug. 21, setting the record for single-day views. BTS bec

Sept. 27, 2020