Will ‘Mr. Sunshine’ find success abroad?

Cable channel tvN is soon to air its new Saturday-Sunday drama series “Mr. Sunshine,” featuring Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri as the main leads. The story centers on the two working to save Joseon-era Korea from Japan in early 1900s. The fantasy-romance series is to air through Netflix, a global streaming service. The production has stoked great anticipation, as the team’s previous works, “Descendants of the Sun” and “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” were greatly loved in and out of Korea.  Ki

June 26, 2018

Will ‘Mr. Sunshine’ be next ‘Descendants of Sun’, ‘Guardian?’

Cable channel tvN is set to air its blockbuster drama series “Mr. Sunshine.”The fantasy-romance series grabbed the attention of viewers even before its airing, as it will be scriptwriter Kim Eun-sook and director Lee Eung-bok’s third time working together. The famed duo have proven their teamwork through hit series “Descendants of the Sun” and “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.”The story is set in Korea in the early 1900s, as it is on the verge of being colonized by Japan. “Not much drama or f

June 26, 2018

K-drama writer Kim Eun-sook denies divorce rumors

Screenwriter Kim Eun-sook, the mastermind behind hit dramas such as “Descendants of the Sun” and “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God,” has nixed rumors that she divorced her husband.Earlier on Tuesday, a local media outlet reported that Kim recently separated from her husband after 12 years of marriage. It claimed that the writer has been focusing on writing the script for “Mr. Sunshine,” a highly anticipated tvN drama, after overcoming the pain.  (Yonhap)Shortly after the news broke, Kim took t

June 26, 2018

Black Pink sets record in topping 100m views

Black Pink set another record as a K-pop girl group, topping 100 million views for a music video 10 days after its release.The music video for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” the lead track on the group’s latest EP, set the record at around 11:45 p.m. Monday. The EP, “Square Up,” was released on June 15, 6 p.m.No other South Korean girl group has garnered 100 million views within 10 days of a release. (YG Entertainment)With this new record, every music video released by Black Pink now has more than 100 million

June 26, 2018

Black Pink becomes highest charting K-pop girl act on Billboard’s Hot 100

Black Pink rewrote history as the highest charting K-pop girl group ever on Billboard 100 chart, as its latest single “DDU-DU DDU-DU” peaked at No. 55 on the competitive ranking dated June 30. According to Billboard, the act’s successive single from its “Square Up“ EP arrives with 12.4 million US streams and 7,000 downloads sold in the tracking week ending June 21, according to Nielsen Music, also prompting its No. 39 entrance on the Streaming Songs tally, where Black Pink becomes the first K-po

June 26, 2018

Mamamoo confirms July release of new EP

Mamamoo announced the newest segment of its ongoing “Four Season Four Color Project” by confirming on Tuesday the release of its seventh EP next month.According to its agency RBW, the new EP based on the theme of summer will be released at 8 p.m. on July 16. It marks the first release for the act since “Yellow Flower” in March.  Mamamoo (RBW)The two albums are part of the team’s project to commemorate four seasons of the year by depicting them in its own way. Accordingly, the upcoming EP will ca

June 26, 2018

Award-winning musical 'Matilda' to premier first non-English production in Seoul

Based on a 1988 children's novel by the widely-loved British author Roald Dahl, the musical "Matilda" has toured the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand since its West End premier in 2011.For its British producer, the Royal Shakespeare Company, "Matilda" is the second major musical production of works by contemporary writers, going beyond their usual repertoire of productions based on works by the literary legend of the Middle Ages. And for the first time ever,

June 25, 2018

Korean hip hop act Epik High teams up with Japanese band for new single

South Korean hip hop act Epik High has teamed up with Japanese rock band Sekai no Owari to release a new single later this week, a music label said Monday. Epik High (YG Entertainment)The collaboration single, "Sleeping Beauty," is the result of the two acts' friendship dating back to the Japanese band's Korean trip in 2016. In 2017, Epik High again met with the Japanese band during the latter's concert in South Korea, according to Sony Music.The joint single is scheduled for release on Friday,

June 25, 2018

Government probe clears Momoland of chart rigging

Momoland has been cleared of accusations that it bought thousands of its own records to rig the official sales chart after a government investigation found it to be not true. The girl group’s agency MLD Entertainment announced Monday that a probe by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has cleared the act of any wrongdoing. “We are glad that the misunderstanding is no more. We thank everyone who trusted and supported us,” MLD said. “We vow to try our best for the development of K-pop.” Mo

June 25, 2018

Ever-growing global K-pop festival KCON captivates US fans

KCON, a global K-pop festival that brings music stars to overseas fans, took place over the weekend in Newark, New Jersey.The two-day event at the Prudential Center, attended by some 53,000 fans, was divided into two parts -- K-pop concerts and outdoor convention programs.The event brought to the US popular K-pop stars, including Heize, Pentagon, Red Velvet, Super Junior, EXID, Wanna One and NCT 127, who took the stage in front of loyal fans that jam-packed the 12,000-seat venue. The convention,

June 25, 2018

Jung Woo-sung attacked for supporting Jeju’s Yemeni refugees

Actor Jung Woo-sung has been criticized by some for showing support for Yemeni refugees on Jeju Island, with Koreans divided over whether or not to grant them official refugee status.Around 500 Yemeni refugees are now on Jeju Island after fleeing from the war in Yemen, with most of them having applied for refugee status. While many Koreans have called for the government to accept them on humanitarian grounds, others demanded for refugees’ expulsion.　Jung as an honory ambassador for the UN Refuge

June 25, 2018

G-Dragon accused of receiving preferential treatment in military hospital

G-Dragon has been accused of receiving preferential treatment while in the military.  On Monday, a local media outlet reported that the Big Bang front man, who is currently serving in the army, has been hospitalized in an Army Hospital in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, since June 19 suffering from ankle pain. The problem is, according to the report, that the room he is using is a private first-class one specifically for colonels, inaccessible even to majors and lieutenants. His room is also equipped

June 25, 2018

Yuju of GFriend to release first EP

GFriend vocalist Yuju is set to release her first solo EP on June 29, her agency said.The news was first announced Monday at midnight on GFriend’s official website via a teaser image of rain falling on a flower with Yuju’s name at the top. The song’s title and the collaboration artist have not yet been revealed.   A teaser image for Yuju‘s upcoming solo EP (Source Music)Having debuted as a member of GFriend in January 2015 with a single “Glass Bead,” Yuju is well known for her outstanding vocal

June 25, 2018

Singer Rain eyes November comeback

Singer and actor Rain is planning to drop a new album in November, his agency said Monday.If the release goes as planned, the album will be his first in three years and 10 months since his sixth full-length album titled "Rain Effect" came out in January 2014. Singer and actor Rain (Rain Company)Rain Company said the star will focus solely on recording after finishing up shooting "Uhm Bok-dong," an upcoming South Korean film based on a true life story of cyclist Uhm Bok-dong, at the end of this m

June 25, 2018

EXO selected as face of Korea

The Korea Tourism Organization is creating a promotional video and K-pop act EXO is to appear on it.According to the KTO, officials are created series of videos on the theme “Korea Asks You, Have you ever?” referring to the unique experience in Korea from a foreigner’s perspective. (Korea Tourism Organization)“EXO, a top K-pop act has performed in front of the people from all around the world at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, has a large fan base across the world, and is an influential figur

June 24, 2018

Disgraced actor faces yet another sex attack accusation

How bad exactly was the star of the film “Bad Guy” is the question brewing in Korean entertainment circles, as veteran actor Cho Jae-hyun is fighting yet another accusation of a sex attack on his co-worker.Last week, Cho broke his silence to repudiate claims by a Korean-Japanese actress that he had raped her in 2001 while shooting a TV drama. The veteran actor said that he is guilty of adultery claiming that he had a romantic relationship with the actress outside of his marriage 16 years ago and

June 24, 2018

Lotte Duty Free apologizes for cutting off Black Pink mid-song

Lotte Duty Free, South Korea’s top duty-free operator, apologized via its official Instagram account Saturday for sending girl group Black Pink off stage mid-performance at its Lotte Duty Free Family Festival. The organizer of the two-day festival, held at the Seoul Olympic Stadium Friday and Saturday, said in its post that the “performance was interrupted during BLACKPINK’s third song, ‘Forever Young’” due to safety issues. Black Pink performed at the opening of the festival on Friday.  Black P

June 24, 2018

‘Along With the God’ sequels to be shot next year: report

Two more sequels for 2017 megahit “Along With the God: The Two Worlds” will be simultaneously shot next year, a local media outlet reported Sunday.Won Dong-yeon, the chief of Realies Pictures, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency that the production company is planning to finish two scenarios for part three and four of the “Along With the God” series by the end of this year and shoot the film in 2019.“We are open to all possibilities, including a prequel or a spinoff,” Won was quoted as

June 24, 2018

Han Seo-hee explains her ‘encounter’ with BTS’ V at club

Han Seo-hee on Saturday explained in a social media post how she allegedly came to meet BTS’ V at a club. Han had come under heavy fire after she let slip that she met V at a club when she was partying at the age of 19. Both Han and V were born in 1995. Her remark which suggested that V got into a club underage enraged the BTS fan club ARMY. “I didn’t know him. I had a table with my friend, and he just came. Kim Ki-bum brought him. I didn’t even know who he was. ARMY, please don’t yap at me. I d

June 24, 2018

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

The Accidental Detective 2: In Action(Korea)Opened June 13Comedy, MysteryDirected by Lee Eon-hee　Comic book store owner Dae-man (Kwon Sang-hoo) and detective Tae-soo (Sung Dong-il) become full-time private investigators. As their first big case, the duo looks into the seemingly accidental death of a man, which turns out to be something more. With the help of cyber whiz Yeo-chi (Lee Kwang-soo), the two seek to uncover the truth.　Ocean’s 8(US)Action, Comedy, Crime Opened June 13Directed by Gary Ro

June 22, 2018