Minseo to return with charismatic ‘Is Who’ Wednesday

A music video teaser image for Minseo’s upcoming single “Is Who” (Mystic Entertainment)　Minseo, a female vocalist from Mnet’s audition program “Super Star K,” will release the third track of her debut album on Wednesday.According to her agency Mystic Entertainment, the artist’s upcoming song titled “Is Who” will feature a dramatic transformation of the 21-year-old singer. While her previous music has been centered on folk songs and ballads, the charismatic “Is Who” will offer a jazzy gypsy-sound

June 17, 2018

Cube Entertainment artists join voices in 4-hour-long concert

Cube Entertainment held its label concert “United Cube – One” on Saturday. The concert, which took place at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Seoul, featured performances by a total of 33 Cube artists including HyunA, Jo Kwon, BTOB, CLC, Pentagon, (G)I-DLE and Yu Seon-ho, that ran for more than four hours. The annual concert has been held since 2013.  "United Cube-One” was held on Saturday at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Seoul. (Cube Entertainment)　Rookie girl band (G)

June 17, 2018

Monsta X to perform in Europe

Monsta X will hold concerts in Europe next week as part of its ongoing world tour, its agency said Friday.According to Start Entertainment, the act will hold concerts in Eventim Apollo in London on Sunday, Afas Live in Amsterdam on Wednesday and Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid on June 23. After Europe, the group will head to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei and then visit seven cities in the US and four cities in South America until August. Monsta X kicked off its world tour last month with a concert

June 15, 2018

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

The Accidental Detective 2: In Action(Korea)Opened June 13Comedy, MysteryDirected by Lee Eon-heeComic 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 Ross

June 15, 2018

Black Pink members ‘Square Up’ with more power

Black Pink came back with more power than ever before. Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rose of the K-pop act met with the press a few hours before the release of their first-ever EP, and highlighted that the new EP is all about “power.” “The lead track’s title resembles the sound of a gunshot. But it is also like a spell -- a spell to make us strong. It has elements of hip-hop, stronger and tougher than our previous songs,” Jennie said in a press conference, where she and her bandmates talked about thei

June 15, 2018

Seventeen, fromis_9, to perform at KCON 2018 LA

K-pop artists fromis_9 and Seventeen are confirmed as performers at KCON 2018, set to take place in August in Los Angeles.The two groups will perform at the Staples Center and LA Convention Center at the seventh annual KCON LA, scheduled to be held from Aug. 10-12.  (KCON USA)The nine members of fromis_9 were brought together through Mnet’s reality show “Idol School” in 2017. Before officially debuting in January 2018, the group made a major stage appearance with “Glass Shoes,” its pre-debut sin

June 15, 2018

Kyungri of Nine Muses gears up for solo debut

Kyungri is finally standing on her own as an artist, with the K-pop star slated for her first release as a solo artist in July.According to Star Empire Entertainment, the Nine Muses bandmate has just finished recording for her first solo album. She will shoot the music video next week.Despite her popularity with Nine Muses, Kyungri had never embarked upon a solo project. This will mark her first musical work since the band released “Love City” in August. Kyungri (Star Empire Entertainment)Kyungr

June 15, 2018

Taeyeon hints more on upcoming release

Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation released the track list for her upcoming solo EP, “Something New.” Along with the neo soul title track, the five additional tracks to be included are “All Night Long,” “Baram X 3,” “One Day,” “Circus” and an instrumental version of the “Something New.”  Taeyeon (S.M. Entertainment)NCT’s Lucas, a labelmate of Taeyeon under S.M. Entertainment, guest raps on “All Night Long.” The new EP will be Taeyeon’s first record since “This Christmas? Winter Is Coming” released in

June 14, 2018

[Herald Interview] KHAN’s silver lining

From “K-pop Star” to “Superstar K” to “Unpretty Rapstar” to “The Unit,” the audition programs the two members of KHAN have gone through pretty much sums up the competitive and variable nature of the K-pop industry. Like other K-pop aspirants, Yuna Kim and Jeon Min-joo competed in several audition programs, endured grueling practice and trained under agencies with the hope of debuting.  KHAN poses during a recent interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul (Park Hyun-koo / The Korea Herald)The pair

June 14, 2018

Tiffany signs pact with US-based Paradigm Talent Agency

Tiffany of Girls’ Generation has signed under a major entertainment agency based in the US, taking a step forward in her solo career. Paradigm Talent Agency has recently listed the singer on the list of musicians on its official website as “Tiffany Young.” Tiffany’s official accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Spotify can be reached through her profile.  (Screenshot from Paradigm Talent Agency's official website)With a presence in major cities across the US and internationally

June 14, 2018

Elris reveals track list for ‘Summer Dream’ EP

Elris has revealed the track list for its upcoming “Summer Dream” EP.The girl group’s agency Hunus Entertainment on Thursday released the track list that showed a background of a blue ocean and a sandy beach. (Hunus Entertainment)The five-track EP will feature the lead track “Summer Dream,” “Will Be Mine,” “Prod. RAVI” and “Focus.” Accompanying the track list were lyrics of the songs written by the members themselves. It will mark the first release for the K-pop act since the EP “Color Crush” la

June 14, 2018

Choo Ja-hyun to receive postpartum care after health scare

South Korean actress Choo Ja-hyun is receiving postpartum care following a health scare that surprised her fans after giving birth to her first child.Choo was released from hospital early Monday afternoon after recovering from aspiration pneumonia, her agency BH Entertainment said in a statement on the same day. Choo temporarily experienced spasms following the birth of her first son and was rushed to the ER before she was admitted into an intensive care unit where she was given an oxygen mask t

June 13, 2018

Thai fan clubs run blood donation drive to celebrate BTS anniversary

Two Thai BTS fan clubs, also known as ARMY -- BTS Thailand and CandyClover -- initiated a blood donation project in May and attained 200,000 cc of blood, which can help save around 1,500 lives, to celebrate BTS on Wednesday.“We were inspired by BTS to deliver love to others through their ‘Love Myself’ campaign that BTS and United Nations Children’s Fund initiated,” the fan clubs said. The Thai fans also displayed a one-minute advertisement on a large electric billboard in Siam Square One at the

June 13, 2018

5-piece band Sechs Kies to release album in September

Legendary K-pop act Sechs Kies is to release a new album in September, solidifying its status as a five-piece act. YG Entertainment’s head Yang Hyun-suk uploaded a photo of himself with Sechs Kies on his social media account Tuesday. He wrote the caption in English, which reads, “Today’s Agreement New Song Release This September.” Yang also hinted that the new songs will be “epic” in Korean.  Sechs Kies (YG Entertainment)Called “the first-generation idol group” here, the band regrouped in 2016 a

June 13, 2018

Kim Ki-duk fires back at accusers

Despite the multiple testimonies of alleged sexual misconduct against him, filmmaker Kim Ki-duk remains adamant he is innocent, and has even gone on to bash his accusers as being ungrateful.“Making movies, I think I have respected actors and staff in my own way. Some parts may have been disappointing, but it is sad that (the accusers) are repaying my kindness in a hurtful way,” Kim said in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.The disgraced director has filed false accusation a

June 13, 2018

Korean movies may be headed for one of worst slumps since ‘90s

Between upcoming Hollywood blockbusters and a lack of home-grown megahits, Korean movies look set for one of the worst years in the box office here since the 1990s, when imported films dominated the industry.As of Wednesday, half of the top 10 films in the box office were made outside of Korea. This may not sound bad, considering that the number of foreign films in the top 10 were four in 2014 and 2015, two in 2016 and three in 2017, but the ticket sales by foreign films currently dominate that

June 13, 2018

[Album review] SHINee has its own genre

SHINee“The Story of Light EP.2” IRIVERJudging by its new album, SHINee is still SHINee even after 10 years. It could be the vocals or the band’s effusive use of synths -- it’s ineffable -- but there always has been this unique color of SHINee scattered throughout its albums.And “The Story of Light EP.2” -- its first album as a quartet following the death of member Jonghyun last year -- is no exception: experimental, vibrant and SHINee-like. The album begins with “I Want You,” a tropical house le

June 13, 2018

Black Pink to return to stage Saturday

K-pop fans will get a first look at Black Pink performing onstage on Saturday, on SBS’ flagship music show. YG Entertainment announced Wednesday that the songs off its upcoming EP “Square Up” will be performed live for the first time on “Show! Music Core,” followed by a performance of its double lead tracks of “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and “Forever Young” on Sunday. Teaser image for “Square Up.” (YG Entertainment)Earlier in the day, the agency released the teaser images of the new EP, which contains four

June 13, 2018

‘Ant-Man’ cast says following ‘Infinity War’ like playing after the Beatles

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe having taken a grave turn in the events of its last film, fans of the franchise will be treated to a more lighthearted tone in the upcoming “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily, who respectively play the title characters, said being the immediate follow-up to the $2 billion success of “Avengers: Infinity War” is intimidating, but also exciting.“It’s a bit like trying to follow the Beatles. We’re just happy to be at the show, doing our songs. We’

June 12, 2018

#MeToo misfire threatens to take down superstar Suzy

An unfortunate case of good intentions gone wrong may end up putting Suzy in the defendant’s seat, as a photo studio is pursuing legal action against the Hallyu megastar for wrongfully accusing it of sexual abuse against a YouTube celebrity.According to Seoul Southern District Court on Monday, Once Picture Studio filed for a lawsuit seeking 100 million won ($93,040) in compensation for damages it suffered after it was falsely accused of sexually abusing YouTuber Yang Ye-won.  Suzy (JYP Entertain

June 12, 2018