Mamamoo’s Solar to hold first solo concerts

Solar of K-pop act Mamamoo will hold her first concerts as a solo artist next month, her agency announced Tuesday.According to RBW, the singer will hold concerts on April 27 and 28 at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. The repertoire will consist of songs from her “Solar Gamsung” project, in which she released reimagined versions of old Korean pop songs. Solar of Mamamoo (RBW)During the concerts, she will also reveal the latest song of the project, along with others written by her.Mamamoo vowed th

March 21, 2018

[Newsmaker] Film authorities attempted to cover up director’s sex harassment: report

In a report released late Tuesday, the state-run Korean Film Council on Tuesday revealed an attempt to cover up a sexual harassment case by a director against her colleague by officials from its affiliated organization.According to KOFIC, officials at the Korean Academy of Film Arts attempted to conceal actions by director Lee Hyun-joo, who was convicted of a sexual attack on her female colleague in 2015 and was sentenced to a suspended prison term in 2017. Lee has claimed innocence, but announc

March 21, 2018

[Album review] Wanna One’s ill-fated album

Wanna One"0+1=1 (I Promise You)”(CJ E&M Music)Albeit efforts to judge the album based on its musicality and not its artists’ off-camera behavior, Wanna One’s new release still needs explanation. Made up of the winners of the second season of the audition program “Produce 101,” this 11-piece K-pop group often says, “Our success is all due to fans’ love and support.” Its second EP “0+1=1 (I Promise You)” is another cupid’s arrow aiming at the hearts of its loyal fans, but it seems to be in trouble

March 21, 2018

[Video] New melodrama to feature Han Hye-jin as dying woman

The upcoming series “Let’s Look at the Sunset Holding Hands” is a melodrama featuring mid-life adults, a genre which has become relatively rare among the deluge of police thrillers in Korea recently, according to director Jung Ji-in. Han Hye-jin stars as Nam Hyun-ju, a woman who discovers she is afflicted with a fatal hereditary brain tumor. In the last days of her life, she wavers between her architect husband, Kim Do-young, played by Yoon Sang-hyun, and her doctor, played by Kim Tae-hoon.Han H

March 21, 2018

Medical drama with comedy, but without doctors, 'A Poem, a Day'

Unlike most medical dramas that feature doctors as the main characters, tvN’s new series “A Poem, a Day” depicts staff who are less often in the spotlight. The new Monday-Tuesday drama centers on the lives of physical therapists and radiology technicians, dubbing them “co-medical staff.” It can also be called a “comedical drama,” as it features a combination of comedy and medicine.  From the left, Jang Dong-yoon, Lee Yoo-bi and Lee Joon-hyuk (tvN)Producer Han Sang-jae hopes to set the series apa

March 20, 2018

Son Yeol-eum to helm Great Mountains Music Festival

Pianist Son Yeol-eum has been appointed Great Mountains Music Festival & School’s new artistic director.Son is the fourth artistic director of the music festival, following founder and first artistic director Kang Hyo and co-directors Chung Myung-wha and Chung Kyung-wha, who resigned from their posts in January. Pianist Son Yeol-eum, Great Mountains Music Festival & School‘s new artistic director (GMMFS)In the last year Son reportedly expressed the hope that GMMFS, originally envisioned to promo

March 20, 2018

Wanna One apologizes for remarks made during live broadcast

K-pop boy group Wanna One has come under fire for remarks it made that were accidently aired during a live broadcast Monday.About four hours before the release of the act’s new album “0+1=1” EP, the members appeared on Mnet’s onelife broadcast “Star Live” to celebrate its comeback. The live show featured the members waiting in a green room before the official broadcast, but the trouble began with Kang Daniel shouting out, “Why aren’t we getting our payment?”Kang’s remark was followed by Park Ji-

March 20, 2018

[Video] TV show ‘I Live Alone’ at its heyday

With the reality TV show “I Live Alone” enjoying a purple patch, the program’s real-life couple, Jun Hyun-moo and Han Hye-jin, opened up about their relationship at a press conference held Monday to mark the show’s fifth anniversary. TV personality Jun Hyun-moo and fashion model Han Hye-jin admitted to the relationship at the end of last month, after news reports regarding the two surfaced. The two have been dating since Christmas.  Jun Hyun-moo and Han Hye-jin pose for photos at a media briefin

March 19, 2018

Yoon Do-hyun denies reports about performing in Pyongyang

Rock musician Yoon Do-hyun, the leader of band YB, has denied reports he was invited to perform in Pyongyang next month with a South Korean art troupe performing there.Earlier Monday, local media reported that YB had been contacted by the government to join the South Korea’s yet-to-be announced art troupe that is set to perform in Pyongyang in April as part of a series of cultural exchanges agreed upon by the two governments. Yoon’s Dee Company agency, however, declined to confirm the reports or

March 19, 2018

Wanna One heralds golden age with ‘0+1=1’ EP

Though destined to disband at the end of this year, project boy band Wanna One promised fans that its golden age has just begun with its new album.The 11-piece act, which consists of winters of the second season of the audition program “Produce 101,” returned with its second EP “0+1=0 (I Promise You)” on Monday, marking the group’s first release since the EP “1-1=0 (Nothing Without You)” in November.  With the new album, the group said, it is determined to make this year its “golden age.” Wanna

March 19, 2018

[K-talk] Actress Lee Tae-im announces sudden retirement

Actress Lee Tae-im has announced she is ending her acting career.“Going through difficulties with many thoughts and pain, I decided to live a normal life,” she wrote in a social media post Monday. “I won’t forget those who loved me. Thank you,” she added. Lee Tae-im (Management Henem)The announcement came as a surprise as Lee had returned to the entertainment scene last summer with the hit drama series “Women of Dignity” on JTBC, after a two-year break. She disappeared from the public eye after

March 19, 2018

‘Music has power to connect us’

He may be a classical star on his own but for violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill, his latest album “Duo” shows the power two musicians can create. “If I am a soloist on a stage, it’s like I am an actor delivering a monologue, and that’s very wonderful. You think of all monologues in Shakespeare, they are very profound and complete. But most stage drama has to have at least two characters,” he said during a press meeting in Seoul on Monday to promote the album. “I think this album is a great example

March 19, 2018

FNC to sue netizens for swapping AOA Seolhyun’s face onto nude photos

FNC Entertainment plans to sue internet users who modified photos of singer Seolhyun’s face and put them onto nude images, the agency said Monday. “We plan to gather all data on the altered photos that are currently circulating, find out the route through which they circulated, and submit the complaint today,” FNC said in a statement. The agency said it found on the internet last Friday photos featuring the face of singer Seolhyun, a member of girl group AOA, pasted onto nude images of other peo

March 19, 2018

Theater director Lee grilled over alleged sexual violence

Police questioned Lee Youn-taek, a disgraced theater writer and director, for two consecutive days over the weekend over alleged sexual violence against female junior members of his drama troupe.His appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday morning, hours after he returned home at 1:10 a.m. following a 15-hour interrogation.The 66-year-old Lee is one of the high-profile South Korean men to fall over sexual misconduct as the "Me Too" movement quickly spreads in the country.After

March 18, 2018

BTS video become band's sixth to top 200 million views on YouTube

A music video by the K-pop sensation BTS, or Bangtan Boys, has garnered over 200 million views on YouTube, its management agency said Saturday.The music video of "Save Me" from the group's special album "Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa: Young Forever" released in May 2016 topped 200 million views on the global video site as of Saturday evening, according to Big Hit Entertainment. (Big Hit)"Save Me" is BTS' sixth music video to hit the 200-million-view milestone after "DNA", "Fire", "Dope", "Blood Sweat & Tear

March 17, 2018

Theater director Lee apologizes amid sex assault allegations

Police here questioned Lee Youn-taek, a disgraced South Korean theater writer and director, Saturday for allegations that he sexually harassed or assaulted more than a dozen women using his status and clout.Lee was a leading figure in South Korea's theater circles. But he has faced sex offense charges amid the spread of the "Me Too" movement.  Lee Youn-taek appears for questioning at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Saturday. (Yonhap) He is accused of sexually harassing or assaulti

March 17, 2018

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

Be With You(Korea)Opened March 14Romance, DramaDirected by Lee Jang-hoonWoo-jin (So Ji-sub) and his son Ji-ho (Kim Ji-hwan) struggle to cope with the loss of Woo-jin’s wife Soo-ah (Son Ye-jin). Ji-ho believes that his mother will return during the rainy season, just like in his favorite fairy tale. One day, Soo-ah miraculously comes back without her memory.The Vanished(Korea)Opened March 7ThrillerDirected by Lee Chang-heeThe body of recently deceased business mogul Yoon Sul-hee (Kim Hee-ae) goes

March 16, 2018

TVXQ to return with full-length album on March 28

Legendary K-pop duo TVXQ will make a long-awaited return with a new album on March 28, according to the group’s agency S.M. Entertainment on Friday. The duo’s upcoming eighth full-length album will mark the duo’s first release since “Rise As God” in July 2015, as well as the first group activity since U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin were discharged from their mandatory military duties in April and August last year, respectively.  TVXQ (S.M. Entertainment)One of K-pop’s first-generation boy bands a

March 16, 2018

R&B trio Solid to return with new album in 21 years

After confirming its reunion last week, Solid, an iconic R&B trio from the 1990s, officially announced Thursday that it would release a self-created album titled “Into the Light” on March 22, and throw a party at the Hyundai Card Understage concert hall in Seoul.The accompanying music video for Solid’s new song, which will be released with the album, is to feature a world-famous beatboxer, according to sources. Earlier last week, the trio dropped a teaser clip on its official social media accoun

March 16, 2018

[Herald interview] Unbridled, yet peaceful rock spirit

Yoon Do-hyun, founder and lead vocalist of YB Band, is one of many celebrities who minimize interaction with the press out of concern that their words may be distorted by the media, stir up controversies, or even be exploited by the government. “I think this is my first interview in over four years. I don’t even remember when was my last one,” said the 47-year-old folk rock singer to The Korea Herald.  The energetic and versatile musician has also never been careless with music in his 24-year ca

March 16, 2018