Solbi announces surprise release

Singer Solbi on Thursday announced an unscheduled new release for Friday, saying she will unveil the music video for the new song at 9 p.m. on YouTube.According to her agency M.A.P Crew, the video will be released on the official YouTube channel of the dance hip-hop trio Typhoon, in which she is the lead vocalist.  Solbi (M.A.P Crew)The new album “Hyperism: Blue -- Class” is a follow-up to the EP “Hyperism: Red” that was released last May. The agency said that the new album would mark the artist

March 15, 2018

Pianist Kim Sun-wook, cellist Jian Wang to woo audience with romance

Internationally acclaimed Korean pianist Kim Sun-wook will perform a recital with cellist Jian Wang in Korea next month, featuring works by Romantic composers, including Chopin, Schubert and Rachmaninoff. Starting with an invitation-only concert at Samsung Concert Hall in Yongin on Friday, Kim and Wang will hold a total of five duo recitals in Korea in April.  Pianist Kim Sun-wook (Vincero)Their Seoul concert will be held Saturday at Lotte Concert Hall. This will be followed by concerts at Daeje

March 15, 2018

Winner to return with new album on April 4

K-pop boy group Winner is cooking up something special with the number four, as it returns with a new album on April 4. The four-piece act’s upcoming second full-length album is its first full-length album in four years, as well as its first release in eight months since “Love Me Love Me” from August last year.  (YG Entertainment)The date of Winner’s return also has another significance, as the act had rolled out its breakout hit “Really Really” on April 4 last year as well. Winner was formed th

March 15, 2018

Global boy band project NCT on attack as full group

Just as all seven dragon balls are summoned to maximize their power in Japanese manga and anime “Dragon Ball,” all 18 members of NCT, hailing from different backgrounds and countries, have joined forces to rattle the K-pop scene with its massive “NCT 2018 Empathy” project.NCT, an acronym for “Neo Cultural Technology,” was launched by entertainment behemoth S.M. Entertainment in 2016 with the idea of an unlimited number of subunit groups based in cities around the world. After performing separate

March 15, 2018

TV drama ‘Mother’ to go to Cannes

Cable channel tvN’s Wednesday-Thursday drama “Mother” is to be screened at Canneseries, the Cannes International Series Festival.The festival, which is to take place from April 4 to 11 in Cannes, France, aims to highlight series from around the world, giving “the new art form” an international voice. The poster of the drama series “Mother” (tvN)The roster for the festival’s official competition was announced Tuesday. Some 10 drama series from various countries were nominated, including tvN’s “Mo

March 14, 2018

[Video] Promoting ‘Beauty’ of Korea globally

Sheet masks, lip stain and BB creams have been mainstays of the tidal wave of Korean beauty around the world, but new beauty entertainment show “The Beauty” hopes to add more to the list. The show, which aired in August via KBS World to more than 110 countries, is to return with its second season on March 24 with six new episodes. The cast of “The Beauty,“ (from left) makeup artist Park Tae-yun, Choi Jong-hun of FT Island, comedian Jang Do-yeon and actress Han Eun-jung pose for photos at a media

March 14, 2018

Big Bang’s Seungri reveals enlistment plan

Seungri of Big Bang revealed his plan to enlist in the military via his social media account.The youngest Big Bang member took to Instagram on Tuesday evening to share his thoughts on his mandatory military service.  (YG Entertainment)“Today, Daesung enlisted. And I, the last group member who has yet to enlist, also plan to join the Army after finishing all scheduled activities for this year, in order to minimize the group’s hiatus,” he wrote. Seungri posted a promotional image for the group’s n

March 14, 2018

[Album review] GOT7’s new album is decent, but not fresh

GOT7“Eyes on You”IRIVERAfter several style switch-ups ranging from hip-hop to EDM, GOT7 has been pursuing “pure” and “boyish” images rather than a charismatic and edgy vibe for its last few singles. And the seven-piece’s new EP is in the vein of the effusive sound that it favored on last year’s “7 for 7” album. The seven-track album, created by the members, has nice things to talk about: “love” and “gratitude,” themes that go well with the season as the weather gets milder. But here’s the thing:

March 14, 2018

YouTube to stream original documentary series on BTS

An original documentary series featuring K-pop group BTS will be made available on YouTube's paid service this month, according to the US video streaming company Wednesday.The series, titled "BTS: Burn the Stage," will consist of eight episodes, with the two first episodes to be available May 28 on YouTube Red, YouTube's paid service. Episode 1 will be made available for free. (Twitter)The weekly series, which will last until May 9, will feature behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of BTS me

March 14, 2018

Big Bang dominates music streaming charts with 'Flower Road'

Big Bang made a clean sweep of South Korean music streaming charts on Wednesday with "Flower Road," a song produced before the act went into a hiatus due to members' mandatory military duties.The song, released Tuesday evening, stood at No. 1 on all eight domestic music streaming charts, including Melon, Genie, Bugs Music, Mnet and Soribada, as of 9 a.m. Wednesday. K-pop act Big Bang poses for photos during a publicity event for the movie "Big Bang Made" in Seoul on June 28, 2016. (Yonhap)Big Ba

March 14, 2018

[Herald Interview] So Ji-sub wants to be a good man than a good actor

When So Ji-sub was approached to take on the leading role for “Be With You,” the actor first turned it down due to pressure of playing a dad.“I couldn’t imagine myself as a father, so I didn’t think I would be able to do it. If I started shooting, feeling like that, I would hinder the production,” he said in a group interview on Friday. “But I just couldn’t pass it up. I wanted to work in a film that makes me feel good.”In the movie, he plays the role of a young father lamenting the death of his

March 13, 2018

[Herald Interview] Son Ye-jin has special place in heart for melodrama

Despite decades of prevailing in Korean cinema, melodrama appears to have relinquished its crown to darker and grittier thrillers and action films. Playing her first role in a melodrama film in years in “Be With You,” Son Ye-jin said she has been wanting to present the audience with a quality melodrama flick for a while.“It’s not so much that I wanted to sustain my nickname ‘Melodrama Queen,’ as that the genre has always been something that I wanted to do,” she said in a group interview in Seoul

March 13, 2018

[Herald Review] Just to ‘Be With You’

The past prevalence of melodramas on both small and silver screens has been a divisive issue among Korean audiences. While a great many fans enjoy dramatic tearjerkers, others are against the film’s tendency of turning into a cry fest.“Be With You” -- directed by Lee Jang-hoon and starring So Ji-sub and “Melodrama Queen” Son Ye-jin -- is a film that does a satisfactory job of adding the right amount of sadness. A scene from “Be With You” (Lotte Entertainment)The story follows Woo-jin and his son

March 13, 2018

Park Shin-hye, So Ji-sub to star in tvN’s new variety show

Actress Park Shin-hye and actor So Ji-sub will star in tvN’s upcoming variety show “Little House in the Woods,” which will be produced by Na Young-suk. According to the two celebrities’ agencies Tuesday, Park and Shin have confirmed their roles in the program that will follow the two big-name stars as they live off the grid in the middle of the woods, out of the reach of people and technology.The two are currently filming the show’s first episode on Jeju Island, according to sources.  Park Shin-

March 13, 2018

Biting the bullet: How K-pop stars confront military duty

K-pop stars are often forced to leave the limelight in their prime to serve in the military. In South Korea, all able-bodied men are legally obligated to complete a military service term of around two years, as the country is technically still at war with North Korea.In the past, stars often feared that they might be forgotten in the fast-changing entertainment realm where fame can dissipate quickly. But idols nowadays are seemingly answering the call of duty head-on, with joint or phased enlist

March 13, 2018

Big Bang’s Daesung starts military service

Kang Dae-sung, more widely known as Daesung of Big Bang, began his mandatory military service Tuesday. The singer arrived at Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, to join the Army, starting with a five-week training session. After the basic training period, he will be assigned to an Army unit, where he will carry out the rest of his duty. Daesung salutes before his enlistment Tuesday. (Yonhap)Fans gathered outside the military camp to say goodbye to the star. A large number of the fans were Japanese as Da

March 13, 2018

VIXX confirms new release in April

VIXX is gearing up to release another new song, and presumably a new concept, with its April release.Jellyfish Entertainment on Monday confirmed reports that the K-pop act will release a new record next month, although it is yet unclear specifically when it will be released or what form it will take.  VIXX (Nylon-Jellyfish Entertainment)It will mark the first release in Korea since the EP “Shangri-La/Paradise on Earth” in May of last year. The EP showed the boyband adopting an oriental image and

March 12, 2018

Big Bang’s Taeyang starts military service

Taeyang of K-pop group Big Bang began his military service Monday. The vocalist will undergo his five-week basic training in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, after which he will be assigned to an army unit, according to his agency YG Entertainment. Fans gathered at the scene to say goodbye to the star on Monday afternoon, while his wife Min Hyo-rin was absent from the scene. Taeyang’s enlistment will be followed by that of bandmate Daesung, who is set to join the army on Tuesday. Big Bang leader G-Dr

March 12, 2018

BTS wins Best Boy Band at 2018 iHeartRadio awards in US

K-pop sensation BTS won two awards, including Best Boy Band, at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards in the United States.The seven-member act took home the Best Boy Band and Best Fan Army trophies at this year's annual music awards held by the US radio network iHeartMedia at The Forum in Los Angeles on Monday (local time). (Screenshot of iHeartRadio website-Yonhap)BTS beat CNCO, PRETTYMUCH, The Vamps and Why Don't We for the Best Boy Band award. In the Best Fan Army awards, the Korean act beat the

March 12, 2018

[Trending] #Nine #DearCloud #Jonghyun #King of Mask Singer

Band Dear Cloud‘s vocalist Nine took to MBC’s singing competition show “King of Mask Singer” on Sunday night and commemorated her close friend Jonghyun who took his life in 2017. The number of tweets that include “Nine Unni” surpassed 6,600 on Twitter as of 9 a.m. Monday morning, while the name “Nine” and her band’s name “Dear Cloud” shot to the first rank of Naver’s trending bar on Sunday night after the show. (MBC)The singer, who wore a mask called “Matrix” during the competition, unveiled her

March 12, 2018