NCT Dream, Seventeen, Stray Kids, and Ive win grand prizes at Hanteo Music Awards

The 31st Hanteo Music Awards’ four grand prizes — Best Artist, Best Album, Best Performance and Best Song, went to NCT Dream, Seventeen, Stray Kids and Ive, respectively, on Sunday, the last day of the two-day event held in Seoul. NCT Dream bagged the Best Artist award for showing outstanding musical ability and powerful influence in the music industry. Only Mark, Jaemin and Chenle of NCT Dream attended the event, as other members of the group were working on the group’s upcomi

Feb. 19, 2024

TWS goes global through partnership with Geffen Records, Virgin Music

TWS is going global by partnering with the world’s leading music company Universal Music Group (UMG) labels in the US and Japan. According to TWS' agency Pledis Entertainment, a six-member boy band inked a partnership with UMG’s Geffen Records for its group promotion in the US and with Virgin Music under Universal Music Japan for its group promotion in Japan. Through this partnership, TWS will receive support from the above labels to promote and distribute its albums in the US a

Feb. 18, 2024

J-Hope of BTS to introduce new project ‘Hope on the Street’ in March

J-Hope of BTS is presenting a new project in March. He dropped a teaser clip of the upcoming project, “Hope on the Street” on BTS’ official YouTube channel Sunday, a day before his birthday. The clip begins with J-Hope, who is the main dancer of BTS, working on his performance at a dance studio back in 2015. The clip then fast forwards to 2024, and J-Hope appears dancing to a beat with a night view of a city in the background. “J-Hope came up with his own idea for this pr

Feb. 18, 2024

[Herald Interview] Choi Woo-shik shows inner turmoil of killer in 'A Killer's Paradox'

South Korean actor Choi Woo-shik, known for his role in hit TV shows and movies such as "Our Beloved Summer (2021)," "Parasite (2019)," and "Train to Busan (2016)," said he tried to portray the emotional turmoil of a character faced with the ethical dilemma of condemning evil through murder, in his latest work, "A Killer's Paradox." The 8-part Netflix original crime thriller drama series, based on the webtoon of the same title, tells the story of Yi T

Feb. 17, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] TXT will be back in April: report

Tomorrow X Together will make a comeback in April, according to a local media report on Friday. The band’s latest album was its third studio album “The Name Chapter: Freefall” that sold over 2.25 million copies in the first week when it came out in October last year and entered Billboard 200 at No. 3. The album stayed on the main albums chart for seven weeks in a row and reentered in the first week of January. The members told fans last month at an awards ceremony that they h

Feb. 16, 2024

Netflix co-CEO expresses excitement for return of popular Korean series this year

Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive officer of Netflix, said on Friday he is excited about the return of several popular Netflix originals this year. "We're very excited about the return of 'Physical: 100' and 'Sweet Home,' and of course, 'Squid Game' this year," Sarandos said during a brief meeting with reporters at Netflix headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Friday. Sarandos is on a two-day visit to the country, which marks his second visit since Jun

Feb. 16, 2024

K-content illegal streaming site shut down after US court ruling

A US court decided to shut down Kokoa TV, a streaming website which illegally streamed a slew of Korean contents to overseas streamers, while ruling in favor of Wavve Americas -- which raised a suit against the website for copyright and trademark infringement. According to the US District Court, District of Arizona, Tumi MAX, the operator of Kokoa TV, has been ordered to cease activities such as storing, reproducing, displaying, or distributing any of the copyrighted works, as of Feb. 9. The US

Feb. 16, 2024

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Wonka” (US) Opened Jan. 31 Fantasy Directed by Paul King Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet), who dreams of becoming the world’s best chocolatier, encounters a “chocolate cartel” and a plot to kick him out of town as its business is threatened. But next to him are four trustworthy supporters whom he meets at Mrs. Scrubitt’s launderette. “Citizen of a Kind” (South Korea) Opened Jan. 24 Drama Directed by Park Young-ju Duk-hee (Ra Mi-ran), who lives an

Feb. 16, 2024

Chanel meets ballet 'Modance' to come Korea in April

In a collaboration between the French fashion house Chanel and the world of dance, a ballet performance will get a Korean premiere in April. "Modanse" is scheduled to be staged at the Seoul Arts Center on April 17 and 19-21, starring the renowned ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, according to InArt Production on Wednesday. The title "Modanse" is a combination of the French words "mode," meaning fashion, and "danse," meaning dance. The 120-minute performance is

Feb. 15, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] NCT Wish to meet Korean fans for 1st time

NCT Wish will take the stage as part of a concert in Seoul for the first time on March 4, announced label SM Entertainment on Thursday. The band of six members are set to debut on Feb. 21, at the label’s all-star concert that will be held at Tokyo Dome. They will drop debut single “Wish” on Feb. 28 and the titular track will be included in the set list for the Seoul gig, dubbed “NCT Wish’s Wishlist.” The bandmates will also talk about their preparations for

Feb. 15, 2024

YG, Japanese agency to hold auditions together for the first time in 8 years

YG Entertainment will hold an open audition in cooperation with Japanese entertainment company Avex, the first joint audition held by the two companies in about eight years since the "Younguns Audition" in 2016. The YG x Avex Audition 2024 will be held in seven major Japanese cities, kicking off in Sapporo on April 7. The other cities include Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka, Tokyo, Sendai and Okinawa. Those born between April 2, 2003, and April 1, 2013, are eligible to apply, regardless of thei

Feb. 15, 2024

Five Korean films to be shown at 74th Berlin Film Festival

Five Korean films will be screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday for a 10-day run in Berlin. One of the top three film festivals around the world, along with the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival, this year’s Berlin Film Festival opened with Belgian director Tim Mielants’ “Small Things Like These.” South Korean director Heo Myeong-haeng, who debuted recently with Netflix's original film “Badland Hunter

Feb. 15, 2024

[Exclusive] Epik High to hold concert at Inspire next month

Epik High is set to hold its first concert of the year next month. The group is holding a standalone concert on March 16 at the Inspire Arena, according to an industry insider. The concert comes three months after the hip-hop trio’s 20th-anniversary concert at the SK Olympic Handball Arena in Seoul on Dec. 15-17. The trio was also on a world tour titled “All Time High Tour” last year, performing in 36 cities in seven countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Epik High debute

Feb. 15, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] (G)I-dle logs 300m views with ‘Tomboy,’ ‘Queencard’ videos

(G)I-dle garnered 300 million views each with the music videos for “Tomboy” and “Queencard,” according to agency Cube Entertainment on Wednesday. The music video for “Tomboy” reached the milestone on Feb. 7, becoming the group’s first to achieve the feat. Queencard” followed four days later. “Tomboy” is the main track from the group's first studio album “I Never Die” from 2022 and “Queencard” fronted its s

Feb. 14, 2024

[History through films] ‘Taegukgi,’ a tearful story of two brothers in battle that divided Korea

Director Kang Je-gyu’s 2004 war action film “Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War” follows a simple storyline that revolves around two brothers – Jin-tae (Jang Dong-gun) and Jin-seok (Won Bin) -- who are drafted to the South Korean Army to fight in the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950. The brutal and inhumane conditions on the battlefield leave little room for thinking about the implications of the war. Jin-tae, the eldest son in the family, is the breadwinner and r

Feb. 14, 2024

[Herald Review] Kyugrockjeol mesmerizes audience with music, drinks and rock spirit

Audiences of various ages flocked to Musinsa Garage, the largest concert hall in Hongdae area, Seoul, on Tuesday night, to take part in the fourth day of Kyungrockjeol. Kyungrockjeol is one of South Korea’s largest annual indie rock music festivals, which started in 2005 as a birthday party for Han Kyung-rok, the bassist of the punk band Crying Nut. The festival soon became an opportunity for unknown musicians to present themselves to larger audiences. Tuesday's show featured five art

Feb. 14, 2024

Jennie, Jungkook climb back up Billboard charts

Jennie of Blackpink and Jungkook of BTS are climbing back up Billboard’s main album and single charts. According to Billboard, the song “One Of The Girls” by Jennie, Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd rose to a new peak of No. 57, up from No. 58 the previous week, on Billboard’s Hot 100 dated Feb. 17. “One Of The Girls” is one of the original soundtracks of the HBO series “The Idol,” in which Jennie starred. This makes Jennie the first female K-pop solo

Feb. 14, 2024

Ten of NCT debuts solo with first EP 'Ten’

From Latin pop to hip-hop, Ten of NCT challenged himself with diverse music genres for his first official solo album, “Ten,” released on Tuesday. “I’ve waited for this moment for so long. I put my own ideas, including the album concept, into this album after thorough and continuous discussion with the staff of my agency. So, I was able to enjoy every process of coming up with this solo album,” said Ten when introducing his first EP during a press conference in Seoul

Feb. 13, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids to meet fans in Seoul next month

Stray Kids will host a fan meetup in Seoul on March 29-31, announced label JYP Entertainment on Tuesday. The eight-member act’s fourth official fan meet is named “Magic School,” and the last day’s show will be broadcast online as well. It take place about nine months since the group's previous fan meeting. Meanwhile, the band is shortlisted for “Group/Duo of the Year” by the People’s Choice Awards that will be announced on Feb. 18 in the US. It al

Feb. 13, 2024

[Herald Interview] Ji Pyeong-kwon’s gugak crossover resonates in ballet ‘Korea Emotion’

In a poignant duet of daegeum and pansori, vocalist Kwon Song-hee, a member of the alternative pop band Leenalchi, sings achingly. An orchestral blend of Western classical string instruments, daegeum and pansori plays out in a strangely harmonious manner with waltz-like rhythms that brighten the mood. Against this backdrop of crossover music, two ballet dancers gracefully move under the silvery moonlight. Acclaimed ballerina Kang Mi-sun, a principal dancer at Universal Ballet, earned the title o

Feb. 13, 2024