Kyuhyun to embark on first solo Asia tour

Singer Kyuhyun plans to embark on his first solo Asia tour since his debut. His agency, Antenna, released a poster for the "2024 Kyuhyun Asia Tour Restart" on its official social media, announcing the schedule for Kyuhyun's Asia tour. Kyuhyun will kick off the Asia tour with a three-day concert at Blue Square MasterCard Hall in Yongsan, Seoul, from March 8-10. The soloist will then meet with fans in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Osaka and Yokohama in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and

Jan. 17, 2024

IU to hold first world tour in 5 years

Singer and actor IU will hold a world tour for the first time in five years. IU is set to perform four times at the KSPO Dome in Seoul on March 2-3 and March 9-10, kicking off the "IU H.E.R. World Tour Concert," according to IU's agency, EDAM Entertainment on Wednesday. The meaning of the concert title will be revealed later, the agency said. IU will tour 18 cities in 12 countries including Seoul; Yokohama, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore; Jakarta, Indonesia; Hong Kong; Manila, t

Jan. 17, 2024

[Herald Interview] Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee say historical themes drew them to 'Gyeongseong Creature'

Actors Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee said they most wanted to portray the lives of people living in 1945, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, through their roles in "Gyeongseong Creature." The final episode of the first season of the 10-part Netflix original series aired on Jan. 5. "Gyeongseong Creature" tells the story of Jang Tae-sung (Park Seo-joon) and Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee), who investigate clandestine operations taking place in a hidden basement of a hospita

Jan. 17, 2024

'Captivating the King' to capture love-hate relationship between king and spy

Sparks are set to fly as South Korean actors Jo Jung-suk and Shin Se-kyung star in tvN's new historical romance drama "Captivating the King," in which they will portray a love-hate relationship between a king and a spy. The 16-part drama series centers around the relationship between Lee In (played by Jo Jung-suk), who rises to the position of king of Joseon, and Kang Hee-soo (played by Shin Se-kyung), a spy who approaches him seeking revenge. "Although it is a fusion histo

Jan. 17, 2024

Choi Min-sik returns with “Exhuma,” his first-ever occult flick

Veteran actor Choi Min-sik of “Old Boy” who gained huge popularity last year with Disney+ series “Big Bet” stars in his first-ever occult flick, “Exhuma,” directed by "K-occult master" Jang Jae-hyun. “I personally don’t watch scary films. I suffer after watching them. But I not only had curiosity in the occult genre, I wanted to know more about how the director would delve into this superstitious, abstract concept in a cinematic way,&rdqu

Jan. 17, 2024

BTS members RM, V complete basic military training

RM and V of K-pop supergroup BTS completed five weeks of boot camp training Tuesday, the Army said, after enlisting late last year to carry out their mandatory military service. The two members earned the rank of private after undergoing various training, including basic combat and chemical, biological and radiological defense drills, at the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, 152 kilometers south of Seoul. At the boot camp graduation ceremony, the two members received an award as elite trai

Jan. 16, 2024

Seven K-pop albums among the top 10 CD sales in US in 2023

Seven of the top 10-selling pop music CDs in the US in 2023 were K-pop albums, with the other three albums all coming from pop superstar Taylor Swift. Swift's "Taylor's Version" topped the list with a total of 800,000 sales, according to an annual report for 2023 released by Luminate, an American music and entertainment industry data research firm. The singer's 10th studio album, "Midnights" and "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)," both sold about 260

Jan. 16, 2024

Golden Girls to tour 12 cities

Golden Girls, a new K-pop group consisting of four legendary female singers Insooni, Park Mi-kyung, Shin Hyo-beom and Lee Eun-mi, will tour 12 cities nationwide starting February. They are also reportedly pushing for overseas concerts as well. The Golden Girls will perform in Daejeon, Cheongju, Busan, Gwangju, Uijeongbu, Incheon and Changwon, starting with a concert at Kyunghee University's Peace Hall in Seoul Feb. 3-4. Golden Girls is a new K-pop group produced by Park Jin-young of JYP Ent

Jan. 16, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Pentagon’s Hui goes solo

Hui of Pentagon held a media showcase for his new solo album in Seoul on Tuesday and talked about debuting as a solo musician, after eight years as the leader and main vocalist of the band. Introducing himself as a “solo rookie artist,” he said that everything still feels surreal. “I’ve put quite a long time into this and thinking that I get to unveil (this) today has made me shake since yesterday,” said the singer and songwriter, who has fully devoted himself to p

Jan. 16, 2024

Cho Seung-woo, Jeong Sun-ah, 'SheStars!' win at Korea Musical Awards

The creators and actors of “Memphis,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “If, Then” were recognized as the most accredited musicals, while the “failed” “SheStars!” was named best musical of the year at the eighth Korea Musical Awards that took place Monday evening. Co-written by Kolleen Park and Jeon Su-yang and directed by Park, “SheStars!” traces back through various girl K-pop groups from the 1930s to 1970s. “We faile

Jan. 16, 2024

FT Island to go on Asia tour

FT Island is embarking on an Asia tour, “2024 FT Island Live ‘Hey Day’ in Asia,” this month to meet with its fans abroad. The band’s first stop is Macao on Jan. 27, followed by Bangkok on Feb. 3, Taipei on Feb. 18, Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 24, Hong Kong on March 2, Jakarta on March 16 and Singapore on March 22, according to FNC Entertainment. Tickets to the shows in Taipei and Kuala Lumpur are already sold out. FT Island is preparing a setlist that includes a solo drum

Jan. 16, 2024

Post-apocalypse Netflix original ‘Badland Hunters’ packed with Don Lee action

A household name in South Korea for crime-action franchise flicks, actor Don Lee – also known as Ma Dong-seok here – has joined hands with his long-time partner, martial arts director Heo Myung-haeng, for Netflix original film “Badland Hunters." The dystopian action film, which opens on Jan. 26, is Heo’s directorial debut film. Set in a post-earthquake Seoul where society has completely collapsed, fearless hunter Nam-san (Lee) goes out to rescue Soo-na (Roh Jeong-eui

Jan. 16, 2024

[Herald Interview] Sistar19 shows maturity in new single 'No More (Ma Boy)'

Sistar19, the unit from the now-defunct girl group Sistar, is back with a new single album “No More (Ma Boy).” This is the duo's first new single album in 11 years. Hyolyn and Bora of Sistar19 show what it is to sing and dance in a relaxed and composed manner, a change that comes from years in the K-pop scene. “We released our first digital single as Sistar19 just three years after our debut so we were really tense when performing. But with this new album, we wanted to sho

Jan. 16, 2024

Nmixx returns with new EP, 'Fe304: BREAK,' to break social prejudice

K-pop girl group Nmixx hopes to break prejudice and create a society in which everyone can be equally loved, which is a message the group hopes to portray through its new EP, “Fe304: BREAK.” Donning strange but cute hats, the group held a press conference Monday to introduce its new album, the first in six months. “Today we are dressed in red and black. We hoped to represent prisoners who want to break free from the hardships they face in the real world and head toward a utopia

Jan. 16, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] BTS tops 500m views with ‘Black Swan’ music video

    BTS generated 500 million views on YouTube with the music video for “Black Swan,” according to label Big Hit Music on Monday. It is the band’s 17th music video to reach the milestone. “Black Swan” is a B-side track from its fourth studio album “Map of the Soul: 7” which came out in 2020. The song was dropped in advance and ranked No. 57 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and No. 46 on UK’s Official Singles Top 100. It also topped iTune

Jan. 15, 2024

Are Korean dramas struggling on Netflix?

Despite the continued success of Netflix's global hit Korean drama originals such as “Squid Game,” "The Glory," and "Hellbound," which have all topped Netflix's non-English TV series weekly chart in succession, Netflix's recent K-drama original releases made at higher production costs are struggling to reap the same results. According to Netflix's "Global Top 10" list, which ranks its titles in four categories including "Film (En

Jan. 15, 2024

[Herald Interview] Tei hopes to exceed expectations with dream role in 'Rebecca'

South Korean singer and actor Tei embarked on his journey as a ballad singer in 2003, leaving a strong impression on the public with chart-topping hits such as "Love Leaves Its Scent" and "Same Pillow." Transitioning to musicals, Tei made his debut on the stage in 2012's "Sherlock Holmes.” His career has steadily continued with productions like "Gone With the Wind" (2018) and "Gwangju" (2020). Recently, the 40-year-old actor took on the rol

Jan. 15, 2024

[Herald Review] Lee Junho returns as soloist with sold-out concert

While he is known for his multitude of talents, Lee Junho once again proved himself to be a highly skilled singer at his two-day solo concert in Seoul, his first in five years. After completing his mandatory military service in March 2021, Lee focused on his acting career, taking part in projects like the hit TV series “Red Sleeves” and “King The Land,” where he played the charismatic male leads. On Sunday, almost 11,000 fans filled Jamsil Indoor Stadium for Lee’s s

Jan. 15, 2024

Hit foreign films reopen at local theaters

Hit foreign films with large fan bases are reopening at local theaters. Japanese animation “The First Slam Dunk” began its second round of screening on Jan. 4 to celebrate the first anniversary of its theatrical release at cinemas nationwide. The film adaptation of the popular Japanese basketball comic book series "Slam Dunk" topped 4.7 million tickets sold in just two months after it hit local theaters in January last year. Following the movie’s success, special scre

Jan. 15, 2024

[Herald Interview] 'Single's Inferno 3' may be most successful season yet

The producers of Netflix dating show "Single's Inferno 3" said the third season was the most successful compared to previous seasons. The last episode of "Single's Inferno 3" was aired Tuesday amid much excited squabbles about the cast's actions and their decisions on their final partners. "'Single's Inferno' and 'Single's Inferno 2' garnered total viewing hours of some 6 million viewing hours, respectively, but the third seas

Jan. 15, 2024