[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids gear up for return: report

Stray Kids are set to make a comeback in November, according to a local media report on Tuesday. Label JYP Entertainment acknowledged that the band is preparing an album but added that the date is yet to be determined. Its last album was third studio album “Five-Star," which was rolled out in June and notched the top spot on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the main albums chart for 13 weeks in a row. The LP rewrote the K-pop sales record for its first week, selling over 4.61 million

Sept. 19, 2023

[Herald Interview] R&B musician Sole is proud of how far she has come

For singer-songwriter Sole, the last year has been a transformative period, opening up new challenges that she wouldn't have taken on before. One big challenge was creating her album, "A Love Supreme," which consists of remakes of original songs by other artists. The album was released Monday. A self-made musician who built her career up from the bottom, Sole has always tried to keep moving forward since her debut in 2017. Last year, just when she felt she had achieved stability i

Sept. 19, 2023

TvN's ‘My Lovely Liar’ sweeps international viewing charts

Despite its muted performance in Korea, "My Lovely Liar" has swept viewing charts overseas. Cable channel tvN's latest fantasy, romantic comedy series has topped multiple video streamers’ charts for TV series in more than 140 countries, according to the broadcaster, which is run by entertainment giant CJ ENM. The 16-part series soared to the No. 1 slot on Rakuten Viki’s viewership chart for two consecutive weeks after its premiere on July 31 in more than 130 countri

Sept. 19, 2023

Sunmi to release new album next month

K-pop diva Sunmi is returning with a new album next month. She recently finished shooting the music video for her upcoming album, according to Abyss Company on Tuesday. This comeback comes a year and four months after the singer released her digital single “Heart Burn” in June of last year. All of Sunmi’s previous releases -- such as “Gashina,” “Heroine,” “Noir,” “LALALAY,” “Pporappippam,” and “Tail” -- hav

Sept. 19, 2023

DSP Media to debut new girl group Young Posse next month

DSP Media is launching a new girl group called Young Posse on Oct. 18. The agency dropped a teaser clip for the group’s debut on its social media accounts on Tuesday. In it, a frog is drinking a soda in front of a diner and five girls appear on skateboards. The new girl group consists of five members and the name of the group derives from the Latin verb “posse,” which means "to be able." Young Posse is expected to introduce music and performances that break K-pop norm

Sept. 19, 2023

Munich Philharmonic to offer seven all-Beethoven concerts with top Korean musicians

The Munich Philharmonic, a renowned German orchestra founded in 1893, will make a Korea-only tour in late November to take the stage seven times, featuring Korea’s most-sought after musicians. During their tour, which will be conducted by Korean maestro Chung Myung-whun, they will perform all-Beethoven programs in Daegu, Daejeon, Gyeonggi Province’s Gwangju and Seoul from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1. The orchestra will take the stage with pianist Lim Yun-chan four times, performing Beethoven&r

Sept. 18, 2023

Lee Hyori heats up Hyundai Card's Da Vinci Motel fest with solo performance

Hyundai Card's Da Vinci Motel culture fest on Sunday kicked into high gear with pop diva Lee Hyori gracing the stage. Lee was the final performer of the three-day music and culture event hosted by Korea's No. 1 card company at its cultural complex located in Itaewon of Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Celebrating the singer's long-awaited return to the stage, hundreds of fans gathered to Hyundai Card's Understage building, the part of the multipurpose culture spaces where music gigs took p

Sept. 18, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] BTS' V hits Billboard 200 at No. 2 with 1st solo album

V of BTS debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 2 with his first solo album “Layover,” according to a preview of the chart published on Sunday in the US. It is the highest spot for a K-pop solo musician and ties with the records his bandmates Jimin and Suga set with their solo albums “Fate” in March and “D-Day” in April, respectively. V's EP “Layover” sold over 2.1 million copies in the first week, breaking the record for a solo artist in K-pop history.

Sept. 18, 2023

MODAFE explores artistic universe of modern dance

A festival of modern dance returns. The 2023 International Modern Dance Festival (MODAFE), the country’s longest-running festival for modern and contemporary dance, is gearing up to celebrate its 42nd anniversary this year. The festival runs from Wednesday to Oct. 15, at the National Theater of Korea’s Haeoreum Theater and ARKO Arts Theater in Seoul. Under the banner of MODAFE Universe, which alludes to the distinctive artistic views crafted by choreographers and dancers, this year&#

Sept. 18, 2023

[Herald Review] Blackpink finale concert 'Born Pink' in Seoul hints at 'more to come'

Blackpink marked the end of its yearlong world tour “Born Pink” back in Seoul with a two-day concert at Gocheok Sky Dome that attracted 35,000 people. Fans from various nationalities dressed in black and pink had gathered to see the finale of what could be the band's last concert for a while. As the lights dimmed to signal the beginning of the finale, fans chanted “Blackpink” until the stars appeared on center stage amid shooting pink laser beams to perform the first

Sept. 18, 2023

[Herald review] ‘Road to Boston’: uplifting tale of Korea’s heroic marathoners

“Road to Boston” begins with South Korean marathoner Sohn Kee-chung (Ha Jung-woo) standing on the highest podium with a gold medal around his neck at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While Japan's national anthem plays in the background, Sohn covers the Japanese flag attached on his shirt with a flower pot in his hand. For this, Sohn is told never to run again by the Japanese. Eleven years later, Korea is liberated from Japanese colonial rule. An up-and-coming runner named Suh Yun-bok

Sept. 18, 2023

[Herald Interview] Actor Kang Hoon sets new goals, aims high

Up until a few years ago, playing a lead character in a TV series had been something highly unexpected for actor Kang Hoon, 32. Though Kang began his acting career with the 2014 short film “Picnic,” he had little public recognition, taking on minor roles in various projects. It has only been a year that Kang began getting attention -- from both the public and industry insiders -- after playing a supporting role in MBC’s hit period drama, “The Red Sleeve” (2021-22).

Sept. 17, 2023

BTS member Suga to begin military service on Friday

Suga, a member of the K-pop sensation BTS, will begin his mandatory military service this week, his agency announced Sunday. BigHit Music said Suga, 30, will fulfill his military duty by doing an alternative service beginning Friday. Suga will be the third member of the group to join the military. Jin enlisted in December 2022, and J-Hope followed suit in April this year. In early August, Suga, rapper and producer for the group, withdrew his request to delay the start of his mandatory service. U

Sept. 17, 2023

Asia Culture Center to present play by Korean, Vietnamese producers

The Asia Culture Center in Gwangju is to present a play titled “Ben Khong Chong” ("Wharf of Widows"), a collaboration between South Korean and Vietnamese producers, on Saturday and Sunday. The Korea Association of Performing Arts Producers and the Vietnam National Drama Theater showcased some 60 minutes of the play in 2022, as part of an ACC project aimed at promoting international cultural exchanges. This year the play returns with its all-Vietnamese cast, along with an ad

Sept. 17, 2023

Inaugural traditional music orchestra festival to kick off in October

Eight Korean traditional music orchestras from across the country will come together for a gugak festival next month. The inaugural “Korean Traditional Music Orchestra Festival” is to kick off ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the first Korean traditional music orchestra, the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra, which was officially established in March 1965. The festival aims to become an annual event. While there are many forms of K-culture that are thriving, tr

Sept. 17, 2023

KCON to hit Saudi Arabia on Oct. 6-7

The world's biggest Korean culture festival KCON is set to take place in Saudi Arabia next month, CJ ENM said Friday. KCON will take place on Oct. 6-7 in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, the second KCON to happen in the Middle Eastern country, organizer CJ ENM said in a statement. K-pop stars set to perform at the two-day concert are Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Riize, Super Junior D&E (Donghae and Eunhyuk) and 8Turn on Oct. 6 and Dreamcatcher, El7z Up, Evnne, Oh My Girl, Supe

Sept. 15, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids tops Oricon chart with 1st Japan EP

Stray Kids landed atop Oricon’s weekly album ranking with its first EP in Japan, according to label JYP Entertainment on Friday. The EP “Social Path (feat. LiSA) / Super Bowl - Japanese ver.” has stayed atop the chart's daily album ranking for six days in a row. The mini album logged over 500,000 shipments on the day of its release after receiving 500,000 pre-orders, a first for a fourth-generation K-pop group in the country. Separately, the eight-piece band hit the 100-millio

Sept. 15, 2023

Family of late director Kim Ki-young files suit against 'Cobweb' film screening

The family of late filmmaker Kim Ki-young has filed a lawsuit against "Cobweb" production company Anthology Studios to stop the screening of the film, arguing that the film negatively portrays the director. Anthology Studios claims director Kim was not the motif for director Kim Yeol (Song Kang-ho) in the film, reiterating that they would work to prevent any misunderstanding that might arise during the promotion of the film. "We're sorry to have worried the family members of

Sept. 15, 2023

Enhypen wraps up dome tour with historic Tokyo Dome debut

Seven-piece boy Enhypen has made its mark in K-pop history with its Tokyo Dome concerts that ended Thursday. Marking the grand finale of the band's "Fate" world tour in Japan, Enhypen held concerts over Wednesday and Thursday at Tokyo Dome, located in the country's capital city. Enhypen's Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-Ki performed a total of 26 songs over the 200-minute run on both nights, according to their agency Belift Lab on Friday. Blasting ou

Sept. 15, 2023

28th BIFF's Actor's House to spotlight Song Joong-ki, Han Hyo-joo, Youn Yuh-jung, John Cho

This year's Busan International Film Festival will have actors Song Joong-ki, Han Hyo-joo, Youn Yuh-jung and John Cho at its flagship special talk session called Actor's House. Launched in 2021 as an intimate, in-depth talk show, Actor's House has become a place where actors go over their filmography and reveal their new plans and projects. Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung will meet with the audience on Oct. 6. She is expected to share her insights, wisdom and wit, and speak about her

Sept. 15, 2023