Woodstock Korea postponed due to rain safety concerns

The Woodstock festival initially scheduled to take place for the first time in Korea from July 28-30 has been postponed to October, the festival's main organizer SGC Entertainment announced Friday. The company addressed safety concerns arising from the rainy season, while adding that it plans to enhance the festival lineup in light of the delay, according to local media reports. “Due to safety concerns and to improve the overall quality of the program, we have decided to postpone the

July 17, 2023

NCT Dream rides MBTI wave with 3rd LP ‘ISTJ’

NCT Dream has returned with the concept of using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as the main concept of its third studio album, "ISTJ," which was released Monday. The K-pop boy band jumped on the current MBTI craze in South Korea by naming its album and its title track “ISTJ,” one of MBTI’s 16 personality types. “Producer Kenzie made this song for us. We loved the concept as MBTI is trending in Korea and we wanted to introduce the trend to people around the worl

July 17, 2023

Seo Hyun-jin, Gong Yoo to star in Netflix's 'The Trunk'

Seo Hyun-jin and Gong Yoo were confirmed as lead actors in Netflix’s Korean original series “The Trunk” on Monday. Seo Hyun-jin, 38, will make her Netflix debut with “The Trunk” as In-ji, an employee in a matchmaking company called New Marriage. “Train to Busan” star Gong Yoo, who mesmerized viewers in Netflix’s “Squid Game” (2021) and “The Silent Sea” (2021), will co-star in the series, playing the role of Jeong-won, a musi

July 17, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s YouTube channel logs record 90m subscribers

Blackpink amassed 90 million subscribers through its YouTube channel, an all-time world record for an artist, according to label YG Entertainment on Monday. The channel launched in June 2016 and reached among the top five in terms of subscribers three years ago before becoming No. 1 among artists in September 2021, dethroning Justin Bieber. Meanwhile, the music video for “As If It’s Your Last” received 1.3 billion views on the platform as of Friday. It is the group’s fif

July 17, 2023

[New on the Scene] Director delves into 12-year-old’s complex world

We have all experienced a time when we wanted to keep a secret from our school friends -- especially if it pertained to feelings of embarrassment about our parents’ work. Director Lee Ji-eun, who made her feature film debut with “The Hill of the Secrets” which opened Wednesday, remembers her time at elementary school when teachers would conduct surveys about the jobs of students’ parents. “It’s a single piece of paper but it contains a complex world of social

July 17, 2023

Enhypen joins star-studded lineup for Heart Dream Awards

Boy band Enhypen will join the nation's biggest singers and bands at the 2023 K Global Heart Dream Awards next month, organizers said Monday. In addition to Enhypen, rookie band Boynextdoor and co-ed quartet Kard will also join the lineup for the event on Aug. 10 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena -- also known as KSPO Dome -- located inside the Olympic Park in Seoul. Solo singers Kim Jae-hwan, Paul Kim and Lee Seung-yoon were also on the latest list of performers that was released. Heart Drea

July 17, 2023

BTS' J-Hope to drop physical edition of 'Jack In The Box'

BTS' J-Hope continues to unveil new solo projects even as he serves the military, heralding a new edition of his solo album next month. The group's agency Big Hit Music on Monday announced that J-Hope will drop "Jack In The Box (Hope Edition)" on Aug. 18. The forthcoming album is a renewed and physical version of the rapper's first solo album "Jack In The Box," which had only been released digitally in the form of "Weverse Album" in July 2022. The LP

July 17, 2023

Line up for SM pre-debut reality show ‘NCT Universe: LASTART’ unveiled

SM Entertainment unveiled all 10 trainees who will take part in its pre-debut reality show, “NCT Universe: LASTART.” The trainees go by the names: Riku, Ryo, Haruta, Kassho, Jungmin, Anderson, Minjae, Ryu, Heitetsu, and Sakuya. These trainees are candidates who will debut as NCT’s new subgroup, one of the three new groups that the K-pop powerhouse plans to launch this year. Through the pre-debut reality show, SM will show the process of evaluating the 10 candidates to select th

July 17, 2023

[Herald Interview] Singing together changes lives, says founder of diverse children's choir

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), a renowned multicultural youth chorus known for its exceptional talent and pioneering diversity model, embarked on its first journey to South Korea this month. A delegation of 100 choristers, aged between 11 and 18, set foot in Gangneung, a coastal city in Gangwon Province, to participate in the 12th World Choir Games from July 3 to 13. Over the course of the 11-day event, the choir showcased its virtuosity and brilliance, earning five go

July 17, 2023

Top film distributors compete with summer blockbusters

Four new blockbusters are set to hit local cinemas this summer, complete with large production budgets and star-studded lineups. Film distributors hope to attract large audiences in the aftermath of the pandemic, but moviegoers' expectations remain low. With the abundance of high quality content available on streaming platforms and soaring ticket prices, Korean audiences have shown a growing trend of consuming content at home, only venturing to cinemas if the ticket is truly worth the price

July 16, 2023

BTS' Jungkook tops US, Japan charts with 'Seven'

BTS' Jungkook has topped US and Japanese music charts with his new solo song "Seven." Following its release on Friday, "Seven (feat. Latto)" soared straight to Spotify's Daily Top Song Global Chart, becoming the first K-pop solo song to enter the chart at No. 1. Spotify, the world's biggest streaming music platform, said the song took the top place with 15,995,378 streams in just a day, an all-time high set by a new release. Along with "Seven," the tune's instrument

July 16, 2023

Dramas depicting dark side of social media gain popularity

Two recent Korean dramas presenting an intimate look into social media-driven lives are enjoying local popularity with unique stories that are easily relatable to many viewers. Though a lot of creative content such as dramas, films and variety shows have included brief scenes depicting social media usage, Netflix’s latest suspense series “Celebrity” and cable channel ENA’s “Battle for Happiness” put the spotlight on characters’ social media interaction

July 16, 2023

Classical music lovers to get their fill come October, November

In October and November, a number of orchestras from around the world will be performing back-to-back in South Korea. These performances will feature collaborations with top Korean and international musicians like pianists Cho Seong-jin and Lim Yun-chan. They will also be an opportunity to compare different renditions of the same piece by different orchestras. A concert by the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Oct. 7 at the Seoul Arts Center will launch the string of concerts. Led by Edward Gardn

July 15, 2023

[Box office] Movies in theaters this week

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” (US) Opened July 12 Adventure/Action Directed by Christopher McQuarrie The seventh installment of this “Mission” series follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the Impossible Mission Force team as they try to prevent a new weapon falling into the wrong hands in order to save all of humanity. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (US) Opened June 21 Animation Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos The Multiverse opens

July 15, 2023

‘Father’s Heart’ shows journey of dad who lost son meeting son who lost dad

Director Kim Sang-cheol, an established filmmaker here focusing on Christian films, returns with new documentary film “The Father’s Heart,” which shows the journey of Hwang Tae-hwan, an influencer also known as Hajun Papa on YouTube and Instagram, through the Philippines, South Korea, Rwanda and the US. Hwang, whose followers on YouTube and Instagram surpass 500,000, lost his second son at just 6 months old in 2020. He died of sudden cardiac arrest. The film starts with Hwang v

July 15, 2023

BTS' Jungkook tops iTunes charts of 106 countries with first solo single 'Seven'

BTS member Jungkook's first solo single, "Seven," topped iTunes Top Song charts of 106 countries around the world Saturday, one day after its release, its agency, BigHit Music, said. Jungkook unveiled the digital single Friday, becoming the sixth member of the septet to debut as a soloist, after J-Hope, Jin, RM, Jimin and Suga. The summer song, described as having an addictive and energizing melody, debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes charts in 106 countries, including the United State

July 15, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] 3 members of Super Junior leave SM Entertainment

Three members of Super Junior will leave SM Entertainment but stay with the group, according to the management firm on Friday. Eunhyuk, Donghae and Kyuhyun decided not to renew their contract with the label, while the remaining six will re-sign, it added. The three will, however, continue their activities as part of the band. The band debuted in 2005 with “Super Junior 05,” and put out 11th studio album “The Road” last year. Kyuhyun is said to be in talks to sign with An

July 14, 2023

Solo debut with 'Seven' motivates BTS’ Jungkook to continue enhancing musical skills

BTS’ Jungkook finally made his official solo debut on Friday, with his first solo single, “Seven.” This solo debut comes a decade after Jungkook made his debut in the music scene as a member of K-pop sensation BTS back in 2013. “Through this single, I showed a new facet of myself that has never been shown better. The single is an addictive song that can be enjoyed easily by anyone. The first time I heard the song, I immediately thought, ‘I need to do this. This is i

July 14, 2023

[Graphic News] BTS boasts most loyal fanbase in music: survey

The K-pop sensation BTS enjoys the most loyal fanbase based on how far its supporters are willing to travel, a survey by a US travel information site showed. Upgraded Points released the results of its poll titled, “How Far Would You Travel to See Your Favorite Artist?” on its website, based on answers from 3,200 American music fans. On the website’s 100-point loyalty index, BTS scored 88.4 points to lead all artists. The score was based on survey questions that included how fa

July 14, 2023

[Today’s K-pop] TXT tops CD album sales in US in H1

Tomorrow X Together sold the most CDs in the US in the first half of this year, according to a report from data company Luminate on Wednesday. Its fifth EP “The Name Chapter: Temptation” sold over 395,000 copies in the country and ranked No. 1 on the Top CD Album Sales chart, said Luminate, whose data is used to compile Billboard's weekly charts. The mini album was No. 2 on the Top Albums Total Sales chart that tallies sales of physical and digital album, only after Taylor Swift&rsq

July 13, 2023