Is there a media double standard for K-pop?

When the sudden death of singer Yohan from boyband TST came to light this week, the group’s agency KJ Music Entertainment put out a statement pleading with the media to refrain from speculation over the cause of his death at his family’s request, which has yet to be revealed. As the local media at large reported on the sad news as a standalone incident, the news soon reached the other side of the world. The Daily Mail covered the story with a list titled “A year of tragedy a

June 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] Onewe still adapting to idol system, but have never been happier to do music

Many popular bands tell a story of how childhood friends from a same block or classmates who shared musical passion started out as an underground band. Onewe, a five-piece band under RBW Entertainment, also evolved from years of friendship, playing music together since middle school. After busking in streets and playing gigs on small stages countless times, the bandmates found a new musical nest at their current agency, which is also home to acts like Mamamoo and Oneus. “We always talk

June 18, 2020

Stray Kids cook up ‘God’s Menu’

Continuing to forge their own path, Stray Kids returned with “God’s Menu,” taking the group’s creative ethos to the next level. The new single was released Wednesday evening as the lead track of the band’s first full-length album “Go Live.” Produced by the band’s internal producing trio of Bang Chan, Han and Changbin, otherwise known as “3racha,” “God’s Menu” takes on a unique theme of cooking, likening the song to a

June 18, 2020

Lee Je-hoon to star in Naver’s first audio cinema

Actor Lee Je-hoon will feature in the newly launched audio cinema content from local internet giant Naver. Lee’s agency Saram Entertainment on Wednesday said Lee will be starring in the aural film “Falling Asleep Beside You” (translated title) set to launch on Naver’s audio streaming platform Audio Clip. Lee will be teaming up with actress Yoo In-na to the play the lead roles in the project. In the romance story -- which is based on the web novel of the same name by

June 17, 2020

Strange as fiction: Imaginary explosion in Kaesong treated in 2017 film 'Steel Rain'

As fearful as it may be, the conflict between the two Koreas has become one of the most tried-and-true subject matters of recent South Korean tentpole films, capturing the imagination of the people living under the constant possibility of war between the divided nations. And while most of these projects tend to strive for historical authenticity, seldom do real-world incidents, such as Tuesday's blowup of an inter-Korean office building in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, eerily echo fictional

June 17, 2020

Nolan’s time travel epic ‘Tenet’ to hit theaters in July

Warner Bros. Korea confirmed on Wednesday that “Tenet,” the latest feature from the acclaimed director Christopher Nolan, will open in local cinemas around the end of July. “Tenet” is a sci-fi action thriller about a team of spies who set out on a time-bending mission to prevent another world war. Actors David Washington and Robert Pattinson will star in the espionage flick. Michael Caine, who has appeared in five of Nolan’s films, and Kenneth Branagh from the aut

June 17, 2020

Clara Jumi Kang, Son Yeol-eum to go on Korean tour in September

Violinist Clara Jumi Kang and pianist Son Yeol-eum are to embark on a tour of South Korea in September. The seven-city tour will run Sept. 2-10 and take them to Jeju, Suwon, Goyang, Daegu and more. It will mark the two virtuosos’ first performances together in four years. Having attended the Korea National University of Arts together, the two debuted as a duo at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2012. They held a national tour in 2013, followed by another in 2016 celebrating the release

June 17, 2020

'Peninsula’ takes post-zombie apocalypse to another level

The zombies do not roam, they run -- in a massive pack, streaking across a ravaged land that has turned into a huge ground of destruction in a post-apocalyptic world four years since the epidemic broke out. Likewise, everything about “Peninsula” will be faster and fiercer compared to the original “Train to Busan,” according to the director of both films, Yeon Sang-ho. While the uninfected protagonists from the “Train to Busan” could do nothing but run from t

June 16, 2020

Korean zombies will make you feel ‘#Alive’

While most zombie genres take up half the time explaining about the behavioral patterns of the walking dead and the protagonists trying to find the source of the disease and cure, “#Alive” wastes no time in any such elements and jumps straight into survival itself. “I hope the audience can just revel in it. Rather than trying to get a message from the story, I wish they’d get a strong feeling of ‘being alive,’ the value and feeling of gratitude in just being

June 16, 2020

[Herald Interview] Violinist to go on music journey with Bach, Ysaye

A violinist will perform the solo repertoires of Bach and Ysaye, to take the audience on a “music trip” to Europe in July. Violinist Lim Ji-young, 25, will present the unaccompanied violin sonatas by Bach and Ysaye at central Seoul’s Seoul Anglican Cathedral on July 1 and the Seosomun Shrine History Museum on July 11. Lim rose to stardom in the classical music scene as the first Korean violinist to win the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, Belgium. Since then,

June 16, 2020

BTS producer Bang Si-hyuk makes Billboard's '2020 Indie Power Players' list

Bang Si-hyuk, head of BTS' management agency Big Hit Entertainment, was chosen by American music publication Billboard as one of the top leaders in the global independent record industry in 2020. Bang, 47, was included on Billboard's "2020 Indie Power Players" list published on Monday (local time), compiled by staff at the US music trade publication. "Multi-platinum albums, a global stadium tour, an army of fans -- BTS has achieved it all with Bang's independent Big Hit Enterta

June 16, 2020

With fewer new films to show, cinemas turn to alternative content

Cinemas have introduced several new films since the start of June, but Korean multiplex operators continue to occupy empty screens with an assortment of alternative cultural content. Starting from June 22, major cinema operator Megabox will kick off this year’s “Popcorn Classic” program, an introductory lecture series on classic hobbies and interests, the company announced. The program began in 2017 under the Megabox curation brand “Classic Society.” According to

June 15, 2020

[Herald Review] BTS’ Bang Bang Con The Live: Nothing short of real-life intimacy

Even for BTS, long accustomed to sold-out stadium tours, an online streaming concert using its own platform was a whole new level of experience. “Today, it’s even harder to perform than usual maybe because there’s no eye-to-eye contact, energy and screaming from you guys,” addressed band leader RM during Sunday’s “Bang Bang Con: The Live” concert livestreamed from a luxury hotel in Incheon. The absence of ear-splitting screams from fervent concertgoe

June 15, 2020

[Herald Interview] Meet the couple behind BTS and TXT’s latest hits

LA-based songwriter Melanie Fontana and producer Michel “Lindgren” Schulz have long produced hit tracks for leading groups such as Girls’ Generation and f(x). With their recent work with Big Hit Entertainment’s beloved bands BTS and TXT, the couple is further cementing their presence in K-pop and becoming a formidable duo. Their history with the label started when Fontana wrote “Euphoria” with her friends DJ Swivel and Candace Sosa, without knowing it woul

June 15, 2020

BTS' 'Bang Bang Con' becomes world's biggest paid online concert: company

A concert streamed by K-pop giant BTS on Sunday became the world's biggest paid online music event in terms of number of viewers, the band's management company said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment announced that "Bang Bang Con: The Live," which was streamed over around 100 minutes remotely from a studio in Seoul on Sunday, drew some 756,000 viewers from across the world. Fans from 107 countries or regions, including South Korea, United States, China, Britain and Japan, logged in to vi

June 15, 2020

Performing arts scene gears up for post-coronavirus era

Though no one is sure when the current coronavirus crisis will end, things will never be the same again for the performing arts scene, which has come to a near-complete halt for the past few months. 　 The global performing arts scene has suffered a major blow, as virus containment measures severely restrict gatherings in enclosed spaces. Even the most prestigious performing art venues, including Broadway in New York and the West End in London, have had to shut down. 　　 Numbers prove the impact

June 14, 2020

COVID-19 pushes back summer releases

South Korean films set for release this summer are rescheduling their release dates, as cluster infections of the novel coronavirus continue to spring up in the Seoul metropolitan area. Film distributor Merry Christmas announced last week that it has postponed the release of sci-fi flick “Space Sweepers” from summer to later this year, since the danger of COVID-19 infection lingers in the nation. The company stated that it is considering opening the film around the Chuseok holidays

June 14, 2020

Kim Soo-hyun returns to small screen with ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’

Kim Soo-hyun is returning to the small screen for the first time in five years with tvN’s new romantic comedy series “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” set to start airing next week. The upcoming weekend series is the first television role for the 31-year-old since he was discharged from the military last July. His most recent TV credits include “The Producers” in 2015 and “My Love From the Star” in 2013. “I’ve been waiting for so long, I&rs

June 13, 2020

K-pop, K-classic team up

Collaboration is in the works between K-pop and K-classic. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and S.M. Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to spread K-pop and K-classic worldwide by creating content that is not defined by a single genre. Lee Sung-soo, co-CEO of S.M. Entertainment, and Kang Eun-kyung, CEO of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, signed the memorandum, marking the first time a leading orchestra has joined hands with an entertainment company. This is also the

June 13, 2020

K-pop fans: A diverse, underestimated and powerful force

Who are K-pop fans? It’s a question that not a lot of people bothered to ask until lately. But that seems to be changing in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests across the world: K pop fans flooded the Dallas Police Department’s iWatch Dallas app with fancams and took over the hashtag #WhiteLivesMatter on Twitter with anti-racist messages. BTS fans raised $1 million in just over a day for organizations that help black people. American actor and writer Jordan Peele said he &ldqu

June 12, 2020