Coronavirus pandemic halts overseas shoots of Korean movies

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the production of films in South Korea as on-location filming schedules have been canceled due to widening travel bans worldwide. The production team of the crime movie "Bogota," starring Song Joon-ki, has decided to stop shooting at a location in Colombia and return to South Korea. "We've made the decision in consideration of the safety of the cast and crew," said an official from the film's local distributor, Megabox Plus M, last wee

March 24, 2020

MBC’s ‘365 Repeat the Year’ starts time slip adventure

Reset was the theme of “365 Repeat the Year” as the new MBC drama started its 24-episode series. Beginning in the present, the characters go through life-changing tragedies that make each of them miserable. The main characters include Ji Hyung-ju, played by Lee Joon-hyuk, a detective who lost his closest teammate to a serial killer, and Shin Ga-hyeon, played by Nam Ji-hyun, a webcomic artist who is in a wheelchair due to a leg injury. Along with eight others, they are called by

March 24, 2020

S. Korean daily box office drops to record low on Monday

The daily number of moviegoers in South Korea dropped to a record low out of fear of the novel coronavirus, data showed Tuesday. According to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), 25,873 people went to cinemas on Monday, the smallest daily figure since January 2004 when KOFIC started to compile local box office data. Due to the outbreak of the infectious COVID-19 virus, local movie theaters have been struggling with a sharp drop in ticket sales. A daily average of 64,000 people saw

March 24, 2020

OCN’s ‘Rugal’ dabbles in biotech action

Known for its action thriller dramas, cable channel OCN is expanding its horizon of genres with an upcoming sci-fi thriller “Rugal.” Based on a popular webcomic of the same title, “Rugal” is an action hero series revolving around a special organization of people whose body parts have been reformed and strengthened through biotechnology. Named Rugal, the organization fights against the country’s biggest and most notorious terrorist group Argos. “‘Rugal

March 23, 2020

My time: How Jungkook’s time arrived in soulful R&B track

Though the lead single, “On,” made a splash with a surprise No. 4 debut on Billboard’s singles chart, two other songs from BTS’ latest album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” also made it into the Hot 100. “My Time” and “Filter” landed at No. 84 and No. 87, respectively. Jungkook’s solo track remains the highest-charting solo track from the group to date in the US -- a soulful R&B track with a modern finish in which the 22-year-old look

March 23, 2020

BTS sends out message of encouragement as Korea struggles to fight coronavirus

K-pop boy band BTS sent out a message of encouragement for South Koreans Monday as the country struggles to stem the spread of COVID-19. The video message was uploaded on BTS' official YouTube account and its "Love Myself" campaign account on Twitter, in response to a request by a group of nurse officers at the Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy. "Taking the stage of an empty auditorium, we are acutely feeling how meaningful it was to breathe with you in the same space," m

March 23, 2020

10cm holds first #TogetherAtHome concert in Korea

Indie singer 10cm hosted a YouTube live concert on Thursday night, joining the #TogetherAtHome challenge. After watching Coldplay singer Chris Martin perform a live concert online for people stuck indoors due to the spread of coronavirus, 10cm was inspired to join the challenge, becoming the first major Korean singer to do so. 10cm performed his best-known songs, including “Stalker” and “Phonecert.” He also played Coldplay’s “Fix You” in tribute to M

March 23, 2020

Netflix to exclusively release ‘Time to Hunt’

  The film “Time to Hunt” will be released next month exclusively through video streaming platform Netflix, the film’s distributor Little Big Pictures said Monday. Originally slated to be released late last month, the film’s opening had been indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. This marks the first time Netflix is exclusively releasing a film originally scheduled for a theatrical release. “Considering the danger of the COVID-19

March 23, 2020

Korean language education video series featuring BTS set for release this week

The management agency of K-pop boy band BTS will this week launch a series of short video clips designed to provide Korean language education to non-Korean fans, the agency said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment said the first three episodes of the series, "Learn Korean with BTS," will hit Weverse, the mobile app for the BTS fan community, Tuesday afternoon. Following the release of the first three episodes, one new episode will hit Weverse every Monday morning, with a total of 30 clip

March 23, 2020

[Herald Interview] Ex-Boyfriend vocalist Jeongmin returns as singer-songwriter

Jeongmin, now an accomplished singer-songwriter, used to live in the glitz and glam, wear heavy makeup and dance in front of thousands of crowds. For eight years, he was a vocalist for the now-defunct K-pop act Boyfriend, signed under one of the major K-pop labels, Starship Entertainment. Since 2011, the youthful six-piece boy band had a promising start with numerous hits like “I’ll Be There” and “Janus,” especially flourishing in Japan. But just like many K-pop a

March 23, 2020

Overcoming virus scare with fiercer fears

Virus fears are not just present in reality, but also on the big screen. American director Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film “Contagion” portrays the spread of a deadly virus. The details -- from the outbreak of the virus to the symptoms and even the wickedness of humankind amid the chaos -- seem almost prophetic considering what was to come in nine years. Maybe it is the desire to put the invisible culprit threatening and constraining us inside our homes in front of our eyes, o

March 22, 2020

Performing arts scene staggers under virus pandemic

While Monday marks a month since the COVID-19 alert level was raised to “red,” the national health crisis is pushing the local performing arts scene to the edge. According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System, managed by the Korea Arts Management Service affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, roughly 70 productions opened in March as of Sunday. In February, around 380 shows opened. Moreover, data shows that performing arts ticket sales

March 22, 2020

Collaboration projects spice up global pop songs with Korean lyrics

In a remix of British pop star Dua Lipa's latest song, "Physical," released earlier this week, K-pop artist Hwasa opens up the sensual synth-pop number with her signature raspy voice singing in the Korean language. The remix featuring Hwasa gives more color and trendiness to the original version, which peaked at 60th on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last month. The collaboration between Dua Lipa and Hwasa, a member of K-pop girl band Mamamoo, marks the latest in a growing number of j

March 20, 2020

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Dreamer (Korea) Opened March 19 Drama, Crime Directed by Cho Sung-bin North Korean defector Geun-su (Hong Geun-taek) struggles to settle in capitalist South Korean society, while searching for the brother he was separated from during their escape from the communist regime. Ji-hyuk (Cha Ji-hyun), an ex-convict and deliveryman, finds out Geun-su is involved in drug dealing. Desperate to flee the country for a new life, Ji-hyuk persuades Geun-su to steal a bag of methamphetamine and make big mone

March 20, 2020

Rock musician celebrates record 30th year as radio host

Rock musician and radio show host Bae Chul-soo celebrated his 30th year as the host of a popular pop music radio show on Thursday, making himself the longest-sitting host of a radio program in Korean entertainment history. Since his first day hosting the evening radio show "Music Camp" by MBC on March 19, 1990, as a flourishing, rebellious 37-year-old rock musician, Bae has matured into a widely trusted, gray-haired show host over the past 30 years. His established status also lande

March 19, 2020

How virus pandemic is changing entertainment scene

With television show producers are forced to come up with new production formats amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, the local entertainment scene is seeing changes. Originally an outdoor quiz show conducted with people on the streets, tvN’s “Yoo Quiz on the Block” has brought the talks inside. In the two latest episodes of the show, the program featured people soldiering through their daily lives amid the virus outbreak, connecting with them through video calls. Popular

March 19, 2020

[Weekender] National Gugak Center goes online

While the National Gugak Center in southern Seoul remains closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the center continues to put on creative gugak performances and make them available online. As more people became more reluctant to visit concert halls out of fear of COVID-19, the center recently launched various online programs to offer quality gugak performances. One of the highlights is the virtual reality gugak experience.  On Thursday, the center released 37 clips on its YouTube chann

March 19, 2020

Big Hit’s new headquarters nears completion

Big Hit Entertainment, home to global sensation BTS and super rookie TXT, is getting ready to relocate to a new fancy office building in central Seoul. According to industry sources on Thursday, the building construction has been almost completed, while the interior work is still underway. “Expectations are high among industry people about the new office building, as the firm’s chief brand officer Min Hee-jin is known to be overseeing the interior work,” a source close to t

March 19, 2020

Invitation to the world of salon music

It is said that Frederic Chopin loved to play at small venues for small audiences, and meaningful musical interactions for Chopin usually happened at salons. Though more than two centuries have passed and large concert halls now dominate the classical music scene, there are musicians who perform in intimate salon settings for the sheer joy it brings.  Going against the conventional grammar of classical music -- formal attire, absolute stillness and silence -- salons allow the audience t

March 18, 2020

[Herald Interview] Portrait of two underdogs and their vain dreams

With methamphetamine worth 2 billion won ($1.6 million), the vain dreams of a young man to stay in South Korea and another young man to flee the country start. The portrayal of how the two hopeless young men try to fly but ultimately fall in the film “Dreamer” is so dry and realistic that it feels too cruel on the characters and the many dreamers they resemble. The film features two dreamers: North Korean defector Geun-soo who has just arrived in the South and is trying to settle i

March 18, 2020