ATEEZ gears up for first full-length album

After pulling off a successful world tour in their first year, ATEEZ is on full steam with their very first full studio album “TREASURE EP.FIN: All to Action” which was released on Oct. 8.Known for their strong stage presence and powerful dance moves, the full-length album is the latest addition to the group’s short but growing discography, which naturally has plenty of intense dance tracks, accompanied by high-energy choreography.As the title suggests, the album is the end of

Oct. 8, 2019

Baroque music with French flair to grace stage in October

Two Francophone Baroque music ensembles will go onstage here this month. One of the groups, Les Arts Florissants, is a French ensemble founded in 1979 by William Christie. It is credited with efforts to revive 17th to mid-18th century European music. Christie, a conductor and harpsichordist, is often referred to as “a pioneer in the rediscovery of Baroque music” in France, introducing lesser-known French Baroque music pieces. On Oct. 17, the ensemble will present Handel’s

Oct. 7, 2019

Korea's 'Mr. Sunshine' wins top TV drama award at Busan film festival

"Mr. Sunshine," a South Korean TV drama about the country's resistance movement against Japanese colonialists, has won the top prize at the inaugural Asian Content Awards of the Busan International Film Festival.The awards were created to recognize Asia's outstanding TV and streaming series that aired within the past five years. The awards ceremony was held Sunday as part of the film festival under way in the southern port city from last Thursday to this coming Saturday. Kim Yong-

Oct. 7, 2019

Actors of new 'Terminator' film to visit Seoul this month

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, the leading actors of "Terminator: Dark Fate," will visit South Korea this month to promote the new American science-fiction action film ahead of its imminent release in the country, its local distributor said Monday.According to Walt Disney Company Korea, the two actors will attend an Asian press junket in Seoul on Oct. 21-22, which will attract reporters from 11 Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan, India and Singapore. South Korea has be

Oct. 7, 2019

[Herald Review] Jarasum becomes island of jazz

GAPYEONG, Gyeonggi Province -- The Jarasum International Jazz Festival took place from Friday to Sunday on Jarasum in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.The event, launched in 2004, is one of the most successful music festivals here. Hosted on a once-abandoned island, it has garnered a total of 2 million attendees over the years.  On Friday, with the sun glaring, the 16th edition of the annual festival kicked off, featuring 121 artists, 15 overseas acts and eight local acts. Gugak-inspired ja

Oct. 6, 2019

Ferry disaster, politics and cinema intermingle at BIFF

BUSAN -- A new film about the Sewol ferry sinking, a disaster that killed more than 300 people -- most of them children, will premiere at Asia's biggest film festival, five years after director Lee Sang-ho caused controversy with his first documentary on the topic."Diving Bell", which screened at the 2014 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), criticised then leader Park Geun-hye's administration on its handling of the sinking.In response, angry officials cut BIFF's $1.3 million fun

Oct. 5, 2019

Mnet launches another audition show amid Produce 101 controversy

Mnet’s new survival audition show “World Klass” premieres Friday, with a score of contestants competing over the next few weeks to become the next K-pop star.Viewers will see 20 trainees from countries all over the world including South Korea, Japan, China, the US and Australia put on display a set of multiple entertainment skills such as singing, dancing, acting and even banter.And only 10 people will get to debut as Too – an acronym of Ten Oriented Orchestra -- a group

Oct. 4, 2019

Chief of studio behind 'Parasite' wins French cinema award

The chief of the company that produced the Cannes-winning "Parasite" will be given a French cinema award in recognition of her role in promoting South Korea-French collaboration in cinema, the French Embassy here said Friday.Kwak Shin-ae, the CEO of Barunson E&A, which produced the film by director Bong Joon-ho, and Korean actress Bae Doo-na have been selected as this year's winners of the Etoile Du Cinema award, the embassy said. The embassy award annually recognizes actors and pe

Oct. 4, 2019

BIFF kicks off in the aftermath of typhoon

Although Typhoon Mitga’s landfall forced organizers to cancel the inaugural ceremony, the 24th Busan International Film Festival kicked off Thursday for 10 days of festivities.Actors Jung Woo-sung and Lee Hanee hosted the opening event of the festival that will feature 303 movies from 85 countries until next Saturday, including the world premiere of 97 feature films and 23 short films. The opening film was the world premiere of “The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time” by Kazakhstan&r

Oct. 3, 2019

TikTok hopes to form ties with K-pop

Short-form video sharing app TikTok stresses it can be a powerful tool in promoting the ongoing K-pop trend around the world. On Thursday, TikTok officials took to the podium for at the 2019 Seoul International Music Fair held at Coex in southern Seoul to give a presentation titled “The New Kid on the New Music Block: TikTok.”The Chinese app, launched in 2016, is available in 150 countries in 75 languages, and bills itself as a music discovery app, allowing “TikTokers” (T

Oct. 3, 2019

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Joker(US)Opened Oct.2Drama, mystery & suspense Directed by Todd Phillips A clown-for-hire by day, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) aspires to be a stand-up comic at night. But finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study. Crazy Romance (Korea)Opened Oct.2RomanceDirected by Kim Han-gyeolJae-hoon (Kim Rae-won) is hu

Oct. 3, 2019

Busan film festival set to kick off 24th edition

The Busan International Film Festival will open its 24th edition in the southern port city of Busan on Thursday, filled with more than 300 worthwhile movies and various intriguing programs.Starting with the opening ceremony to be held at the Busan Cinema Center in the city, located 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the festival will kick off its 10-day run. The ceremony will be co-hosted by South Korean actor Jung Woo-sung and actress Lee Hanee. "The Horse Thieves. Roads of Time," a K

Oct. 3, 2019

Q&A: SuperM answers big questions before its debut this week

After weeks of teasing fans with numerous clips, photos and announcements, SuperM is finally stepping into the music scene later this week.The group’s ultimate goal, according to its producer, S.M. Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man, is for the West and the East to become one and create what he calls a “culture universe.”Naturally, the group is focusing on the US market, with their debut record release due Friday, swiftly followed by a performance outside the Capitol Records Tow

Oct. 2, 2019

Super Junior, Kang Daniel join lineup of Busan's annual K-pop concert

The organizer of the Busan One Asia Festival, a major annual K-pop concert in the city of Busan, on Wednesday announced the final lineup of its 2019 event, which includes Super Junior, NU'EST and Kang Daniel.BOF 2019 is scheduled to run from Oct. 19-25 at Busan's Hwamyeong Ecological Park, Haeundae Beach and the Busan Cinema Center, as well as other public areas in South Korea's biggest port city, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul.  The festival's three main events -- the K-pop Concert, Hip

Oct. 2, 2019

Asia's top film festival opens in shadow of 'Parasite'

BUSAN (AFP) -- Organisers of Asia's top film festival, which opens in Busan this week, warn that a surge of global interest in the critically acclaimed South Korean movie "Parasite" masks a damaging underinvestment in local independent cinema.Bong Joon-ho's darkly comic tale of class war in the Seoul suburbs won the Palme D'or for best film at Cannes and is firming as an Oscar favourite next year, in what would be the first ever win for a Korean film.It has been sold to 192 internation

Oct. 2, 2019

Tomorrow X Together to release 1st full album this month

K-pop rookie band Tomorrow X Together, also known as TXT, will release its first full-length album this month, its management agency said Wednesday.The upcoming record, "The Dream Chapter: Magic," set for release on Oct. 21, is TXT's second music release since the five-piece band debuted with "The Dream Chapter: Star" in March. The new album is also the second edition in the band's first "The Dream Chapter" album series that follows "the story of boys pursuing

Oct. 2, 2019

Capitol’s creative director says SuperM’s debut performance will be ‘historic’

With just days to go before SuperM’s debut on Friday, a creative director at Capitol Music Group, S.M. Entertainment’s US partner, says the K-pop supergroup’s first performance will be special and historic."At the launch, we have a very special and historic debut performance on Saturday at the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles. And we are building on an incredible stage and (it) will be livestreamed around the world,” Nicole Frantz, Capitol’s creative chi

Oct. 1, 2019

EXO's Chen drops 2nd solo EP with retro music

Chen, the main vocalist of popular K-pop boy band EXO, unveiled Tuesday his second solo EP, a six-track record led by the retro pop number "Shall We?"The new EP, "Dear My Dear," follows his first solo EP, "April, and a flower" released in April."Shall We?" targets the autumn music scene, which captures the sentiment of a man having to bid goodnight to his lover through Chen's trendy vocal quality.  Including the lead track, the new album carries "

Oct. 1, 2019

Police search multiple agencies over audition show's alleged vote rigging

Police on Tuesday raided multiple K-pop agencies as part of an investigation into allegations that the entertainment firm CJ ENM's cable music channel rigged the results of its fan-voted idol competition show, "Produce 101," police said.Cyber investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency stormed several agencies that represent members of new boy band X1 in Seoul to secure related documents and information. The 11 members rose from obscurity to stardom in the Mnet audition sho

Oct. 1, 2019

Kwon Sang-woo as vengeful Go master in ‘The Divine Move: Ghost Move’

The 2014 film “The Divine Move” about a Go master was a brutal, violent film about vengeance and gambling, shattering any expectations one might have had about watching the millennia-old board game that is played completely silently with minimal movement. “The Divine Move: Ghost Move,” an upcoming spinoff and prequel, stars Kwon Sang-woo as the mysterious “Gwi-soo,” or “ghost move,” whose presence was never fully explored in the first film.In the n

Oct. 1, 2019