[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Lisa sets up own company

  Lisa of Blackpink announced Thursday that she is establishing her own label, Lloud. With a photograph of herself wearing an androgynous suit, she wrote that it is a platform through which she will be able to showcase her vision for music and entertainment and asked fans to join the exciting journey that will navigate across new boundaries. She set her fans abuzz the previous day with a post that only said “Coming Soon.” The four members of the superstar group decided to let YG

Feb. 8, 2024

SM to debut British K-pop boy group

K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment is set to debut four new K-pop acts including NCT Wish this year. The frontrunner is NCT Wish which is to debut at the label concert, “SMTown Live,” slated to be held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Feb. 21, according to SM Entertainment on Thursday. NCT Wish is the last subunit of NCT. Other subunits include NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV. SM also plans to launch a new girl group, its first virtual artist naevis known as aespa’s Kwangya help

Feb. 8, 2024

[New on the Scene] Director Hah Joon-won explores dangerous world of 'baji sajang'

After nearly five years of research into the world of "baji sajang," people who make money lending their names as figureheads to underground or illegal businesses, Hah Joon-won’s directorial debut film, “Dead Man, opened in local theaters on Feb. 7. “As I was doing research for a story about baji sajang and their nefarious businesses, I met with some people who were on the run. One day, (I met with) this man (who gave me his) business card (which said he was a CEO), a

Feb. 8, 2024

Fifty Fifty to return with new members in June

K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty is set to start anew with new members joining Keena in June. “We’ve started reorganizing Fifty Fifty around Keena. The lineup will be confirmed in April and the group will release a new single in June,” announced Attrakt, the agency representing Fifty Fifty, in a press release Thursday. Fifty Fifty debuted as a quartet with Keena, Aran, Sio and Saena in November 2022. But Aran, Sio and Saena left the group as Attrakt terminated its exclusive contrac

Feb. 8, 2024

ARKO Selection pushes theatrical boundaries

ARKO Selection's fourth set of productions, scheduled to kick off in mid-February, showcases five works -- three plays, one music concert and one ballet -- that stand out for notable directing techniques. The play "Teddy Daddy Run," slated to run Feb. 16-25, is a road trip action drama following 16-year-old Korean teen Yoon-seo and 15-year-old Korean Filipina Nina as the two search for their missing father across various locations in Manila, the Philippines. “We wanted to ad

Feb. 8, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Enhypen encore in US

    Enhypen will return to the US for encore tour Fate Plus, agency Belift Lab announced on Wednesday. The seven members will visit five cities in the country, starting in Anaheim, California on April 24. They will head over to Oakland; Tacoma, Washington; and Rosemont, Illinois before wrapping up the stateside leg at Belmont Park in San Diego on May 3. They are returning to the US about seven months after they went live in six cities for the “Fate” tour. The final des

Feb. 7, 2024

Is Shinsegae scion debuting as girl group member?

Some photos of possible members to debut as a K-pop girl group under The Black Label went viral early this week, leading the agency to announce they are launching a girl group in the first half of this year. Among those in the leaked photos was Moon Seo-yoon, a granddaughter of Shinsegae Group Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee and the eldest daughter of Chung Yoo-kyung, president of Shinsegae’s department store business. In the photo, she is seen posing with other girls including actress and model

Feb. 7, 2024

Le Sserafim's agency to hold audition for new girl group

Source Music, the agency of trending girl group Le Sserafim, announced that it will hold an audition, seeking members for the next-generation girl group. Source Music released the poster for the 2024 Source Music Audition on social media and the company's official website, announcing the audition schedule. Auditions will be held in six cities, starting with Seoul on March 2, followed by Daejeon on March 3, Busan on March 9, Gwangju and Daegu on March 10, and Jeju on March 16. It is Source M

Feb. 7, 2024

More CJ ENM series coming to Prime Video

South Korean series have been topping the charts on global streaming platforms amid the soaring popularity of K-content, according to entertainment giant CJ ENM on Wednesday. According to the US-based streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, "Marry My Husband," a 16-part romantic drama series that aired its first episode on Jan. 1, topped the daily rankings for TV shows worldwide on Jan. 31 on Prime Video, the streaming service from Amazon. This marked the first time for a Korean series to

Feb. 7, 2024

IU collaborates with Tweety Bird for upcoming album

Singer-songwriter and actor IU is collaborating with Tweety Bird, the famous yellow canary character from the animated cartoon, “Looney Tunes,” produced and distributed by Warner Bros, to promote her upcoming album. That includes releasing a special version of the upcoming album with Tweety Bird on its cover, and various merchandise, according to Edam Entertainment on Wednesday. IU has some history with this character as she has been using Tweety Bird as the profile picture of her In

Feb. 7, 2024

Le Sserafim pop-up stores to open in Seoul, Tokyo

Pop-up stores marking the comeback of K-pop group Le Sserafim will open in both Korea and Japan, the agency Hybe announced Thursday. In Korea, "Le Sserafim 2024 S/S Pop Up" will open at Geumho Alver in Geumho-dong, Seoul, from Feb. 16 to March 3. The store, which celebrates the release of the group's third mini album "Easy," will be filled with media art that depicts the concept of the upcoming album and fashion items that members wore in the trailer video. At the three-

Feb. 7, 2024

[Herald Review] 'A Killer Paradox' faithfully reproduces legendary webtoon

Director Lee Chang-hee -- a K-thriller master who has produced a slew of hit series such as "Hell Is Other People" and the film "The Vanished" -- has successfully breathed life into the award-winning webtoon "A Killer Paradox" through strict adherence to the plot of the original webtoon series. “A Killer Paradox” follows the story of Yi Tang (played by Choi Woo-shik), a college student who commits a series of murders by accident. After he commits the mur

Feb. 7, 2024

Enjoy night concerts at Deoksugung

The National Gugak Center, in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office, is set to host nighttime concerts at Seokjojeon in the palace, Feb. 21-22 and 28-29, at 7 p.m. Built during King Gojong’s reign (1863-1907), Deoksugung’s Seokjojeon is the first European-style stone building built in Korea. Since 2015, several concerts have been performed at the historic venue. The one-hour-long nighttime concert, “Deoksugung Yayeon

Feb. 6, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Ive to meet fans in March

Ive will host fan meetups in Seoul on March 9 and 10, Starship Entertainment announced Monday. The second day’s live event will be broadcast online as well. The poster for the fan meeting was themed after the office of a fashion magazine, as the title “Magazine Ive” suggests, and showed the six bandmates in roles such as an editor and a photographer. The idols said they were happy and excited to meet fans at the event through the agency, adding they are preparing a lot to crea

Feb. 6, 2024

Netflix announces major Korean originals for 2024

Netflix on Tuesday unveiled a lineup of South Korean series and films that are scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2024. Among the Korean drama series that will hit the platform in the first half of this year is "A Killer Paradox," a webtoon-based thriller series that stars Choi Woo-shik and Son Suk-ku. The first episode of "A Killer Paradox" will stream on Netflix Friday. "Chicken Nugget," which follows the story of a father whose daughter turns into a chicken n

Feb. 6, 2024

[Herald Interview] Director Hirokazu Koreeda hopes to work again with Korean actors

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda said he wishes to collaborate with Korean actors again, mentioning the names of new rising stars here during an interview with Korean media in Seoul on Monday. Koreeda, 61, was in Seoul over the weekend to meet with the local audience and talk about his latest film “Monster.” “Monster,” which opened in November, attracted 500,000 moviegoers here, the second-highest number for a Japanese non-animated film after 20002's “Even I

Feb. 6, 2024

[Herald Interview] 'LTNS' draws portrait of modern Koreans via infidelity, broken marriages

Directors Lim Dae-hyung and Jeon Go-woon said they wanted to draw a portrait of modern people by portraying broken marriages in their six-part black comedy "LTNS." Short for "Long Time No Sex," the drama series follows the story of Woo-jin (played by Esom) and Samuel (played by Ahn Jae-hong), a sexless couple who have been married for five years, who chase down unfaithful couples to extort money from them. The drama series delivers sexually explicit scenes and dialogue -- s

Feb. 6, 2024

More confident than ever, P1Harmony returns as 'heroes'

P1Harmony returned to the K-pop scene Monday with its first studio album, “Killin’ It,” exuding confidence following the group's successful world tour and performance at the Jingle Ball concert in the US. “Three years after our debut, we are finally introducing our studio album. We are happy but nervous at the same time. We tried to put a lot of our group’s strengths into this album," said Keeho of P1Harmony during a press conference in Seoul on Monday. Al

Feb. 6, 2024

Jung Il-woo breaks sexual mold with Molina in 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'

The Korean production of the play “Kiss of the Spider Woman” kicked off its fourth run on Jan 21 with Jung Il-woo stepping into the role of Molina, a trans woman. Adapted from the 1976 novel by Argentine author Manuel Puig, the play revolves around two prisoners -- Molina and Valentin, a political prisoner. The two inmates with differing ideologies share a cell in the prison and gradually come to accept each other. Also cast in the role of Molina are Yi Youll and Jeon Bak-chan. Jung

Feb. 5, 2024

[Today’s K-pop] Twice tops iTunes chart in 41 regions with pre-release

Twice landed atop iTunes' top songs chart in 41 regions with single “I Got You,” according to label JYP Entertainment on Monday. It is a new record for the nine-member act, which is set to bring out its 13th EP, “With YOU-th,” on Feb. 23. “I Got You” is an English-language single that was dropped in advance to the full release. It is the group’s third song in English, after “The Feels” and “Moonlight Sunrise.” “The Feels&rd

Feb. 5, 2024