Twice will celebrate the third anniversary of its debut with an official fan meeting this month. “The upcoming meet-and-greet event will take place at the outdoor stage at Yonsei University in Seoul on Oct. 28,” said the group’s agency JYP Entertainment on Friday.  (JYP Entertainment)Under the theme of “Halloween,” the band is preparing an eye-catching performance for its first outdoor event with fans.The 150-minute fan meeting titled “Once Halloween” will feature talk sessions, games and surpri

Performance Oct. 5, 2018

Soyou from now-defunct Sistar is returning to the music stage with an EP after a 10-month hiatus. “Part.2 Re:Fresh” set to be released Thursday at 6 p.m. is a follow-up to her first solo EP, “Part.1 Re:Born,” dropped in December 2017.  (Starship Entertainment)The EP features collaborations with well-known producers like Groovyroom and rapper Sik-K, and diverse singers. The tracks span various genres to showcase Soyou’s diversity. The lead track “Black Night” has catchy Latin rhythm and lyrics th

Performance Oct. 4, 2018

Singer-songwriter IU is set to commemorate 10 years since her debut on Oct. 10 with the new single “BBI BBI.”On Monday, IU posted a teaser image for the new single on Instagram with the comment, “October 10 (at) 6 p.m. BBI BBI.” (Instagram)The new EP comes after a yearlong hiatus for the singer, who released cover album “A Flower Bookmark #2” in September 2017.“Originally, there was no official plan for the release of the new EP,” said IU’s agency, Kakao M, Monday. “But 2018 is a special year as

Performance Oct. 1, 2018

Big Hit Shop dominated local search engines Monday, when it started selling merchandise for BTS’ latest world tour.The merchandise shop run by BTS’ agency, Big Hit Entertainment, posted an announcement on its homepage Sunday, indicating that official merchandise for the “Love Yourself” tour would be available at the shop starting Oct. 1. (Big Hit Entertainment)For premium photos, key rings, magnets, picture scrolls and image pickets, the announcement said, sales would be limited to one product p

Performance Oct. 1, 2018

Swing Entertainment has issued a formal apology for Wanna One’s manager, whose violent act toward a fan has sparked off a storm of criticism.  (Twitter)The incident took place Friday when Wanna One members were on their way to “KCON 2018 Thailand.” A video of the group’s departure from an airport in Thailand captured a manager of Wanna One swearing and pushing a fan with excessive force.  (Twitter)The video went viral and drew criticism. “The man pushing fans in the video is a manager of Wanna O

Performance Sept. 30, 2018

Kpop sensation BTS confirmed that it has canceled the release of a new single, made in collaboration with Japanese producer Yasushi Akimoto.On Sunday, BTS’ agency, Big Hit Entertainment, said on its official fan page, “The track list for the new Japanese (album) planned for November will be changed due to production problems. Instead of the new track, ‘Bird,’ a remixed version of ‘Idol’ will be included. Sorry for the inconvenience.”BTS. Big Hit Entertainment)“Bird” was set to feature lyrics wri

Performance Sept. 17, 2018

G-Dragon hit another milestone with the music video for “Who You?” as it topped 100 million views on YouTube on Monday. (YG Entertainment)The leader of Big Bang released his second solo EP’s title track in September 2013. The music video was considered special, as more than 1,000 fans participated in its filming by recording G-Dragon performing inside a large glass box and themselves watching the performance from outside. The video showed G-Dragon and the fans from different angles, as multiple

Performance Sept. 10, 2018

K-pop boy band BTS has unveiled a music video with US rap star Nicki Minaj.The video of “Idol” was released via the group’s official YouTube channel on Friday. The version featuring Nicki Minaj is not on the group’s album but is available as a special digital track released online. (Youtube)The video for the new version of the song shows Minaj rapping while her lyrics appear on the background in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. BTS’ label Big Hit Entertainment said, “It was Nicki Minaj’s idea to wr

Performance Sept. 7, 2018

The first weekend of September in Seoul was greeted by an array of colors presented by the Halloween Party Parade. Featuring performers of Lotte World Adventure, the event was held in Gwanghwamun in central Seoul on Sunday. Participants clad in colorful Halloween costumes danced to music and waved at citizens and tourists. Photos by Yonhap Written by Kim Hye-soo

Social Affairs Sept. 2, 2018

JYP Entertainment is holding its 2018 global auditions in the US and Canada in an effort to discover new talent to follow in the footsteps of stars such as Got7, Twice and Stray Kids. (JYP Entertainment)The first auditions will take place in Los Angeles on Oct. 13 and will then move to Toronto on Oct. 20, New York City on Oct. 27 and Hawaii on Nov. 3. They are open to anyone born between 1994 and 2007. Participants are asked to choose one category: vocals, rap, dance, acting or modeling. The suc

Performance Aug. 28, 2018

Singer Hong Jin-young’s newly launched cosmetic brand sold out upon airing on home shopping TV.Sunday was the fourth show that aired beauty products of Hong’s beauty company Hong Shot. The batch of the products prepared on the GS Home shopping program on Sunday included One Shot foundation, Concealer compact, Lip Tint and a sponge set. (J.One Cosmetic)As Hong herself appeared on the show to introduce the products and demonstrate them, the stock sold out before the program’s end. According to the

Television Aug. 27, 2018

K-pop sensation BTS is set to release its new EP, “Love Yourself: Answer,” on Friday at 6 p.m. “Love Yourself: Answer” is the group’s third and final installment in the “Love Yourself” series. Previous albums “Love Yourself: Her” and “Love Yourself: Tear,” were megahits, catapulting the group to multiple Billboard music charts. (Big Hit Entertainment) (Big Hit Entertainment) (Big Hit Entertainment) (Big Hit Entertainment)The new EP is a repackaged album that brings together 18 previously release

Performance Aug. 24, 2018

Singer-actor Yoon Doo-joon is set to enlist in the military on Friday, Highlight’s agency Around Us Entertainment confirmed. Yoon took an exam in the hopes of serving as a conscripted police officer, but failed to meet the requirements and was subsequently informed that Friday was his enlistment date. His bandmate Yang Yo-sup passed the exam.  (Instagram)Yoon posted a handwritten letter to fans through the agency, telling them how surprised he was and that he was very sorry to have to share the

Performance Aug. 22, 2018

Actor Lee Dong-wook has been selected as a brand campaign model for Chanel’s makeup products, becoming the first Korean picked for the role. Lee will model for Chanel’s new makeup line for men, Boy De Chanel, said his agency King Kong Entertainment on Tuesday.  (Boy de Chanel)A released photo showed Lee giving off charisma. Chanel was reportedly drawn to Lee’s confident and masculine image, which it deemed as well-suited to the brand. (Boy De Chanel)Boy De Chanel, Chanel’s first makeup line for

Arts & Design Aug. 21, 2018

Boy band BTOB’s leader Eun-kwang will enlist in the army as a draft on Tuesday.Cube Entertainment, representing BTOB, said, “As the singer wants a quiet enlistment, the time and place of the enlistment will not be revealed.”On Monday midnight, Eun-kwang posted a handwritten letter on his Instagram that starts with the sentence, “Hello Melody, my love! This is BTOB’s leader Eun-kwang.”  (Instagram) (Instagram)In the letter, he calmly talked about his shaved head, and asked BTOB fans, known collec

Performance Aug. 21, 2018