For the top 10 contestants of TV Chosun’s K-pop audition program, “Tomorrow’s National Singer,” their range of music is what differentiates them from other outstanding singers from other audition programs. “From a folk singer to vocalist in a rock band and from a K-pop boy band to actor in a musical stage, all the members have unique charms to make an appeal to the public,” Park Jang-hyun said in an interview in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. “

Performance Dec. 31, 2021

Everland Winter Wishes Everland Winter Wishes started Dec. 3 and will run through March 1 at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The festival is a fantastic winter event, where tourists can enjoy various attractions like T-express, Thunder Falls, Lost Valley and Safari Ride more freely than during other seasons. The beautiful lights have a golden concept this year, and create a romantic Christmas ambience. The carol songs are played all day long, with a special Christmas parade once a day

Travel Dec. 31, 2021

Controversy over “Snowdrop” continued this week, with viewers calling for the drama to be pulled, while some insiders claimed that such calls limited producers’ freedom to apply creative license. “Snowdrop,” a highly anticipated JTBC series, also available on Disney+, features Blackpink’s Jisoo and top actor Jung Hae-in. But the star-studded production drew calls for its cancellation from members of the public, who accuse the show of distorting the history a

Television Dec. 30, 2021

Top comedian Yoo Jae-suk, arguably the biggest television celebrity in Korean broadcasting, won the grand prize at the MBC Entertainment Awards on Wednesday. This year’s award makes it the 16th grand prize win for the 49-year-old comedian if combined with his previous awards from the country’s three major broadcasters -- at KBS in 2005 and 2014, at SBS in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019, and at MBC in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2020. This year’s award recog

Television Dec. 30, 2021

With an attempt to tame the spread of COVID-19 and the newly confirmed omicron variant, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and local governments have decided to cancel their annual year-end and New Year’s ceremonies. The traditional bell-ringing ceremony at Bosingak in Jongno, central Seoul, at midnight on New Year’s Eve will be held online for a second year in a row, according to the city. Ringing the bell 33 times, people bid farewell to the old and welcome the new year. Ten civi

Travel Dec. 28, 2021

Local broadcaster SBS announced plans to restore viewers’ trust with a complete change of the production team for its women-led soccer show, “Kick a Goal,” Monday. “We have decided the television directors and chief producer should first hold themselves accountable for the carelessness of tampering with some of the footage in the program. After conducting a thorough self-investigation, we have found that the order of the scores was changed on some of the episodes in &ls

Television Dec. 28, 2021

The largest South Korean streaming platform Wavve is scheduled to release its first 2022 original series “Tracer” on Jan. 7. The series will also get its terrestrial broadcast premiere on MBC as their new Friday-Saturday drama series following “The Red Sleeve.” Directed by Lee Seung-young, who was behind crime thriller “Missing Noir M” (2015) and “Voice Season 2” (2018), “Tracer” is an action drama about the National Tax Service&rsquo

Television Dec. 27, 2021

Though terrestrial network SBS admitted its carelessness and has apologized for tampering with some of the footage in its women-led soccer show, “Kick a Goal,” on Friday, public outrage over the program is not likely to cease any time soon as additional doubts about the show are being raised by netizens. On Friday, the production staff of “Kick a Goal” uploaded an apology on its official website, after its most recent episode drew accusations from an anonymous writer th

Television Dec. 26, 2021

Comedian Moon Se-yoon wrapped up 2021 in triumph, winning the grand prize at the KBS Entertainment Awards on Saturday. Recognized for his achievements on three TV shows -- “Godfather,” “Trot Magic” and “2 Days & 1 Night,” the 39-year-old entertainer was awarded the top prize at KBS headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul. There were four other nominees for the grand prize this year, including 2020 grand prize winner Kim Sook, singer and entertainer Kim J

Television Dec. 26, 2021

Everland Winter Wishes Everland Winter Wishes started Dec. 3 and will run through March 1 at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The festival is a fantastic winter event, where tourists can enjoy various attractions like T-express, Thunder Falls, Lost Valley and Safari Ride more freely than other seasons. The beautiful lights have a golden concept this year, and create a romantic Christmas ambience. The carol songs are played all day long, with a special Christmas parade once a day at 2 p

Travel Dec. 24, 2021

Though the resurgence of coronavirus infections and the spread of the omicron variant have been threatening the industry, next year‘s lineup of classical music performances is already being announced, packed with concerts previously delayed due to the pandemic as well as big names returning to Korea after several years. The concert schedule announced by classical music production company Vincero comprises 15 performances between March 17 and Dec. 8. While most of the concerts are schedu

Performance Dec. 23, 2021

For most of the cast and staff of Netflix’s “The Silent Sea,” they jumped at the chance to join the production of the sci-fi thriller series, quickly overcoming any hesitancy.  “I think I was a little reluctant about starring in a Korean space-related project. Even after receiving the scenario, I was uncertain about the moon exploration series. But my attitude completely changed after watching the director‘s short film ‘The Silent Sea,’” B

Film Dec. 22, 2021

The inclusion of “aegyo” among 26 Korean words and phrases added to the Oxford English Dictionary in October brought renewed attention to the word. According to the OED, aegyo is used to describe the “charm and cuteness, especially of a sort considered characteristic of Korean popular culture.” It means behavior regarded as cute, charming or adorable as well. The word is commonly used in association with adorable babies or cute pets. Traditionally, aegyo is associa

Culture Dec. 21, 2021

Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind the superband BTS, has released an official teaser for “7 Fates: CHAKHO,” an upcoming original webtoon collaboration among BTS members, Hybe and Naver Webtoon. The one-minute video, starring RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, talks about fate -- the central theme of the upcoming webtoon. In the teaser clip, the members are seen reaching toward a ball of light as a dramatic instrumental song plays in the background. Drawn from the tiger

Cartoon Dec. 20, 2021

JTBC drama series “Snowdrop” has come under fire for alleged distortions of history after having aired just two episodes. 　 “Snowdrop” centers around the romance between a North Korean spy and South Korean university student during the 1987 presidential election. An online petition was posted to the Cheong Wa Dae website on Sunday demanding a halt to the broadcasting of the drama. “The broadcaster previously faced controversy after releasing the (drama) synopsis

Television Dec. 20, 2021