Gotham Independent Film Awards 2020 announced that veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung was among the nominees for its best actress award. Youn was nominated for her role in “Minari,” directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung. The other nominees are Nicole Beharie for “Miss Juneteenth,” Jessie Buckley for “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” Carrie Coon for “The Nest” and Oscar-winning actor Frances McDormand for “Nomadland,” the US indep

Film Nov. 15, 2020

Oh Dal-su, who dropped out of acting in 2018 following allegations of sexual assault, is returning to the big screen in “Good Neighbor.” The sexual assault claims surfaced in February 2018 amid the spread of the #MeToo movement in Korea, and scenes featuring Oh were subsequently removed from tvN series “My Mister” and hit film “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” in the same year. Filming for “Good Neighbor” was likewise completed in February 2

Film Nov. 14, 2020

Collectors (Korea) Opened Nov. 4 Crime, Comedy Directed by Park Jung-bae Kang Dong-goo (Lee Je-hoon) is a genius thief of ancient treasures and works with an expert in ancient tomb murals, Dr. Jones (Cho Woo-jin), and legendary shoveling expert Sabdari (Lim Won-hee). One day, Kang meets an ancient art expert, Ms. Yoon (Shin Hye-sun), and puts together a team for the dangerous job of stealing the Korean version of Excalibur in the royal tomb Seolleung in Seoul for Ms. Yoon’s boss. The No

Film Nov. 13, 2020

Ha Seong-nan’s collection of five short stories translated into English, “Bluebeard’s First Wife,” was selected as one of the Publishers Weekly Top Ten Books of 2020. This is the second time that a South Korean literary work has made the list. The first was in 2016, when Publishers Weekly recognized the English translation of “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang. “Ha’s nitro-fueled collection captures the dark side of South Korean society in mischievou

Books Nov. 10, 2020

The Culture Ministry is hosting a Hallyu festival, titled “On: Hallyu Festival,” Nov. 16-23. “This event will provide comfort to people around the world who are exhausted from COVID-19 while providing helpful opportunities to local businesses through the power of hallyu,” Culture Minister Park Yang-woo said in a statement. Most of this year’s events will take place online and the festival is organized jointly with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the K

Culture Nov. 9, 2020

YG Entertainment announced Saturday that it has decided not to release the latest episode of Blackpink’s online reality show, “Blackpink - ‘24/365 with Blackpink',” which features the K-pop girl band members meeting South Korea’s first panda cub. The video was scheduled to be posted on the girl band’s YouTube channel Saturday. The decision came after a trailer posted Wednesday caused an uproar in China because it appeared that the band members were handlin

Television Nov. 8, 2020

Actor Kim Hye-soo said her upcoming film “The Day I Died” was like her destiny. “It is hard to explain but I felt a strong pull to take the role. I think it is because that was the time that I had a strong desire for some sort of comfort,” Kim said during a press conference at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on Wednesday. “At that time, I was broken down and had wounds. (Like Hyun-soo in the movie,) I got comfort from meeting actors at our filming site.” “The Da

Film Nov. 7, 2020

The National Council of Churches in Korea on Tuesday apologized after a member set fire to Sujinsa Buddhist temple in Gyeonggi Province. “We deeply apologize for the damages done to Sujinsa Temple and all Buddhists,“ an NCCK official said in a statement. The NCCK also acknowledged that the fire at Sujinsa Temple could have done worse damage as the temple is located near a residential area. The apology was issued in response to a statement released by the Jogye Order of Korean Bud

Culture Nov. 6, 2020

Martin Eden (Italy, France) Opened Oct. 29 Drama, Romance Directed by Pietro Marcello Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli), a ship worker, falls in love at first sight when he meets Helena (Jessica Cressy), an upper-class woman. Hoping to gain a place among the literary elite to be with her, he decides to become a writer and embarks on a quest to educate himself. The movie is based on a 1909 novel by American author Jack London. Tesla (US) Opened Oct. 28 Drama Directed by Michael Almereyda Inventor

Film Nov. 6, 2020

Jung Soo-jung, more widely known as Krystal of K-pop girl band f(x), plays a confident university student, Toe-il, who becomes pregnant at a young age, in her debut feature “More Than Family.” “At first, I was hesitant to play this role. But after reading the script I said I will take the role,” Jung said during a press conference at CGV Yongsan on Tuesday. “Toe-il is confident and she believes in herself. I think she is representative of women today. She is relat

Film Nov. 4, 2020

Round 2020, a music festival held by Korea and 10 ASEAN countries, on Tuesday announced additional artists who will be performing at the Dec. 6 show. Four additional Korean solo artists -- Sunwoojunga, Bol4, George and Elaine-- were announced Tuesday. Nine-member folk-pop band Ben &Ben of the Philippines, which was recently nominated for the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards, will also join the virtual festival, as well as Cambodian band SmallWorld SmallBand and Brunei singer Dinshe. This yea

Performance Nov. 3, 2020

Local OTT platform Watcha is holding an online film festival Nov. 1-25 that will showcase the works of the Korean Academy of Film Arts’ graduating class. “Eye Contact,” co-hosted by the platform and the school, will consist of 24 short films created by the KAFA’s 36th batch of graduates. The movies will include “Doong-ji,” Jo Kyoung-won’s film about a teenage girl who wants to avoid bringing friends home to work on a school project; “Help Me!&rd

Film Nov. 2, 2020

The English version of the “Baby Shark Dance” video became the most viewed video on YouTube, with more than 7.03 billion views as of 1:20 p.m. on Monday. The video overtook Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” on YouTube and is now the first children’s content ever to become the most viewed video on YouTube. Released in 2015, the song featured in the video is a remake of an American folk song. The video was recorded by Pinkfong, a content creator un

Performance Nov. 2, 2020

Highly anticipated local thriller “The Call” chose to follow the steps of crime thriller “Time to Hunt,” which skipped its theatrical release and went straight to Netflix in April. “Since many movie fans have been waiting for the release of ‘The Call,’ we considered many different options for quite a long time, and finally came up with the decision to release it on Netflix. We see that it is the best way to present our movie to a wide variety of audie

Film Nov. 1, 2020

Lee Je-hoon is returning to the big screen as a witty tomb raider in the upcoming comedy-crime “Collectors.” “Looking back at how I have been selecting my characters, I tried to choose movies with social messages or ones with a unique genre. But we all have experiences of having a truly good time after watching a movie that is not thought-provoking, don’t’ we? I do too and I’ve been wishing to do that kind of movie,” Lee said during the press conference

Film Oct. 31, 2020