Sinkhole (Korea) Opened Aug. 11 Comedy Directed by Kim Ji-hoon Although he has an annoying neighbor (Cha Seung-won), office worker Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun) is very happy that he finally has become a homeowner after saving up for more than 10 years. Dong-won invites his co-workers over to his new place for a housewarming party, but the next morning the building falls into a giant sinkhole. The Suicide Squad (US) Opened Aug. 4 Action Directed by James Gunn Intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Vi

Film Aug. 20, 2021

　Soon after South Korea’s tidal flats were inscribed onto UNESCO’s world heritage list in July as “Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats,” the Cultural Heritage Administration announced its plan to submit an additional list of tidal flats for UNESCO to review in 2025. 　While the Culture Ministry’s romanization guidelines recommend the spelling “gaetbeol,” UNESCO’s spelling is consistent with past usage by heritage experts, according to the CHA. 　But the l

Culture Aug. 18, 2021

Over the three-day Liberation Day weekend Aug. 14-16, South Korean films “Sinkhole” and “Escape From Mogadishu” conquered the local box office. Disaster comedy “Sinkhole,” directed by Kim Ji-hoon, was released Aug. 11 and took the No. 1 spot, attracting more than 740,000 viewers over the holiday weekend for a total to date of over 1.14 million. It passed the 1 million mark faster than any other film this year.　 “Sinkhole” is set at Chungwoon Vil

Film Aug. 17, 2021

Lee Kwang-soo, 36, returns to the big screen as a relatable young office worker in the disaster comedy “Sinkhole,” directed by Kim Ji-hoon. “Sinkhole” centers on the residents of Chungwoon Villa, one of the cheaper apartment buildings available in pricey Seoul. It took Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun), an office worker, over 10 years to finally become a homeowner. Soon after moving in, Dong-won invites his co-workers over to his new place for a housewarming party. After the o

Film Aug. 15, 2021

Beginning with the National Museum of Korea’s decision to shut down in February last year due to COVID-19, museums around the country have been going back and forth between opening and closing in response to the ongoing virus situation. This has led museums to come up with new ways of presenting their exhibitions to the public virtually. A notable alternative that many museums have recently come up with for the COVID-19 era is the use of metaverse. A combination of “meta”

Culture Aug. 14, 2021

Ryan White’s documentary “Assassins” tells the story of Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam -- the two women who killed Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam -- and what happened to them afterward. The documentary features surveillance footage of the murder of Kim Jong-nam and shows how the two women were arrested. It also shows how they were duped into smearing the lethal chemical agent VX on Kim Jong-nam’s face at Kuala Lumpur Internatio

Film Aug. 12, 2021

Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM on Tuesday announced that a movie about k-pop titled “K-Pop: Lost in America (working title)” will be created jointly with Hollywood producer Lynda Obst. Obst is known for collaborating with director Christopher Nolan to co-produce the science fiction film “Interstellar.” She also produced many hit movies including “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging” directed by Gurinder Chadha and “Sleepless in Seattle “ direct

Film Aug. 10, 2021

From plastic surgery, K-pop fandom to chaebol marriage and women at work. Frances Cha’s debut novel “If I Had Your Face” runs the gamut of hot topics in modern Korean society. The journalist-turned-novelist, who worked as travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, doesn’t only lightly touch on the subjects, she dives into each topic through the story of young women characters living in the same apartment in Seoul. Although Cha does not believe that doing thorough rese

Books Aug. 2, 2021

Less than a week after MBC President Park Sung-jae publicly apologized for inappropriate coverage of the Tokyo Games, the broadcaster came under fire again Sunday for misleading captions on an interview with South Korean volleyball captain Kim Yeon-koung. After South Korea beat Japan in Tokyo Olympic women‘s volleyball Saturday, the broadcaster’s YouTube channel posted an interview with Kim. In the video, the reporter says, “You may not know this, but the South Korean socce

Television Aug. 1, 2021

Living up to her nickname as the “Korean Agatha Christie,” screenwriter Kim Eun-hee came back with the darkest episode yet of the global hit Netflix series “Kingdom” (2019). “Kingdom: Ashin of the North,” which was released on July 23, centers around a new character Ashin (played by Jun Ji-hyun, or Gianna Jun, and Kim Sia) who is a lower-class tribe member living in what is now known as Hamgyong Province, North Korea. After Ashin finds out about her father&r

Film Aug. 1, 2021

Escape from Mogadishu (Korea) Opened July 28 Action, Drama Directed by Ryoo Seung-wan Set in 1991 Somalia, South Korean Ambassador to Somalia Han Shin-sung (Kim Yoon-seok) and National Security Planning Agency agent Kang Dae-jin (Jo In-sung) are competing against North Korean Ambassador (Heo Jun-ho) for South Korea’s membership in the United Nations. When a civil war breaks out in the African country, South and North Korean diplomats have to cooperate to escape the country together. Th

Film July 30, 2021

For top actor Jo In-sung, “Escape from Mogadishu” was the movie that he could enjoy filming, as the burden of playing the sole lead role was lifted off his shoulders. “In previous films, nobody told me that I should feel pressured but I felt responsible,” Jo said during an interview via Zoom with a group of reporters. “When filming a movie, there are things that the leading actors should take care of. They have to make sure that the staff is doing okay. They also

Film July 29, 2021

For veteran actor Kim Yoon-seok, the absence of a hero in the action-drama movie “Escape from Mogadishu” directed by Ryoo Seung-wan was the reason he decided to join the cast. “It is easy for war movies to have a single hero that saves everyone. This movie did not take that road,” Kim said during an interview with a group of reporters via Zoom. “Escape from Mogadishu” is based on a real-life event involving South and North Korean diplomats in Somalia who

Film July 28, 2021

South Korea’s “gaetbeol,” or Korean tidal flats, were inscribed onto UNESCO’s world heritage list on Monday. The final decision on the tidal flats’ listing was made during the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee which took place in Fuzhou, China. The meeting was held online due to the global pandemic. A total of four tidal flats across the country’s coastal areas -- Seocheon in South Chungcheong Province, Gochang in North Jeolla Province, Sinan, Bo

Culture July 27, 2021

Actor-turned-director Cho Jin-woong’s short film “Ryuk-sa: A Teaser” has been invited to two film festivals in North America, the Fantasia Film Festival and New York Asian Film Festival, according to his agency Saram Entertainment. The Fantasia Film Festival will run from Aug. 5-25 in Montreal, and the 2021 New York Asian Film Festival will take place Aug. 6-22. Both festivals will be hybrid online-offline events. Cho’s 17-minute short film aims to deliver a message t

Film July 24, 2021