Twenty-year-old K-pop starlet IU has swept the charts with her latest studio album “Modern Times,” knocking off Busker Busker, which had been dominating the local real-time music charts since the release of its second album on Sept. 25. The single “The Red Shoes,” the lead track from IU’s third album, topped more than nine major online music charts including Melon, Naver, Mnet and Daum, upon its release on Tuesday. Similar to Busker Busker’s explosive follow-up album comeback, many other songs f

The four K-pop divas of 2NE1 have officially been appointed the honorary ambassadors for this year’s “Korea Brand and Entertainment Expo” in London. The KBEE ― sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism ― is an annual event held overseas with the purposes of creating the largest hallyu trade fair as well as promoting Korean culture and products while seeking international business opportunities in the creative industries. As one of t

Early last month, Canadian teen pop sensation Justin Bieber tweeted, “Excited to get to Korea to perform on October 10th. Maybe u will see my guys @psy_oppa and @IBGDRGN. Get the bbq ready.” The tweet sparked rumors online that his label-mate Psy and Big Bang leader G-Dragon could be joining the pop star on stage at his upcoming Seoul concert.Bieber and talent manager Scooter Braun arrived in Seoul on Tuesday and photos of Bieber together with Psy and G-Dragon were tweeted by manager Braun, caus

BUSAN (AFP) ― Two major Asian adaptations of classic Westerns have hit screens at the Busan International Film Festival, in a revival of a genre that drew some of its early inspiration from the cinema of the East. Japanese-Korean director Lee Sang-il’s “Unforgiven” is a remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood classic of the same name, starring the Oscar-nominated Ken Watanabe. “Once Upon a Time In Vietnam,” directed by Vietnamese-American director Dustin Nguyen takes its inspiration from Sergio Leone’

Don Tae Lee, Joon Oh! stress importance of insight, foresight and power of ‘soft’ industry

How does one succeed in today’s complex and volatile world? IDEO’s CEO Tim Brown’s advice is: be Darwin rather than Newton.“What Newton’s laws of motion do is that they predict the future based on the understanding of the present,” Brown said during his lecture.“But the problem is it only works if the present is very, very simple. We can only use Newton’s laws to effectively predict the future of something if we are talking about two components, one thing hitting another thing. As soon as we hav

‘Boys Over Flowers’ star returns as teenage chaebol heir in new drama

BUSAN (AFP) ― Korean director Bong Joon-ho on Monday played down controversy over the international release of his English-language debut “Snowpiercer,” saying he would accept any final cuts Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein made to the film.“For me, the important thing is that it reaches an audience,” said Bong, a king of the box office in Korea, where his sci-fi thriller has been a hit with takings so far of more than $61 million.Weinstein has picked up the rights to the apocalyptic cliff-hange

Korean pop icon Rain will visit Japan next month for his first concert tour after being released from military service, his agency said Tuesday. The “2013 Rain Zepp Tour: Story of Rain” will begin with performances in Nagoya on Nov. 14-15, Rain’s management agency Cube DC said.The tour marking the 11th anniversary of Rain’s debut will also take him to Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo, it said.The 31-year-old K-pop star was released after completing 21 months of mandatory military service in July.Rain, w

Legendary violinist to hold Asian tour ending in November

Robert Ramsey, director of the center of East Asian Studies at the University of Maryland, is to receive an Order of Cultural Merit from the Korean government, along with nine others who have contributed to the study and promotion of Hangeul, the Culture Ministry said Monday.Ramsey, 72, is known for his research into the Korean language. In 2011, he published “A History of the Korean Language,” the first history book on the subject ever written in English. The 2013 list of medal recipients also

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Two masterpieces by U.S. artist Andy Warhol go under the hammer in New York next month, with the highlights of the auction season expected to fetch up to $120 million.“Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” seen in public only once in the last 26 years, will be sold by Sotheby’s on Nov. 13 for an expected $60 million.“Coca-Cola (3),” one of Warhol’s most famous pop art paintings that has been widely exhibited, is expected to sell for $40-60 million at Christie’s on Nov. 12.Warhol,

Despite the recent release of the group’s fourth studio album “Full Bloom,” KARA fans received surprising news in the past week when rumors began to surface that member Nicole would be leaving the group. On Sunday, representatives of KARA’s agency DSPmedia finally announced that the rumors were indeed true and that Nicole had expressed her intention not to renew her contract with the agency. It added that she would officially end her activities as a member at the beginning of next year. The agen

NEW YORK (AP) ― Miley Cyrus cautioned viewers she wouldn’t be twerking on “Saturday Night Live.”But she commanded the stage on this week’s edition of the NBC sketch comedy show, serving as both host and musical guest.And she did some shimmying as an over-sexed Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in a parody video about the government shutdown.Cyrus seized attention and criticism in August for her sexually charged MTV Video Music Awards performance, which featured the singer in scanty garb while exhib