Zerobaseone, a group that consists of nine artists chosen through Mnet’s idol survival program, “Boys Planet,” made its grand debut on Monday. “We’ve dreamed of this debut for so long. We prepared a lot for this debut, hoping to show enhanced performance and vocal skills to our fans and the public,” said Gyuvin of Zerobaseone during a press conference in Seoul on the day of its debut. “We were able to debut thanks to the interest and support of many peop

SM Entertainment on Monday unveiled some of the trainees taking part in its pre-debut reality show, “NCT Universe: LASTART.” The trainees unveiled go by the names Riku and Ryo, while eight more trainees are set to be revealed in the coming weeks. These trainees are candidates who will debut as NCT’s new subgroup, one of the three new groups that the K-pop powerhouse plans to launch this year. Through the pre-debut reality show, SM will show the process of evaluating the 10 can

Cable channel JTBC’s latest rom-com series, “King the Land,” has come under fire over its character Prince Samir, with criticisms directed at the show's misleading representation of Arabic culture. Samir -- who is introduced as a prince with an Arabic background -- made his first appearance in the seventh episode of “King the Land” on July 8, surrounded by the women in a club. As Samir was scheduled to visit South Korea to negotiate the import of Korean warplan

K-Musical Market was launched in 2021 with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service to promote Korean original musicals internationally. The Korean government's hope is that Korean musicals might replicate the achievements of K-pop, movies and dramas. And that hope is not groundless. Musicals account for 75 percent of ticket revenue in the country's performing arts industry and the musical scene is burgeoning with countless bi

The seventh studio album from EXO sold more than 1.6 million units in pre-orders, a record for the band. The LP “Exist” debuted Monday, over two years since the release of its special album “Don’t Fight The Feeling.” Its previous LP was “Obsession” that came out in November 2019. The new album was supposed to be the band’s full-group effort, but Kai will be absent from the promotional activities, as he was unexpectedly summoned to serve his milita

Legendary K-pop group EXO is back, releasing its seventh studio album “Exist” on Monday. It is the first group effort in over two years since the release of the special album, “Don’t Fight the Feeling.” Prior to its official release, “Exist” had racked up a total of 1.6 million pre-order sales as of Sunday, according to SM Entertainment. The new album is led by the title track “Cream Soda,” which is of the pop dance genre composed with rhythm

Allegations and controversy surrounding Fifty Fifty continue, but the group is not the first K-pop group to face suspicions over a potential buyout after rising to stardom in the competitive music industry. “Poaching members of a group or attempts to breach their exclusive contracts have been ongoing in the entertainment industry for a long time. These practices have impeded normal business activities, resulting in irreversible consequences for both the company and its artists,” said

Netflix on Monday confirmed that its upcoming action variety program “Zombieverse” will premiere on Aug. 8. The global streaming service, which mesmerized many viewers with its hit zombie-themed projects -- “Kingdom” (2019) and “All of Us Are Dead” (2022), seeks to expand the Korean zombie sensation in variety shows as well. Popular TV directors Park Jin-kyung, who was behind MBC’s iconic entertainment show “My Little Television,” and Moon Sa

A festival featuring the sounds of pansori in 105 performances will kick off in September. The Jeonju International Sori Festival is scheduled to take place at Jeonju Hanok Village as well as 14 cities across North Jeolla Province, from Sept. 15 to 24. “We aim to create a unique program with top-notch performances that cannot be experienced elsewhere,“ said Lee Wang-jun of the festival’s organizing committee during a press conference held in Seoul on Wednesday. Lee added that a

Responding to the fast-changing environment of the content industry, South Korean broadcasters are changing up drama release schedules. Terrestrial broadcasters SBS and MBC recently announced that they will showcase their upcoming drama projects with a different strategy, parting ways with the traditional schedule in which new episodes are released back-to-back over two consecutive days per week. While many TV channels air new episodes on either Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays or

Japanese B-movie master visits 27th Bifan with crime flick, ‘Life of Mariko in Kabukicho’

Jungkook of K-pop megastar BTS will headline this year's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series, an annual summer concert hosted by the famous U.S. morning talk show. The vocalist will open the concert on July 14 at New York's Central Park with "Seven," his first official solo song set to come out earlier that day, the show's broadcaster ABC said on social media Friday (US time). It will be Jungkook's first performance in the annual event as a solo a

K-pop boy band Infinite is returning as a full group this month, amid the rush of veteran boy band comebacks. The band's agency, Infinite Co., on Friday heralded the six-piece's long-awaited comeback for July 31 with a poster in black and gold. The sextet's return comes five years after it released its last album, its third LP "Top Seed," in 2018. This is the first time the group is getting together following its departure from its former agency Woolim Entertainment unde

Tomorrow X Together has unveiled a collaboration with US pop group Jonas Brothers. The K-pop quintet on Friday afternoon dropped its collaborative single with Jonas Brothers, "Do It Like That." The song and its music video was released globally at 1 p.m. The rhythmical dance pop tune gives out summer vibes as it spells out the enchanting feelings of fledgling love. The band, also known as TXT, said via Big Hit Music on Friday that "it will be the best summer song of 2023." &q

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (US) Opened June 28 Adventure/Action Directed by Danial Rifky The legendary archaeologist Indiana Jones returns, and welcoming him back are his goddaughter Helena and Jurgen Voller, a former Nazi who now works for NASA. Jones heads for another adventure to retrieve a dial that can change history. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (US) Opened June 21 Animation Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos The Multiverse opens up in front of S