The rift between SM Entertainment and its founder Lee Soo-man continues to deepen as Lee called out the process of making Kakao the company's second-largest shareholder an “act of illegality.” On Tuesday, SM Entertainment and South Korean tech giant Kakao announced a partnership that involved Kakao acquiring a 9.05 percent stake in the K-pop powerhouse. The share acquisition amounts to more than 217 billion won ($173.12 million). The partnership was a trilateral deal between SM

Two companies seek synergy in global business

Seventeen’s three-piece unit BSS sold over 478,000 copies of its first single on the first day of release. This tops the first-week sales record for an album from a K-pop band subunit, according to agency Pledis Entertainment on Tuesday. Single “Second Wind” -- from Seungkwan, Dogyeom and Hoshi -- came out Monday, about five years since their digital single “Just Do It.” Lead track “Fighting” from the three-track album landed atop iTunes top songs chart

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of pansori being registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, four pansori singers -- three foreign singers and their teacher Min Hye-sung -- performed at Seoul Namsan Gugakdang on Saturday. Min, a certified trainer of pansori, National Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 5, has been holding a month-long pansori workshop each year at Korean Cultural Centers across Europe since 2007. On the stage with Min on Saturday were her students Anna Yates-Lu from Ger

Jang Ho-gi, the man behind global streamer Netflix’s latest reality competition “Physical: 100,” said he wants to scour the world to find a contestant in top physical shape. “Though our show sought to find the fittest among 100 contestants of different gender, race and age, deciding the proportion of foreign-born contestants was difficult. Defining a foreign-born contestant itself was complicated as well,” Jang said in a press conference held at Community House Ma

Actor Song Joong-ki will appear as North Korean defector Loh Ki-wan in a new Netflix film titled “My Name is Loh Kiwan,” the global streaming service said in unveiling the cast for the film Tuesday. The film will depict Loh’s struggles in Belgium as a new settler and his encounter with Mari (Choi Sung-eun) who has grown despondent about life and love. Song will play a North Korean defector for the first time in his 15-year career. He has shown great versatility in his filmograp

Since his debut in 2013, actor Lee Dong-hwi has played indispensable roles in TV dramas and films, including 2015 TVN series “Reply 1988” and 2019 comedy film “Extreme Job." From his short cameo appearance in director Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Broker” to Disney+ hit series “Big Bet,” Lee has impressed audiences with his witty but down-to-earth acting. In director Hyung Seul-woo’s feature film debut, “Someone You Loved,” Lee plays J

K-pop legend Super Junior is in Latin America for its world tour “Super Show 9: Road.” The Latin American leg of its world tour begins on Tuesday in Santiago, Chile and will be followed by gigs in Brazil, Peru and Mexico. Super Junior’s ninth world tour began in July last year in Seoul, followed by performances in Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Manila. This world tour comes for the first time in three years. It has also been five years since th

Prosecutors have summarily indicted a former foreign ministry employee on charges of attempting to sell BTS member Jungkook's lost hat online for 10 million won ($7,950), legal sources said Tuesday. The former government employee, whose identity has been withheld, allegedly shared a photo of the bucket hat on an online flea market, claiming the K-pop superstar had left it at the ministry building in Seoul when he visited to apply for a passport. The seller further said he had acquired the o

Baekhyun of EXO went live on the band’s YouTube channel Monday evening, a day after he completed his military service. He will chat with fans and share episodes from when he shot his own vlogs. He served his duty as a social service agent from May 2021 and was discharged Sunday. He uploaded a handwritten letter addressed to his fans last month, thanking them for not forgetting him and promising them that he is ready to give it his all. With Baekhyun back, the band is likely to make a full

K-pop boy group Enhypen successfully wrapped up its first world tour “Manifesto” in the Philippines' capital Manila on Sunday. Starting from Seoul last September, the septet visited a total of 12 cities around the world and held 22 concerts over the past 5 months. The group proved its global popularity, selling out 19 of 22 world tour gigs despite it being their first. In Japan alone, the act attracted 140,000 fans to their eight concerts held in the country. In particular, Enhy

In its third year of contending at the Grammys, K-pop phenomenon BTS ends the night technically empty-handed again. But experts assure this does not mean a failure at all. The 65th Grammy Awards' ceremony took place Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. BTS did not attend the event in person. This year saw the group get multiple Grammy nods for its first time, including in the best music video category for "Yet to Come" and in the best pop duo or group performance c

South Korean multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV said Monday that a total of 17 films nominated for the 95th Academy Awards will be screened at its cinemas across the country starting Saturday and until March 21. The list of films includes works yet to be released in Korea, such as “Tar,” “The Whale,” “The Quiet Girl,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “EO” and “Close.” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” directed by Danie

Tomorrow X Together is 5th Korean artist to land at No. 1 on Billboard 200 chart

After 25 years of acting, Bae Doo-na doesn’t want her real personality off camera to be too distinctive -- it may influence how the audiences view the characters she plays. Rather than drawing attention to herself, she wants to spread messages on social issues through her work. “Next Sohee” is based on a true event. It is about a 2017 incident in which a high school student took her own life after taking a grueling job training program at a call center. Bae plays a detective