Star television director Na Young-seok returns with tvN’s new reality show “Earth Arcade,” featuring stars with whom he has not worked previously on television. “I have worked on many projects with television celebrities who I felt very comfortable with and spent a lot of time with, like comedian Kang Ho-dong, actor Lee Seo-jin and more. And I wanted to do something new for the upcoming series,” director Na said in an online press conference held on Monday. &ldqu

K-pop sensation BTS’ winning streak on global music charts continues with its latest anthology album “Proof” and new song “Yet To Come.” The band’s new single “Yet To Come” scored No. 1 on Billboard’s Global Excl. US chart, which ranks songs based on streaming and sales activities in 200 regions worldwide, excluding the US. According to the chart operator, BTS racked up 96.5 million streams and sold 42,000 copies in the June 10-16 tracki

Hollywood star Tom Cruise on Monday said he hopes long-waiting Korean fans of “Top Gun” who watched the action film as kids back in 1986 will fully enjoy the new sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Grown-up man, you can enjoy that film, and you can cry  in that movie, and that‘s OK. It’s for you and it’s for everybody, so enjoy,” Cruise said during a press conference held at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Monday. Along with Cruise, four of the sta

As the summer season approaches and music charts are ready to revel in new anthems, K-pop girl group Loona has eyes set on becoming the new summer queens of the K-pop scene, with a new mini album just in time for summer. The 12-member act’s new release, “Flip That” marks a return for the full group a year since the release of fourth EP “&” dropped in June last year. It is also the band’s first-ever summer album since the group’s debut in August 201

The music video of BTS’ “Black Swan” reached 400 million views on YouTube, said label Big Hit Music on Monday. 　 It became the band’s 18th music video to achieve the feat. “Black Swan” is an emo hip-hop number that was dropped in January 2020, in advance of the release of fourth full album “Map of The Soul: 7.” It topped the iTunes songs chart in 93 regions. 　 On the same day, its “Yet To Come” music video surpassed 100 million views

As many big-name K-pop artists are set to return this summer, rookie girl group Kep1er opened the sunny season music craze with second EP, “Doublast,” released Monday evening. This marks the nonet‘s return, nearly six months since its debut album, “First Impact,” released in January. In a press conference Monday, leader Yu-jin described it as “an album where Kep1er embarks on a new adventure after its debut.” She continued, saying that the bandmate

Underneath the system, K-pop idols continue to strive to find their own voice

Fearless young actor says she is ready for more challenges

The latest album by South Korean soprano Im Sun-hae is unlike most of her previous releases. Betraying her love for musicals, “The Man I Love” is a pleasant picnic away from her career as a soprano, according to the performer. “I‘ve always loved all genres of musical performance. I will always be a classical singer at heart because once you fall in love with classical music, you never give it up completely. But I often felt a need to explore different genres and diver

Two Cannes-winning movie stars -- Song Kang-ho and Jeon Do-yeon -- are returning to the big screen in the highly anticipated aviation disaster flick “Emergency Declaration,” directed by Han Jae-rim. Song became the first Korean male actor to win an acting prize at the 75th Cannes Film Festival this year for his role in “Broker,” directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. In 2007, Jeon won the award for best actress at Cannes for her performance in “Secret Sunshine,” d

Deoksugung’s Seokjojeon, the first European-style stone building built during King Gojong’s reign (1863-1907), will be filled with classical tunes on the evening of June 29, the Cultural Heritage Administration’s Deoksugung Palace Management Office said Monday. Since 2015, several concerts have been performed at the venue. Historical records show that Korean pianist Kim Yeong-hwan performed recitals for King Gojong at the Seokjojeon main hall in the early 1910s. Hosted and o

Two South Korean animated films, "Chun Tae-il: A Flame That Lives On" and "Persona," have been awarded at this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival. According to the winner's list Monday (Korean time), "Chun Tae-il," a biopic on the Korean workers' rights activist directed by Hong Jun-pyo, received the Contrechamp Jury Distinction prize at the 46th edition of the festival that kicked off June 13 and ran through Saturday. The 109-minute

Summer is one of the busiest seasons in the K-pop scene, always loaded with refreshing bops for the sweltering heat. This year again, the competitive industry welcomes numerous big-name artists returning with a new batch of bangers that will find their way into listeners’ summer playlist. On the star-studded roster is Super Junior, one of the longest-running K-pop boy groups. The group is set to make a grand return with its 11th full-length album Vol. 1 “The Road: Keep on Going&rdq

BTS' new album, "Proof," has topped the US Billboard's main albums chart for this week, becoming the sixth chart-topper from the South Korean group, the chart's operator said. The anthology album landed atop the Billboard 200 by earning 314,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending June 16, Billboard said Sunday (US time). "The overwhelming majority of that unit figure was driven by CD album sales," it added. Billboard 200 ranks the mos

Lim Yun-chan, an 18-year-old South Korean pianist, became the winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, the organizer announced Saturday. Lim, the youngest to win the competition’s gold medal, also took home two additional awards: the audience award and the best performance of a new work. Lim also won a cash prize of $100,000 for the gold medal and $7,500 for the special awards. For the next three years, he will also get substantial man