Global music platform Spotify’s K-pop playlist “K-pop Daebak” recorded approximately 1.7 billion streams in the last seven years, the company said in a press release Monday. Celebrating the 7th anniversary of its launch, the company released a host of data on K-pop Daebak. The playlist has reached more than 3.1 million followers, introducing fans and new listeners across the globe to the latest hits in the genre and grew into one of Spotify’s most important flagship pl

Legendary rock star Shin Hae-chul is making a comeback on the radio waves, thanks to AI technology that was able to re-create the voice of the late singer-songwriter. An artificial-intelligence based technology called “Personalized Text to Speech” took data from episodes of “Shin Hae-chul’s Ghost Station,” a radio program starring Shin from 2001 to 2012 in order to bring his voice back to life, according to telecom company KT Sunday. Deep learning-based technolog

Producers of the hit South Korean drama “The Penthouse 3: War in Life” apologized again for including inappropriate scenes in an episode the previous week. The apology was featured at the beginning of the latest episode of the drama, which aired Friday. “In our Sept. 3 episode of ‘The Penthouse 3: War in Life,’ a few scenes inappropriately included news footage of a building collapse in Gwangju and the earthquake in Pohang,” the statement read. “We a

Blackpink became the artist or group with the most subscribers on YouTube around the world.   　 According to label YG Entertainment, subscribers to the girl group’s official channel surpassed 65.2 million Friday afternoon, surpassing Justin Bieber.   　 “It’s unbelievable. It is a moment of miracle made by Blink,” the bandmates said through their management firm, thanking their official fandom.   　 “This is a result achieved with our fans so we hop

After rumors about Lisa’s first-ever solo album circulated months ago, she finally answered questions to the anticipation by stretching her solo legs. Lisa of Blackpink sent fans abuzz with excitement by releasing her first EP, “Lalisa,” which dropped Friday evening. The two-track package aims to talk about who Lisa is, as both the name for the album and its title track go by the singer’s real name, which is why her debut album gives her butterflies, she said during an

The 13th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival kicked off Thursday at Megabox Paju Bookcity in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with a tearful story from director Yang Yong-hi. “Aiming to promote peace, coexistence and life as a key message, DMZ Docs has slowly become the largest festival of its kind in Asia, promoting promising projects and documentaries to a wider audience,” festival director Jung Sang-jin said during the opening ceremony. The festival returned to in-person scre

Legendary heavy metal band Metallica released a new album on music streaming platforms Friday, featuring a cover song by South Korean rock band YB. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1991 megahit “The Black Album,” 53 acts from around the world covered their favorite songs from the album for a new one titled “The Metallica Blacklist.” YB, led by singer Yoon Do-hyun, covered Metallica’s “Sad but True.” The recording took place in Feb

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (US) Opened Sept. 1 Action Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) has been ruling the world of darkness for centuries with the power of Ten Rings, which grants immortality and great power to the user. Wenwu’s son Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) was trained as an assassin as a kid under him, but he later chooses to live a normal life. One day, Sang-Chi is attacked and realizes there is a fate that he has to accept. CODA (US) Opened Aug. 31

K-pop girl group LOONA will make its official debut in Japan with its first Japanese language songs next week, its management agency said Thursday. 　 　The 12-member group will pre-release four songs Wednesday, including double main tracks of its upcoming Japanese album -- “Hula Hoop” and “Starseed: Kakusei” -- according to Blockberry Creative. The group‘s first Japanese album will hit shelves on Oct. 20. 　 　K-pop producer Ryan Jhun co-composed “Hula Hoop,&rdq

Soloist HyunA and singer-songwriter Dawn of P Nation released their first-ever duo album, “[1+1=1],” on Thursday, dazzling fans with their sizzling chemistry. The four-track album is packed with stories about love and talks about turning big dreams into reality, conveying their honest feelings, the two musicians said during an online press conference Thursday. Title track “Ping Pong” interweaves Moombahton, a rhythm originated from Dutch house and house music, with 8

Teams from South Korea, Japan and China are set to clash at Esports Championships East Asia 2021. The three-day event organized by the e-Sports Association and Korea Creative Content Agency will kick off Friday with live online matches for five games -- League of Legends, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Clash Royale, PES 2021 Season Update and Dungeon Fighter. ECEA 2021 will be accompanied by the Game Culture Festival, which is to offer various programs for esports fans.  There wil

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s Netflix original series “Hellbound” will be screened at the 65th BFI London Film Festival, which will be held from Oct. 6 to 17, according to Netflix on Thursday. The festival in London will screen the first three episodes. “Hellbound,” which is based on the popular webtoon of the same title, features the story of supernatural events in which random people suddenly receive a text saying they will be sent to hell. Amid the chaos, the New Tru

China moves to restrict K-pop fans’ star-chasing activities, as shown in suspension of BTS fan account

BTS now has as many as 14 music videos with more than 400 million views on YouTube. 　 The kinetic manifesto film for “ON” from its fourth full-length album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” logged 400 million views as of Wednesday. The video features over 30 dancers and a 12-piece marching band, manifesting the band’s energy and determination to accept fate and march forward without hesitation. 　 The septet’s fourth LP landed atop the Billboard 200 when it was released

Cable channel tvN’s 2016 hit drama series “Signal” will be adapted into a webtoon, media content company BY4M announced through its public relations agency Wednesday, unveiling drawings of characters and well-known scenes from the drama. “Signal” is a time slip mystery-thriller centered around investigators from the past and future who communicate via a special walkie-talkie to solve crimes. The walkie-talkie transports its users to past crime scenes and offers in