BTOB held an online media conference Monday and discussed the band’s new album. 　 Seo Eunkwang, Lee Minhyuk, Lee Changsub and Peniel came out with a special album titled “4U: Outside,” nine months after the band’s previous work. The four performers are functioning as a subunit because Yook Sungjae and Im Hyunsik are currently serving their military duty. 　 “My heart is all aflutter,” confided Seo, especially since it was the first new music the band had put

Two winners of the 2021 Queen Elisabeth Competition are to hold performances across Korea starting next month. French pianist Jonathan Fournel and Japanese pianist Keigo Mukawa who took the first and the third place in this year’s competition, respectively, will kick off their schedule at the 2021 PLZ Festival held in Goseong, Gangwon Province, on Sept. 8. They will also hold recitals in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, on Sept. 10 and in Gwangju on Sept. 12. Fournel will presen

Broadcast Worldwide 2021 will be held Sept. 6-10 under the slogan “Content, Traveling to a New World,” the Korea Creative Content Agency said Monday. The annual event is being held online for the second consecutive year. Asia’s largest broadcasting content market, BCWW seeks to present outstanding content and insights to the broadcast industry around the world. According to KOCCA, 367 buyers and officials from 31 countries have registered for the event, including Warner Med

“Escape from Mogadishu” directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, which was released on July 28, has sold more than 3 million tickets, according to film distributor Lotte Entertainment Sunday. The action film overtook Marvel Studios’ superhero movie “Black Widow,” which sold over 2.95 million tickets, to be the most-watched film of 2021. The release of “Escape from Mogadishu” was possible with support from the Korean Theater Association, which includes among its mem

Busan International Film Festival will launch the “On Screen” program this year, moving streaming content to the big screen during the festival. The 26th BIFF will be held from Oct. 6 to 15. The new section was added to reflect the expansion of streaming platforms and their content’s influence in the global market. A number of international film festivals, including Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, have created similar sections to i

The Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will be held online again this year as the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be contained. According to the festival organizers Thursday, the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival 2021 will take place Oct. 9-10 as an online event, free of charge. In 2020, the festival went online for the first time since its launch in 2006, gathering a total of around 780,000 viewers.  The primary lineup released Thursday consists of leading rock acts here suc

Berlin-based pianist Sunwoo Yekwon talks about life, music in pandemic times, appreciation for live concerts

Mamamoo is putting together a compilation album slated to be released in September, according to local media reports on Friday. 　 The album will chronicle the band’s seven-year career, with each track selected by the four bandmates, in addition to two songs that have not been released. 　 This is the quartet’s first album since its three members -- Solar, Moonbyeol and Hwasa -- renewed their contracts with management firm RBW Entertainment in June. Wheein decided not to sign with th

Public education broadcaster EBS said Tuesday that it would air a lecture series called “Great Minds,” starring acclaimed academics including American political scientist Joseph S. Nye. “Great Minds” aims to close knowledge gaps exacerbated by the extended COVID-19 and fake news in social networking services. According to the broadcaster, a total of 40 scholars will star in the 200-part lecture series. The production crew visited the scholars to film the lectures in pe

For television director Jang Tae-yoo, seeing the chemistry between the actors in the upcoming Monday-Tuesday SBS drama “Red Sky” was a huge pleasure. “The vibe in our filming site was literally crazy. The relationship between the cast and the staff was really good and all I had to do was to make sure that the cameras worked,” the director said during an online press conference Thursday afternoon. The fantasy romance drama, an adaptation of a novel of the same title by

Concert pianist Cho Seong-jin, the first Korean to win the International Chopin Piano Competition, released his second Frederic Chopin album Friday. The new album, released under the Deutsche Grammophon label, features Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21. On the album, Cho is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra led by the Italian maestro Gianandrea Noseda. Though Cho has performed the work on multiple occasions, including a performance at the BBC Proms in 2018, it

K-pop superband BTS has refuted the recent online allegations of Billboard chart manipulation, pointing out that they are easily subject to such accusations just because they are a peripheral band from Korea. The septet's English-language songs "Butter" and "Permission to Dance" have stayed atop the Hot 100 main singles chart for a combined 10 weeks this summer thanks to overwhelming physical album sales and digital downloads. Typically, on the other hand, most of the Hot

Hostage: Missing Celebrity (Korea) Opened Aug. 18 Thriller, Action Directed by Pil Gam-seong Famous actor Hwang Jung-min, played by himself, is kidnapped in Seoul without any witnesses or evidence left behind. At first, the actor thinks it is a prank, but he soon realizes the seriousness of the situation. He tries to escape from the kidnappers who demand a huge ransom within 24 hours. Sinkhole (Korea) Opened Aug. 11 Comedy Directed by Kim Ji-hoon Although he has an annoying neighbor (Cha Se

BTS bounced back up to No. 1 on Billboard’s Artist 100, returning to the top after dropping to No. 2 last week, the publication revealed on Thursday in the US. 　 This is the 20th time the septet hit No. 1 on the chart that was launched in 2014. BTS is the first group to top the list for 20 weeks. Only three artists have stayed longer than the band, and all are solo musicians: Taylor Swift (48 weeks), Drake (32) and The Weeknd (22).  　 The Artist 100 combines a performer’s per

“D.P.,” directed by Han Jun-hee, will be released Aug. 27 starring Jung Hae-in as a young private assigned to capture Army deserters. Short for “Deserter Pursuit,” the upcoming Netflix original series shows the life of Pvt. Jun-ho (played by Jung) and Cpl. Ho-yeol (played by Koo Kyo-hwan) and reveals the reasons some soldiers try to escape the Army. “For Koreans, the Army is a place with a lot of meaning, so I was focused on making the audience feel empathy while