BTS received two awards from the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards held in Los Angeles on Thursday, local time. 　 The artists’ digital single “Dynamite” was given the best music video award and their fandom Army was named as the best fan army. This is the second time they won best music video after last year’s “Boy With Luv” and the fourth time since 2018 they won best fan army. 　 Big Hit Music’s performance director Son Sung-deuk won the favorite music vid

“Good Morning Dokdo,” a musical about South Korea’s easternmost islets and the territorial dispute with Japan, is coming back to the Seoul Arts Center from June 10-13. The show, which first opened in May 2020, has been upgraded with new cast members and visual effects, said the Seoul Arts Center, which held open auditions. “Good Morning Dokdo” follows the Dokdo Lovers, a group that shares an interest in protecting the islets’ sovereignty, as they travel the

  Veteran director Yoo Ha’s new film, “Pipeline,” has a completely different vibe from his previous hits. While he’s best known for serious crime films such as “Little Odessa,” “Gangnam Blues” and “Spirit of Jeet Keun Do -- Once Upon a Time in High School,” this time he has come out with a black comedy. “I have the mindset of a nomad. I like challenging myself by directing new genres that I haven’t done before,”

Global content company Smartstudy announced that it will release an animated version of “Hot Sauce,” from K-pop boy band NCT Dream, Friday at 7 p.m. The video will be on the official YouTube channels of both NCT Dream and Smartstudy’s education brand Pinkfong. “Hot Sauce” is the title song of the group’s first studio album, which sold over 1 million copies last week. The track consists of up-tempo hip-hop beats and Afro-beats. According to the content cr

South Korean indie musicians have teamed up to support activists struggling against the military junta in Myanmar, an association of Korean indie musicians for democratization in Myanmar said Thursday.　 On Monday they plan to release a rock version of “March for the Beloved,” originally a tribute to the victims of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. Thirteen vocalists from 10 indie bands, including Tacopy, ABTB, Shingaram Band, Fishingirls and Walking After U, collaborated on th

BTS is set to release what its label called a "Hotter" remix of its latest single "Butter" that has been making a splash around the globe. The new version leans more toward electro dance, offering a different charm from the upbeat and vibrant original track, according to Big Hit Music. The release is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, exactly a week after the seven-piece act rolled out "Butter" globally on May 21. A music video for the remix is also set for release at 1

Pipeline (Korea) Opened May 26 Crime Directed by Yoo Ha Pindol (Seo In-guk), the best pipeline-drilling technician in South Korea, decides to take up an offer from Gun-woo (Lee Soo-hyuk), heir to a large conglomerate, to be part of a dangerous oil heist. For the job, Gun-woo rounds up a team of four thieves -- Jeobsae (Eum Moon-suk), Manager Na (Yoo Seung-mok), Keunsab (Tae Hang-ho) and Counter (Bae Da-bin). Voyagers (US) Opened May 26 Science Fiction Directed by Neil Burger In 2063, the fut

BTS made a 13-second guest appearance in the special episode of “Friends: The Reunion,” as the much-anticipated sitcom returned on Thursday, local time. 　 The bandmates appeared sitting on and around a sofa with subtitles that introduced them as “BTS: Biggest Boy Band on the Planet” complete with a Korean national flag. 　 “My mom bought me the DVDs of the whole series when I was in elementary school. ‘Friends’ really had a big hand in teaching me Englis

BTS has set five new Guinness World Records (GWR) titles with its latest release "Butter." Most of the records came from YouTube, where the group outdid its own records achieved with the 2020 megahit "Dynamite." On YouTube, the music video for the septet's new single was certified for achieving the most views in 24 hours with 108.2 million views and as the most-viewed video by a K-pop group in 24 hours, according to the website of GWR. It also garnered the most views for t

South Korea's Cannes-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has had his name listed in a renowned French encyclopedia for his cinematic achievements and recognition in the European nation, a report showed Thursday. In the latest edition of "Petit Larousse Illustre," a French-language encyclopedic dictionary launched in 1905, the South Korean director won a page, along with 40 new figures from various sectors like literature, cinema and sports, according to the report by the Korea Creative Con

The first studio album of NCT Dream sold over 2 million units, according to label SM Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 The album, titled “Hot Sauce,” surpassed the 1 million-sales mark in a week since it came out on May 10 and reached 2 million in 16 days, and about 300,000 units more than the pre-orders. 　 The LP hit the No. 1 spot on the iTunes top albums chart in 37 regions, Oricon’s weekly album chart and Billboard Japan’s top sales album chart a well. With the same-tit

Although the local box office shows some signs of recovery before the summer peak season, the pandemic-hit Korean film industry still remains wary of releasing big-budget films in the near future. The South Korean box office recently made a long-waited turnaround thanks to a bullish run by "F9," the latest chapter in the "Fast and Furious" series. Released on May 19, the Hollywood blockbuster posted 400,000 viewers on opening day to set the biggest first-day score since the

Musical “Beetlejuice” is set for a Seoul run, its first official showing outside of Broadway. The Korean-language licensed version of Broadway musical “Beetlejuice” is scheduled to open June 18 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul. Based on the iconic 1988 Tim Burton film of the same title, the musical had its Broadway premiere in 2019, following a pilot run a year earlier. The Korean staging marks the first licensed version of the musical.

Korean traditional music-inspired band Leenalchi and dance group Ambiguous Dance Company have teamed up once again to perform at LG Arts Center, June 11-12. Leenalchi will perform their latest digital single “Yeobonari” and 10 songs from “Sugungga,” their first full-length album released Feb. 16. Ambiguous Dance Company, which performed with Leenalchi at LG Arts Center‘s Rush Hour Concert last year, will once again join the band onstage. Leenalchi is an alternativ

K-pop supergroup BTS' new single "Butter" has stormed major music charts in the United States and Japan following its release last week, the band's agency said Wednesday. The English-language single debuted at No. 26 on the Billboard's pop airplay chart, which measures airplay of pop songs at some 160 key US radio stations from every Monday to Sunday. The song's debut ranking is higher than the band's 2020 smash hit "Dynamite," which debuted at No. 30 on the same chart. &q