Girl group ITZY is returning more powerful and confident with the new album “Guess Who.” Ahead of the album‘s release, the group conducted an online press conference Thursday. The band’s fourth mini album, “Guess Who” is a six-track set led by “M.A.F.I.A. in the Morning.” “‘Guess Who’ refers to an unknown person. In this album, we manifest various visuals and emotions according to different times and places, becoming more wild

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- The Jeonju International Film Festival held an opening ceremony hosted by actor Kwon Hye-hyo and Park Ha-sun on Thursday night at the Sori Arts Center of Jeollabukdo. The event will last for 10 days until May 8. “Over the last 20 years, our festival has been introducing (films with) new topics. Old and familiar topics are comfortable but they cannot change the world. Jeonju International Film Festival has been preserving the value of independent movies&

The bandmates of IZ*ONE from Japan returned to their home boarding an airplane together Thursday.   　 Miyawaki Sakura, Honda Hitomi and Yabuki Nako eagerly greeted fans gathered at the airport, but upon hearing their warm parting words, turned solemn. Hitomi welled up with tears and the other two comforted her.   　 The group was disbanded Wednesday as its contract with CJ ENM expired, wrapping up the 2 1/2 year career. The Korean members will return to their original agencies except

Hit by a series of COVID-19 infections, the musical scene is bracing for perhaps another virus crisis, following earlier shutdowns in March and August last year. Four cast members of the musical “Dracula,” set to run from mid-May, have confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus, sounding an alarm for musical productions.  Musical actors Shin Sung-rok who plays Dracula, Kang Tae-eul and Jeon Dong-seok playing the role of Van Helsing in the musical have tested posit

  Seven-piece girl group Hot Issue debuted with a much-anticipated online showcase Wednesday.   　 The group came out with five-track EP “Issue Maker,” with its lead track “Gratata” that comes after machine gun sounds, as the group ambitiously aims to target the public like skilled snipers.   　 The debut of the new girl group has drawn extra attention, as it is the first band to come from S2 Entertainment, established by Hong Seungseong who has produced co

After 20 years on stage, Baroque music diva wants to try jazz music, theater acting

Combined streaming of the BTS megahit "Dynamite" has reached more than 300 million in Japan, a music chart tracker in the Asian country showed Wednesday. The disco-pop track added 6.69 million streams in the latest weekly streaming chart compiled by Oricon between April 19 and 25, hitting 306.53 million streams in total, said Big Hit Music, the K-pop act's agency, citing the Japanese music chart. "Dynamite," which achieved the feat in 36 weeks, is the third song to break th

The number of combined moviegoers for "Minari" is expected to surpass 1 million in South Korea this weekend, boosted by supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung's history Oscar victory, data showed Wednesday. The US drama film on the struggles of a first-generation Korean immigrant family in America sold 8,500 tickets on Tuesday, bringing its combined total to 952,000, according to the data from the Korean Film Council. Its box office ranking bumped up to second after the thriller "Reca

Seventeen ranked No. 1 on Oricon’s weekly singles chart with hits third Japanese single “Hitorijyanai” last week. 　 The single sold over 314,000 units in the first week of sales, repeating the feat of its second Japanese single from last year that also topped the weekly tally and sold over 300,000 units in seven days. 　 “Hitorijyanai” also made the boy band the first international male musicians to have three consecutive singles with over-200,000-unit sales in th

With Youn Yuh-jung making history by becoming the first Korean to win an Academy Award for acting, social media was flooded with posts congratulating the feat by the 73-year-old veteran actor. Actors Lee Seo-jin, Choi Woo-sik, Park Seo-joon and Jung Yu-mi who appeared with her on recent tvN entertainment show “Youn’s Stay” all congratulated the veteran actor. “As I’ve said many times, I thought Youn would win this award and despite her saying that I was counting

The two biggest music streamers Spotify and Apple Music are attempting to penetrate the Korean market with unique playlists and music charts. Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, announced the launch of “Jazzy Korea,” a new playlist curated to introduce a wide range of rising Korean jazz artists and tracks to celebrate the upcoming International Jazz Day on April 30. The new playlist containing 30 tracks by 30 Korean jazz artists was launc

Director Bong Joon-ho has said that South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung's history-making Oscar victory is the result of the US Academy Awards' belated acknowledgement of her versatility and decadeslong contribution to the South Korean film industry. The 73-year-old screen veteran was awarded Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the immigrant film "Minari," written and directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung. She is the first South Korean to win an acting Oscar. Bong's

Lee Kwang-soo, a core member of the long-running popular TV show "Running Man," will step away from the program after 11 years, his management agency said Tuesday. The 35-year-old actor-entertainer will film his last episode for the show on May 24, KingKong by Starship said. According to the agency, Lee has been having trouble playing his role on the show due to an injury he suffered from a car accident last year, though he has been doing physical therapy. Lee decided to take some t

K-pop sensation BTS is ready to come back next month with the cheerful summer number "Butter," its agency said Tuesday. The "fun and upbeat summer song," which will be the seven-piece act's second English single following "Dynamite" released last year, will drop globally in a digital version at 1 p.m. on May 21, according to Big Hit Music. The physical version of the new single will be available this summer, the company added, without elaborating on a release date

Big-name rookie group Enhypen has returned even bigger than before with the second EP “Border: Carnival,” which sings about the ferocious five months since the group’s debut. The seven-piece group held a media event in Seoul on Monday ahead of the album‘s release at 6 p.m. that day. Taking on the story from their first EP “Border: Day On,” which depicts a complication of emotions faced ahead of debut, “Border: Carnival” sings of another wave of