The year 2020 has been one of the most dismal years for many around the globe, jolting people to face a harsh new reality where the most mundane things in life have become a luxury. BTS, the K-pop act that has grown into one of the biggest pop groups in the world, is no exception. Carefully planned concerts were indefinitely postponed, and the band's seven members began to question what it means to be musicians when they can't perform in front of fans. The answer to that question is their late

With two new European versions starting up this month, broadcaster MBC’s entertainment show, “The King of Mask Singer,” is capping a successful year, with localized shows in more than 30 countries. “The King of Mask Singer,” which began airing in 2015, is a program where singers and celebrities compete with one another wearing a mask to hide their identity. The singers they take off their masks to reveal their identities once they lose. The show has been a major

K-pop megastar BTS, which has emerged as one of the biggest pop groups in the world, on Friday released its new album, "BE," an intimate record of messages the septet wants to share with the world during the pandemic. The eight-track album, the band's fifth Korean-language studio album, kicks off with the lead track "Life Goes On" and ends with the chart-breaking single "Dynamite," which propelled BTS to become the first K-pop act to top the Billboard Hot 100. If

Septuagenarian singer-songwriter releases new album with message of love for pandemic-stricken world

More Than Family (Korea) Opened Nov. 12 Drama, Comedy Directed by Choi Ha-na Toe-il (Jung Soo-jung) finds out she is pregnant. The father of the baby is Ho-hoon (Shin Jae-hwi), a student she has been tutoring. She plans to marry Ho-hoon, who is younger than her, and while preparing for the wedding she suddenly decides to look for her own biological father, who abandoned her and her mother many years ago. But she cannot remember much about her father -- not even his face or his first name. 

Local performing arts scene continues run under strict social distancing rules inflicted by the Korean government

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency-label behind K-pop megastars BTS, on Wednesday announced its takeover of KOZ Entertainment. KOZ was launched in 2018 by the popular 28-year-old rapper and producer Zico, who has chart-topping hits like "Any Song." It represents Zico himself as well as Dvwn. Big Hit said the takeover is expected to help the agency-label diversify its business portfolio. "We are happy to join hands with Zico, who is a top-ranking producer and artist," BTS ch

Aespa, a new girl group under S.M. Entertainment, made its highly-anticipated debut with “Black Mamba” on Tuesday. The four-piece band, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, unveiled the single via its YouTube and SM Town channels, opting out of any press event and leaning toward a rather online-oriented approach to showcase itself to the world. Inspired by the futuristic “avatar” theme, the group’s name comes from “avatar, experience and asp

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) ranked No. 25 on Billboard's main albums chart this week with its latest album. Released on Oct. 26, the five-track EP "Minisode1: Blue Hour" landed at 25th on the Billboard 200 chart refreshed Tuesday (US Time), a record high for the group. The US music tracker earlier said in its Twitter post that the band ranked at No. 26 on its main albums chart but confirmed the group's ranking to be a notch higher on its official chart. It is the firs

K-pop superstar BTS has unveiled a teaser music video for "Life Goes On," the lead track of its much-anticipated album "BE." The 26-second video, uploaded on its management agency's social media accounts on Wednesday, shows the septet smiling and contemplating in front of a camp fire. It then rotates to a scene where the septet is comfortably sitting around in pajamas. Like the band had hinted about its behind-the-scene production roles, the band's youngest member Jungkook

Mobile content streaming platform Kakao TV will kick off its latest original drama “No, Thank You” on Saturday at 10 a.m. through its mobile app, KakaoTalk. “No, Thank You” is based on popular webtoon “Myeoneuragi” by Soo Shin-ji, serialized on Instagram in 2016 with 600,000 followers. “Myeoneuragi” is a term coined by Soo to describe the period when a daughter-in-law, or “myeoneuri,” is new to the family and wants to be liked and com

Big Hit, JYP, YG invest in the same avatar app; S.M. to debut girl group with avatar selves

The latest album by K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) ranked 26th on Billboard's main album chart this week. Released on Oct. 26, five-track EP "Minisode1: Blue Hour" debuted at No. 26 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, the US music tracker said in a Twitter post on Tuesday. The chart will be refreshed later in the day. This is the first time that the boy band entered the top 100 on Billboard 200. Its debut album, "The Dream Chapter: Star," released in March last yea

After the trailer of the romance film “Josee” was presented during an online press conference Tuesday, the two lead actors -- Han Ji-min and Nam Joo-hyuk -- began crying. “Watching the trailer brought back all the emotions that I felt when filming,” Nam said. After fixing their makeup, Han and Nam shared their experiences of teaming up again in “Josee” after working together on the 2019 TV drama “The Light in Your Eyes.” “Even when we w

A new high-tech musical is to promote “peace travel” in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. “Wonder Ticket,” organized by the KTO, will stream online from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31, promoting the travel industry in the DMZ. The story of the musical takes off at an abandoned steam locomotive -- which currently sits at Jangdan Station in Imjingak, located on the banks of Imjin River in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The trai