Different human desires are set to clash in SBS’ new suspense drama “The Penthouse: War in Life” starting at 10 p.m., Monday. Director Joo Dong-min and screenwriter Kim Soon-ok have joined hands again for this drama after “The Last Empress,” their previous SBS drama featuring actress Jang Na-ra, met with success in 2018. “The Penthouse: War in Life” is set in Hera Palace, a 100-story luxury apartment in the heart of Seoul. It deals with two of the hot

ENHYPEN, the seven-member band consisting of reality audition program "I-Land" winners, unveiled its first trailer on Thursday ahead of its debut next month. ENHYPEN's seven members were selected through a televised survival program co-organized by entertainment giant CJ ENM and BTS' agency Big Hit Entertainment. Big Hit's chief Bang Si-hyuk himself took part in selecting the final seven winners from a pool of 23 candidates. The trailer "Choose-Chosen," posted on the band'

A political thriller depicting the intense power struggle among former President Park Chung-hee's top aides before one of them assassinated him in 1979 will represent South Korea in next year's Oscars. The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) said Thursday that it has chosen "The Man Standing Next" out of 13 films as the country's entry for the best international feature film category of the 93rd Academy Awards. The selection came after South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite"

South Korean all-female band BLACKPINK's music video "How You Like That" has earned 600 million views on YouTube in what its agency said was reached in the shortest time for a K-pop act. The quartet's music video of the hit song reached the milestone at around 1 a.m. on Thursday, roughly 117 days and seven hours after it was released on June 26, according to YG Entertainment. The agency said the band set the record about two months earlier than its "Kill This Love" music vi

After the success of K-pop, K-drama and even K-movies internationally, the letter “K” is now often placed in front of Korean products that make Koreans proud. “K-quarantine” was a word used in multiple headlines this year to recognize the relative success of Korea in containing the COVID-19. However, there is one K- word that became widespread online this year that does the opposite: “K-censorship” is a derogatory term used to criticize excessive censorship

K-pop quartet BLACKPINK performed and shared its stories on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," becoming the first K-pop girl group to appear on the US late-night show. The band, which Kimmel introduced as "the most popular all-female group in the vast realm of music known as K-pop" joined the show through video chat on Tuesday (US time). BLACKPINK's four members -- Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa -- talked about their successful gig at the Coachella music festival last year and behind-the-s

The 25th Busan International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday for a 10-day run in a year that has seen many film festivals around the world canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this year’s BIFF is a much scaled down version with all large crowd-attracting events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, outdoor greetings and open talk sessions canceled. “Many leading overseas film festivals were canceled due to COVID-19, but we decided to hold it, as we have trust i

Actors rise to the challenge of performing onstage during pandemic

At 8:50 a.m. on Thursday, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk of Big Hit Entertainment, home to K-pop phenom BTS, rang the bells marking the company’s initial public offering at the Korea Exchange headquarters in Seoul. A huge step forward for the 15-year-old company, and also one of the most anticipated IPOs of the year, the listing ceremony was livestreamed on YouTube -- a first in the bourse operator’s history. “We began as a small entertainment company that set out to bring healing th

MBC’s drama series “Phoenix” from 2004 that featured actor Lee Seo-jin, Mun Jung-hyuk and the late Lee Eun-ju returns as an SBS daily morning soap opera starting from Monday at 8:35 a.m. The script for the 2020 “Phoenix” remake is once again written by Lee Yoo-jin, who wrote the original series. “Pheonix” revolves around Jang Se-hoon, who is poor, and Lee Ji-eun, from a rich family, as they get married, get divorced and meet again after their financi

In the last few years, K-pop has become more than just a music genre. Its influence has not only been proven on the Billboard charts and on US TV shows, but has also spilled over into the realm of diplomacy. Recently, global sensation BTS faced an uproar after the group received an award from the Korea Society, which celebrates South Korea-US ties. In an acceptance speech, leader RM mentioned the “pain of history” in a reference to the 1950-1953 Korean War. His seemingly innocuou

Mnet announced Tuesday that rapper Owen of MKIT Rain Records is stepping down from the rap competition program “Show Me the Money,” following a local media report that he and four other rappers were found to have used marijuana last year. The local Channel A News reported Monday that the police investigated MKIT Rain Records and found all five rappers of the label had used marijuana sometime in August and September last year at the company’s office. The five rappers were Nafl

K-pop megastar BTS has ranked fifth on the Billboard's main singles chart with its latest hit "Dynamite" that had topped the list for three weeks, Billboard reported. "BTS' 'Dynamite' drops 2-5 on the Hot 100, after three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, as it posts an eighth week atop Digital Song Sales," the US music publisher said Monday (US time). The seven-member act made history with the English-lyric pop song by becoming the first South Korean band to top the Hot 100 c

Seventeen released its new album, “Semicolon,” Monday, with a message of encouragement for young people to take some time off in their busy lives. “Just like the album’s title symbolizes a pause in a sentence, we wanted to convey a message that it’s OK to take a break from the everyday struggles and that it’s going to be a preparation for a journey called life,” said Vernon during an online press conference in Seoul on Monday. Marking the group&rsquo

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra is gearing up for a new start, after months of lull due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Like most other orchestras and music acts around the world, the SPO has had a rather underwhelming 2020. This year, the SPO took to the stage stage in February -- when its music director Osmo Vanska led two inaugural concerts in Seoul -- and in June and July, before performances were halted again as the number of COVID-19 cases spiked in August. But as Korea has eased