Veteran actor Lee Soon-jae released a personal statement Sunday through his agency apologizing for unfairly treating his former manager and asked the public to stop any criticism towards the manager. The statement came out after the manager, who worked for Lee for two months starting March, claimed that he had to work long hours without signing a proper contract during his interview with SBS on June 29. He also added that he was unfairly dismissed after he requested insurance coverage. &ldq

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to hamper the global music and entertainment industry-at-large, the K-pop scene has proven time and time again its resilience and nimbleness in audience outreach and commercial viability. BTS is estimated to have earned nearly $20 million through its one-off virtual concert, "Bang Bang Con: The Live," in mid-June, drawing a global audience of some 756,000. BLACKPINK has also proven that demand for K-pop's girl power remains high, with its new sin

The first half of this year was an especially bumpy road for Korean television. Although the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 halted some productions for a while, small-screen content came into a new limelight as a source of joy and comfort for people stuck at home in the period of quarantine. JTBC becomes big name JTBC ran strong last year with “Sky Castle,” which set a record viewership rating for the cable channel. And the broadcaster has further built on its success this year.

More and more previous and current members of K-pop groups are revealing conflict with other members on social media. FNC Entertainment announced late Saturday night that Jimin, leader of AOA, will be leaving the group and will quit all activity following former bandmate Mina’s exposure of Jimin’s harsh actions. “The company also feels responsible for the entire situation and will do everything possible to take care of its artists. We are once again sorry for causing worry f

Head of Sejong Center suggests paid subscription-based streaming of performance content

The National Gugak Center has released a second series of virtual reality performances, following the previous release in March. In March, the state-funded music institution released a series of videos made with virtual reality technology, introducing various gugak instruments.  It released 20 more VR videos Wednesday, recorded at venues that show the beauty of traditional Korean architecture. A total of eight court music and court dance videos were filmed in Changdeokgung, a Joseon-era

Celebrity Jang Sung-kyu released his latest song “Workman” featuring Jay Park and Sik-K on Wednesday. The making of the song was shown through a video that was uploaded on his popular YouTube channel Workman on June 24. In his channel that has over 3 million subscribers, Jang introduces and shares his experience with different jobs, ranging from working in an aquarium to a construction site. “All the proceeds will be donated to financially support industrial accident workers

The 2020 Yeowoorak Festival, a gugak-themed festival organized by the National Theater of Korea, will kick off online a day later than its original schedule. As the government suspended operation of state-run museums and theaters in the Seoul metropolitan area on June 12 until further notice, the National Theater of Korea must remain closed. Although it is shut down, the theater will continue with its annual festival, streaming two of the shows online via its channels on Naver TV and YouTub

Overseas-based artists are continuing to perform onstage in Korea, even if it means going through the two-week self-quarantine periods. Though rules on overseas travel have lately been relaxed -- allowing essential overseas trips -- still, crossing borders at a time like this is not easy. Many performances across the world have been canceled, with artists unable to travel around the way they used to. Here in Korea, some performances with foreign artists are carrying on, as the artists have b

The South Korean performing arts sector has gradually returned to life after a monthslong slump, but the lingering novel coronavirus pandemic is casting a dark cloud over the scene for the remainder of 2020. According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS) on Thursday, aggregate ticket sales of musicals, theatrical plays, classical concerts and other performances reached 95.24 billion won ($79.3 million) in the first six months of the year. The system is managed by

The Singer (Korea) Opened July 1 Drama, Musical Directed by Cho Jung-lae In 1734 , a talented pansori singer -- sorikkun -- Shim Hak-gyu (Lee Bong-geun) sets on a journey to find his wife Gan-nan (Lee Yu-ri) who was kidnapped by a notorious group of human traffickers. Hak-gyu and his daughter Cheong is joined by drummer Dae-bong (Park Chul-min), an impoverished aristocrat (Kim Dong-wan) and a few more supporters, and the band travels around the country, moving from village to village as Hak-gy

Director takes more realistic approach to inter-Korean conflict in second film

Entertainment labels are no longer willing to tolerate broadcasters that release and sell unaired behind-the-scene clips or “fancams” of their artists without permission. The Korea Music Content Association, Korea Management Federation and Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association on Wednesday filed a petition to the nation’s Fair Trade Commission calling for a revision to the current unfair contract practices with TV stations. In Korea, pop artists appear in music sh

Producer says controversial political drama “a workplace rom-com”

Breaking down the songs that propelled the girl group to international stardom