While big agencies pursue localization strategies, critics remain skeptical

K-pop girl group Red Velvet dropped a new mini album “Cosmic” on Monday. "Cosmic" carries six tracks in which the quintet uses celestial metaphors to convey the feelings that come from important values and relationships. The lead track “Cosmic,” was composed by Kenzie, the veteran producer behind dozens of K-pop’s biggest hits, and the Swedish musician duo Moonshine. It’s about meeting a traveler from a remote star who Red Velvet encounters like dest

Nayeon of the K-pop girl group Twice achieved a landmark feat on Billboard’s main album chart with her latest mini album, “Na.” According to Billboard, "Na," Nayeon’s second EP, landed at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 dated June 29. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the best-performing albums in the US based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Nayeon is now the first female K-pop soloist to have two albums in the Bil

The animators of "Inside Out 2" suggested that if "Inside Out 3" were to be made, Patience and Empathy could be introduced as new emotions at Riley's brain headquarters, during an interview on Friday. The recently released "Inside Out 2" is the sequel to Pixar's hugely successful "Inside Out" (2015), which delves into the psyche of an 11-year-old girl named Riley by following the adventures of five anthropomorphized emotions: Joy, Fear, Disgust,

When it comes to films based on true events, whether a politically charged event or life of a heroic citizen, the biggest disappointment for the audience often comes in teary moments or an overly dramatic ending. Director Kim Sung-han’s crime action film “Hijacking 1971” follows a simple plotline centering on a good-hearted pilot Tae-in (played by Ha Jung-woo) over its 100-minute-long running time. Ha’s portrayal of a former fighter jet pilot Tae-in, who was dismissed fro

South Korean actor Ha Jung-woo, the youngest actor here to have accumulated over 100 million ticket sales through 25 films he has appeared in since debuting in 2005, becomes the character he plays. From a serial killer, to a top prime-time news anchor to a taxi driver struggling to make ends meet, Ha has never shown dull acting. His acting is always full of realism, energy and wit, consistently entertaining audiences over the past two decades. In his recent action drama flick, “Hijacking

The band Suede, which helped create and lead the Britpop musical movement in the 1990s, will perform in Korea for the first time in eight years. Suede will perform "Suede Live in Seoul" at KBS Arena in Gangseo-gu on Aug. 23. This will be the band's first performance in Korea since they played at the 2016 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival. Formed in London in 1989, Suede is recognized as a key Britpop band alongside Blur, Pulp and Oasis. Britpop, a type of alternative rock that origi

K-pop girl group NewJeans notched the No. 1 spot on Oricon’s daily singles ranking Friday, the day its first Japanese single album, “Supernatural,” was released in Japan. NewJeans is also performing well on major Korean and Japanese music charts. The titular track “Supernatural” topped real-time music charts of the Japanese music platforms including Line Music and AWA. It also landed at No. 13 on Melon’s Top 100 dated June 22. NewJeans has 10 songs on Melon&rs

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company is on an international tour with "Jungle," which premiered in October as the curtain raiser at the International Modern Dance Festival. The company is performing "Jungle" at Theatre 13 in Paris on Sunday and Monday, as part of the 2024 Korea Season organized by the Culture Ministry to coincide with the 2024 Paris Olympics, which kicks off July 26. Choreographed by Kim Sung-yong, the company's director and artistic director, &

Seventeen’s Jeonghan and Wonwoo dropped the director’s cut version of the music video for “Last Night (Guitar by Park Ju-won)” on Sunday. The song is the main track of the duo’s first single, “This Man,” released on June 17. The director’s cut includes a two-minute-and-45-second-long black-and-white comic that begins with “This is the story of a man who turns into a nightmare and another man who lives in fear of being forgotten.” &ldquo

The third and final season of "Sweet Home" is set to premiere on Netflix on July 19, bringing the popular monster horror series to a conclusion. The first season of "Sweet Home," (2020) directed by Lee Eung-bok, who helmed megahits such as "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" (2016) and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018), narrated the stories of residents in a rundown apartment complex named Green Home who struggled to survive as people around them transformed into m

Korean streaming services are increasingly securing exclusive rights to sports broadcasts to expand their viewer base. While fans acknowledge that this enhances the quality of the viewing experience, the shift from free to paid access is generating widespread criticism. Starting in May, Tving, which secured exclusive online broadcasting rights for the Korea Baseball Organization, began offering KBO-related broadcasts exclusively to its subscribers. Tving is also set to exclusively live-broadcast

US studio Pixar's animated film "Inside Out 2" surpassed 3 million admissions at the South Korean box office Saturday, the film's local distributor said. The coming-of-age movie hit the milestone on its 11th day of release, seven days faster than "Inside Out" (2015), according to Walt Disney Company Korea. If the current trend continues, the sequel is expected to easily surpass the previous film, which was seen by 4.97 million people. "Inside Out 2," which

Blackpink’s world tour that ended last year was made into a movie and will come to movie theaters on July 31, in time for the group’s eighth debut anniversary, label YG Entertainment said Friday. Dubbed “Blackpink World Tour Born Pink in Cinemas,” the film will chronicle the quintet’s international tour held in 34 cities from 2022 to 2023. It consisted of 66 concerts and drew about 1.8 million fans, the largest for a K-pop girl group ever. The movie will be shown on

Hybe confirmed Friday that Illit, the K-pop girl band under its music label Belift Lab, will be among the K-pop artists to participate in the Tencent Music Entertainment Awards in Macau, China, on July 19. The quintet shared the award poster on their official account on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Wednesday, announcing their first live performance at the music festival in China. “Illit will perform at the Tencent Music Entertainment Award as planned. The post on (Illit’s) We