One does not have to be a doctor or a nurse to be able to relate to what happens inside hospitals, where lives are born and deaths pronounced, wounds are healed and hurt minds are treated. It is for such reasons, perhaps, that medical dramas have flourished in the recent decade or so, the stories and themes becoming more diverse with time. Two of the most popular TV dramas so far this year take place in a hospital. The second season of SBS’ “Dr. Romantic” racked up a 28.4

Star actress Choi Ji-woo gave birth to her first child Saturday, two years after she got married, her management said. "Choi gave birth to a daughter this morning," YG Entertainment said, adding that Choi and her baby are healthy and doing well. Choi, best known for her role in the 2002 hit Korean drama "Winter Sonata," plans to resume work as an actress following the childbirth to pursue her acting career more vibrantly, working at the same time while being a wife and mom

KBS’s “Gag Concert” is going on a break until further notice, signaling the end of comedy shows on terrestrial television networks. In the 2000s Koreans gathered in front of the TV on Sunday night to watch KBS’s “Gag Concert,” a comedy show that at one point enjoyed viewership rating of roughly 30 percent. Many people closed out the weekend with the guitar tunes that signaled the end of the episode on Sunday night and readied for another week. As “Gag

Park Yu-chun, an actor and a member of K-pop group, JYJ, apologized for having lied about the drug charges against him last year in a TV interview aired on Monday. He said he had lost “rational judgement” when he swore to leave the entertainment industry if found guilty. “I really regret that I lied (about using drugs), and I still wonder ‘What if I had told the truth to people and sincerely asked for forgiveness (instead of insisting on innocence),’” Park

Actor Jeong Jun-won, who appears in the popular drama series “The World of the Married,” has caused controversy after pictures of the 16-year-old drinking and smoking with friends went viral on the internet. On Sunday, pictures that appear to be screenshots from Jeong’s social media page were trending in a local online community. One of the pictures showed the actor and his friends sitting around a table full of soju bottles, while another showed them smoking. The legal dri

A veterinary student and prominent YouTuber denied allegations that he abused and starved animals for his videos to get more traffic. According to a news report by local broadcaster Channel A on Thursday, an animal rights group filed a police complaint against Park Gab-su, the owner of the YouTube channel Gabsupasture, accusing him of abusing animals for his videos. Gabsupasture has more than 500,000 subscribers, having gained popularity for its videos on cats and dogs. The animal rights

Chung’s fifth documentary looks into emotions between fathers, bride-to-be daughters in five countries

Postings on online communities by alleged victims who claim they were bullied by TV celebrities in their school years are rattling the show business industry. Freelance TV producer Kim Yoo-jin, who appeared on the MBC reality show “Don’t Be Jealous” with her husband-to-be, star chef Lee Won-il, was reportedly hospitalized Monday after posting a message that said she had been falsely accused and that hinted at a suicide. On Monday afternoon, Kim’s sister posted on soc

The smash-hit series "The World of the Married" has become the most-watched drama on Korean cable TV, data showed Sunday. The 12th episode of the JTBC series, which airs every Friday and Saturday, logged a record viewership of 24.3 percent on Saturday, outrunning the previous record of 23.8 percent set by another JTBC hit, "SKY Castle," according to Nielsen Korea. This marks the highest viewership by a drama episode aired on local cable networks and the second-highest for

Walt Disney’s plans to launch its over-the-top video streaming service Disney Plus in service outside of the US have been disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Industry watchers expected Disney Plus to enter the Korean market toward the end of this year, but the outlook seems rather bleak. Earlier this month, it was reported that the US entertainment giant has furloughed more than 100,000 employees, nearly half of the company’s workforce. Production of Disney Plus origina

Are teenagers responsible for their deliquency and are adults free of culpability for the teenagers’ crimes? Upcoming Netflix original series “Extracurricular” deviates from most Korean TV dramas about teenagers in exploring the dark reality of juvenile crimes. Yoon Sin-ae, CEO of the series’ production company Studio 329, said that when she received the script from budding writer Jin Han-sae, she knew she had to do it. “The series tells the story of teenagers w

While a divorce usually signals the end of a relationship between a married couple, in the case of Ji Sun-woo and her cheating husband Lee Tae-oh in JTBC’s drama “The World of the Married,” it is only the beginning to the real revenge. Halfway through the 16-episode set, JTBC’s sensational drama “The World of the Married” is gaining more popularity with each episode as the relationship between the divorced couple intensifies. The series marked its highest vi

Only a day after being cleared of punishment for unpaid damages by a local court, singer-turned-actor Park Yoo-chun is in hot water again, this time for his untimely meeting with a local governor. Park on Thursday issued an official explanation about his private appointment with Mayor Ahn Byung-yong of Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province, earlier that day, stating the meeting was a courtesy call. “Today’s meeting with the mayor was arranged thanks to the connection between the mayo

Global entertainment giant Netflix is teaming up with star film director Yeon Sang-ho for the serial adaptation of the webtoon “Hellbound” (working title). Netflix on Thursday announced that the upcoming series, based on an eponymous South Korean webcomic, will be helmed by Yeon, who directed the megahit zombie flick “Train to Busan” in 2016 and its sequel “Peninsula,” due out this summer. The webcomic, which currently runs on portal site Naver, is the resu

Pengsoo, the popular costumed penguin character from educational TV channel EBS, took the top place on local music charts with the recently released song “This is Pengsoo.” The song, released at 9 a.m. Tuesday for local streaming charts such as Melon, Genie and Bugs, is part of Pengsoo’s first digital single album, titled “Billboard Project Vol. 1.” Pengsoo collaborated with rapper Tiger JK for the release. Hip-hop artists Bizzy, Bibi and Tiger JK all participated