South Korea's exports of entertainment, sports and animation programs rose sharply in 2015 amid the total shipments of TV programs shrinking due to the historical row with Japan, South Korea's biggest content market, data showed Tuesday. (Yonhap)Exports of entertainment programs climbed to US$31.9 million in 2015 from $19.8 million in 2014 and $14.4 million in 2013, according to the data by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.Sports programs shipments skyrocketed to $5.2 million in

K-pop singer Gong Minzy has released her first solo debut album, tapping into her more approachable and feminine inner self as she navigates her post-2NE1 career. (Yonhap)"Whereas I had a 'tough sister' image from emphasizing the 'girl crush' concept in my 2NE1 days, I think I've taken on a more friendly image now," Gong told reporters at a recent media showcase for her new album "Minzy Work 01 Uno" held at the Shinhan Card FAN square in northern Seoul."Before, it was hard for people to approach

Actress Lee Young-ae has donated 150 million won (US$131,984) to a local hospital here to help new mothers of low-income families, the hospital said Tuesday. (Yonhap)Cheil General Hospital in central Seoul revealed that Lee has made donations on several occasions, asking that the money be used for those mothers.The actress gave birth to her twin babies in the hospital, one of the largest maternity clinics in the country, in February 2011.She has since paid attention to the work of helping new mo

KCON, a global Korean pop music and culture convention, will be held in Japan next month, showcasing 60 fast-rising K-pop idol artists, according to its organizer Monday. (Yonhap)The three-day event at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, east of Tokyo, from May 19 will feature Apink, CNBLUE, Cosmic Girl, GFriend, Lovelyz, Seventeen and more of the hottest K-pop names, the organizer of the annual event said.CJ E&M's cable TV subsidiary Mnet will broadcast its music chart show MCountdow

The SBS TV series "Saimdang, Memoir of Colors" will end earlier than originally planned, its distributor said Thursday, as the fantasy period drama suffered from less than expected ratings. (Yonhap)The Wednesday-Thursday drama starring actress Lee Young-ae premiered on Jan. 26 on local commercial channel SBS as a 30-episode series. SBS said it will end on May 3 or May 4, a week earlier than scheduled. "The drama's producers have put all their energy into reediting the show from the early stage o

 South Korean boy band Winner will drop its Japanese debuting single next month, the group's management agency said Thursday. (Yonhap)The group will release the album with the same title as its latest Korean EP "Fate Number For" and have an event for local fans on May 31, the YG Entertainment said.The album will have the Korean and Japanese versions of "Really Really" and "Fool" from the EP released on April 4.Last year, Winner had a concert tour of four Japanese cities, drawing about 36,000 loc

Advertisement sales of hit audition show "K-pop Star 6" is estimated to have exceeded 30 billion won (26.4 million), thanks to high ratings and its unique programming model, according to industry sources Thursday. (Yonhap)The sixth and final season of the SBS TV show, which ended its 20-week run last Sunday, opted for a unique programming model, airing two, back-to-back one-hour shows each Sunday. In between the shows, SBS TV sold 15-second commercial air time referred to as "premium commercials

A South Korean drama series will be shown on a major television network in Cameroon starting this month, a local production company specializing in Africa said Wednesday. (Yonhap)Frame in Africa said it has recently inked a contract with LTM to air KBS 2TV's "Bridal Mask" for two years on the Cameroonian terrestrial broadcaster in the prime time slot at 8-9 p.m.This would become the first Korean drama to be shown in Africa through a commercial deal, according to Frame.The show, which was broadca

Kim Young-ae, the life-long South Korean actress who recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, said her final work on the KBS 2TV series "The Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Tailor Shop" is what kept her persevering in her final days.In an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency before her passing, Kim said that "I would have let myself go if it wasn't for this drama," referring to "Wolgyesu," the weekend drama series that finished its broadcast in February.(Yonhap)Kim, who passed away on Friday at

South Korean actor Kim Woo-bin has finished his six-month-long tour of Asian countries to meet his overseas fans in Thailand, his agency said Monday.(Sidus HQ)Kim had a fan meeting at MCC Hall in Bangkok on Saturday on the last leg of his third Asian tour titled "Spotlight" that began in October in Seoul, Sidus HQ said. The tour also took him to Macao, Japan and Taiwan.He most recently appeared in the KBS TV soap series "Uncontrollably Fond" with actress Bae Suzy and the Korean action film "Mast

K-pop boy band 2PM will resume concerts in June with Jun. K, as he has quickly been recovering from injuries, according to the group’s agency.  Boy band 2PM (JYP Entertainment)“All six members (of 2PM) will perform six ‘6Nights’ concerts from June 2-4 and June 9-11,” JYP Entertainment said in a statement. The “6Nights” concert series kicked off on Feb. 24. The concerts were set to take place at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul’s Olympic Park Feb. 24-26 and March 3-5. The idol band, however

Several K-pop artists nabbed big awards at the 2017 Yin Yue Tai V-Chart Awards in Macau on Saturday.The logo for the 2017 Yin Yue Tai V-Chart Awards (Screenshot from official website’s main page)Boy band EXO was recognized as the most influential group in Asia. The group’s individual members were honored as well. Sehun won the award for most popular artist, Chanyeol received awards for most popular Korean artist and best collaboration and Lay received awards for best male artist and album of the

Gong Minzy, a former member of the now-disbanded girl group 2NE1, will put out her solo debut album this month, her agency said Thursday. (Yonhap)Gong will upload the EP album "Minzy Work 01 Uno" on local music streaming sites at 12 p.m. on April 17, Music Works said.This will be her first album since she bolted from 2NE1 in April last year, a month before her contract with YG Entertainment expired. 2NE1 ultimately broke up in November of that year following a successful eight-year run."Uno," th

G-Dragon, the leader of K-pop megastar boy band Big Bang, will hold a solo concert on June 10.Big Bang’s G-Dragon (Yonhap)YG Entertainment made the announcement on Wednesday and released the concert poster on its official channel at 3 p.m.The concert will take place at Seoul World Cup Stadium on June 10, where Big Bang held its “BIGBANG10 THE CONCERT: 0.TO.10 FINAL IN SEOUL” in January 2017. Titled “G-Dragon 2017 Concert: Motae,” the concert will mark his third solo concert following “Shine a Li

Moon Chae-won’s agency said it would take action against a male netizen who has been allegedly identifying himself online as the boyfriend of the actress.  (Yonhap)Moon’s agency Namoo Actors on Wednesday strongly denied the netizen’s claim that he is dating Moon and said it is considering taking legal action against him for defaming the Moon’s reputation. “We are not going to stand it anymore,” said an agency official. “We have been monitoring the netizen’s preposterous online postings claiming