Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo tied the knot in a tightly guarded private ceremony that nevertheless was the target of heated media attention Tuesday.Their agencies Blossom Entertainment and UAA Entertainment released official wedding photos Monday night after the celebrations. The photos show the newlywed couple during Tuesday’s outdoor ceremony at The Shilla Seoul’s Yeong Bin Gwan. Some black-and-white shots were also taken in San Francisco in September, ahead of the wedding.(doo@heraldcorp.co

Shot by Lim Jeong-yeo / Edited by Lim Jeong-yeo Life imitated art as actors Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, who starred as romantic leads in the hit drama series “Descendants of the Sun,” married in a private ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday. 　Drone camera photos taken by Chinese media outlets showed groom Song Joong-ki in a black tuxedo and bride Song Hye-kyo in a white dress with a squared neckline.  　The ceremony took place with some 300 invited guests, consisting of family and friends, amid stri

Actor Kim Joo-hyuk, 45, died in a car crash Monday that occurred around 4:30 p.m. in Samseong-dong, Seoul, police said. Kim’s Mercedes-Benz SUV was driving along Yeongdong Daero when it hit a car and then fell down a staircase leading to an apartment building entrance.(Yonhap)Kim was rescued by firefighters and transferred to the Konkuk University Medical Center where he died around 6:30 p.m. Kim most recently played a reporter in the miniseries “Argon” in September. The second son of the late a

With the conclusion of Busan International Film Festival, speculation now abounds as to who will take over the leadership roles at Asia’s biggest film festival, with politicians, BIFF founding partners and actors being floated. BIFF spokesperson Kim Jung-yun told The Korea Herald on Monday that the festival itself had not yet selected any official candidates. Festival cofounder Kim Dong-ho and actress Kang Soo-youn stepped down as BIFF chairman and executive director, respectively, on Oct. 22 af

Korean film director Kim Yong-hwa will likely team up with POW! Entertainment, cofounded by legendary comic book writer and Marvel Universe creator Stan Lee, for his first Hollywood feature. Kim is in final discussions on helming “Prodigal,” a superhero film about fatherhood, set to be produced by POW! Entertainment, Luka Productions and Korean visual effects company Dexter Studios.A launching show for the film was held at Los Angeles Comic Con Sunday.　The script for “Prodigal” has been written

Seoul Lantern FestivalThe Seoul Lantern Festival will take place from Nov. 3-9 in Seoul‘s Cheonggyecheon area. 　Lanterns of various shapes will be showcased along 1.2 kilometers of the manmade stream, stretching from Cheonggye Plaza to Supyo Bridge. 　Many whimsically shaped lanterns have adorned the festival throughout the years, from animation characters to historical figures. 　This year’s festival will celebrate the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, with various sp

Glass Garden(Korea)Opened Oct. 25Mystery, drama. Directed by Shin Su-wonScientist Jae-yeon (Moon Geun-young) has been studying artificial blood created using chlorophyll when her research, and her lover, are stolen. Deeply depressed, Jae-yeon locks herself away in a glass garden in the forest, where she grew up. Writer Ji-hoon (Kim Tae-hoon) learns about her secluded life and begins to observe her from afar, eventually writing a novel about a woman whose veins contain green blood, which becomes

Actress Clara received the popularity award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival’s Gold Crane Awards Thursday.　Clara has recently starred as Korean model Yoyo in “Some Like It Hot,” a Chinese rom-com released last year. 　The film, directed by Song Xiaofei and Dong Xu stars Chinese actor Xiao Yang as Xiao Han, an anxious and bored man who decides to make himself feel young and vibrant again by chasing after Yoyo. 　 The film topped box offices in China.　 Clara steps on the red carpet at t

Between 1946 and 1949, just after Korea’s liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945, thousands of Koreans were recruited by the Soviet Union as contract laborers. They settled en masse on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, some 3,500 kilometers northeast from Seoul. 　The upcoming documentary “Where is Your Homeland” by veteran filmmaker Chung Soo-woong follows the lives of the last few Koreans in the area, opening with scenes from 1995, when some 2,000 Koreans were living in Kamc

Singer Rain has teamed up with Brand New Music to return with a new album in December, reports said Thursday.　Rain and Taewan, an R&B singer and producer with the music label Brand New Music, are currently working on the final stages of Rain’s album, reports said. 　Most of the tracks on the album have been co-written and co-produced by Rain and Taewan. 　 Rain (Rain Company)Taewan participated in producing Rain’s 2008 album “Rainism” and his 2010 album “Back to the Basic.” He has also worked as a

Filming for the film “Little Forest,” starring actress Kim Tae-ri and helmed by Yim Soon-rye, has wrapped up after a year of shooting, its distributor Megabox Plus M said Thursday.　Actress Kim, who previously starred in Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden,” will play Hye-won, a woman who, exhausted by city life, decides to return to the countryside. 　Cooking and living alongside childhood friends Jae-ha, played by Ryu Jun-yeol, and Eun-sook, played by Jin Ki-joo, Hye-won strives to heal herself fro

Korean film distributor and producer Showbox is branching out into the North American and Indonesian markets. 　Showbox will be co-producing and investing in the Hollywood thriller “The Widow” and the Indonesian rom-com “Forever Holiday in Bali,” the company announced Wednesday.Through direct investment in the films, Showbox also aims to gain footing as a global content investment company, it said. “The Widow,” a thriller featuring a young woman living in New York named Frances, and her chance en

In the upcoming crime drama “Heart Blackened,” veteran actor Choi Min-sik plays the wealthy, elderly fiance of a young celebrity singer, played by Lee Ha-nee. Choi, who most recently starred in “The Mayor,” plays the unfathomable conglomerate owner Im Tae-san who at once values wealth above all and is deeply infatuated with the singer. “(That character) truly believes in the value of money, that it is everything. That is how the world actually works, and he is a character who has succeeded in th

Actor Song Kang-ho called his upcoming project “Drug King” unprecedented in Korean cinema.　“I think (people) will discover a unique aspect that hasn’t been seen in any genre of Korean cinema,” Song said in a press release Tuesday.　In the crime thriller, Song will star as Lee Doo-sam, a character based on a real-life infamous drug kingpin in the 1970s. The film is helmed by Woo Min-ho, who previously directed the hit 2015 political thriller “Inside Men.” Song most recently starred in director Jan

Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki have wrapped up their wedding preparations, including wedding photographs and meeting with acquaintances, reports said Tuesday.The wedding photos, which were not revealed to the public, were taken on Oct. 3 in Los Angeles, according to reports. Close friends accompanied the couple on the trip.The wedding will take place Tuesday at The Shilla Seoul’s Yeong Bin Gwan at 4 p.m.  Song Joong-ki (left) and Song Hye-kyo (Bliss Media)Last month, the couple met with friends