Entertainment

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  Saudi princess visits SM Entertainment to learn about music industry SEOUL -- Saudi princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud visited the office of South Korea's entertainment powerhouse SM Entertainment to discuss various methods to cooperate in the field of culture such as hosting concerts. She serves as the vice president of Saudi Arabia's tourism ministry. The meeting followed Saudi Arabia's tourism ministry's request in March 2022 when SM founder Lee Soo-man visited Riyadh, the capital and financial hub of Saudi Arabia, to help nurtu 2022-09-23
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  Drama series 'Narco-Saints' tops Netflix's weekly non-English series chart SEOUL -- South Korean Thriller TV series "Narco-Saints" topped Netflix's weekly TV drama series chart. The thriller series depicts the story of an ordinary man cooperating with a government agency to arrest a South Korean drug lord operating in Suriname, a country located in the northern region of South America. The over-the-top (OTT) media service said that "Narco-Saints" garnered some 62.6 million hours of viewing during the week of September 12 to 18. It 2022-09-22
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  Everland amusement park to showcase special rides and experience spaces integrated with features of SM artists SEOUL -- Everland, a popular theme park run by Samsung C&T, a construction and engineering company, will showcase special rides and various spaces by combining features of SM Entertainment's artists such as NCT 127. By incorporating various digital technologies including augmented reality with amusement park facilities, Everland will allow users to explore SM's worldview. Using intellectual properties of SM celebrities such as NCT 127 and aespa, many brand-new rides and 2022-09-21
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  BTS' stage outfits upcycled into bags using undyed industrial material SEOUL -- Stage outfits worn by BTS members were dismantled into pieces and upcycled to produce three different bags using undyed industrial materials. All products were made special by marking the number 1 which means only one piece of clothing. The production of BTS bags is the result of joint work by Kolon FnC, a fashion and lifestyle wing of South Korea's Kolon Group, and Hybe Insight, a culture space run by the agency of BTS, where people can share the power of music throug 2022-09-21
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  SK Telecom creates virtual concert hall for indie music at metaverse platform Ifland SEOUL -- SK Telecom, a top mobile carrier, has created a concert hall for indie music at its metaverse platform, Ifland, to showcase the performances of various indie bands and musicians, using volumetric capture technology that uses many cameras to capture an entire scene in 360 degrees in volumetric 3D for the production of high-end holographic virtual reality and augmented reality content. In Ifland, SK Telecom (SKT) recreated Rollinghall, a live hall that has represented indi 2022-09-19
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  Baby Shark to release collab music video in Korean and Japanese with famous child singer Nanoka Murakata SEOUL -- South Korean educational entertainment company Pinkfong will accelerate its market invasion in Japan through collaboration with Nonoka Murakata, a four-year-old Japanese singer who gained enormous attention for her outstanding performance at a nursery contest. The music video showing Baby Shark and Murakata singing and dancing will be released in both Korean and Japanese. Murakata finished second at the nursery contest in November 2020 at the age of 2. In May 2021, she deb 2022-09-16
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  Virtual university entrance ceremony garners attention from aespa fans SEOUL -- A video showing a virtual entrance ceremony at a South Korean university that was held in collaboration with K-pop girl band aespa is gaining popularity on YouTube, exceeding 10 million views. Many overseas fans complimented the group's special performance in the video where various facilities including the school's gate and street were actualized in a metaverse world. Soonchunhyang University, based in Asan some 85 kilometers (52 miles) south of Seoul, broke the b 2022-09-15
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  Krafton's virtual human ANA releases first digital single 'Shine Bright' SEOUL -- ANA, a virtual human created by South Korea's game developer Krafton, debuted as a singer through her digital single SHINE BRIGHT. The full-English song released in collaboration with American music producer Cha Cha Malone showcases the virtual artist's natural joint movements and human-like voice. "ANA's unique voice contains the message she wants to convey to the world. We ask for your support for her further activities as a singer," an unnamed Kraf 2022-09-15
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  Social media platform Cyworld to hold public survey on exempting BTS from obligatory military service SEOUL -- Discussions on whether BTS members should be exempted from compulsory military service will be held at a metaverse platform. Although many people regard BTS members as valuable national assets, military officials are reluctant to give them special treatment for fear of a backlash from young men in the run-up to military duty, which has been an extremely sensitive social issue in South Korea still technically at war with North Korea. South Korea's social media platform 2022-09-14
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  Baby Shark creator partners with digital IP platform operator IPX to showcase new content SEOUL -- The Pinkfong Company, a South Korean educational entertainment company that created a catchy cartoon song called "Baby Shark," partnered with IPX, a digital IP platform known for a character brand, to target global markets, especially Southeast Asia and China, through collaborative content. Pinkfong's famous character Baby Shark will meet IPX's Line Friends in the new content. "We will present a different type of excitement through the collaboration 2022-09-08
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  ​BLACKPINK's new song 'Pink Venom' excluded from domestic music chart for citing name of French luxury brand SEOUL -- Pink Venom, K-pop girl band BLACKPINK's global hit song that entered on Billboard Hot 100 chart, was excluded from the chart of Music Bank, a famous TV music show in South Korea for mentioning Celine, a French ready-to-wear and leather luxury goods brand, in lyrics. Lisa, a Thai member of BLACKPINK, has been Celine's global ambassador. Pink Venom, which incorporated various genres including hip-hop and electronic dance music (EDM), has gained worldwide popularity si 2022-09-05
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  S. Korean hip-hop garners explosive popularity on Spotify SEOUL -- South Korean hip-hop songs have garnered explosive popularity on Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service, during a 12-month period between August 2021 and July 2022. A playlist comprised of South Korean hip-hop songs was streamed more than 20 million times. The number of song streams increased by 56 percent from five years ago. "K-Hip-Hop +82," which has just changed its name to "KrOWN," was mostly favored by Americans, followed b 2022-09-01
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  Rookie K-pop girl band IVE sells nearly 1 million copies of third single 'After LIKE' in 8 days SEOUL -- IVE, a girl group under K-pop band MONSTA X's agency Starship Entertainment, has sold nearly 1 million copies of its third single "After LIKE" just eight days after its release. The six-member band only sold 152,000 copies of its debut album "ELEVEN" in the first week of its release in December 2021 and 338,000 copies of its second single "LOVE DIVE" in April 2022. The new single is gaining popularity among fans of different age groups as it i 2022-08-31
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  Taekwondo performance team K-Tigers to hold special event in Seoul to attract tourists SEOUL -- K-Tigers, a Taekwondo performance team that recreated BTS' global hit song "DNA" with a martial arts performance, will showcase glamorous taekwondo-based dance moves at an event that will be held in central Seoul to celebrate Taekwondo Day and attract tourists. After the event, Seoul will regularly host various taekwondo performances as a tourist attraction. K-Tigers has steadily gained popularity overseas for covering many different dance performances of fam 2022-08-30
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  Artists use avatars to perform and compete in anonymous virtual survival program SEOUL -- South Korean artists will compete in a virtual survival music program called "Avatar Singer" using their virtual characters. In the survival program that incorporates augmented reality and metaverse, a total of 10 teams will showcase performances and reveal their identity if they lose. The survival show hosted by MBN, a domestic TV channel, will air its first episode at 10:26 p.m. (1320 GMT) on August 26. Avatars, which have not been chosen by judges, will be e 2022-08-25
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  Kakao Entertainment invites K-pop idols to anonymous virtual survival music program SEOUL -- Former and incumbent K-pop girl group idols will compete in a virtual survival music program to be hosted by the content and entertainment wing of South Korea's web service giant Kakao sometime in the second half of 2022. They will use personalized characters while hiding their names and faces. The survival music program tentatively named "Virtual Idol Project 30 (VIP 30)" depicts a process in which 30 participants compete with dance and song by transforming t 2022-08-19
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  Naver VIBE provides natural and high-quality translation of foreign song lyrics SEOUL -- Naver VIBE, an artificial intelligence-based music streaming service developed by South Korea's internet service giant, has introduced a new service to provide the natural and high-quality translation of foreign song lyrics that fit the rhyme with the help of professional translators. Users can check original lyrics and Korean translations at a glance. Since translated lyrics are supported in real-time according to the flow of songs, users can immediately check origin 2022-08-19
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  K-pop singer AleXa to hold solo concerts in eight U.S. cities in October SEOUL -- Alexaundra Christine, an American singer and dancer better known by her stage name AleXa, will kick off her first U.S. tour in eight cities. The 25-year-old K-pop singer gained popularity for winning an American TV channel NBC's music competition called "American Song Contest," where she competed with 55 American artists including veteran singers Michael Bolton and Macy Gray. Starting in Jersey City on October 18, AleXa will meet her U.S. fans in San Juan, At 2022-08-18
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  Exhibition-goers increase by 59 percent in 2022 due to loosened quarantine regulations SEOUL -- The number of South Korean exhibition-goers who visit venues such as art galleries and art museums significantly increased in 2022 thanks to eased government COVID-19 regulations that allowed people to visit art halls and exhibition centers. In 2020 and early 2021, the government regulated offline event venues to have less than 100 visitors at a time. Data released by Interpark, a popular online ticket seller, on August 9 showed that the number of people who made reservat 2022-08-09
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  Taylor Swift's label teams up with JYP to create new international girl band 'A2K' SEOUL -- Republic Records, an American record label that includes Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, will collaborate with JYP Entertainment, a major K-pop powerhouse in South Korea, to create "America2Korea," an English-speaking girl band with K-pop features. Members selected through audition will debut in North America after intensive training in South Korea. "It's an international supergroup that we're joining forces. We're playing out strengths. We'r 2022-07-26