Entertainment

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  CJ ENM forges strategic partnership with Japan's TBS to co-produce content SEOUL -- CJ ENM, the South Korean entertainment group that produced the Oscar-winning 2020 film "Parasite," forged a strategic partnership with Japan's broadcasting group TBS to co-produce and distribute various content covering dramas, movies, entertainment and animation for Japanese and global fans. CJ ENM and TBS will also push for the co-production of web cartoons, organize offline concerts, and develop content formats. Web cartoons, widely k 2021-06-15
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  S. Korea lifts ban on outdoor concert halls to have up to 4,000 audience SEOUL -- South Korea lifted a ban on outdoor pop concerts about 14 months after a coronavirus pandemic sparked a strict social distancing campaign and sent many K-pop artists staying away from fans. Only a small number of artists like BTS have been engaged in intermittent musical activities through online concerts. From June 14, South Korean artists can invite up to 4,000 quiet fans to offline concerts because shouting or slogan chanting is banned. Health authorit 2021-06-11
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  Spotify to unleash enhanced album for TWICE's 'Taste of Love' SEOUL -- Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, will unleash an enhanced album for TWICE's "Taste of Love" that would be released worldwide on June 11. Spotify's enhanced album serves as a window for artists to tell their artistic inspiration and behind-the-scenes stories to listeners. TWICE is the third K-pop band to release Spotify’s enhanced album after BTS and BLACKPINK. The enhanced album feat 2021-06-10
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  Kakao to shut down personal streaming service's profit-making system SEOUL -- South Korea's web service company Kakao will shut down the profit-making system of its personal streaming service to focus on media businesses including the production of original video content. The strategy to narrow its focus in the media content sector benchmarks that of Netflix, the American over-the-top service operator which has become the world's most popular media with endless waves of high-quality original content. A personal streaming se 2021-05-31
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  KT to develop blockchain-based performing arts content platform SEOUL -- South Korea's leading telecom company KT has formed a consortium with a provincial government to develop a blockchain-based media platform using non-fungible token technology that would help performing artists make a profit and claim rights to their content. A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a blockchain network of interlinked virtual ledgers. It is similar to warranty certificates that come with luxury goods. Each NFT is certified 2021-05-31
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  LG Electronics kicks off promotion campaign with Charlie Puth and Jackson Tisi SEOUL -- American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth and Jackson Tisi, a filmmaker based in New York, joined an international campaign launched by South Korea's LG Electronics to help young people create songs and video content about meaningful memories in life and post them on social media. LG's "Life's Good" campaign is aimed at giving young people around the world the opportunity to let their creativity and talent shine. For this year 2021-05-28
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  ​BTS' full-English song 'Butter' garners more than 25mln views on YouTube in two hours of release SEOUL -- BTS has rocked the global music scene with its new song "Butter". The seven-member band's second full-English song garnered more than 25 million views on YouTube in less than two hours of its release. Online music communities heated up wildly as soon as BTS released its new dance-pop song through various online music services including YouTube at 0400 GMT on May 21. Hundreds of thousands of fans flocked to leave comments of a 2021-05-21
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  K-pop singer AleXa collaborates with Kuwaiti-Saudi artist Bader AlShuaib in Spotify's cross-border project SEOUL -- K-pop artist Alexaundra Christine, better known by her stage name AleXa, will collaborate with Kuwaiti-Saudi artist Bader AlShuaib as part of Spotify's global artist program, RADAR, which is designed to help emerging artists reach the next stage in their careers and strengthen their connection to listeners. AleXa would be the first RADAR KOREA artist to participate in a cross-border collaboration project on Spotify, the world's most popular au 2021-05-18
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  K-pop girl band GFRIEND announces disbandment SEOUL -- K-pop girl band GFRIEND has left many K-pop fans stunned by a surprise announcement that the six-member band will be disbanded in May, six years and four months after its first public appearance. "We express our deepest gratitude towards our fans who loved GFRIEND, and we wish for a lot of love and applause for members who will begin their new activities in a variety of fields," Source Music said in a statement on May 18. The agency said G 2021-05-18
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  Parasite director Bong finishes working on animated movie scenario SEOUL -- Bong Jun-ho, the director of the 2020 Academy-winning film "Parasite," has finished working on an animated movie scenario that deals with a story involving deep-sea creatures and humans. It would be a full computer graphics animation. Visual effects will 4th CREATIVE PARTY, a content media company based in South Korea, is responsible for visual effects. Bong's scenario was completed in January. He is curre 2021-05-13
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  CJ ENM organizes audition in S. America to form idol group targeting Spanigh-language fans SEOUL -- South Korea's entertainment group CJ ENM will organize an audition program in South America to form a male idol group targeting Spanish-language fans in the global market through cooperation with a Spanish-language content producer and HBO Max, an American subscription video-on-demand streaming service. The idol group will be created through training under a K-pop idol production system, CJ ENM said, adding K-POP artists and South American stars wo 2021-05-06
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  K-pop girl band ITZY shows more powerful, bolder image thru new mini-album SEOUL -- As a representative teen crush K-pop girl band of MZers (millennial and Z generations), ITZY will show a more powerful and bolder image than before through "GUESS WHO," a new mini-album released in eight months. The band hopes to secure a spot in Billboard 200, an American record chart. "Teen Crush, the concept that we've brought since our debut, is always the basis. I hope our growth in this album will be well imprinted,& 2021-04-30
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  'Academy isn't everything:' Actress Youn Yuh-jung reveals feelings about Oscar trophy SEOUL -- "I don't know if this moment is the best in my life. The Academy isn't everything. Is it?" This is what actress Youn Yuh-jung revealed her frank thoughts just after the 73-year-old grabbed an Oscar trophy for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2020 film "Minari" directed by Lee Isaac Chung. Youn earned enormous praise from fans, including President Moon Jae-in, as the first Korean and second Asian actress to take the tr 2021-04-27
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  K-pop wonder ​BTS to drop new digital single 'Butter' in May SEOUL --K-pop sensation BTS will drop a new digital single titled "Butter" on May 21, the seven-member band's agency said. Butter is the group's second full-English song after "Dynamite," a disco-pop song that was released in August 2020 and stayed in Billboard's top 100 most popular song chart for 32 consecutive weeks. "Brimming with the inimitable charm of BTS, the new single 'Butter' will melt its way 2021-04-27
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  ​Coupang to create original drama series starring popular actor Kim Soo-hyun South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun smiles during a fan ceremony. SEOUL -- South Korea's ecommerce giant Coupang has partnered with a major domestic media content company to create an original drama series featuring popular actors Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seung-won. The drama series titled "Some Day" is a remake of a 2008 British drama series "Criminal Justice." Coupang, known as the South Korean counterpart of Am 2021-04-26
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  McDonald's partners with BTS to release signature meal set inspired by S. Korean recipes SEOUL -- Global fast-food franchise McDonald's has partnered with K-pop wonder BTS to release a special meal set including spicy dipping sauces inspired by the franchise's recipes in South Korea. The super band's signature meal set is McDonald's first celebrity-themed menu that will be released in nearly 50 countries worldwide. The BTS meal set is part of McDonald's "Famous Orders," a promotion event series that releases fa 2021-04-20
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  Girl band (G)I-DLE to release new song without member Soojin SEOUL -- K-pop girl band (G)I-DLE will release a new song in April without Soojin, who suspended group activities after the 23-year-old singer was caught up in a school bullying scandal. (G)I-DLE will come back with "Last Dance (Prod. GroovyRoom)" scheduled for release in April 2021. All preparations including the recording of the song and the filming of the music video were finished in February, just before the school bullying scandal erupted in 2021-04-19
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  KT jumps into Vietnam's music streaming market with digital platform SEOUL -- KT, a top telecom company in South Korea, jumped into Vietnam's music streaming market through cooperation with Vietnam Television, a national television broadcaster, utilizing a digital platform based on artificial intelligence, big data and cloud. KT signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Cable Television (VTVCab), a subsidiary of Vietnam Television (VTV), to optimize the platform business model of KT's music streaming service, Genie Mus 2021-04-09
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  K-pop girl band MAMAMOO's label acquires rival entertainment company SEOUL -- The label of K-pop girl band MAMAMOO has built up its size for global expansion by acquiring a rival entertainment company that manages artists such as B1A4, Oh My Girl and ONF. Rainbow Bridge World (RBW) said it has secured more than 70 percent of WM Entertainment shares through a stock purchase agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed. WM Entertainment became a subsidiary of RBW, but the label would maintain its current management and i 2021-04-07
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  BTS agency expands U.S. business scope thru acquisition of Ithaca Holdings SEOUL -- Through its American subsidiary, the agency of K-pop wonder BTS acquired Ithaca Holdings, a Los Angeles-based investment holding company that controls the label of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, underlining efforts to expand its business scope in the U.S. music market. The deal came two weeks after Big Hit Entertainment founded by Bang Si-hyuk changed its name to HYBE to herald a new start as a comprehensive entertainment lifestyle platform company t 2021-04-02