Entertainment

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  YG Entertainment extends management contract with K-pop boy band WINNER SEOUL -- All members of K-pop boy band WINNER will renew their contracts with YG Entertainment for another five years. The band has signed agreements with the South Korean entertainment powerhouse, YG said in a statement. All four members interacted with their fans through Naver V LIVE on August 17 to mark the 7th anniversary of its debut. Kim Jin-woo and Lee Seung-hoon, who are still serving their compulsory military duties, also joined the online streaming event via smartphones. 2021-08-18
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  Seoul kicks off subway film festival to cheer up commuters SEOUL -- Seoul's subway network kicked off an annual international subway film festival to gratify commuters who are fatigued by a prolonged coronavirus pandemic. Some 40 short films created by domestic and global directors will premier via screens installed inside subway train cabins. Seoul's subway train operator said in a statement on August 17 that it has started the premier of final competitors of the 12th Seoul Metro International subway Film Festival. Of 1,093 candida 2021-08-17
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  S. Korea's game society partners with local arts center to create metaverse platform SEOUL -- Through a partnership with Korea Game Society, an academic society of video game industry officials, an arts center will develop a metaverse platform specializing in hosting performing arts events. The demand for virtual concert venues has increased in South Korea since its arts industry was devastated by a coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The metaverse refers to a digital world where physical reality and virtual spaces are combined. By creating the virtual world, a metaverse 2021-08-13
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  Miltiary court sentences disgraced BIGBANG member Seungri to three years in prison SEOUL -- Seungri, a disgraced BIGBANG member who has been at the center of sex and other scandals that rocked South Korea's music community, was jailed after a military court sentenced him to three years in prison on multiple charges including embezzlement, overseas gambling and arranging sex services for business favors in a bid to attract money from foreign investors. Seungri, a 31-year-old whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, has been on trial at the military court since he joi 2021-08-12
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  K-pop event KCON to go online to meet global fans SEOUL -- CJ ENM, CJ Group's entertainment wing will hold a special virtual concert amid a coronavirus pandemic for global K-pop fans. The entertainment company will also utilize augmented reality technology to allow the audience to interact with artists. CJ ENM said in a statement on August 11 that the company will hold the fifth online event of KCON, an annual Korean culture convention for global fans. The convention, which was scheduled to take place in New York in June 2020, 2021-08-11
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  American producer Lynda Obst joins CJ ENM's project to make K-pop movie for global market SEOUL -- Lynda Obst, an American feature film producer and author known for "Interstellar," a 2014 science-fiction drama, will join a project launched by CJ ENM, the South Korean entertainment group that produced the Oscar-winning 2020 film "Parasite," to make a new movie based on K-pop targeting the global market. CJ ENM said the fresh film would reflect the world's high interest in K-pop and Hallyu (Korean cultural wave) content and the trend of multicultu 2021-08-10
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  Jeon So-mi's 'DUMB DUMB' surpasses 15 mln views in less than two days SEOUL -- Former I.O.I member Jeon So-mi's third single music video has garnered over 15 million views on YouTube in less than 48 hours of its release. DUMB DUMB racked up over 10 million views in less than 24 hours of its release. As of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, the music video has garnered more than 15 million views. The single has also gained popularity abroad, making it into the top 10 in ten countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Unlike the beginning of the trac 2021-08-04
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  Hip-hop label AOMG works with LGU+ to hold special non-face-to-face XR concert SEOUL -- A South Korean hip-hop label will hold a special non-face-to-face extended reality (XR) concert that would allow fans to enjoy artists' realistic performances as if they were in virtual worlds like scenes in movies with technology support from LG Uplus, a mobile carrier that leads an international 5G XR alliance. XR encompasses a wide spectrum of hardware and software that enable content creation for virtual reality, mixed reality and cinematic reality. Users can genera 2021-08-04
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  JYP sets up subsidiary for global content distribution and new business development SEOUL -- JYP Entertainment, a major K-pop powerhouse in South Korea, will set up a subsidiary that serves as a strategic hub for advancing the global distribution of content, developing new businesses and enhancing the intellectual property of artists. JYP said the subsidiary named "JYP Three Sixty (JYP 360˚) is aimed at providing a wide range of innovative next-generation fan experiences, strengthening the global competitiveness of K-pop and expanding its market through coop 2021-08-03
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  Girl band Aespa signs with American agency CAA targeting global market SEOUL -- South Korea's K-pop rookie Aespa has signed with an American agency to gear up for international activities. The band, which debuted in November 2020, is the brainchild of SM Entertainment, an entertainment powerhouse well known for bands such as Super Junior, SHINee, and Red Velvet. SM Entertainment said in a statement on July 23 that the four-member girl band signed an agreement with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a major entertainment agency based in Los Angeles. CAA 2021-07-23
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  K-drama 'Hotel Del Luna' to be recreated in Naver's metaverse platform SEOUL -- Users of Zepeto, a metaverse platform operated by South Korea's web service company Naver, will be able to adorn their online avatars with apparel and accessories from "Hotel Del Luna," a popular 2019 K-drama starring singer-actress IU and actor Yeo Jin-goo. They can recreate famous scenes at virtual spaces. Metaverse is an online space where users can interact with each other using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) technologies. Metaverse servi 2021-07-23
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  BTS named S. Korea's special presidential envoy for public diplomacy: Yonhap SEOUL -- President Moon Jae-in appointed South Korean boy band BTS as his special envoy for public diplomacy. In their capacity of "special presidential envoy for future generations and culture," the members of the group plan to attend major international meetings, including the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly slated for September, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said. They will send a message of consolation and hope for the youth around the world 2021-07-21
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  BLACKPINK to nest in social media fan community operated by BTS' agency SEOUL -- Girl band BLACKPINK will nest in Weverse, a social media fan community operated by BTS' agency Hybe, to communicate with global fans. "We hope the range of communication between BLACKPINK members and their fandom Blink expand through Weverse," YG Entertainment said in a statement on July 14. The four-member girl band will open its social media channel in Weverse on August 2. YG and Hybe forged a partnership in January to collaborate in marketing and other prom 2021-07-14
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  BTS fan community Weverse opens slot for K-pop idol duo Mad Monster SEOUL -- Weverse, a hotsy mobile fan community platform run by the agency of South Korean superstar BTS, opened a slot for Mad Monster, a virtual idol duo that has been created by two comedians by utilizing face filters and auto-tuned vocals, in recognition of their fast-growing popularity among K-pop fans. "We will open a community of Mad Monster, a world-class idol group which is shaking the global music market," said the operator of Weverse that allows fans to interact 2021-07-05
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  JYP works with blockchain company to launch K-pop-based NFT platform business SEOUL -- JYP Entertainment, a major K-pop powerhouse in South Korea, joined hands with a domestic blockchain company to launch a non-fungible token platform business that utilizes the intellectual property of JYP artists. JYP said it has signed a strategic business alliance with Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's major cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, to produce and distribute NFT-linked digital goods while working for a platform business that develops and operates additional s 2021-07-01
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  SM founder presents 'Content Universe' as new company vision SEOUL -- As a new vision, SM Entertainment presented a "content universe" where original content will be infinitely expanded and recreated by individual prosumers who both consume and produce. Prosumer, coined by American futurist Alvin Toffler, is a portmanteau of producer and consumer. SM's killer content, which has been accumulated for 27 years, will be increasingly valuable, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man said as he envisaged his new vision on Youtube on Ju 2021-06-29
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  Wattpad merges studio division with American subsidiary of Naver's web cartoon wing SEOUL -- Wattpad, a Canada-based website and app for writers to publish new user-generated stories, will merge its studio division with WEBTOON, the American subsidiary of Naver's web cartoon wing, to strengthens the parent company's global leadership in intellectual property, digital comics and web novels. Naver, a top web portal service operator and IT company in South Korea, took over Wattpad to strengthen and diversify its content service targetting the global market 2021-06-24
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  SM founder discloses strong desire to expand platforms to metaverse SEOUL -- SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man disclosed his strong desire to expand platforms to the metaverse, which is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, saying culture would be combined with technology to present new content experiences. "Future producers need to be culture scientists, and we need a lot of culture scientists to produce the future entertainment world we 2021-06-24
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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 known as webtoons, ar 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 authorities pledged to ea 2021-06-11