HanCinema Original Articles, Reviews, Previews, Analysis

In its second week of live broadcast "The Penthouse 2" scored ratings of 22.3% on February 26th and ratings of 24% on February 27th. "Penthouse 2" now leads all other programs in its timeslot, including non-dramas...More

On February 27th Mercedes-Benz confirmed that a major plank of their recent marketing strategy is product placement in South Korean media, and that this has been successful enough that they are planning to expand in this department. The news follows upon prominent spots in "Start Up" and "Record of Youth" last year where characters were seen driving the luxury car brand...More

On February 26th the time slip webdrama "Will You Leave??" was released via Seezn. Among other details a new promotional poster for the drama has confirmed Lee Dong-yong and Lee Jung-yeon in non leading roles. The drama stars a twenty-six year old musical genius played by Kang Chan-hee and a twenty-one year old busker played by Park Jung-yeon in a six hundred year spanning story of music and romance...More

Despite the prominence of Irene in promotional material for "Double Patty" this really is Shin Seung-ho's movie. Which is fortunate, since Shin Seung-ho absolutely shines as the frankly dopey twenty-one year old traditional Korean wrestler Woo-ram. While Woo-ram has a fantastic physique, he has generally poor judgment- both of which are on full display in early setpieces where the musclehead finds himself working at a gay bar...More

In "Plus Nine Romance" four twenty-nine year old friends take stock of their love lives as they prepare to step into their fourth decade. The interlocked stories that follow detail these women as they try to figure out whether their relationships are worth keeping, discussing their frustrations candidly with each other but often not as effectively with their male partners. Whether the male partners deserve that much consideration, well...your mileage may vary...More

During the 19th year of King Gwangmu's reign, Empress Myeongseong a.k.a Queen Min, conspired with her kinsman Min Gyeom-ho and dethroned Prince Regent Daewongun, the ruling agent. In the nine years that followed, she killed all his subjects and took the throne, additionally abolishing all the policies and reforms set up by Daewongun, that aimed at the people's benefit. Instead, the palace and royal court indulged in a factional feud, extravagance and orgies, while people's lives became more miserable as the government became more corrupt. There emerged a group of youths, children of the royal subjects executed by Min Gyeom-ho who were determined to set the country right. They secretly formed a rebellion group under a scholar named Lee Hwal-min, who was an ally of Daewongun. Hwalminsuk academy was the hub of their activities...More

The outdoor sportswear brand K2 recently released photos of Park Seo-joon, who is under contract for the organization, as part of their upcoming spring/summer season marketing push. Colorful jackets predominate the photos made available, although hiking boots and shorts also make an appearance...More

On February 23rd Playlist Studios announced that Yoon Hyun-gi had been selected as their new executive producer. In this role, Yoon Hyun-gi will delegate other producers to manage the many ongoing projects of Playlist Studios. Established in 2017, Playlist Studio has become a major name with web dramas in recent years. Playlist Studio works such as "A-TEEN" and "Ending Again" have also been noteworthy for improving the exposure of actors, leading to roles in mainline dramas...More

On February 24th the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that the previous day, on February 23rd, they had opened a pop-up exhibition in the Marui Department Store of Shibuya district in Tokyo. The On/Offline K Style Store, as it is described, will remain in operation until March 28th. KOTRA claimed that the pop-up store's development was prompted by interest in South Korean cosmetics in Japan...More

The many new thrillers which started airing over the weekend have a noteworthy commonality when it comes to casting. Despite all having well-known male stars, "Vincenzo", "Beyond Evil", and "Times" have all elected for lesser known actresses in the leading roles. However, these leading ladies are no mere pretty faces. All have endured their own twists and turns in their careers to get to this point, and all have been received favorably by viewers in light of their clear talent...More

After having gone through all of 2020 without a single new project, fans of Song Joong-ki have been treated to two very different visions of the actor over the course of only a few weeks. In "Space Sweepers" Song Joong-ki played a largely archetypal leading role as the main perspective character with a tragic backstory in the space opera setting. But in "Vincenzo" Song Joong-ki plays an Italian mafia lawyer whose initially serious storyline quickly descends into farce when he arrives on Korean soil...More

On February 23rd Yeom Hye-ran's agency released a photoshoot from an upcoming piece in Marie Claire magazine that features the actress. The current year has been quite busy for the Yeom Hye-ran, with the actress having finished up the surprise hit "The Uncanny Counter" back in January and with three films featuring her having been released in February. These include "New Year Blues", "I", and "Black Light". Yeom Hye-ran discusses "Black Light" in particular in the upcoming interview...More

With ratings of 20.4% in its second episode, "The Penthouse 2" has already established itself as the drama to beat in a surprisingly competitive ratings struggle in a market that was considered to be in decline for most of 2020. "The Penthouse 2" now hopes to beat the 28.8% record set by "The Penthouse" although it already has considerable competition among new dramas...More

With the new season of Drama Stage coming this March 3rd, more details are being released about the individual stories of this year's drama anthology series. The theme this year is, stories about how we can get back up on our feet. In the fourth episode to be aired of the series, Yang Kyung-won will take the title role in "Drama Stage 2021 - Deok-gu Is Back" as the titular Cheon Deok-gu, a man who returns after five years following an insurance scam where he was presumed dead...More

On February 23th kth released a special poster for "Double Patty" in commemoration of the movie hitting the ten thousand viewer mark a couple of days prior. As of this writing, "Double Patty" currently has 11,797 admissions, a number that is unlikely to significantly improve given the larger number of new releases in the coming week...More

Despite appearing in the drama's official promotional poster, Jeon Yeo-bin has been a bit of a wild card for "Vincenzo" in terms of marketing. Her profile is lower than that of lead actor Song Joong-ki or even second lead Ok Taecyeon. To date, her only other leading role had been in the ensemble piece "Be Melodramatic" with other smaller credits including an appearance in "Save Me" of considerably less importance than that of Ok Taecyeon...More

Weeks after its conclusion on February 4th "True Beauty" still inspires intense interest from fans who were drawn to the high school romance storyline. Many fans have described the drama as a guide to loving one's self that even surprasses the original webtoon. A recent interview from screenwriter Lee Si-eun-II features the screenwriter responding to these sentiments, while also expressing her own love for the drama...More

On February 22nd GH Entertainment announced that actor Lee Il-jun, who the agency represents, will appear in a new charitable photoshoot project by ANOUS magazine...More

With the long awaited premiere of "The Penthouse 2" there is already a new champion for dramas, with the premiere for the intense wealth themed thriller hitting 19.1%. But the influence of "The Penthouse" goes far beyond its own sequel, with several other similarly intense dramas also making their premieres over the same weekend. Among them is the serial killer mystery "Beyond Evil" on jTBC which premiered on February 19th with ratings of 4.5%...More

The feature film "Mission: Possible" has topped the South Korean box office every day since release, and is poised to be the first domestic film of the year to lead the box office. The action flick also marks the return of Kim Young-kwang to the big screen, his having last appeared in "On Your Wedding Day" and "The Soul-Mate" back in 2018. A recent interview has been drawing attention for the actor, and the story behind the spy comedy...More

While Jang Sung-kyu had been confirmed as a cast member for "The Penthouse 2" it was only when the drama begain airing on February 19th that the exact nature of his role was revealed...More

As an interconnected narrative switching between four different couples, "New Year Blues" is counting on you liking at least one of the romantic storylines, even if you don't like the other ones. Well the good news is I liked most of them actually! The main exception being the storyline between paralympic athlete Rae-hwan (played by Teo Yoo) and florist Oh-wol (played by Choi Soo-young). But I didn't hate them I just thought their story was kind of pointless with Ye Soo-jung stealing most of the energy in their scenes as Oh-wol's sweet, caring mother...More

The implied, obvious reading of "The Battle of Jangsari" is that the South Korean teenagers who were brutally killed fighting North Koreans during the Korean War were heroes. At least, that's what you'd think if you'd ever seen any other war movie. And it's certainly what I was expecting, given that "Operation Chromite" was unapologetically propagandistic. But "The Battle of Jangsari" proved far more intriguing than those clichés once I realized this reading isn't actually supported by the text...More

Based on the 1987 book of the same name by Yi Mun-yol, "Our Twisted Hero" proves that using allegory to portray political commentary can result in excellent films, particularly when the metaphor works as well as in the case of Park Jong-won's movie...More

February 18th saw the release of "A Way Station" theatrically. The low profile melodrama stars Kim Dong-jun and Kim Jae-kyung in the leading roles. The two are best known for their appearance as the second leads in such dramas as "More Than Friends" for Kim Dong-jun and "The Secret Life of My Secretary" for Kim Jae-kyung...More

Figures released by the Korean Film Council showed that "Mission: Possible" led all other films on its premiere this past Feburary 17th. However, as is expected in the era of COVID-19, the exact numbers are not very impressive...More

Actress Kim So-hyun recently saw a spike of activity on her Instagram account due to activity relating to a picture she had posted. In the picture that was posted over the Lunar New Year's holiday, Kim So-hyun can be seen wearing a costume from "River Where the Moon Rises" where she stars as the leading actress...More

As it passes the halfway point in its eighty episode run, "Homemade Love Story" has emerged as a solid hit for weekend family dramas. It's forty-fourth episode on February 14th had ratings of 32.8%. And appropriately for Valentine's Day, this episode has marked an outpouring of interest for Ryu Jin. Though not a leading character in the drama, his character Jeong-hoo has long kindled interest in viewers for his gentle personality in contrast to his rough appearance...More

ELLE Korea recently announced that actress Bae Doona would be their latest cover celebrity, and would be appearing in their March issue. The theme of the March issue, RESPECT YOU, will deal with many older actresses and their interest in appearing in work that deals with socially conscious issues. An excerpt from an interview with Bae Doona shows the actress expressing admiration for Youn Yuh-jung, describing her as a role model...More

Foreign films have led at the COVID-19 enfeebled South Korean every day so far in 2021. But this weekend sees two films try to dislodge them from this position, and very different ones at that. "Mission: Possible" looks to have the best chance, with stronger ticket reservation numbers. "Double Patty" had better numbers pre-reservation, although it has long since lost much of its momentum...More

Last week the British publication I-MAGAZINE released the latest results in its Fashion Face Awards. These awards take advantage of facial recognition algorithms, as well as human judges from all over the world, to determine which celebrities have the best faces. Lee Dong-wook topped the list for Asian male celebrities...More

On February 16th the Buddhist charity Life Share Korea confirmed that actress Go Min-si had donated around ten thousand dollars worth of goods to help the less fortunate. Purportedly the proceeds come from her recent modeling work...More

Actor and singer Do Kyung-soo has been confirmed as the headliner for the upcoming "Secret - 2021" which is a remake of the 2008 Taiwanese movie of the same name. Do Kyung-soo will play the same role that Jay Chou did in that romantic melodrama, which centers around the relationship between a genius student at a musical school and a mysterous girl he often finds playing the piano...More

On February 14th "Mr. Queen" ended with ratings of 17.4%. The surprise winter drama hit is the fifth best performing drama of all-time from tvN despite its relatively humble expectations. The offbeat story, a fusion of comedy, science fiction, and historical palace intrigue, struck a chord with audiences. But Shin Hye-sun is quickly emerging as the main figure of note in project, with her reputation increased by a substantial margin thanks to her role...More

On February 15th CJ ENM released their latest rankings for the Content Power Index (CPI) which covers how television programs are engaging viewers in non-traditional metrics. These rankings, which quantify data collected from February 1st to February 7th, had "True Beauty" at the top with 307 points in its final week...More

On February 15th the food company Barudak announced that actor Kim Soo-hyun had been signed under contract to help promote the company. Barudak in Korean is a portmanteau of the adjective...More

The roster of 2021 K-Dramas is already looking more promising than ever before with a beautiful blend of thrillers, romance, comedy and more. What is even more exciting is the fact that a lot of the most beloved actresses in Korean television will be coming back this year to create some more iconic dramas and fans cannot be any more delighted about the same...More

The cast of the upcoming tvN drama "Mouse" recently offered their greetings for Lunar New Year to their fans. Lee Seung-gi encouraged people to mind social distancing guidelines in the light of COVID-19, encouraging people to stick close to family...More

Ahead of the final weekend for "Mr. Queen" lead actors Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun have released their thoughts regarding the drama's production. The drama features Shin Hye-sun as a modern day chef trapped in the body of a nineteenth century Joseon royal consort, while Kim Jung-hyun plays the young King of that era...More

On February 13th "Mouse" released new stills of Kyung Soo-jin, who will be appearing in the new drama when it begins broadcasting on March 3rd. Kyung Soo-jin plays the second female lead in the drama, which will feature Lee Seung-gi and Lee Hee-joon in the leading roles. Kyung Soo-jin will play a producing director with an interest in the case and powerful skills of deduction...More

In the first film of the "Today Together 2" omnibus Jong-hwan (played by Ki Joo-bong) lives the life of a borderline hobo, eating only food that ranges in price from cheap to free. His son, Do-jin (played by Park Se-jun) is repulsed by his father's attitude, even as he himself is about as incompetent when it comes to obtaining a proper place in society. And so it is with all the other stories in "Today Together 2" that seem to discuss families on the margin but then, what are the margins anyway?...More

My first response to "Loop Dreams" was a sort of mild bewilderment. A documentary about yo-yo trick artists? Really? I've seen plenty of self-indulgent documentaries by young people overestimating how interesting their lives are. But then I've also seen plenty of good documentaries by young people who correctly estimate how interesting weirdly specific aspects of their lives are, and the only way to know which is which is to watch them...More

An Jung-geun, sometimes spelled Ahn Jung-geun was a Korean-independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist. On 26 October 1909, he assassinated Prince Itō Hirobumi, a four-time Prime Minister of Japan, former Resident-General of Korea, and then President of the Privy Council of Japan, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan. He was imprisoned and later executed by Japanese authorities on 26 March 1910. An was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962 by the South Korean government, the most prestigious civil decoration in the Republic of Korea, for his efforts for Korean independence. His story has been adapted to cinema a number of times, both in North (An Jung-geun Shoots Itō Hirobumi) and South Korea (Thomas An Jung-geun) but this particularly movie is probably the most impressive...More

The womenswear brand Crocodile Ladies recently released their new catalog for the upcoming spring season. Son Ye-jin recently signed a contract to be the new brand model for the company, and her pictures as a part of this catalog have attracted much interest from fans...More

On February 11th H&N Entertainment confirmed that Kang Min-ah, who is represented by the agency, will appear in the upcoming drama "Beyond Evil" on jTBC. Kang Min-ah is most recently best known for her role on "True Beauty" where she played the role of Soo-ah, the best friend of the lead character Joo-kyeong played by Moon Ga-young. Kang Min-ah also appeared on "Memorist" last year, following several noteworthy appearances in webdramas...More

Shin Seung-ho and Irene

On February 10th a press screening was held for the upcoming movie "Double Patty" which stars Irene in a leading role. In addition to being the first film role for Irene the movie is also notable for having the singer use her real name in the credits rather than her stage name, suggesting an interest on her part in transitioning to acting. Irene also appeared in the webdrama "Women at a Game Company" in 2016 which was based on the webcomic of the same title...More

On February 10th the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of the Good Data Report. With a slight increase of 3.69% in social media references, "Mr. Queen" topped the report for the second straight week. The surprising cliffhanger for the eighteenth episode drove much of the discussion as the drama enters its final week. Lead actress Shin Hye-sun was number one for performers while lead actor Kim Jung-hyun was number four...More

Actor Hwang In-yeop passed a major milestone recently, with his Instagram account hitting over seven million followers- 7.3 million, as of this writing. In spite of his account still not being verified, Hwang In-yeop has already outpaced the account of his "True Beauty" co-star Moon Ga-young, ith only 5.4 million followers. However, both still lag behind Cha Eun-woo, with 16.8 million followers...More

Recent real estate filings have confirmed that actor Lee Jong-suk has sold another building. The small facility in the Hannam neighborhood of the Yongsan district of Seoul was originally sold to the actor for three million dollars in March of 2018. However, Lee Jong-suk sold it for three and a half million dollars last month in January...More

The recently released South Korean movie "Space Sweepers" has ascended to the top of the international Netflix charts. The science fiction film which centers around a spaceship crew that clears space junk has been the top movie worldwide in all three days of its availability according to FlixPatrol...More

Netflix recently released new still shots depicting how "Space Sweepers" was shot behind the scenes. "Space Sweepers" is a futuristic science fiction story, that deals with the crew of a spaceship that cleans up space junk...More

On February 8th the "Space Sweepers" webtoon made its worldwide debut on four platforms, having premiered on Kakao Webtoons in Korea last May. The "Space Sweepers" webtoon adaptation is appearing on Piccoma in Japan, Tapas in North America, Kakao Page Indonesia in Indonesia, and Delitoon in France...More

On February 7th actress Lee Jung-hyun made a post on Instagram regarding her birthday, which was on that same day. The actress and singer had turned forty-one years old. To commemorate the event, Lee Jung-hyun posted a picture of her dog, as well as a cake which she baked herself, to Instagram...More

On February 7th the tvN drama "True Beauty" issued an official apology for a commemoration photo of the drama that was released through Cha Eun-woo's Instagram accoun...More

A recent interview has called public attention to Lee Jung-hyun-I, a lesser known actor with minor memorable credits. Among them are "Mr. Sunshine" where he played the Japanese army sergeant Tsuda, and "Sweet Home" where he played Kyungmo. Lee Jung-hyun-I has gained a reputation for playing disturbing, twisted minor villains. Other recent credits include a vengeance obsessed victim of past bullying in "Alice" and a combative high student in "GANG" obsessed with Dragon Ball...More

2020 was an incredible year for Korean dramas and Korean entertainment in general, especially owing to the exponential rise in viewership brought on by the pandemic. Safe to say, if there was anything holding the sanity of millions of people worldwide together, it was the generous flow of fresh new entertainment media on a more than regular basis. Out of this, Korean entertainment formed a huge portion. With new people exposed to K-Dramas, South Korea produced some of the most brilliant works in the past year. We count down the top 10 of all K-Dramas released in 2020 that we still can't get off our minds...More

On February 5th, Cha Eun-woo made a post on Instagram featuring his closing comments for the drama. Cha Eun-woo wrote that everyone involved in the production struggled mightily to bring it through to the end. He thanked all those who supported him. But controversy came in the form of the picture uploaded alongside the post, which showed a large number of cast and crew members in close quarters without wearing masks...More

Actor Park Hae-joon has officially withdrawn from the Netflix Korean remake "Money Heist" based on the Spanish drama of the same title. Park Hae-joon had been set to play the role of Berlin. However, scheduling conflicts had rendered his participation impractical...More

Lee So-yeon recently made a post on Instagram regarding a coffee car sent to her by the actress's former "Dong Yi" co-stars Han Hyo-joo and Park Ha-sun...More

I expected "Space Sweepers" to have some exposition at over two hours. But I was caught off guard by the sheer quantity of badly paced infodumping. It takes ten minutes for us to be introduced to the spaceship and its crew amid constant infodumps about the worldbuilding. At the twenty minute point they get a goal, requiring more exposition. Incredibly, there is yet more exposition and backstory well into the second half, every single time dragging the narrative to a crawl...More

So despite the clip from "Dragon Inn Part 1: The City of Sadness" suggesting that "Dragon Inn Part 2: The Night of the Gods" would take on darker more religious undertones, the villain actually just ends up being a pretty unremarkable cult. As in, they basically function like a real life cult, praying on people so lonely they're unwilling to question terrible group decisions. In practice "Dragon Inn Part 2: The Night of the Gods" is largely a procedural wherein the members of Dragon Inn attempt to track the cult down as part of their latest job...More

If there is a line that, when surpassed, can deem a film as "too melodramatic", then Shin Sang-ok definitely moved over it with "Dongsimcho", a movie that does make a comment about the state of women in Korea in the 50s, but overall, falls victim to its intense sentimentalism and excessive story...More

Creative Group Agency, which represents Song Ji-hyo, recently confirmed that the actress would be starring in the upcoming TVING drama "Come to the Witch's Restaurant" in the leading role...More

"Mr. Queen - Bamboo Forest" epilogue episodes are set to air on TVING this coming February 13th and 14th. Despite having the title of epilogues these episodes will also feature material set before the story's completion, including the first meeting of the characters played by Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun before the former's body was possessed by a modern day chef...More

Lee Byung-hun made a recent post on Instagram with the simple text of thank you Go stones. Attached to the post was a picture of a coffee car which appears to have been sent to Lee Byung-hun as well as the cast and crew of "The Match" by fans, with the banner reading as a general expression of support for the cast and crew of the upcoming film...More

The gaming company NCSoft has been getting attention for its new idol phone service,which was first mentioned on its K-pop Entertainment platform UNIVERSE worldwide on January 28th. The exact nature of the "private call" option which appeared on the platform was not clearly described or advertised. Nevertheless, approximately four million people made reservations for the seven dollar a month service ahead of its February 3rd release, which comes with a single private call voucher...More

The upcoming musical idol drama "Imitation" recently confirmed Yoon Jung-sub as having been added to the cast. The news follows the nearing to the end of "True Beauty" which is Yoon Jung-sub's most recent screen credit. In "True Beauty" Yoon Jung-sub played the chauffeur for the father of the lead character played by Cha Eun-woo...More

Ahead of the final episodes of "True Beauty" actor Im Hyun-sung has offered his closing comments on the drama. In "True Beauty" he played the role of the owner of the comic book room where the lead characters played by Moon Ga-young and Cha Eun-woo first met...More

After a long drought of dramas that could reliably crack the 10% ratings mark, 2021 started the year off with two surprising successes. Expectations were low for "Mr. Queen" and "Royal Secret Agent" due to the relatively weak performance of historical dramas in recent years. But the genre is making a comeback, with new entries making the most of fusing it with other forms of storytelling. "Mr. Queen" deals in time travel and body swapping, while "Royal Secret Agent" involves criminal investigation...More

On February 2nd Netflix held an online press conference for "Space Sweepers". Actors Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu, and Yoo Hae-jin were all in attendance. Director Jo Sung-hee was also present. The science fiction project has been a particular spot of interest for Kim Tae-ri, marking a transition to a more professional, adult kind of character for her...More

The young contemporary womenswear brand ON&ON recently released a sampling of their spring catalog and Moon Ga-young is central to their promotions. The actress, currently best known for playing a teenager in the drama "True Beauty" is showing a more adult side of herself by showcasing a modern, smart image...More

Recent real estate filings show that Hyun Bin made a major purchase last year of a five million dollar villa style apartment in the city of Guri. The high class residence has prompted rumors that star is preparing a marital home for himself and Son Ye-jin, who he acknowledged being in an eight month (now nine month) relationship with on New Year's Day...More

A person associated with the production of the upcoming drama "Oh My Ladylord" has confirmed that Hyeon Sol-ip has been fired from the project. Her replacement is Oh Da-young. "Oh My Ladylord" will be the first head director credit for Oh Da-young although she's not newbie to the field of directing...More

Jeon Young-mi has gotten attention recently with her appearance on "Mr. Queen" where she plays court lady Jeon, a character who delivers comic relief by explaining ridiculous situations in a serious way...More

Gi-seong (played by Shin Min-jae) is the atypical "Cute Man" promised by the movie's title. He uses his harmless, pathetic charms to sell housewives on educational material. Gi-seong's profession has surprisingly little to do with the rest of the movie, though. That opening scene is merely the start to a convoluted series of events that leads the divorced father to start dating Il-yeong (played by Lee Jin-ri), a woman amenable to the nonintuitive charms of a divorced father...More

The dark animation that starts out "Sword of Sarasen" details how in order to guarantee passage through the desert, some traders are known to kill a camel calf right in front of the mother's eyes. Supposedly a mother camel will then take them to safety to insure a proper burial. While attempting to research this legend I learned that apparently camel meat is delicious, casting doubts on some assumptions of the story...More

By 1959, the influence of Hollywood in Korean cinema was in full bloom, and "A Female Boss" is a testament to the fact, something that becomes obvious even from the music and the presentation of the titles in the very beginning of the movie. However, Han Hyeong-mo's title is not exactly a textbook romantic comedy, since the concepts of toxic masculinity (in the way Kim Ki-duk presented it decades later), the role reversal and the eventual triumph of male domination make the film stand particularly out...More

Clio Cosmetics recently announced that they were selecting Go Min-si of "Sweet Home" as their newest model. Alongside the new announcement, Clio Cosmetics also released several images giving an indication as to how the beauty brand intended to use her to promote their product...More

"Mr. Queen" has attracted much positive attention lately due to its discussion of food culture during the Joseon era. In the drama, a modern day chef is transported back to the reign of King Cheoljong. While early episodes did not do much with the profession of the lead character, in more recent episodes his culinary expertise has transitioned into being a critical plot point...More

A photospread featuring Go Min-si of the recent Netflix drama "Sweet Home" was recently released by the fashion magazine 1st Look. She appears in a variety of lovely styles with both matched and mismatched colors. The photospread is also accompanied by an interview where Go Min-si discusses her work in "Sweet Home" with some detail...More

On January 28th, a representative for Sublime Artist Agency confirmed that the talent management organization was pressing charges against a YouTuber as well as his associated channel for actions in regards to Song Yoo-jung...More

The South Korean stage production company ShowPLAY recently announced plans to turn the 2019 drama "Hotel Del Luna" into a stage musical. "Hotel Del Luna" starred IU as the enigmatic operator of a supernatural hotel and Yeo Jin-goo as her new manager, alongside a large cast of colorful supporting characters...More

Following the announcement that "The Uncanny Counter" webtoon had acquired over 140 million views between its official Daum and Kakao accounts, the author of that webtoon confirmed that a third season was under consideration. "The Uncanny Counter" webtoon is currently in its second season...More

In this week's Good Data Report, "The Uncanny Counter" led for the second straight week with 20.32% of social media references across tracked platforms. The tracking period was for the third week of January (18th-24th), marking this as the last appearance of "The Uncanny Counter" on the report. The sole representative from the drama for performers was lead actor Jo Byeong-gyu in sixth place...More

Actress Lim Soo-hyeon was recently confirmed for the upcoming drama "Times" which will start broadcasting on OCN in February. She will play the role of Jeong Yoo-mi, who is an intern reporter...More

On January 27th the original webtoon version of "The Uncanny Counter" hit a major milestone on Kakao and Daum webtoons, where it is serialized. Cumulatively, the various episodes of "The Uncanny Counter" have now been viewed over 140 million times. According to analytics data, approximately 6.7 million individual readers account for these 140 million views...More

On January 26th CJ ENM released their latest Content Power Index (CPI), this one covering the second week on January, here defined as January 11th-17th. The CPI attempts to quantify the popularity of television programs via non-traditional sources such as social media, to better determine the relative popularity of programming in an era where traditional television ratings are increasingly irrelevant...More

On January 26th Jung Entertainment confirmed that Kim Byung-choon, who is represented by the agency, will appear in the upcoming romantic comedy "Hello, Me!" which will air on KBS. The drama stars Choi Kang-hee in the leading role as a thirty-seven year old woman seeking comfort from her younger self to deal with her failures in life...More

On January 26th Sublime Artist Agency, which represented the now departed actress Song Yoo-jung, threatened legal action against malicious rumors regarding Song Yoo-jung's death. Sublime Artist Agency announced Song Yoo-jung's death on January 25th, despite her having actually died on January 23rd, shortly following the completion of her funerary arrangement...More

IU's Instagram

On January 25th EDAM Entertainment announced that charges were being filed against an unnamed web cafe for dealing in malicious rumors against IU who is represented by the agency. Though unspecific about the exact charges, EDAM Entertainment stated that fines had already been levied...More

On January 25th the OCN series "The Uncanny Counter" confirmed that the drama would be returning for a second season. The news follows on the finale of the first season hitting 11%, the highest ever finale ratings for an OCN drama...More

On January 25th Song Yoo-jung's agency Sublime Artist Agency announced that the actress had died on January 23rd. No explanation was offered for the delay in reporting...More

There's a notable change in Yoo-han's disposition in episode fix of "Color Rush" as the always masked young man begins flirting more openly with Yeon-woo. Also he starts to more aggressively lose the mask, confirming my suspicion that the mask was acting as a handicap to Hur Hyun-jun's weak acting talent as much as anything else. Worry not, Hur Hyun-jun isn't terrible in the role, and everybody has to start somewhere. But it's hard to escape the feeling that a webdrama as weird as "Color Rush" got funding at least in part to boost Hur Hyun-jun's acting resume...More

Of the six plot points juggled by "The ABCs of Our Relationship", only the on regarding South Korean adoption is given full exposition. Though she's not really the lead character, the adoption story centers around Joo-hee (played by Lee Seo-yoon), an ethnic Korean woman who was adopted in France back in 1997. Despite Joo-hee being the entire impetus for that plot, her character is surprisingly out of focus as the search for her birth mother takes on highly abstract dimensions...More

"A College Woman's Confession" despite its feminist, patriarchy-slamming narrative, became a big hit in Korea in 1958, particularly since women swarmed to watch a movie, which, apart from the aforementioned elements, also entailed hard-core melodrama. Nevertheless, the result was quite positive for Shin Sang-ok, as this was the film that established his career...More

In a recent interview regarding her upcoming film "Three Sisters", actress Moon So-ri confirmed that she and Jung Jae-young had accepted the lead roles for the upcoming drama "Out of Your Mind" which will begin filming in March for an expected broadcast date of May...More

On January 23th Son Ye-jin won the KT Seezn Star Award at the ASAN Star Awards, which is a popularity prize. Son Ye-jin earned by receiving the most votes from fans. Consequently, Son Ye-jin was sure to thank her fans in the relevant acceptance speech...More

On January 23rd Hyun Bin won the Grand Prize for his leading role in last year's drama "Crash Landing on You" where he played a North Korean soldier...More

The spotlight never stays still and keeps moving from person to person, especially in the film and television industry. In the last year, these 10 talented actors finally proved their mettle, paving the way for lasting success in their field and receiving the title of rising stars...More

Actress Go Min-si of "Sweet Home" has recently been confirmed for a photospread in the upcoming February issue of Marie Claire. The close up shots have an enigmatic quality, contrasting the pitch black color of her dress and hair with the whiteness of her skin as well as the redness of the background...More

A recent real estate report has shown that actress Han Hyo-joo has liquidated property assets. Back in May of 2017, Han Hyo-joo purchased a building in the Hanam neighborhood of the Yongsan district of Seoul. The building comprised three floors, including one basement...More

The microbium beauty brand The Ronettes recently selected Choi Sung-hee as their brand model. The Ronettes beauty brand is named after the sixties American R&B music group of the same name, which were reknowned for their distinctive visual style...More

On January 20th an interview with Jang Yoon-ju was released in anticipation of "Three Sisters" which will be released in South Korean theaters on January 27th. "Three Sisters" stars Jang Yoon-ju alongside Moon So-ri and Kim Sun-young as the three titular sisters grappling with the force of their collective memories. The film is the latest from director Lee Seung-won-I, and his first with a mainstream cast...More

Eugene recently excited the attention of her Instagram followers with images of her younger daughter dancing. Eugene and her husband Ki Tae-young had a baby girl back in 2018...More

For the second week of January, "The Uncanny Counter" ascended to the top of the Good Data Report, filling the void left by "The Penthouse" going off the air the previous week. Much of the improvement was not driven by the content of the drama itself but rather the news that screenwriter Yeo Ji-na had been replaced despite "The Uncanny Counter" almost being finished. Jo Byeong-gyu was number six for performers and Kim Se-jeong was number ten, with neither charting for the previous week...More

On January 19th, Hwang In-yeop turned thirty years old. On that day, he was sure to thanks his fans for his well-wishes with an Instagram post of the many presents he had been sent for his birthday...More

Allure Korea recently announced that actress Han Ji-min would be appearing in a photoshoot for the magazine in their upcoming February issue. The theme of the photoshoot is black swan, or isolated beauty...More

Back in September of 2020 actress Seo Ye-ji appeared in a special Chuseok commercial to promote The Men of Harlem, a web novel that was at the time being promoted by Naver. The oriental fantasy dealt with the political power play involving an empress and her various subordinates...More

On January 17th Netflix Korea released a new video featuring various "Sweet Home" actors answering various questions. The actor participating include Kim Nam-hee-I, Go Min-si, Park Gyu-young, and Go Yoo-jung. The theme of the interview was TMI questions, with TMI being short for Too Much Information...More

On January 18th Kim Chae-eun's agency Endmark released the actresses statement about "Growing Season" which had aired its final episode on January 15th. In "Growing Season" Kim Chae-eun played Ha-yeong, a young woman in a long-term relationship that undergoes stress due to the discovery that she has a sexually transmitted disease...More

The Japanese branch of CJ ENM recently announced that the South Korean drama "True Beauty" would be making its debut on Japanese airwaves. While a final broadcast date has not yet been set, "True Beauty" is expected to begin airing sometime in April on the Japanese version of Mnet...More

Up until now I have been reasonably outspoken in praising "Growing Season" for its practical usefulness in its frank discussion of sexual health and safety in the context of realistically drawn college aged relationships. It is with regret that I must withdraw this endorsement, as "Growing Season" concludes with a rather critical plot point left entirely unresolved. I am referring, of course, to the chlamydia infection sustained by Ha-yeong despite her being in a monogamous four year relationship...More

In one scene on a bus, we see college student Yeong-seok (played by Nam Joo-hyuk) sitting in the bleak night in front of an ad that promises learning English will grant him freedom. It's a bitterly ironic moment, but just one of many in "Josee" that uses the trappings of seeming romantic melodrama to ask what it really means to be free. Yet writer/director Kim Jong-kwan takes his time getting to this very moody point, ultimately starting the action off with Yeong-seok accidentally crashing into the wheelchair of the disabled Josee (Han Ji-min)...More

The overwhelming majority of costume dramas in the Korean movie industry take place in the Joseon era. Thus, watching one that unfolds during the Mahan Age (1st century BC to 5th century AD) seemed a rather interesting opportunity...More

A recent episode of the KBS variety show YJ Live focused on a subject of intense curiousity among fans this year. Various South Korean celebrities are in high profile relationships but there has not been a high profile wedding as of late between two such stars. While COVID-19 has done much to inhibit any such celebrations, speculation is rampant about which couple may or may not take the next step in thei relationship, and YJ Live was bold enough to single out three such couples in order of likelihood...More

In 2021 several major actresses who have been active since the nineties will return for major projects- their first in some time. Song Hye-kyo is the most recent of these whose name have come up in connection with "The Glory" which will be written by "Descendants of the Sun" screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. The revenge-themed story will be a departure for Song Hye-kyo's romantic image which still lingers from her last project, "Encounter" which ended two years prior...More

On January 15th "Growing Season" aired its twelfth and final episode on Naver TV. Earlier in the day, lead actress Park Ji-won-III communicated through her agency her closing thoughts on the project...More

Need some riveting thriller K-Dramas for your weekend binge? Keep reading because we have curated a perfect list of the top 10 thriller K-Dramas that need to be on your watch list.

One of the most popular genres in Korean film and television is that of a thriller. Be it psychological, crime, mystery or revenge, thrillers can be hair-raising and equally entertaining. In the world of K-Drama too, thrillers have always been commercially successful as well as critically acclaimed. Here are 10 of the best Korean thriller dramas that are guaranteed to leave you wanting more...More

With ratings of 12.8% following its tenth episode on January 10th, "Mr. Queen" has proven the surprise hit of the new year. Shin Hye-sun has proven indispensable to the drama's success as the lead actress, despite the rather peculiar gender identity of her character. "Mr. Queen" is a fusion historical drama, and Shin Hye-sun plays a modern day womanizing chef trapped in the body of a Joseon-era consort...More

On January 14th Son Ye-jin posted a sampling of her birthday presents on Instagram. In the accompanying note, Son Ye-jin mentioned that she had never received so many flower bouquets and cakes on her birthday before...More

On January 14th SM Entertainment put out a statement in regards to rumors that Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation was involved with the notorious scandals of the Burning Sun nightclub. The rumors are sourced from Kim Sang-kyo, the first person to discuss the nightclub's notorious reputation publicly when he was booked on charges of assault. These charges were later dropped, and the police involved with bringing them forward were disciplined for misconduct...More

Cha Eun-woo's Instagram

It has been five years since Cha Eun-woo debuted with the musical group ASTRO. While his career has evolved from that time from music to now also encompass acting, Cha Eun-woo has done a remarkable job maintaining his fan following...More

In a recent post on Instagram Story actress Lee Chung-ah thanks Jo Han-sun for sending a coffee car to the set of "Awaken" where the actress is currently starring in the leading role...More

A new slate of supporting actors has been confirmed for "May Youth". These include Oh Man-seok, who will be playing the role of Hwang Gi-nam, the father of the character being played by Lee Do-hyun...More

On January 11th Son Ye-jin had her thirty-eighth birthday. Son Ye-jin's many fans worldwide were eager to commemorate the event, as well as to let Son Ye-jin know how much they appreciated her. Consequently, they have taken out ads in many places serving as public congratulations. Some of the more prominent ones include an outdoors advertisement at the MK Center. There's another large one outside Coex describing her as a Hallyu icon...More

With "True Beauty" now half complete, on the eve of the drama's second half a noteworthy milestone has been reached in regards to viral popularity. Cumulatively clips from "True Beauty" have now achieved 120 million views across various streaming platforms...More

On January 12th a legal representative for Bae Jin-woong denied that the actor had engaged in attempted rape. The allegation had emerged on January 11th than an unnamed actress who was Bae Jin-woong's junior due to her requesting an official police investigation into the matter. Though the report did not single out Bae Jin-woong by name, he was named as the most likely suspect due to his being the only apparent man to match the various circumstances related to the case...More

On January 11th SBS announced that on the following day, January 12th, they would be airing a special episode of "The Penthouse" featuring a mass group interview between nine of the principal stars of the drama...More

While "The Penthouse 2" has been hotly anticipated ever since the ending of "The Penthouse" earlier this month, the release date for the drama is still undetermined. This is in spite of "The Penthouse 2" being expected to air quite soon. Many news periodicals have described it as expected in either January or February, with SBS adding to the confusion by giving conflicting reports on the matter...More

SBS recently released the official poster for "The Penthouse 2" which will follow up "The Penthouse" which ended on January 5th. "The Penthouse" was a stupendous success for the network, ending with ratings of 28.8%, and a third season is also expected after the second one. The new poster also includes an English subtitle, War In Life, the exact meaning of which is unclear...More

"Mr. Queen" has proven a solid success in television ratings for tvN, which has struggled for a traditional success since "Crash Landing on You" last year. Appropriately enough, the leading man for "Mr. Queen" was the second lead in that drama. Kim Jung-hyun plays a young King Cheoljong in the drama, with Shin Hye-sun as the leading lady...More

The South Korean marriage consultation service Gayeon recently announced that they had signed on new models to promote their product for the new year...More

On January 8th a special exhibition for "Crash Landing on You" opened at the Jing Gallery in the Shibuya district of Tokyo...More

Yeon-woo (played by Yoo Jun) is a Mono. I'm still not completely sure what that actually means, but apparently he sees the world largely in grayscale. Yeon-woo's mother was also a Mono, before she died due to some horrible circumstance that will presumably be explained in later episodes but for now is being kept kind of vague. Anyway, when a Mono meets a Probe, they start seeing the world in countless colors simultaneously. And for Yeon-woo, that Probe is Yoo-han (played by Hur Hyun-jun), and also this whole "Color Rush" thing appears to be some kind of metaphor for being gay...More

As episode five opens up, "Growing Season" signals pretty clearly that we're about to get to the part of the story where our heroines learn that men can't be trusted. But obviously foreshadowed as this was, there were more twists than I was expecting. Most obviously there are degrees of bad men, and I liked how the guy who starts out being the obvious villain here is soon shown to not necessarily be monstrous, just kind of clueless, albeit in an obviously self-interested way...More

Yu Hyun-mok will be forever remembered for a film that is considered among the all-time best of Korean cinema, "The Aimless Bullet". Before reaching the apogee of his career, however, he had to start somewhere, and "Forever With You", his earliest surviving film, is a production much different from the aforementioned, mostly following the melodramatic rules of the era, although with a few cinematic "innovations" that actually make it stand out, to a point at least...More

On January 6th King Entertainment announced that Kim Kang-woo, who is represented by the agency, has been offered the leading role in the upcoming jTBC drama "Sabotage City" which is expected later this year. This would be the first drama for Kim Kang-woo since "Woman of 9.9 Billion" in 2019...More

On January 6th the CJ ENM production company Bon Factory announced that they would be collaborating with the Hollywood content company Endeavor Content. The news follows CJ ENM's acquisition of Bon Factory last year, which was justified so as to improve the competitiveness of CJ ENM in the global marketplace...More

On January 5th Son Ye-jin's Instagram account passed the 4 million follower mark. This news comes after a significant boost to her numbers following the New Year's Day revelation that Son Ye-jin was dating her "Crash Landing on You" co-star Hyun Bin...More

A person close to the production of "The Penthouse 2" has confirmed that Jun Jin and his wife would make a special appearance in the first episode of the drama. Purportedly they will make an appearance at a party following a musical performance by Kim Hyun-soo's character...More

Jung Gun-joo has been confirmed for a special appearance in "True Beauty" on January 6th, which will be the seventh episode of the drama. In it, he will play a handsome baseball player who asks for the phone number of the lead character played by Moon Ga-young...More

The fantasy mystery drama "Sisyphus: The Myth" recently confirmed a new addition to the cast- the relatively unknown actress Lee Si-woo-III. In "Sisyphus: The Myth" Lee Si-woo-III will play Bing Bing, an employee at the Asia Mart where President Park, who is played by Sung Dong-il, gives the orders...More

The acclaimed 2019 film "Parasite" by director Bong Joon-ho has topped the Japanese Netflix charts. "Parasite" was released in on the Japanese version of the streaming site on January 1st and has led all films in the subsequent days of its availability...More

The announcement on New Year's Day that Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin started a romantic relationship together was surprising but no without precedent. The couple had become famous for their leading roles on last year's hit drama "Crash Landing on You" and rumors about the two had persisted ever since they co-starred in the movie "The Negotiation" back in 2018. Beyond just that couple though, many others who have met through drama work have had a low profile through the years...More

On January 4th SALT Entertainment announced that actor Kim Seon-ho would be holding his first global online fan meeting. The meeting will be held via TikTok Stage Connect...More

In the wake of the new year's news that actors Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin have been a couple ever since the conclusion of "Crash Landing on You" some eight months back, old footage has been attracting interest...More

On January 2nd Lee Jong-suk made a post on Instagram stating that he had returned. Attached to the post were black-and-white photos of Lee Jong-suk in a park wearing a hat and a mask...More

In a recent interview actress Go Min-si had some choice comparisons between the directing styles of Park Hoon-jung of "The Witch : Part 1. The Subversion" and Lee Eung-bok who directed "Sweet Home" both of which featured Go Min-si in notable roles. The 2020 Netflix drama and the 2018 film both cast Go Min-si as a high school student and both deal in supernatural phenomena...More

The Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation recently released its evaluation for which celebrities have the most brand influence on social media. Fifty performers in currently airing dramas were selected for inclusion, and big data trends across various social media platforms were analyzed from December 2nd to January 2nd to arrive at the result...More

On December 30th, Lim Ju-hwan won the Best Excellence Award for a performer in Wednesday/Thursday dramas at the MBC Drama Awards. Lim Ju-hwan had appeared in two Wednesday/Thursday dramas in 2020, "The Game: Towards Zero" and "The Spies Who Loved Me" both featuring him in prominent supporting roles...More

On December 31st actress Kim So-yeon won the excellence award for "The Penthouse" at the 2020 SBS Drama Awards. This was an honor she shared alongside Lee Ji-ah and Eugene who are also credited as leading actors in the series. Kim So-yeon's acceptance speech has drawn some attention as she credits, among other persons, her husband Lee Sang-woo for her accomplshments in the drama...More

Ah-in (played by Park Su-a) is a young woman with an enthusiasm for sex that can only be described as virginal. Ji-yoo (played by Park Ji-won-III) is a slightly older woman with an enthusiasm for sex only in the context of proper vaginal maintenance. Ha-yeong (played by Kim Chae-eun) is another slightly older woman with an enthusiasm for sex only with her boyfriend. Together they...try to present a class report on sexual health...More

Some of you might not remember Cha In-pyo. Well, most of you probably. As "What Happened to Mr. Cha?" quickly makes clear, Cha In-pyo was a big star in the nineties, and is consequently well-remembered by a certain age group. But in the modern day, working with a new generation of advertisers and producers, Cha In-pyo struggles for relevance despite the fact that he has still maintained a fairly fabulous physique into his fifties. Then he gets buried in an insurance scam...More

"Even the Clouds are Drifting" is another film that was submitted to Berlinale, somewhat following the recipe of the two that previously received awards there, "To the Last Day" and "A Coachman", although not sharing their success...More

The latest iteration of the Good Data Report was recently released, and in it "The Penthouse" easily claimed the top spot for the fifth straight week. "The Penthouse" saw a significant improvement in terms of raw social media references, and now represents over 40% of all such references to any currently airing drama. Six performers from "The Penthouse" were also in the top ten for actors...More

In a recent episode of "The Penthouse" a brief look at a DNA test prompted much speculation from fans. The DNA test in question was used by Lee Ji-ah's character to confirm the role played by Eugene's character in the death of her daughter...More

An interview with Go Min-si released on December 30th contained a surprising admission from the actress regarding extreme weight loss. Overall the tone of the interview was fairly unambiguously positive. Go Min-si had high praise for director Lee Eung-bok, who once offered words of inspiration on the set via encouragement to succeed like Eun-yoo, the name of the character Go Min-si portrays...More

On December 29th tvN announced that "True Beauty" would be on a break this week, so new episodes will not be broadcast on December 30th and December 31st...More

Heo Ji-woong's Instagram and Narsha's Instagram

On December 28th SBS radio personality Heo Ji-woong announced via Instagram that he had tested negative for COVID-19. On the same day Narsha who is herself also a radio personality for SBS stated on her own Instagram account that she too had tested negative for the virus. The tests were prompted by a guest at an SBS Radio program who tested positive for the virus. The identity of this guest as well as which program they appeared on was not disclosed...More

On December 29th Dongyi Company released a statement confirming that Jang Dong-yoon, an actor represented by the agency, was recently injured on the set of "Joseon Exorcist" which is currently filming...More

On December 28th Kim Seon-ho posted a live video on his Naver V LIVE account to commemorate the end of the year. The title of this video was Good-bye 2020 ◡̈...More

The new Netflix drama "Sweet Home" has proven to be a hit both at home and abroad. But the supernaturally themed survival drama's influence will likely last far beyond the popularity of the drama itself. "Sweet Home" is noteworthy for having given a platform to a wide variety of young stars. Many would have struggled for a visible role in a more traditional drama, but the structure of "Sweet Home" has allowed all of them a moment to shine as a member of the greater ensemble...More

On December 28th Naver Webtoons published an official plan of their current strategy when it comes to adapting works hosted on the comics service to other platforms. Many of these works are already known and airing, or soon to be. "True Beauty" is currently appearing on tvN while "Sweet Home" recently made its premiere on Netflix...More

On December 27th Jam Entertainment made a post to its Instagram page featuring an official message from Cho Jung-seok, who is represented by the agency. The following letter was described as a special letter for his fans from the actor himself. In the letter, Cho Jung-seok thanks his fans for sending seasonal greetings and gifts, particularly the ones from overseas...More

On December 27th director Choi Seungho of "Spy Nation" announced on Facebook that alleged spy Kim Seung-hyo had died in Japan on December 26th. Kim Seung-hyo was among the persons featured in "Spy Nation" as having been wrongly accused of spying for the North Korean government for political reasons during the dictatorship era...More

On December 26th actress Shin Min-a posted two photos on Instagram of a recent photoshoot conducted by the actress. Then on December 27th, actor Kim Woo-bin posted a video to his own Instagram of his own photoshoot. The seeming coincidence has intrigued fans, as the pair are in a romantic relationship and the timing was noticed by those who follow both accounts...More

On December 26th figures released by the streaming tracker website FlixPatrol showed that "Sweet Home" had slipped to fourth place in the international Netflix charts...More

In response to news reports stating that "Voice 4" would start location shooting in Jeju Island next year, a person associated with the production of the drama has stated that nothing has been decided yet in terms of filming...More

The upcoming tvN drama "Mouse" which will be the first project for actor Lee Seung-gi since "Vagabond" in 2019 has recently confirmed that actor Lee Young-jae will appear in the drama. Lee Seung-gi will play Ba-reum, who lost his parents to a serial killer in his youth. Lee Hee-joon will also play Moo-chi, an unconventional detective who is similarly out for revenge...More

Given the title of "A Special Lady" and the prominence of lead actress Kim Hye-soo in the movie's promotional material, one might think she'd be playing the main character. Well, that's not really the case. She might technically be the initial perspective character, given the extended opening scene where we're just watching old guys gratuitously having sex with prostitutes. Kim Hye-soo's character, Hyeon-jeong, is looking at these videos with no context...More

The action in "We Are Brothers" is prompted by a documentary program regarding reuniting families. The subgenre of sentimental television documentaries is unremarkable in South Korean culture, although the seeming wackiness does no favors for the drama in translation. Much of "We Are Brothers" lurches from one wacky setpiece to another. Surprisingly few of these weird situations have much to do with the main premise. Sang-hyeon (played by Cho Jin-woong) is a pastor rasied in the United States. Ha-hyeon (played by Kim Sung-kyun) is a shaman raised in South Korea. And now the separated brothers meet again...More

War films, particularly in the way the western audience has gotten used to them due to Hollywood productions for the most part, tend to focus on entertainment instead of reality, with few exceptions. "Beat Back" however, is not one of those films, particularly since it becomes obvious that the cast, three years after the Korean War, probably had experiences from actual war. The story is based on the true story of Captain Kim Man-sol's participation in the said events...More

For the fourth straight week "The Penthouse" has led the Good Data Report with a 27.66% surge in media mentions allowing the drama to break 35% of the overall mentions for dramas in the third week of December...More

On December 23rd Netflix released new images of "Sweet Home" that show what filming for the drama looks like behind the cameras...More

The global messenging platform LINE recently announced a partnership with Naver webcomics for the former to make mobile games using the licenses of the latter. This is the first such agreement between the two companies...More

On December 22nd Studio Dragon stock went up 3.4% to eighty dollars. The noticable rebound from previous days of losses appears to have been prompted by foreign investors due to the continuously improving numbers of "Sweet Home" in the international Netflix charts. The supernatural survival drama was number eight in the worldwide Netflix chart for dramas on December 21st but surged to third place on December 22nd as the drama has continued to enjoy a positive worldwide reception...More

On December 21st the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) announced the winners of this year's awards. Eligible movies included one hundred sixty-two films released between October 1st of 2019 and September 30th of 2020...More

On December 22nd Jung Entertainment confirmed that Kim Byung-choon, an actor who they represent, has tested positive for COVID-19. The news has caused a massive health sweep on the sets of "Phoenix 2020" and "True Beauty" which both star the actor in minor roles. A test was ordered for Kim Byung-choon when he was observed to have been suffering from unusual tiredness...More

New data released by FlixPatrol on December 21st has shown that the new Netflix drama "Sweet Home" has cracked the international top 10 for the streaming platform. This is the first appearance of "Sweet Home" in the Netflix top 10 and, registered as it is on December 20th, happened in the third day of the supernatutrally themed drama's availability. The drama appears to have risen in the ranks due to strong recommendations from various viewers...More

Lee Do-hyun and Go Min-si have been confirmed as the leading cast members for the upcoming jTBC drama "May Youth" which deals with the Gwangju Democratization Movement. The two had long been reported as having received offers...More

On December 21st Shin Min-a's agency AM Entertainment put out a statement that Shin Min-a, who the agency represents, was optimistically considering a role in a drama remake of "Mr. Handy" which was released theatrically in 2004...More

Lee Si-young, Go Min-si
Park Gyu-young, Go Yoon-jung

A major aspect of "Sweet Home" that has drawn interest from viewers both domestic and abroad is the Netflix drama's depiction of female characters. While the explicit headliners of the drama have been male, most obviously lead actor Song Kang, in practice "Sweet Home" is an ensemble movie. And women make up a critical part of this ensemble, as is to be expected because the modern world thrust into disaster aspect of the premise makes it clear the dramatis personae were basically selected at random...More

With ratings breaking 8% over the weekend, "The Uncanny Counter" has emerged as the unexpected champion of OCN's drama production, outdoing even such hits as "The Voice" on the cable network. While the relatively low profile lead cast has earned many plaudits for their effective teamwork as an ensemble, supporting performers have also been a major contribution to the drama's success. Lee Hong-nae and Ok Ja-yeon have seen their profile boosted substantially as the drama's villains...More

One of the factors boosting the popualrity of "Sweet Home" domestically and abroad has been the Netflix's drama good use of practical effects. While specific information of how "Sweet Home" was shot is limited, a snippet of a press conference ahead of the drama's worldwide release offers some clue as to what they were like in practice...More

On December 18th Netflix released photos of the cast of "Sweet Home" which were produced for Elle Magazine. The move by Netflix coincides with the official release of "Sweet Home" on the streaming platform worldwide. Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Si-young, and Lee Do-hyun all appear in the photos...More

Director Lee Eung-bok is best known for his long-time partnership with screenwriter Kim Eun-sook. Together, the pair made the hit dramas "Descendants of the Sun", ""Goblin", and "Mr. Sunshine", So it was something of a surprise when "The King: Eternal Monarch" was announced and while Kim Eun-sook was to be the screenwriter, Lee Eung-bok was nowhere to be found despite his similarly being overdue for a new project. With "Sweet Home" Lee Eung-bok has made his return- and wisely...More

With the release of "Sweet Home" on Netflix several cast members whose exact roles were not confirmed in advance have since been clarified. Among these is actor Shin Mun-sung, who has been confirmed to be playing a middle-aged security guard...More

We are introduced to Ga-ram (played by Kwon Yuri) and Seon-jae (played by Hyun Woo) as the former is confronting the latter in a cafe over the perceived disrespect in their relationship. Their fight is uncomfortable. Ga-ram is too aggressive, and Seon-jae is too incompetent at explaining himself. Their problems seem irreconcilable. Then "Breakup Probation, A Week - Movie" leads us into a one-two punch where one after the other, we see that Ga-ram and Seon-jae indisputedly love each other...More

In the fairly arresting opening scene to "The Underdog" we see Bundle (voiced by Do Kyung-soo) abandoned by his owner on a random hill. The socially conscious nature of this moment is unmistakable. In contrast to the wishful thinking of the owner that a domesticated dog can be happy and free out alone, we quickly see how in reality abandoning Bundle or any other dog in such a way is an act of cruelty...More

The "Chunhyangjeon" is one of Korea's most iconic stories. Although its author and date of composition are unknown, it most likely originated as a work of pansori (probably from "Chunhyangga",the most famous pansori), a form of musical storytelling involving song and percussion, and was later adapted into prose during the reign of either King Sukjong (r. 1674–1720) or King Yeongjo (r. 1724–1776)...More

On December 16th the Korean Communication Standards Communication made an official statement regarding "The Penthouse" and its depiction of violence against children. "The Penthouse" deals with various parents, many of whom live in a giant expensive penthouse, and their often extreme behavior designed to help their children become opera singers...More

In the latest iteration of the Good Data Report "The Penthouse" pulled ahead to a commanding first place margin for its third straight win. Response from fans toward "The Penthouse" has been overwhelming positive in the wake of Park Eun-seok's elevation in the storyline. Despite being only supporting cast, Park Eun-seok was number one for performers this week, followed closely by his co-star Lee Ji-ah in second. Kim So-yeon was seventh, and Eugene was eighth and Uhm Ki-joon was ninth...More

On December 15th "The Penthouse" recorded its best ever ratings of 23.3% for its fifteenth episode. From the very beginning "The Penthouse" has pushed boundaries in terms of shocking content. While this has encouraged viewers, it has also encouraged quite a bit of criticism. One recent episode featured a student being threatened and bound by rope- by another student no less...More

On December 15th, Epitone Project released their long awaited music video Sleepless. The title, which more literally says insomnia, references the lyrics which discuss a person's lingering pain following a breakup. The video has attracted interest because Kim Seon-ho appears throughout as the implied narrator...More

On December 16th "Josee" marked its sixth day of availability with a small milestone. The melodrama has earned ninety thousand viewers in those six days according to the Korean Film Council. The movie might just barely clear one hundred thousand viewers in its first week...More

Over December 11th to December 13th various celebrities made charity-minded social media posts in regards to the Light On artistic appreciation project. This is the fourth such incarnation of Light On which aims to help low income youth who lack access to higher art. The purpose of the project is to offer safe and free cultural entertainment of this caliber for such viewers...More

With the release of "True Beauty" fans of the original webtoon were both surprised and pleased to find that while the drama adaptation takes definite liberties with the exact construction of the story, the tone remains constant throughout. The teen romantic comedy-drama has Moon Ga-young as the lead character, a homely girl who becomes obsessed with makeup. The difference between her appearance with or without makeup is so great she is frightened of her dual life being found out...More

While "True Beauty" has attracted the bulk of recent attention in its inaugural release as a drama based on a webtoon, "The Uncanny Counter" has slowly built itself into a sleeper hit. From a modest ratings premiere of 2.7%, "The Uncanny Counter" had ratings of 7.7% in its most recent episode. Fans have been impressed with the supernaturally themed drama's characterization and overall structure, despite "The Uncanny Counter" superficially falling into team-based superhero tropes...More

On December 14th tvN released a video of various scenes from "True Beauty" with director Kim Sang-yeob providing commentary. The discussion mainly gets into various visually distinctive scenes that do not have equivalent in the original webtoon...More

Last week the Good Data Corporation released figures for the first week of December as to which dramas were attracting the most interest on social media. The data, which was compiled from November 30th to December 6th, showed that "The Penthouse" was the highest performing drama for the second straight week, with 24.15% of all observed media commenting on the drama. Eugene was second place for performers, with Kim So-yeon in seventh place and Yoon Jong-hoon in ninth place...More

Over the weekend the Joseon-era themed gender bending time travel comedy "Mr. Queen" made its surprisingly strong debut. With ratings of 8% in its first broadcast, "Mr. Queen" has the second highest debut of any tvN weekend drama. It has only ever been outperformed by "Mr. Sunshine", a drama notable for having a considerably more well-known cast and a much more aggressive marketing campaign...More

The central operating premise of "True Beauty" is based is the main character's extreme interest in makeup as well as her relationship with two unusually pretty boys her own age. But one of the subtler aspects of the original webtoon that was much appreciated by fans was the dysfunctional interplay with the teenage girl's family. "True Beauty" in drama form has expanded on that dynamic, both by increasing the importance of the family and adding a new member- the father, played by Park Ho-san...More

On December 11th Eptione Project released a teaser video for their upcoming song Insomnia. Inititally only noticed by the musical group's fans, the teaser video in question has since stoked interest among Kim Seon-ho's fans as the actor plays a starring role in the video as the implied protagonist of the song...More

On December 12th famed director Kim Ki-duk was revealed to have die of complications relating to COVID-19 in Latvia. According to sources close to the matter, Kim Ki-duk's family were unable to deal with the matter personally due to COVID-19 concerns. The relevant arrangements were thus handled by the South Korean Embassy in Latvia, and Kim Ki-duk's remains were cremated according to his wishes. The remains are in transit to South Korea to be received by his family...More

In a recent photospread and interview for bnt magazine singer Koh Woo-ri of Rainbow confirmed that she would be appearing in drama "True Beauty" which started airing on December 9th. She will play the role of Serena Lee, who is the elder sister of the lead character played by Cha Eun-woo. Despite her familial relationship, Serena Lee does not appear very much in the webtoon adaptation of "True Beauty" although she is critical for confirming important parts of her brother's backstory...More

Strictly speaking "The Cursed Lesson" is a sequel to the 2009 horror movie "Yoga". This connection is made somewhat more obvious by the Korean title although really, the abstract idea of centering a horror movie around a mysterious yoga school is hardly that distinctive. And so unfolds a surprisingly clever metatext where horror movie conventions and even commentary about superficial beauty is turned on its head. "The Cursed Lesson" is not that kind of scary movie, although it's very good at pretending to be...More

Eun-soo (played by Woo Mi-hwa) is an older schoolteacher. Ye-won (played by Lee Yeon) works at a casually branded clothing store. They're lesbians who first met in high school when Eun-soo was Ye-won's teacher. Exact details about when and how their relationship advanced to live-in status are kept deliberately vague. The dramatic impetus ends up centering entirely around a tragedy unrelated to their homosexuality, as "Take Me Home - 2020" turns into a story about grief, rage, and change...More

"A Coachman" is a landmark for South Korean cinema, since it was the first Korean film to win a major international award, netting the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival ("To the Last Day" , which also won the same award, was actually produced a year before but was submitted to the 12th edition of Berlinale)...More

On December 9th Rain set fans into a frenzy of speculation when he made a cryptic promise of good news to be released at noon on December 10th. Fans in the comments quickly started to wonder whether Kim Tae-hee might be pregnant. This was in spite of the fact that the most in question contained a hashtag reading, not a family matter...More

The upcoming tvN drama "Raw" recently confirmed several members of the core cast. "Raw" is based on the webtoon of the same title, which deals with a male gumiho, here played by Jang Ki-yong, who gets mixed up with a human college student, played by Hyeri, due to an incident involving his mystical beads. Their participation in the project as lead actors was confirmed last week...More

With his name becoming more popular due to an increasingly prominent role in the currently airing drama "The Penthouse", Park Eun-seok has become dogged by a rumor which his agency has yet to fully deny...More

On December 8th STARNEWS Korea released hitherto unseen footage of Kim Seon-ho at the Asia Artist Awards last month. The minute long clip can be seen on their YouTube channel which is produced in association with Kakao. At present, there is no English translation for the clip in question...More

On December 8th Netflix released new behind the scenes images from "The Call" giving a glimpse of what the mystery thriller looked like on set. The photos include a mix of the cast and crew deliberating over the way they should be recreating scenes as well as sillier moments of the actors resting on set with cameras visible in the foreground...More

On December 8th MBC announced the hosts for this year's MBC Gayo Daejejeon. The annual musical program will take place on December 31st as a year-end event. Yoona, who has hosted the event since 2015, will return once again as an emcee...More

Interpark Entertainment recently announced that Epitone Project, an independent band they represent, will release a new single and music video on December 15th at six in the evening Korean time. The title of the song in question will be Insomnia. The official announcement for the music video contained a largely unidentifiable man in silhouette although the credited information reveals a surprising identity for the actor- Kim Seon-ho...More

On December 7th an interview was released wherein Nam Joo-hyuk talks about his starring role in the upcoming film "Josee". In the movie, the titular Josee is played by Han Ji-min, but the perspective character is Young-seok, who is played by Nam Joo-hyuk. The story of their happy time together is based on the 2003 Japanese movie Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, which itself is based on the Japanese novel of the same name...More

On December 7th "Lucky Chan-sil" revealed that the movie would receive an official domestic release in Japan on January 8th. The news follows the re-release of "Lucky Chan-sil" at the South Korean box office on November 26th. As of this writing the movie has earned 28,961 admissions at the South Korean admissions...More

On December 6th closing statements from the four principal actors of "Start Up" were released following the airing of the drama's final episode. Bae Suzy described her time on "Start Up" both as happy but also as a disappointment. Specifically, she described the ending of the drama as being a disappointment because of the important, happy part her role had provided for her over the previous eight months. Bae Suzy thanked the staff for their hard work, saying it was an honor to work with them...More

On December 6th actor Bong Tae-gyu feigned shock with his Instagram upload. In the picture, a young girl with large rimmed glasses can be seen smiling broadly. Bong Tae-gyu has the shocked comment, Ah!!!! Goo Ho-dong!!!!!...More

While "Josee" will not officially release in theaters until December 10th the movie is already a certain lock for a box office win over the next week. Despite the movie's lack of availability, figures released by the Korean Film Council as of this writing show that over 14,000 people have already reserved tickets for the film...More

Going into its final week, on paper "Start Up" isn't much to look at. The drama has consistently hovered in the 5% range for its entire run. It has neither improved nor weakened the profiles of its lead actors Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk. But their co-star Kim Seon-ho is a different matter. Originally a stage actor, Kim Seon-ho made his debut with "Chief Kim" in 2017 with a supporting role as a philosopher turned accountant. His kind-hearted character was a hit with viewers...More

On December 3rd the omnibus film "Motelier" was released to on-demand services. The sexually themed comedy is framed as a series of vignettes told by podcast. In contrast to most erotic South Korean movies, which are aimed toward older audiences, "Motelier" is directed at 20-30 year old audiences. This fact is made especially obvious by the surprising choice of lead actress- Lee Ga-eun, who is better known as a singer for her association with After School...More

On December 4th The Swoon, which is powered by Netflix, published a video of actor Kim Seon-ho reacting to a fan video which The Swoon had published two weeks prior. While some questions are sprinkled throughout the video from an unseen interviewer, for the most part Kim Seon-ho simply describes the backstory behind various scenes. Kim Seon-ho notably radiates with affection regarding Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, and even Kim Hae-sook...More

Bobby (played by writer/director Bobby Choy) is an aspiring Korean American singer/songwriter in New York City who works as a moderately successful telemarketer by day. "Fiction and Other Realities" takes us through a low point in Bobby's life as he experiences existential dread at the apparent meaninglessness of his existence. It doesn't take much prodding from his more successfully musical friend Billy (played by Todd Goble) to get Bobby to take an impulsive trip to the homeland of his parents...More

Elancia was a massively multiplayer online role playing game released in 1999 by Nexon. If you haven't heard of it, well, that's not surprising. Even in South Korea Elancia is pretty obscure. In fact, director Park Yun-jin opens the movie up with clips of people exclaiming just how terrible this game is, and how nobody in the modern day in their right mind would play it. Which naturally begs the question of why people, director Park Yun-jin among them, continue to play Elancia when better MMORPGs are available...More

Winner of the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival in 1960, "To the Last Day" is a rather melodramatic production, but also quite impressive cinematically and with a rather provocative (for the era) comment...More

On December 2nd Netflix released new behind the scenes still shots for "The Call" which was released on November 27th. The release of the stills appears to be motivated largely by popular demand...More

With a 63% increase in relative metrics "The Penthouse" surged to the top of the Good Data Report this week, overcoming weeks of dominance by "Start Up" which now falls to second place. Dramatic events at the halfway point of the deliberately intense and violent drama led to a surge in interest. By contrast, "Start Up" was winding down in its penultimate week, with turnabouts mainly of interest to existing fans leading to a small increase of just a sixteenth of a percent...More

The American singer/songwriter Billie Eilish is famous in her own right, and in the proper entertainment media circles. This is generally for her musical talent, however, as her image has taken on new meaning thanks to "The Call"...More

VAST Entertainment recently announced that Lee Yeon-hee would now be represented by the agency. In a statement, they said they had great hopes when it came to assisting her in upcoming times of change and challenge in a happy future. Lee Yeon-hee had been represented by SM Entertainment for some nineteen years. The move likely seems aimed at bolstering her acting career...More

On December 1st, the Blank Corporation bathware division Body Rub announced a special event for its 2020 Blue Friday sale. Hyun Bin, a long-term model for Body Rub will be central to the promotion of the sale over December 2nd and December 3rd. Certain branded items, such as the Hyun Bin Filter Shower Head, will be available at a special discount over the course of the sale...More

On December 1st Netflix released new stills for the upcoming drama "Sweet Home" which will air on the streaming platform. "Sweet Home" is based on the webtoon of the same title. It stars Song Kang in the leading role as a teenager who undergoes many strange occurences after losing his family and home. The stills in question have an ominous quality, featuring bloodied characters with intense expressions holding makeshift weapons in the face of some unknown threat...More

On November 30th Netflix released an interview featuring director Lee Chung-hyun with some choices comments about "The Call" which was released on the streaming platform on November 27th worldwide. "The Call" is the first feature from Lee Chung-hyun, but it's also the first role for lead actress Jun Jong-seo since "Burning" in 2018. Lee Chung-hyun said that he cast Jun Jong-seo due to the unknowable vibe she exuded in that movie, finding it a perfect compliment to the concept in "The Call"...More

In three months time, "Bleak Night" will be enjoying its ten year anniversary. Though not as flashy as more mainstream releases or more auteur styled films from South Korean directors, "Bleak Night" has been a huge influence on South Korean film over this time. It almost single-handedly created the disaffected youth genre of South Korean film. "Park Hwa-young" is another such movie from 2018. And "Set Play", which releases on December 10th, will be still another one...More

With the release of "The Call" on Netflix amid a COVID-19 enforced slump at South Korean theaters, many are wondering how much of the future of South Korean film may rest with the streaming platform. According to FlixPatrol, "The Call" has made steady progress climbing up the streaming giant's worldwide charts, hitting seventh place on November 29th. This is in addition to being number one in the domestic South Korean charts...More

The Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation recently released its latest monthly report regarding actors in currently airing television actors. From a list of fifty performers, the Korea Institute of Enterprise Reputation analyzes social media trends and big data to calculate which actor has the most immediately popular brand...More

Major actors such as Lee Min-ho, Jun Ji-hyun, and Kim Soo-hyun have long been popular overseas. Jun Ji-hyun was pivotal to the first Korean Wave for film in the early 2000's, with Lee Min-ho and Kim Soo-hyun being similar major figures in the early 2010's. But the 2020's have seen all three actors adjust to facing the international market first, as they take on projects with clear international pretensions in mind...More

On November 29th actor Kim Seon-ho sent a message out on Instagram in regards to his recent win at the Asia Artist Awards which were broadcast on November 28th...More

With the worldwide release of "The Call" on Netflix comments by leading actress Park Shin-hye on the supernatural mystery thriller have taken on new interest. A recent interview with the actress had Park Shin-hye expressing a sense of being unnerved at how the movie is only releasing now, some eight months after the first press conference in March. Nevertheless, Park Shin-hye was appreciative of how the movie is now releasing to an international audience instead of the original limited Korean one...More

With South Korea's current COVID-19 prevention measures jumping up to level three, there will not be any major promotional pushes for new films in wide release before the end of the year. Compared to the initial outbreak, independent films in South Korea have continued to release at a regular schedule. Additionally, rebroadcasts of films old and new have become increasingly common to allow for some variety at multiplexes...More

On November 28th Kim So-yeon made a post on her Instagram account. In the relevant pictures, she can be seen standing in front of a cake that is in the back of a car while holding balloons and flowers. A nearby banner declares that Kim So-yeon is a thief, for stealing their hearts, and that they're hopeful she will come steal them again in season two of "The Penthouse"...More

Seo-yeon (played by Park Shin-hye) is a woman in her late twenties forced into an obscure property In Yeongcheon due to the worsening medical condition of her mother, here played by Kim Sung-ryung. This takes a turn for the weird when Seo-yeon starts receiving ominous phone calls from Yeong-sook (played by Jun Jong-seo), who is clearly under the impression she is talking to someone else. The two bond over Seo Taiji, which is a decent if rather specific clue for where "The Call" ends up going...More

I could tell that "Dragon Inn Part 1: The City of Sadness" was intended to be the first in a series of films because, well, the title makes it pretty obvious. But aside from that I was morbidly impressed with the sheer degree of disinterest director Choi Sang-hoon-II had in explaining who any of the movie's characters even were. Everything just seems like an excuse for some guy wearing a motorcycle helmet to go around punching people...More

The Shadowless Pagoda (Sakyamuni Yeoraesangjuseolbeop Tap) is a stone pagoda in South Korea designated as the 21st National Treasure on December 12, 1962. It was built by Asadal, an outstanding stonemason of Baekje who was brought to Silla to build Dabotap (also known as Pagoda of Many Treasures) and Seokgatap (the titular one). According to a myth that might as well be true, after several years with no news of her husband, Asadal's young wife went to Seorabeol to find him...More

On November 25th the productions behind the television dramas "Joseon Exorcist", "The Penthouse", "Hush" and "Mr. Queen" as well as the web drama "Lovestruck in the City" all announced that their leading actors had received COVID-19 test results as of November 24th...More

On December 9th "True Beauty" will premiere on tvN. The drama is based on the Naver webtoon of the same title and stars Moon Ga-young in the lead role as a visually unremarkable high school girl who achieves a cult following on YouTube for her beauty video blog. "True Beauty" is also the first project from director Kim Sang-hyeob since "Extraordinary You" last year, and he has high hopes for the new project...More

On November 20th Esquire Korea released pictures from a photoshoot of Kim Seon-ho which were to be published in an upcoming issue. But Esquire Korea was soon embarrassed as an untouched photo of Kim Seon-ho was mistakenly use in their own official materials...More

On November 21st, a person associated with the upcoming drama "Bossam - Stealing Destiny" was revealed to have tested positive for COVID-19. The drama, which is still in its early stages, stars Jung Il-woo and Kwon Yuri in the leading roles. Production for the drama is in such an early phase there haven't even been official announcements for most of the cast yet. However, the shared nature of the afflicted area is such that a large number of other dramas have been forced to shut down...More

On November 24th "The Penthouse" confirmed that plans were in the works for a second ("The Penthouse 2") and third season ("The Penthouse - Season 3") of the popular drama. Purportedly, these seasons will have twelve episodes apiece...More

On November 21st comedian Park Hwi-soon married his girlfriend, who has drawn attention for being much younger than him, to the tune of seventeen years. The two came into public consciousness when they were announced to be among the spotlighted couples for the next season of the variety show Taste of Wife...More

The second episode of "The Goddess of Revenge" featured an unexpected appearance. Though the role for the young version of the lead character played by Kim Sa-rang had not been announced in advance, when young Kang Ha-rae appeared in the drama she was played by none other than the new actress Yang Jung-yeon...More

The movie "Day and Moon" recently announced that actor Ha Kyung would be appearing in the film. Ha Kyung is currently appeared in the drama "Delayed Justice" as the tragic victim of a frame up although his name was eventually cleared...More

"Start Up" has been surprisingly good for Kim Seon-ho's image. When his role as second lead in the drama was first announced, it was widely seen as a downgrade, and perhaps an unavoidable one. His last drama, "Catch the Ghost" ended with ratings of 2.6% down from a premiere episode of 4.1%. While the performance was not terrible, it also did not do much to inspire confidence in Kim Seon-ho as a leading man...More

Actress Jin Se-yeon recently passed the ten year anniversary of her debut. The exact date is calculated as November 22nd, which was the first airdate for the drama "It's Okay, Daddy's Girl". Though Jin Se-yeon did not have a major role, it was the first screen credit for the then seventeen year old actress...More

Last month, W Magazine Korea announced their models for this year's LOVE YOU W campaign, which aims to improve breast cancer awareness. At that time, only wide angle promotional shots for the event were available...More

In its first weekend the new TV Chosun drama "The Goddess of Revenge" had a respectable opening of 3.4%. "The Goddess of Revenge" is the first TV Chosun drama to air on Saturday and Sunday night since "King Maker: The Change of Destiny" which ended on July 26th with ratings of 5.9%...More

On November 21st Kim Seon-ho made an Instagram post honoring the crew of "Start Up". For the most part the faces of the crew members are obscured so as to protect their privacy...More

On Twitter the television network MBC Dramanet recently announced that they would be reairing the 2018 short drama "You Drive Me Crazy". In general it is unusual for networks to bother to rebroadcast short dramas. "You Drive Me Crazy" is only two episodes long, about the same length as a movie...More

The upcoming December issue of Esquire Korea will feature a photoshoot with actor Kim Seon-ho as the centerpiece. The concept of the photoshoot is BEHIND THE STAGE and is promising to show a hidden side of the actor. The pictures show a wide variety of stylings for Kim Seon-ho, from unusually colored lighting to self aware expressions to peculiar movements...More

Hyeon-sil (played by Kim Ye-eun) is a lazy woman in her late twenties. She has an excited, energetic dog but doesn't like walking him in the morning. In the very weird scene that follows we see Hyeon-sil be clumsily hit on by a young jogger who clearly doesn't know how to talk to women. But does Hyeon-sil herself have any idea how to talk to anyone? That is the central mystery behind "Midsummer Madness" which is more literally translated as Midsummer Thinking...More

The most immediately distinctive aspect of "Our Midnight" is how the movie is filmed in black and white. There's no obvious reason for this to start out with- save, of course, for the fact that black-and-white filming is cheaper, and "Our Midnight" is an independent film that was made on a budget. But then that's very thematically on-brand, given how the movie revolves around failed actors who become obsessed with suicide, albeit not for the reason you're probably expecting...More

In this year's editions of BIFAN and BIFF, there were mostly two tendencies among the Korean films. One was a kind of "weird wave", of genre-bending films that moved into almost uncanny cinematic directions, and the other of intense art-house ones, of the sort where realism takes over the narrative to the point that , occasionally, nothing ever happens. "AND THERE WAS LIGHT" seems to combine these two tendencies, eventually resulting in a film that is quite different, but also both art-house and "strange"...More

On November 18th the the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of the Good Data Report, which measures how dramas perform across various social media metrics. "Start Up" was once again on top of the report, with a stronger lead over its rivals compared to the previous week...More

"Run On" is set to be released on December 16th, and jTBC has released new character posters as part of its marketing push...More

Storywiz recently announced the upcoming drama "Color Rush" and provided pictures of the first script reading. They are making "Color Rush"...More

The eighth episode of the SBS drama "The Penthouse" did not air as originally planned on November 17th due to a football game. On that night, the South Korean national football team was set to play a friendly match against Qatar...More

Kim Seon-ho's Instagram

On November 17th, DinDin announced on his Instagram account that he had prepared a coffee car for Kim Seon-ho. The banners make it clear that the coffee car is intended for the cast and crew of "Start Up" in which Kim Seon-ho is currently starring...More

Netflix recently released a special preview trailer for "The Call" which is currently set to release on November 27th worldwide in the streaming platform...More

The tvN drama "Start Up" recently released new stills for the drama which focus on lead actors Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk behind the scenes. While much of the reception of "Start Up" has hinged on the drama's depiction of start up corporations, these stills focus more on the chemistry between the two lead actors...More

Last week a police report revealed that the persons who were caught hacking the cell phone data of various celebrities (like Ha Jung-woo and Joo Jin-mo) and blackmailing them with it have been connected to wider cybercrimes...More

Recently Kim Do-wan, Yoo Su-bin, and Stephanie Lee of the currently airing television drama appeared in a special video. In the video, the three expressed their support for real world start up firms. According to Yoo Su-bin, South Korea is the world's most innovative country and start up firms are a very important part of that...More

Recently Bae Suzy in "Start Up" and Krystal in "Search" have redefined what it means for former singers to take up acting in television dramas. Far from being an obvious fit for their brands, Bae Suzy's role as a brainy entrepreneur in "Start Up" and Krystal's role as a soldier in "Search" have shown off very different sides of the actresses. Now Kim Sejeong will follow them in the upcoming drama "The Uncanny Counter"...More

Actress Han Ji-min recently made an online social media post featuring Han Hyo-joo and Choo Ja-hyun. The three actresses are all clad in safety masks, brandishing receipts they had purchased for the recently premiered movie "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case"...More

A recent Instagram post by Nam Gyu-ri has gone into some detail regarding the actress's preparations for the drama. The post itself features Nam Gyu-ri practicing on the piano. In the text accompanying the post, Nam Gyu-ri claims to have been practicing playing on the piano for roughly two hours prior to the relevant scenes in "Kairos"...More

Earlier this week, entertainer Byun Woo-min made a surprise appearance on "The Penthouse". While Byun Woo-min is best known for his musical work, particular in regards to trot music, he fit in surprisingly well with the intense environment of the drama. What's more, Byun Woo-min's character was quickly revealed to be at the epicenter of the drama's key mystery...More

On November 13th a person associated with the production of "The Penthouse" confirmed to a Korean news organization that the drama's script is now complete. Furthermore, according to the present schedule, filming is expected to be completed sometime in late November...More

On November 13th the APAN Star Awards announced the acting nominees for their upcoming ceremony which will take place on November 29th. The nominations for best actor in a miniseries include Kim Min-jae-I for "Do You Like Brahms", Park Bo-gum for "Record of Youth", Park Hae-joon for "The World of the Married", Joo Won for "Alice", and Ji Chang-wook for "Backstreet Rookie". The nominees run a long gamut in terms of relative fame and genre projects...More

Hyeon (played by Kim Yi-kyung) first meets Jae-ha (played by Oh Dong-min) while on a blind date, although such a description is misleading. As Hyeon explains, the reasons she uses dating apps is not to find a romantic partner so much as it is to find a friend with benefits. The distinct impression is given that Hyeon could ditch the friends part if necessary, and is perfectly fine with just a single night of sex. But what if she wants something more?...More

In the opening scene of "A Leave" we watch a bunch of furniture factory employees at a sit-in, continuously on strike in Seoul. We soon find out that they recently lost a lawsuit. Jae-bok (played by Lee Bong-ha) is having doubts about the mission. Because Jae-bok is not very good at expressing himself, it's some time before we realize that he's raising two daughters at home far from Seoul. Since the labor action is at a standstill, his fellows advise Jae-bok to take "A Leave" at home while they plot their next move...More

Four year after the quite successful "ALONE", Park Hong-min returns to Busan with a feature that moves in gender-bender, experimental paths...More

Feature debut for Kwon Min-pyo and Seo Han-sol and a production of Dankook Graduate School of Cinematic Content where both of them studied, "Short Vacation" had its World premiere in Busan...More

On November 11th the upcoming movie "The Call" released new production stills. "The Call" is currently set for an international release on November 27th, the production company having decided to abandon the original planned theatrical release back in March. "The Call" is likely to be a test case going forward in the COVID-19 era in terms of genre films going straight to Netflix without attempting a proper box office release first...More

On November 10th Park Shin-hye posted a picture to Instagram thanking Yoo Yeon-seok for sending a coffee car to the set of "Sisyphus: The Myth" which she is currently filming alongside Cho Seung-woo and Sung Dong-il...More

On November 11th the Blue Dragon Film Awards released the official list of nominations for the awards ceremony that will take place on December 11th. "The Man Standing Next" is the early favorite, with the cerebral spy film leading with eleven nominations for ten individuals...More

On November 10th the Good Data Corporation released the latest iteration of its Good Data Report, which measures the popularity of South Korean dramas based across multiple social and media platforms...More

On November 10th S.A.L.T Entertainment confirmed that Kim Seon-ho, who is represented by the agency, has received an offer for the lead role in the upcoming drama "Link: Eat, Love, Die". They noted that Kim Seon-ho has not had time to seriously review the offer, as he is currently appearing in "Start Up" as well as in a popular variety show and he has also been cast in an upcoming state play...More

On November 9th Ku Hye-sun turned thirty seven years old. The actress posted a video to Instagram in order to commemorate the occasion. In the video, she can be seen in a dark place with a birthday cake...More

Ku Hye-sun recently appeared on the variety talk show 'Omniscient Interfering View". It was the first variety show appearance in years for the actress, who has avoided visual entertainment media as she has explored a more unconventional career path involving directing, music, and art...More

The long running South Korean variety show Running Man announced to news periodicals on November 9th that they had booked the cast of "The Penthouse" for an upcoming episode to be aired on November 22nd...More

At a recent press conference directors from the upcoming season of KBS Drama Specials were on hand to discuss their work. The press conference was held online. In addition to the actors of the relevant works, director Hong Eun-mi of "Drama Special - Modern Girl", director Yoo Kwan-mo of "Drama Special - Crevasse", and director Choi Sang-yeol of "Drama Special - The Joys and Sorrows of Work" were on hand to discuss their dramas...More

On November 6th Sidus HQ released a picture of actress Jo Bo-ah holding a certificate stating that she is an honorary firefighter. Jo Bo-ah was given the certificate on November 6th as part of an event for Fire Prevention Week, which is leading up to Fire Prevention Day on November 9th...More

On the November 7th episode of "Start Up" comedian Moon Se-yoon made a surprise appearance as a police officer. His appearance follows an emotional scene where the character played by Kim Seon-ho angrily throws away a flower pot he had received as a gift...More

A recent broadcast of the SBS Radio program 'Cultwo Show' featured Jang Hye-jin and Krystal talking about their upcoming film "More Than Family". In the movie, Krystal takes on the role of a young woman who finds herself accidentally pregnant and decides to search out her birth father. Jang Hye-jin plays the role of her mother...More

In its first two weeks on air "The Penthouse" improved on an impressive start of 9.2% in its first episode to a commanding margin of 13.9% in its fourth episode. The upper class themed thriller has struck a major chord with audiences. The intensity was high from the very beginning, as the drama opened up with a person falling to their death from the titular penthouse, with subsequent episodes only relatively recently catching up to the context of this shocking prologue...More

On November 6th Kim Seon-ho made a post to his Instagram account acknowledging the receipt of a coffee car. In the pictures he is seen standing next to a couple of large placards of himself...More

A recent broadcast of the variety show program 'Taste of Wife' surprised viewers with the appearance of Park Hwi-soon's soon to be bride, Cheon Ye-ji, who is seventeen years the junior of the forty-three year old comedian...More

Winner of the Actor of the Year award in Busan, "Our Joyful Summer Days" seems to continue the effort the festival has started the previous years, of promoting independent productions of female filmmakers, which usually move towards paths of realism in context, and art-house in aesthetics...More

Jero Yun always had an interest in immigration, particularly involving North Koreans, which he continued when he switched to feature from documentary, as in the case of "Beautiful Days - 2017". His feature approach in the subject is cemented in "FIGHTER", probably his best feature work as of now, which premiered at Busan winning the NETPAC and the Actress of the Year awards...More

An early conversation with the producer and songwriter of BLACKPINK, Teddy Park on a low profile, closes out with him being dismissive of the idea that K-pop actually exists. He's just like, music is music, and we're playing to an international audience. How is that any different from any other kind of popular music? This thesis resounds throughout "BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky", which goes out of its way to emphasize the international nature of its group...More

The Carthusians are an enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The most distinctive aspect of the Carthusians is that they take a vow of silence. Ironically enough, "The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery" depicts the monks speaking quite a bit, perhaps as a contrast to their normally quiet daily lives. The rules at the sole Carthusian monastery in Asia, more specifically in the Sangju district of South Korea, are a bit more lax than I was expecting...More

On November 2nd actress Ku Hye-sun started a new YouTube channel with a focus on New Age music which has promised weekly updates of videos regarding her piano albums. It can be seen here...More

Following reports that Kim Nam-gil had been offered leading roles in the upcoming OCN program "Island - Drama" persons close to the production confirmed that this was indeed the case. While neither Kim Nam-gil nor Seo Ye-ji has accepted an offer, persons close to them have also confirmed that offers are received and currently being considered...More

The healthcare product brand recently signed Son Ye-jin on as a new model. The actress will promote a product known as LactoBiome, a probiotic product that makes use of microbiums. LactoBiome will serve as the basis for a whole new line of skincare products designed to promote skin health...More

The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the latest in their Exciting DC Poll series which posits eccentric questions about various celebrities. The question for this particular poll was, which actress looks best in traditional Korean clothing? This follows upon a similar poll asking the same question of actors which resulted in Kim Soo-hyun and Yoo Ah-in in the top spots...More

With the release of "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" Kim Sun-young once again establishes herself as a solid supporting performer in a wide variety of roles. "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" is the fifth screen credit for Kim Sun-young this year. This follows roles in "Hospital Playlist", "Kkondae Intern", "Backstreet Rookie", and "Homemade Love Story"...More

Warner Brothers Korea surprised many recently when they announced an official release date for "Josee", a film which has been in an indefinite state for quite some time. The movie will come out in theaters on December 10th, despite not yet having even so much as an official theatrical poster. "Josee" is based on the Japanese film Josee, The Tiger and the Fish, which is based on the short story of the same title. Nam Joo-hyuk and Han Ji-min are the lead actors for the project...More

A recent survey conducted by the South Korean entertainment news periodical Yes Joy 24 found Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin to be the biggest name couple of the year thanks to their roles in the hit drama "Crash Landing on You"...More

Actor Lee Do-hyun is in trouble with his fans following public dissemination of a Lovestagram post which appears to show that he regifted a pig hat fans gave him for his birthday. The unknown woman who appears in a picture wearing the hat is speculated to be his girlfriend. On November 2nd, Lee Do-hyun's agency Yue Hwa Entertainment issued a statement explaining that the woman was a friend of Lee Do-hyun who wore the hat for fun...More

While explicitly glamorous or egregious product placement often catches the most attention the furniture company has managed a subtle coup by managing to largely seamlessly get its products integrated into "Start Up". The youth coding romance centered around entrepreneurship does, after all, require much furniture due to the drama's business emphasis...More

With the upcoming release of "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" actress Roh Jeong-eui has become the latest child star to show marked determination to continue her choice of career into hotel. In "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" Roh Jeong-eui is still playing a teenager as usual. But in contrast to her previous artistic projects and roles as the younger version of the actual leads, Roh Jeong-eui is playing to a wider audience as "The Day I Died: Unclosed Case" is a mainstream release...More

A recent episode of the KBS entertainment new programs YJ Live revealed a list of the top ten wealthiest South Korean celebrities in terms of real estate holdings. The top spot was held jointly by Rain and Kim Tae-hee, who own their rental properties together as a spousal unit...More

With "Space Sweepers" looking into a possible Netflix only release and "Emergency Declaration" being pushed back into next year, "SEOBOK" is likely to be the only major blockbuster theatrical release for the upcoming holiday season. Much of the premise of "SEOBOK" is experimental, with a science fiction concept that revolves around cloning. But in terms of marketing a clear trend has already emerged- emphasize the bromance...More

SBS recently announced that they would be revising the viewer rating for "The Penthouse". The first two episodes of the drama were recommended for viewers over the age of fourteen, and the third episode which is set to broadcast on November 2nd will have the same recommendation. However, the fourth episode on November 3rd will see this rating rise to only appropriate for viewers over the age of eighteen...More

The success of "The World of the Married" earlier this year caught many by surprise. "The World of the Married" had an older female lead, focused on social elements, and utilized many soap opera elements, but nevertheless was both a major critical and commercial success. With "The Penthouse" the first attempt to recreate that success has finally hit screens. With strong ratings in its first week, the reception of "The Penthouse" is good news for other dramas produced with these themes in mind...More

The popularity of "The Penthouse" has quickly inspired comparisons to "SKY Castle" with its similar subject matter of affluent housewives starkly competing with each other for social success. But the similarities go beyond subject matter alone. "The Penthouse" is also using a similar grandiloquent technique to depict the drama's cutthroat world, with a particular emphasis on extreme wealth...More

Director Koo Yun-joo was once a gifted child. She loved receiving praise for being smart. So as Koo Yun-joo grew up into a young woman, she was always on the lookout for the next chance to win an award or do something that would be impressive on a resume. In the main moment of nostalgia for "Dear My Genius" we see some grainy old footage of Koo Yun-joo going to space camp in the United States as a teenager, an experience she clearly remembers with much fondness...More

The mother of director Jung Hyungmin is an old woman in her eighties and a devout Buddhist. She's had a difficult life, being widowed in her late thirties and having to take care of her children on her own. She's a simple woman, without much in the way of desires. So it was that, as her final wish, Jung Hyungmin's mother asked for her son to take her on a pilgramage. Over "Journey to Kailash" they travel the long, empty roads from Mongolia to Tibet, living intermittently in the infinite wonder of the wild...More

Director Han Hyeong-mo was considered to be at the vanguard of 1950s Korean popular cinema, and "The Pure Love", based on the homonymous best seller by Park Gye-ju, which was reprinted more than 30 times, cemented the fact, by becoming one of three South Korean films to sell more than 100,000 tickets in Seoul during its year of release. However, there is such a thing as "too mainstream" and the film definitely moves over that border...More

At a recent cultural event for the South Korean navy Park Bo-gum made some impromptu remarks about "Record of Youth" which finished on October 27th. The navy cultural event, which involved a musical performance, took place on that same night, at an event which Park Bo-gum co-hosted with Park Se-young. The event was broadcast live on YouTube, and can be watched here although English subtitles are not available...More

The musically themed drama "Do You Like Brahms" ended on October 20th with ratings of 6%. While not a trendsetter "Do You Like Brahms" has done much to improve the reputation of lead actor Lee Min-jae-I. The drama was big step up for his profile following much lower profile roles in "Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency" and "Dr. Romantic 2" and the actor recently gave an interview describing his feelings about the production...More

On October 28th Dazed Korea released images from the magazine's photoshoot with actress Lee Ji-ah, who has become a topic of interest due to her starring role in the recently released drama "The Penthouse" which had ratings of over ten percent in its second episode...More

The new drama "Kairos" premiered on October 26th with ratings of 3.7%. Shortly before airing, the fantasy romance thriller held a press conference where the actors had a chance to answer some questions about the project. "Kairos" deals with a father played by Shin Sung-rok and a daughter played by Lee Se-young attempting to find their daughter and mother, who appear to have disappeared due to supernatural forces...More

The Korean branch of the women's fashion magazine W recently held a photoshoot of various celebrities to commemorate the start of it's breast cancer awareness campaign...More

Voting has begun for the Asia Pacific Actors Network (APAN) Star Awards, which will hold ceremonies for musicians on November 28th and actors on November 29th. From October 27th to November 27th on the Idol Champ mobile application, fans will have the chance to vote for their favorites from the newly released ballot. Prizes for the popularity award are to be divided by gender...More

Since the appearance of Nam Joo-hyuk's character in flashback on the drama "Start Up" back in the second episode, fans have noticed what appears to be an Easter egg in his hair design, though it may be a coincidence. Nam Joo-hyuk's hair appears very poofy and nerdy in flashback, as if he doesn't pay attention to it...More

Fresh off of a noteworthy if small scale success in the webdrama "Kiss Goblin" earlier this year Jeon Hye-won has had an increased profile, with the actress recently receiving confirmed credits in the upcoming dramas "Love ft. Marriage and Divorce" and "True Beauy" this December. She's also exposing more of her image with a photoshoot in bnt. An interview is also included alongside this modeling...More

"Start Up" had ratings of 5% in its latest episode. These ratings, while modest, are generally seen as at least passable in the current drama marketplace with wider disparities between popular and unpopular shows as well as increased emphasis on streaming services. But they're a bit of a shock for a project coming from star screenwriter Park Hye-ryeon, who has often been seen as a reliable hitmaker...More

National Assembly representative Park Jung recently released a report from the Korean Copyright Protection Agency (KCPA) warning that sterner action was necessary against pirated streaming sites. According to his statements, many South Korean programs are constantly reuploaded to streaming sites even as they are just as equally frequently taken down...More

According to recently released real estate filings actor Park Seo-joon bought a ten million dollar building in the Sinsa neighborhood of the Gangnam district in Seoul. The purchase happened sometime in the spring after "Itaewon Class" had finished airing. The two events are likely related, as "Itaewon Class" performed quite well domestically and abroad and as the top-billed star Park Seo-joon almost certainly was awarded bonuses for such contigencies...More

The men's magazine Arena Korea recently released a photoshoot featuring Lee Sang-yi-I and Koo Ja-sung. In contrast to the more common single celebrity photoshoots, this one has a more bromantic vibe...More

Persons close to the film distributor Acemaker as well as Netflix have suggested to press that "Wonderland" is likely to be released on Netflix internationally next year in all territories except for South Korea and China. In an official statement, Netflix has said that while negotiations are ongoing a definite deal has not yet been reached...More

On October 23rd Bae Suzy posted pictures on Instagram of herself on the shooting location for the currently airing television drama "Start Up". In the pictures, she can be seen making cute faces to a banner of herself that says "START UP!" "CHEER-UP!" in English...More

The Ji Chang Wook International Team recently unveiled a thank you placard they received from the Miral Welfare Foundation on Twitter. The placard thanks the Ji Chang Wook International team, in English, for a 1.2 million won donation. This amount is approximately equivalent to ten thousand dollars...More

Despite "The Woman Who Run" being Hong Sang-soo's 24th film in 24 years, the prolific Korean has actually refrained from shooting a movie in the last two years, a decision that was probably for the best, since it was about time to let his fans "miss" his familiar style a bit. In that regard, the film does not do anything different from what HHS usually does, but ends up as a rather interesting spectacle...More

Director Kim Jee-woon has not exactly been a name in high demand lately since the underwhelming performance of "Illang: The Wolf Brigade" in 2018. Nevertheless, his production company, Dark Circle Pictures, has been busy making movies on a smaller scale this year. These commercially minded flicks feature Bae Suzy and Kim Go-eun in leading roles. Far from the bombastic flicks he's better known for, "If My Things Are At Your Place We're Not Over" and "Untact" are personal, down to earth stories dealing with solitude and relationships...More

Director Han Tae-ee was, at the time "Welcome to X-world" was being filmed, living with her mother and paternal grandfather in a modest home in the Guro district of Seoul. Han Tae-ee doesn't much care for her grandfather. Her mother doesn't either. So why don't they just move out? "Welcome to X-world" , as a documentary, continuously begs that question until Han Tae-ee's mother finally gives up and agrees to leave...More

The Asian Artist Awards recently confirmed an initial lineup of presenters. Lee Jung-jae, Lee Joon-gi, Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Ye-ji, Jeon Mi-do, Han So-hee, Park Ju-hyun, Kim Min-jae, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Lee Jae-wook will all participate in the ceremony, which is currently scheduled for November 25th...More

The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the results of a poll in their Exciting DC poll, which frames eccentric questions to its users in regards to celebrity preferences. The query for this particular poll was, what man is the perfect fit for traditional Korean clothing? Kim Soo-hyun won with 32% of the vote, but only slightly. Yoo Ah-in was right behind him with 31%...More

Recent reports have confirmed that the ethnic Koreans who were convicted of hacking eight celebrity phones have filed an appeal to their case. The news follows reports of their conviction back on September 24th of this year, in charges relating to a scandal from late last year and early this year that involved blackmail threats against the afflicted celebrities...More

On October 20th KBS released new information regarding this year's season of drama specials. Ten drama specials will be released this seasons, starting with "Drama Special - Modern Girl" on November 7th. "Drama Special - Crevasse" will follow on November 14th. "Drama Special - The Joys and Sorrows of Work" will come out on November 21st. "Drama Special - My Lilac" will air on November 28th...More

While many big profile films have had their releases pushed back or are mulling over premiering in streaming services, the lower profile "Collectors" is still pushing ahead for a release next month. The caper movie deals with tomb raiders, chief among them Kang Dong-goo (played by Lee Je-hoon)...More

The famed special effects workshop Dexter Studios recently signed a contract to do VFX work for "Silence". Dexter Studios is responsible for the special effects of quite a few popular South Korean films, including "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" and "Ashfall"...More

A recent news report revealed that Son Ye-jin has purchased a high value building in the Sinsa neighborhood of the Gangnam district in Seoul. The purchase was made back in July and recently identified due to legal filings...More

Recent reports of "Space Sweepers" possibly having its premiere relegated to Netflix have vocalized serious doubts about the South Korean film industry's ability to return to a traditional box office first business model. While sources from Netflix and "Space Sweepers" have only confirmed that the sides are in talks, and insist no deal has yet been struck, the mere rumor alone has begged many questions about the state of the South Korean film industry going forward...More

Despite poor circumstances in the COVID-19 pandemic, "The Wandering Chef" recently cleared the ten thousand viewer mark at the South Korean box office. The number, while modest, is quite impressive for a documentary film or an independent film particularly in the midst of a global pandemic...More

The past weekend saw the premiere of two new, very different dramas. "Start Up", starring Bae Suzy and Nam Joo-hyuk, opened up on tvN with ratings of 4.5%. "Start Up" deals with characters attempting to open up a new startup business and is a social drama. Meanwhile, "Search" opened up with ratings of 2.6% on OCN. "Search" deals with a professional military search team, and is focused on action thriller elements...More

Recently actress Kim Ha-neul released through her agency an interview discussing her various thoughts about the currently airing drama "18 Again" in which she appears in a leading role. Among the topics discussed, Kim Ha-neul claims that "18 Again" seems to be the warmest project she has ever been involved in...More

A person close to MSTeam Entertainment recently claimed that the agency had a meeting with the production company of the upcoming American film Cross...More

A huge lineup was recently announced for the upcoming KBS2 drama "Imitation". Jung Ji-so, Lee Jun-young, Jiyeon, Kang Chan-hee, Ahn Jung-hoon-I, Lim Na-young, Minseo, Lee Suwoong, Danny Ahn, Shim Eun-jin, and fours members of ATEEZ JONGHO, SAN, SEONGHWA and YUNHO-I have all been confirmed for the drama. The extensive cast consists of quite a few younger singers...More

According to figures recently released by HomeChoice, "OK! MADAM" once again let Video-On-Demand releases in the second week of October having returned to the top spot in the first week of October. While "OK! MADAM" originally premiered on VOD services on September 17th, the hijacking themed comedy has had a resurgence as of late in the face of weak competition...More

The short film "Untact" made its theatrical debut on October 16th but in a curiously limited format. "Untact" will only be screening through October 25th at special theaters in the Yeonnam and Seongsu neighborhoods of Seoul. The limited screenings of "Untact", much like "Untact" itself, were developed to promote 8K home theater systems...More

We are introduced to bookstore owner Je-moon (played by Yoon Je-moon) as he is being annoyed by So-dam (played by Park So-dam), who's wearing a school uniform in spite of not being a student. So-dam is a queer young woman, and Je-moon mistakes her peculiar behavior for flirting. The situation gets weirder than that as So-dam eventually talks him into going to the titular "Fukuoka" and by apparent coincidence they run into Je-moon's old friend Hae-hyo (played by Kwon Hae-hyo) at a bar...More

The introductions "Samsara" gives us to its various monks prove surprisingly worldly. Hye-gyeon (played by Kim Jun-bae) bickers with a woman at a dog meat restaurant over various business matters. Hye-yong (played by Hong Hee-yong) does television appearances. Hye-seung (played by Jung Joon-young-I) is a handsome young star on social media. Yet none of these characters are especially in focus throughout "Samsara", as much of the movie takes place in flashback, going over the relationship between senior monk Hye-jin (played by Kim Myung-gon) and his now elderly master Do-beop (played by Lee Yeong-seok)...More

After a number of awards and an Oscar nomination for "In the Absence", Yi Seung-Jun returns with a new, documentary feature this time, which focuses on the true odyssey of a woman who wants to return to her home and family...More

On October 7th Lee Dong-wook made his latest debut as a lead actor in the drama "Tale of the Nine Tailed", which premiered with 5.8% ratings, leading all primetime dramas for that timeslot. The action fantasy romance premise is a return to brand for Lee Dong-wook who saw a massive boost to his popularity following "Goblin" in 2016...More

The daily evening drama "No Matter What" premiered on October 12th with ratings of 18.6%. The drama has been a big step up for leading lady Na Hye-mi, whose profile improved due to her leading role in the well-received "Drama Special - Clean and Polish"...More

"Dramaworld - Season 2" was recently confirmed, and along with that news, a bevy of actors both old and new have been confirmed to reappear in the drama...More

KStar Group recently announced the official dates for this year's APAN Star Awards. The Korean Management Entertainment Association hosts the awards, and they are now coming into their seventh year. While the celebrities are the main focus of the words their primary purpose is to honor the managers of these celebrities, who are typically not directly honored in other awards ceremonies...More

On October 13th inside sources confirmed to press that funding has been secured for the upcoming movie "Noryang" by director Kim Han-min. "Noryang" is to be the second sequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", following "Hansan" which is currently set to be released early next year...More

The fashion brand 1st Look recently released photoshoot featuring actress Kim Ha-neul. The photoshoot, which is featured in the CelebShop version of the catalog, features the actress wearing fall/winter clothing from the new collection...More

The South Korean portal website DCInside recently released the results of the latest poll in its eccentric celebrity series. The query for this particular poll was, which celebrity would you like to have a barbecue and go glamping with?...More

The October 11th episode of the television program 'Drama House Homage' surprised many with its depiction of the very first credited on-screen role for "Hyun Bin" who has since become a major star. "Bodyguard" in 2003 starred Cha Seung-won in the title role as Hong Kyung Tak. The drama also starred Lee Se-eun as top star Sin-ae, which is how Hyun Bin enters the story...More

A new, final version of "Deliver Us From Evil" is set to premiere in South Korean theaters on October 21st. The expanded cut will feature an extra six minutes and fourteen seconds. It is not known what this material may entail, although the new trailer released by CJ Entertainment does hint at some tonal differences- or at the very least, assumes viewers have more familiarity with the product than they did back in August...More