
Rowoon, a member of the group SF9, showed off his aspect as a pictorial master.
Rowoon, along with luxury fashion brand TODS, has been featured in the March issue of Esquire, a men's fashion and life style magazine...More

Actor Park Gyu-young had a photo shoot with ELLE.
In an interview conducted with the photo shoot, she pointed out that "I can have a very diverse experience as the biggest attraction of my job as an actress", and added, "There are so many things you can learn under the pretext of acting. I think the biggest attraction is that I accumulate all kinds of new experiences in each work"....More

Oh Yoon-hee and Logan Lee of "The Penthouse" met. Ahead of "The Penthouse 2", exclusive pictorials of actors Eugene and Park Eun-seok were released in the March issue of "Cosmopolitan".
The two, styled with chic black couple looks, showed off their unique charisma with their unique eyes and poses. In "The Penthouse 2", the two, who are expected to play 'key-makers', also made a sense of reproducing Oh Yoon-hee and Logan Lee with their unexpected charm...More

Actress Park Ha-sun showed off her seductive visuals through a fashion pictorial.
Recently, Park Ha-sun's February issue of Cosmopolitan was released. The photo shoot was based on the concept of 'Park Ha-sun's brightest moment'...More

A cover photo of the February 2021 issue of GQ magazine with actor Lee Min-ho was released.
Lee Min-ho, who wore the 2021 spring-summer collection in a cover and pictorial under the theme of 'night', created a mysterious atmosphere, creating a strong and soft charm at the same time...More

A magazine, which presents original content every month based on fashion and culture, unveiled a pictorial with three independent concepts with actress Lee Ji-ah.

Lee Ji-ah delicately played the luxurious and dignified role of Shim Soo-ryeon in the drama "The Penthouse", which recently ended with a series of hot issues, and showed her unique character with modern and sophisticated image as well as acting skills...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

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

Ferragamo Timepiece released alluring pictorials of actress Lee Da-hee.
In the photos released, Lee Da-hee catches the eye with her beautiful and mysterious visuals that coexist with urbanism. From formal white jackets to dresses that reveal body lines and pink dresses that feature unique colors, she showcased a variety of costumes and sensuous watch styling that give simple but powerful points...More

Narratives Beyond Borders: The Korean New Wave Cinema by Women Directors (1950-2020, Series I)
KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL CANADA Kicks Off on Oct. 29
With 22 Compelling Stories by Women Directors from Korea, Canada and the UK...More

Actor Lee Dong-wook, singers Rain, IU, Henry and Crush have been picked for "Men of the Year".
Men's magazine GQ Korea picked Lee Dong-wook, Rain, IU, Henry and Crush as "2020 Men of the Year" and released pictorials of them in the December issue of the magazine...More

Actress Han So-hee's beauty has been captured in a pictorial.
She collaborated with STONEHENgE that is conducting a campaign called Beautiful Moments...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

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

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

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

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

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 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

A recent poll conducted by the South Korean portal website DCInside asked users of the site which celebrity had such high quality skin that they seemed to be wearing heavy makeup...More

The results are out for the latest Exciting DC Poll, which is performed by the portal website DCInside. The question for the poll, which was tabulated from September 6th to September 12th, was which star seems the most self-managed...More

The video game company WEMADE recently unveiled the latest iteration of their popular traditional Korean fantasy MMORPG, The Legend of Mir. To promote The Legend of Mir 4, Seo Ye-ji is currently appearing in advertisements which she also narrates. The advertisement can be viewed on YouTube and is also available on WEMADE's website...More

Actor Park Bo-gum poses for a group photo at a Navy unit in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday. /Yonhap
A photo of actor Park Bo-gum undergoing military training at a Navy boot camp appeared on a website run by a Navy unit...More

Yeo Jin-goo's Instagram
A recent DCInside poll asked visitors to the website which major actor's return in a leading role has been most seriously teased. Yeo Jin-goo won the poll, but by a fairly narrow margin of only 18% compared to 17% for Gong Hyo-jin...More

Directors Lee Sang-mook and Ma Young-min had a dream of traveling internationally. The problem was, they didn't have any money. So to get funding, they formed a corporation by the name of "Social Nomad" that solicited donations in exchange for promised content. Then, in order to actually go traveling, they sent out e-mails to hostels and travel agencies in order to further sponsor the trip, in exchange for the team producing promotional videos for the places where they stayed...More

After two months in public release, the mini-movie 'Awaken the Love Within' has passed the two million view mark and thensome on various social media platforms as well as YouTube. The mini-movie can be seen YouTube and features English subtitles. As the title suggests, it deals with a man in his twenties, played by Seo Kang-joon, awakening to the meaning of love in the modern age...More

Actress Kang So-ra surprised fans with her sudden wedding plans...More

Son Ye-jin in "The Classic"
DCInside released released the latest results of their Exciting DC Poll, which poses eccentric questions to users of the community portal website. The query for this particular poll was, in the event of a sudden rainstorm, what celebrity is most likely to suddenly appear to offer an umbrella?...More

In the latest whimsical poll from the South Korean portal website DCInside Hyun Bin was the victor. The latest installment asked respondents which celebrity they would most want to drink beer with on the beach...More

While "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" has had lackluster ratings ranging from 5-6% since its initial appearance, the drama has been a noteworthy example of defying standard terrestrial ratings with strong performances in non-traditional metrics. It has, for example, been rated as the most influential drama by the most recent CJ E&M Nielsen ratings, which covered social media activity from July 13th to July 19th. "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" also led this metric for the first four week after its premiere...More

The South Korean website recently released the latest results of their exciting poll series asking users offbeat questions about celebrities. In the latest installment, where data was collected from July 19th to July 25th, respondents were asked which celebrity they thought had the most elegant image...More

On July 27th the South Korean website DCInside released the results of a celebrity poll. The phrasing for this particular poll was, thanks to global networking platforms such as Netflix, who is the best known [Korean] star worldwide?...More

Boy band BTS have achieved the Guinness World Record title for the "most viewers for a music concert live stream". BTS' "Bang Bang Con: The Live" concert was viewed by a record 756,000 fans, the Guinness World Records' website said on Wednesday...More

Susan Ahn Cuddy
Susan Ahn Cuddy, Korean independence fighter Ahn Chang-ho's eldest daughter, has been hailed as an "American hero" and "trailblazer" by the ShareAmerica website run by the U.S. State Department...More

Nongshim's Shin Ramyeon Black have been chosen as the world's best instant noodles by the New York Times' Wirecutter product-review website.
In an article title "The Best Instant Noodles, According to Chefs, Cookbook Authors, and Ramen Fanatics" on June 17, Shin Ramyeon Black was rated as the tastiest of 11 brands sold around the world...More

Lotte Department Store has joined the red-hot competition for fast delivery of products. The chain launched a trial service in Seoul on Monday delivering products within three hours of purchase on its website...More

Visitors enjoy themselves on a beach on Jeju Island on June 27. /Yonhap
Close to 100,000 people visited Jeju Island last weekend just ahead of peak summer holiday season. According to the Jeju Tourism Association, 99,161 people visited the southern resort island over the weekend, and 99.7 percent of them were Koreans.
As far as Korean visitors go, numbers have therefore returned to 98.7 percent of the usual for this time of year, whereas in March and April they plummeted to only 53 percent of the usual numbers...More

Girl group BLACKPINK 's YouTube channel has reached the 40-million-subscriber milestone, their management agency YG Entertainment said Thursday.
It is the highest number of subscribers for any K-pop act. The group added 3 million new subscribers in less than a week after releasing their new single "How You Like That" on June 26...More

Goo Ha-ra's ex-boyfriend Choi Jung-bum arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday. /Yonhap
The ex-boyfriend of Goo Ha-ra of defunct girl band Kara was sentenced to a year in prison by an appeals court Thursday for assaulting and blackmailing the starlet.
The court upheld a lower court's ruling that cleared Choi Jung-bum of making a pornographic video of the couple without Gu's consent but increased the punishment for causing her physical harm...More

In a recent Instagram post Yoo Ah-in posted proof that he was making good on one of his "#ALIVE" pledges. On July 27th during a V LIVE CV he promised that, should "#ALIVE" breaks a million viewers, he would show everyone the alternate hairstyle discussed for his character in the movie which was ultimately decided against in favor of a blond dyed buzzcut. In the picture, Yoo Ah-in is wearing a long-haired wig of the alternate style...More

Actress Lee Ju-young expressed her values on acting.
The actress who left a strong impression in the movie "Believer" and the drama "Live" gave off various charms in the pictorial scene...More

Actor Oh Jung-se's lively pictorial has been released.
Oh recently conducted a photo shoot and interview with fashion magazine Marie Claire. In the released pictorial, Oh Jung-se revealed his unique charm with styling and poses that give him a glimpse of various moods...More

Visitors sunbathe on a beach in Yangyang, Gangwon Province on May 16. /Yonhap
Beachgoers can now check online how congested famous beaches nationwide are...More

Changmin, a member of K-pop duo TVXQ, will get married this fall...More

People wait in line to buy a limited edition of luxury sneakers in front of a department store in Seoul on Wednesday.
Duty-free operators have been allowed to offer their products through normal retail channels in a bid to help them weather at least some of the losses from deserted airports and a dearth of international travelers...More

The music video for "DNA" by BTS surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube on Monday, making them the first Korean boy band to achieve the feat...More
Hyundai and affiliate Kia are going to roll out a total of nine new purely electric vehicles in the domestic market in the next couple of years...More

Mannequins sit in the World Cup Stadium in Seoul during an FC Seoul game on Sunday. /Yonhap
Professional football club FC Seoul said Tuesday that it may take legal action against a company that supplied sex dolls posing as spectators in an empty stadium during the coronavirus pandemic.
FC Seoul placed 30 mannequins in spectator seats in its home stadium during a K-League football match on Sunday against Gwangju. The aim was to entertain viewers who were watching the game on TV and make players feel less alone...More

New behind-the-scene photos and trailer added for the upcoming Korean movie "Love Conquest"...More

On May 16th Choi Ji-woo's agency announced that Choi Ji-woo gave birth to a healthy baby girl that same morning. The news follows Choi Ji-woo making a posting on her fan website on May 8th, stating that she was two weeks from her due date...More

A baseball season opener between Doosan Bears and LG Twins is played without spectators at a stadium in Jamsil, Seoul on Tuesday.
The Korea Baseball Organization started the long-awaited regular season on Tuesday, drawing unusual attention from sports fans in countries around world where professional sports leagues remain suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic...More

Choi Ji-woo recently surprised fans by going to the fansite dedicated to her and offering a personal announcement. In the post, a very pregnant Choi Ji-woo showed a recent photo of herself and announced that she was a month away from her expected due date and was currently resting at home...More

A spectacular goal last year by Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur was chosen as the "Goal of the Year" by the U.S. sports website The Athletic on Sunday...More
The first coronavirus patient in Daegu and the Shincheonji sect was released from hospital on April 24 after some two months of hospitalization.
The 61-year-old woman had been admitted to Daegu Medical Center on Feb. 17. She infected possibly hundreds of others in the sect, making her a so-called superspreader. She also holds the record for the longest hospital stay for coronavirus...More

Son Heung-min /Reuters-Yonhap
Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur was named the best player ever to wear the No. 7 jersey for the team...More
The King Sejong Institute has launched online classes amid lockdowns in many parts of the world due to the coronavirus pandemic...More
Eighteen-year-olds can vote for the first time in Korean history in the general election next week as the country falls in line with international practice...More
Museums nationwide have moved their exhibitions and artworks online amid temporary closures due to the coronavirus epidemic...More

The opening sequence of "Ghost Ship" is crudely and deliberately animated such as to avoid showing anybody's face. While this is done in part because director Kim Ji-young-V is obviously working on a budget, the stark anonymity of this scene is critical. Kim Ji-young-V doesn't explain why right away but the curious story of an unknown tech pirate working in Shenzhen is just a metaphor for the greater ominous information blackout surrounding forensic data relevant to the Sewol ferry tragedy...More

Girl group A Pink will release their ninth mini album next week...More

Universities have opted for online lectures as the coronavirus epidemic rages on but are sometimes startled by heavy traffic from people other than students who are tuning in.
In some cases this has caused servers to crash, prompting universities to upload lessons to video-sharing websites like YouTube...More

Hwan-hee of K-pop duo Fly to the Sky was caught in a fender-bender while driving under the influence on Saturday, according to police...More

The design of Genesis' new G80 premium sedan is receiving rave reviews from U.S. auto media.
Genesis, Hyundai's luxury brand, unveiled images of the G80 last week and plans to launch it here late this month. It will make its debut in North America at the New York International Auto Show in mid-April...More

The Chosun Ilbo, the oldest newspaper still in circulation in Korea, marks its 100th anniversary on Thursday. The Chosun Ilbo has recorded Korea's history every day for the past 100 years, covering both the major upheavals that changed the fate of this country as well as the lives of ordinary people...More

Seoul's shopping district of Myeong-dong is deserted on Saturday. /Yonhap
The coronavirus epidemic is changing consumption patterns here with the emphasis on minimizing human contact and offering an alarming glimpse into a future of increasing personal isolation.
Major trade shows and new product launches have been canceled, and consumers are buying groceries, daily necessities, clothes and even cars on the Internet. Exercise, education and even cultural activities are being done online...More

On March 4th the North Korean news agency website Uriminzokkiri published a short opinion piece criticizing South Korean media depictions of North Korean life. Though no specific titles were mentioned, the piece described the media as a reactionary provocation that depicted a false image of living conditions in North Korea...More

Pictorials and interviews of actresses were released in the March issue of Marie Clare ahead of the release of "Gender Free Season 3", a video project in which female actors play characters in movies or plays usually played by male actors...More

Koreans are detained in a quarantine facility in Hanoi, Vietnam on Friday. /Yonhap
The number of countries that ban or restrict entry for travelers from Korea for fear of the spread of coronavirus has mushroomed.
As of Sunday evening, 81 countries restricted entry or stepped up quarantine checks of travelers from Korea, or at least the infection hotbeds of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, up five from a day earlier, according to the Foreign Ministry here. This is a sixfold increase in just a week...More

Left: Ki Sung-yueng (center) poses with Real Mallorca officials in this picture posted on the club's website on Tuesday. Right: Ki Sung-yeung's eyes are covered with a black line in this grab from the club's Instagram.
Footballer Ki Sung-yueng on Tuesday signed a short-term contract with Real Mallorca in Spain's La Liga after his bid to return to the K-League fell through...More

A man puts up a sign banning Koreans and Japanese at an apartment complex in Shandong Province, China, in this photo from Twitter.
More than 30 countries are either banning or restricting travelers from Korea, including some parts of China, where the virus is rampant...More

BTS speak at a launch event for their new album in Seoul on Monday. /Newsis
A launch event for Bangtan Boys' new album was livestreamed on YouTube on Monday...More

South Korea's leading portal site Naver has announced that it will disable comments on celebrity articles starting in March. The news follows Naver's top rival Daum having made a similar decision back in October, following the deaths of Sulli and Goo Ha-ra...More

Older Koreans have embraced online shopping as the coronavirus scare keeps people at home.
The elderly had embraced the Internet to some extent but preferred to do their shopping in person, but now that is changing as offline stores run out of masks, hand sanitizer and other necessities and some closed for quarantine...More
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia ranked sixth in global electric vehicle sales last year...More

Director Bong Joon-ho's film "Parasite" is enjoying worldwide success after its Oscar triumph.
The film made history on Sunday by becoming the first non-English-language film to win the Oscar for best picture and three other top awards -- best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film...More

Director Bong Joon-ho's black comedy "Parasite" is expected to set new records at the box office after it swept Academy Awards on Sunday.
U.S. distributor Neon decided to boost the number of movie theaters showing the film to 2,000 this weekend. Since premiering in just three cinemas last October in Los Angeles and New York, "Parasite" was being shown in 1,060 theaters before the Oscars, which have given it an even stronger boost despite its "R" rating...More

One of the more everyday demonstrations of the popularity of "Crash Landing on You" has been the drama's influence on fashion. Leading lady Son Ye-jin has become a byword in much merchandising, as vendors have started describing earrings, coats, jackets, and bags as all being in the Son Ye-jin style...More

"Black Dog" has earned the characterization 'relatable drama' for its realistic story. The things that occur to a first-time teacher in society came back to us as our stories, and the realistic stories were touching and comforting.
"Black Dog" ended on the 4th with sixteen episodes. Although Go Ha-neul, played by Seo Hyun-jin, had become a true educator by the end, the process was quite realistic. When she went to interview for a short-term position, the issue of being 'hired through connections' came to light. Seo Hyun-jin was branded as one of those hired through nepotism and she had her conflicts in the beginning. In addition, another one of these issues, which suddenly popped up in the process of selecting a formal teacher from among the short-term teachers, caused bitterness...More

Director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" has been nominated for a Cesar Award, France's equivalent of an Oscar.
France's Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques on Wednesday announced the nominees for this year's Cesar Awards, which are one of the two major film awards in France, along with the Cannes Film Festival...More
Korea is taking part in Spain's largest tourism fair in Madrid as a partner country...More

SBS has begun splitting up an episode of the Friday / Saturday drama "Stove League" into three parts since the 17th. The baseball-themed drama broke through 10% in just four episodes and that's when the episode-splitting began. Some viewers even mock, "Just divide it into 9 innings like real baseball".
According to the industry, ground-wave broadcasters have been attempting these 'splits' since 2018. The move is aimed at securing advertising revenue, as broadcasters are suffering from deficits. Critics point out that it is virtually no different from a medium advertisement...More

Chen, a member of boy band EXO, disclosed his wedding plans in a surprise announcement on Monday...More
A group of 5,000 reps from a Chinese health food company arrived in Korea on Tuesday for a six-day reward trip.
They are the biggest single group of Chinese tourists to arrive here since Beijing imposed an unofficial ban on group tours to Korea in March 2017...More

Several celebrities have been blackmailed by hackers threatening to expose personal information on their smartphones. Their personal data including photos and text messages were apparently stolen from Samsung's Cloud storage.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating phone hacking reports from actor Joo Jin-mo and several other celebrities...More

The Austrian glass company Swarovski has emerged as a beneficiary of the success of the currently airing drama "Crash Landing on You"...More

Actor Jang Dong-yoon of "The Tale of Nokdu" stood before a camera for the fashion magazine ELLE.
This pictorial focused on the long-haired actor, who had to grow his hair out for a role in his recent sageuk...More

Bae Suzy has spotlighted an encounter she had with an EBS penguin mascot, Pengsoo, during a promotional event for the upcoming movie "Ashfall". During the event, the special agent penguin gave leading cast members of "Ashfall" cans of tuna, as part of a brand tie-in between the tuna company and "Ashfall"...More

EBS has confirmed that in addition to taking measures against a program in which actor Choi Young-soo-I has appeared, they have also deleted episodes of 'Giant Penguin TV', another children's show that credited the actor...More

Following an incident on December 10th wherein Choi Young-soo-I appeared to physically attack his co-star on the live broadcast of a children's television show, EBS has stepped up its response. The entire show has been temporarily shut down and another one of Choi Young-soo-I's male co-stars is now also under internal investigation for assault...More

Choi Young-soo-I has been embroiled in controversy following a live airing of the EBS program 'Tok! Tok! Bony Hany' where he appeared to have physically struck one of his co-stars. In a YouTube broadcast he can be seen in the background jerking around in a violent manner after the program's feel emcee tugs on his right arm. This event was noticed in the comments and quickly turned viral...More
Seoul was the second most popular travel destination in the Asia Pacific region from October last year to this September...More

From left, Pengsoo, Song Ga-in and Son Heung-min
Pengsoo, a penguin character on a YouTube channel, has been picked as one of the "people of the year" by job portal Incruit alongside Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong, and footballer Son Heung-min...More
Foreigners interested in Korean culture will get an opportunity to receive their own Korean names once again...More
On 28 November, Kang Ha-neul's character poster for his new project, theatrical production "Fantasy Tale" was unveiled ahead of its opening in December. The captivating image of Kang Ha-neul shows his transformation into the Love Clown, the character he embodies in his new project...More

Korean play "Fantasy Tale" will have its second round of ticket sales for performances that will take place from 7 to 31 January 2020....More

MBC has high hopes for "Love With Flaws" as the drama prepares for the screening of its first episode on November 27th. The drama stars Oh Yeon-seo and Ahn Jae-hyun among others in an ensemble cast about characters who are attractive, but highly superficial, to the point that their toxic personalities overcome their natural physical charms. MBC launched its official website for the drama with more character details on November 25th...More

"When the Camellia Blooms" has successfully concluded its run on 21 November 2019 with a happy ending and its highest rating ever of 23.8%.
This heartwarming TV series has become KBS' highest rated drama in 2019 when it comes to viewership ratings after it surpassed "Liver or Die" (22.8%) that aired earlier this year...More

Yeo Jin-goo has won the latest eccentric user poll from the website DCInside. The query of the poll was, which celebrity has the acting power to be responsible for Chungmuro. Yeo Jin-goo decisively won the poll with over sixty percent of the total vote...More

Director Bong Joon-ho poses at the annual Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday. /Reuters-Yonhap
Director Bong Joon-ho was named the best filmmaker at the annual Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday...More

A trend toward "ultra-fast fashion" brings an even quicker turnover than the fast fashion now firmly established in the world's malls by Zara, H&M, Topshop and the rest.
While it takes four to five weeks from design to sale of the latest fast-fashion, ultra-fast fashion brands take only one to two weeks. That means they rely on social media to keep abreast of the very latest clothing trends and sell their apparel through online channels to save distribution costs and time...More

Another music video by girl group Black Pink has garnered over 700 million views on YouTube...More

One of the largest coffee-themed expos will be held in Seoul next month...More

The online community website DCInside recently released the polling result of an offbeat question. In this case, they asked which celebrity is so multi-talented they would probably be good at cooking too...More

Nearly all "deepfake" videos in circulation on the Internet are porn, and around a quarter of the performers whose faces have been superimposed are female Korean stars, according to a study.
There have been fears that the digital technology could be used to further fiendish political plots, but the findings confirm that man is by and large a simpler animal...More

Singer IU has delayed the release of her new album, which was supposed to come out early next month...More

While IU had been scheduled to release a mini-album on November 1st, circumstances appear to have forced IU to push back the release date. The actress and singer made a personal appearance at her officially sanctioned fan website citing creative and technical reasons to explain why she did not feel it was practical to meet the current deadline...More

Hyundai chief Chung Eui-sun announces a corporate vision at an event in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday. /Newsis
Hyundai on Tuesday announced ambitious plans to roll out a self-driving car by 2024 and invest W41 trillion by 2025 into future mobility technologies (US$1=W1,186)...More

South and North Korean footballers play in an empty stadium in Pyongyang on Tuesday.
South Korea on Tuesday drew 0-0 with North Korea in Pyongyang in their second-round Asian qualifier for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The rare match -- the first inter-Korean face-off on North Korean soil in almost three decades -- took place in an empty stadium, creating a bizarre experience for fans trying to follow it online...More

A film festival featuring films shot on smartphones is being held in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province on Friday and Saturday.
The inaugural festival provides screenings of 75 Korean and foreign films...More
American fast fashion brand Forever 21 has filed for bankruptcy protection, media reports said Sunday.
The California based-retailer was founded by Korean immigrant Chang Do-won and his wife in 1984 and grew into a mall staple with hundreds of stores across the U.S...More

Pro-anorexia websites and social media accounts are starting to draw alarming numbers of Korean teens as well.
Young people, mostly girls, who promote the bizarre "pro-ana" trend do not eat properly and starve themselves until their weight drops to 30-40 kg. When they do eat a proper meal, they feel guilty and exhibit bulimia symptoms of binging and forcing themselves to vomit...More

Hambak Island (circled) is located south of the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea on this map from the website of the Ministry of Defense.
A small island in the West Sea that houses a North Korean military installation is located south of the de facto maritime border on the Defense Ministry's own map...More

Director Jeremy Joey first started filming "Life is a Dream We'll Wake up and Scream" back in 2012. He wanted a comprehensive look at the indie rock scene in the Hongdae district of Seoul by marking the journey of three bands trying to turn their passion into a profession. Though two of the three bands were successful, the documentary is bittersweet. In 2018 band members can be seen discussing an independent South Korean music scene that's not what it once was...More

Studio Dragon, which has established itself as a leading drama production and distribution company in Korea, will hold its second "Drama Screenplay Contest". A full-day theatrical contest will be held from November 1st to the 15th and only mini-series with eight or more episodes are acceptable. There is also an age limit of 19 or older...More

Seoul will host a food-themed film festival next month. The Seoul International Food Film Festival, in its fifth year, will offer screenings of some 60 food-related films during its run from Sept. 6 to 11...More

People queue for advance train tickets for Chuseok or Korean Thansgiving at Seoul Station on Tuesday...More

Another music video by BTS surpassed 500 million views on YouTube on Sunday...More
Samsung is ranked the world's fourth most innovative tech brand in a survey by U.S. market research consultancy Brand Keys...More

Following the apparent banning of a screening of "Parasite" at a local Chinese film festival, "Parasite" is now appearing on Chinese sites as an illegal download. The release appears to be connected with "Parasite" being released on on-demand services in South Korea, which is the first time a digital version of the movie has been made available to the general public...More

Kang Daniel (left) and Jihyo
Kang Daniel, formerly of now-disbanded boy group Wanna One, and Jihyo of girl group TWICE are dating...More

Mt. Nam in Seoul will open for nighttime walks over the summer with a guide to explain the various sights along the way up to an amazing night view of Seoul from the summit...More

By morning of Friday August 2nd "Exit - Movie" had already racked up an exceptionally impressive one million admissions. The movie is currently on track to have a monstrously successful opening weekend even in the face of stiff competition. CJ Entertainment has released a silly picture of lead actors Cho Jung-seok and Yoona to commemorate the event...More

Beijing travel agency Koryo Tours offers a package tour to Pyongyang for an inter-Korean football match, in this grab from its website.
Koryo Tours, a China-based travel agency specializing in tours to North Korea, started selling a package tour to Pyongyang which includes attendance at an inter-Korean football match slated for October, tentatively in Pyongyang...More

The annual Jecheon International Music Film Festival will be held in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province from Aug. 8 to 13...More
Hyundai and affiliate Kia's electric vehicles have been included in the top 10 electric cars with the longest range in the U.S.
In a recent ranking of EVs based on the distance they can travel on a full battery charge by U.S. auto website HybridCars, the Korean automakers followed only industry leader Tesla, which swept the top three spots...More

The annual Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival will kick off in Seoul next week...More

Actor Jung Tae-woo revealed pictures from his 'remind-wedding'.
Multi entertainer Jung Tae-woo celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with a renewed wedding with his family...More

On June 18th the North Korean news site DPRK Today published a piece praising "Parasite". Specifically, the piece claims that the film is an excellent dramatization of the corruption inherent in capitalist culture, where lower classes have to live without hope or future...More

Girl group Red Velvet will release a new mini album next week, their first record release this year...More

Following an investigation by the SBS News Program 'Curious Stories Y' Yoon Ji-oh is under suspicion of having plagiarized art for her book 'The Thirteenth Witness'. Investigators for 'Curious Stories Y' found the tiger illustration that appears in the third edition of the book to be very suspiciously similar to this image by artist Peter Finnie, which is available for sale on a stock photo website...More

BTS have been invited to join the Recording Academy, which would allow them to vote for the Grammy Awards, according to the band's agency, Big Hit Entertainment...More

Saturday night's BTS' concert was watched by 60,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London and over 140,000 around the world via live stream...More

Cosmopolitan released an exclusive pictorial of Im Si-wan for May.
Im Si-wan finished his military service in May and as soon as he did, he created an Instagram account. He claimed he was so grateful for the presents and letters he received from fans while he was there. "I suddenly realized I was taking all their attention and support for granted. I told myself I'd give back what I got. That's kind of why I started Instagram, and to start communicating with fans more". Im Si-wan donated all the salaries he received while he was in service, and he also donated his talents by teaching math to the students at the elementary school his base had a relationship with...More

BTS pose with actors Emma Stone (4th from left) and Michael Keaton (next to Stone) on the stage of "Saturday Night Live" on Saturday in this grab from NBC's show.
BTS have swept major music charts across the globe with their new album, which was released worldwide simultaneously on Friday...More

Girl group Black Pink will perform on U.S. network CBS' popular late-night show next week...More

Netflix has confirmed that its new omnibus series, "Persona", starring IU, will be available to watch on April 11th. More specifically, the show will upload at 5 PM KST on the official Netflix website...More

On April 9th, SWMP confirmed that a legal review is under way for actor Lee Joo-bin. They said she is being investigated for embezzlement after having tried to use a fake ID to do business on a website dealing in secondhand goods...More

Girl group Black Pink set another record with their latest song, which surpassed 100 million views on YouTube at the fastest pace on Sunday...More

A soldier patrols a trail near the border town of Goseong, Gangwon Province on Wednesday.
South Korea is opening up three hiking trails leading up to the demilitarized zone so civilians access the area for the first time since the armistice in 1953...More

The community portal website DCInside and the trend search company MyCeleb ran a poll from March 17th to March 23rd asking who was the biggest child actor. Yoo Seung-ho won the poll with 32.3 percent of the overall vote...More

On March 31st, the community portal website DCInside and the trend search company My Celebs ran a poll. The topic of the poll was, "Which celebrity would you want to drink mojitos with in the Maldives?"...More

An investigator points at a spy camera hidden in a hair dryer holder at the National Police Agency in Seoul on Wednesday. /Yonhap
A group of men have been arrested for secretly filming guests at love motels across the country.
The group are accused of installing tiny spy cameras in TV sets, electricity plugs and hair dryer holders in motel rooms since August last year and filming as many as 1,600 motel guests. They live-streamed the footage on a website...More

Veteran singer Na Hoon-a has proved he is still a popular draw with an instant sellout of his concerts to be staged in May...More

Actress Bae Doona has become the first Korean to appear on the cover of U.S. fashion magazine Vogue in its 127-year history.
She shares the cover of the April issue with film stars Scarlett Johansson of the U.S. and Deepika Padukone of India...More

Singer Goo Ha-ra denied any involvement with Seungri's latest controversy.
She made a post on Instagram on the 12th when a netizen commented, "You're from the same academy as the great Seungri. Are you involved? Did you go somewhere else?"...More

Seungri of boy band Big Bang arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Feb. 27.
Police has booked Seungri of boy band Big Bang on charges that he supplied prostitutes for foreign investors, it said Sunday.
Police also raided a nightclub in the affluent Gangnam area of southern Seoul believed to be the place where Seungri sent his foreign investors for prostitute services...More

Koreans bought nearly US$3 billion worth of products on international e-commerce websites for the first time last year.
According to the Korea Customs Service on Monday, Koreans bought products online worth about $2.76 billion in 32.25 million transactions last year, up 37 percent from a year ago...More

Seungri of boy band Big Bang speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wendesday.
Seungri of boy band Big Bang was questioned by police on Wednesday night on suspicion that he supplied sometimes drugged women and prostitutes to potential investors and rich customers at his club...More

Seungri of boy band Big Bang is being investigated after allegations that he supplied prostitutes for foreign investors, police said Tuesday.
An entertainment news website published what it claimed were text messages exchanged by Seungri and an executive at his company, Yuri Holdings, identified as Yu, urging another staffer to take good care of an investor from Taiwan...More

G-Dragon, the leader of K-pop boy band Big Bang who is currently fulfilling his mandatory military service, failed to receive a customary promotion to the rank of corporal, it was revealed on Tuesday...More
Apartment sales in Seoul hit their lowest level in about six years in February...More

On January 20th MBC uploaded some behind the scenes images of Ju Ji-hoon onto their website for "The Item". In the pictures, he is seen smiling, and holding up crude pictures he has drawn on a white board...More

People rally in favor of legalizing abortion in Seoul. /Yonhap
Three out of four Korean women of childbearing age believe abortion should be legalized, a poll suggests. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs carried out an online survey of 10,000 women between 15 and 44 last autumn, and 75.4 percent of respondents agreed that abortion should be legal.
The government conducted its own surveys on abortion in 2005 and 2011, and although no exact comparison can be drawn, the general trend is overwhelmingly in favor of legalization...More

"Really enjoying "Kingdom" on Netflix, the Joseon era Korean zombie show, but can we talk about all the hats in the show for a hot second? I need a scholar of Korean history to unpack all of these lids", writes American science fiction author John Hornor Jacobs about the Netflix 6-part Korean drama. In addition to Jacobs, social networking sites are filled with comments from international viewers with different statuses and positions. Even Netflix didn't anticipate the attention for the 'gat', or hat worn in the Joseon period...More
Subway trains and buses will run for extra hours to accommodate holidaymakers during a weeklong break over the Lunar New Year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said...More

Girl group Black Pink's onomatopoeia-driven song drew over 600 million views on YouTube as of Sunday...More

BTS have raised W1.85 billion to charity from November of 2017 to Dec. 6 of this year (US$1=W1,126)...More

Hotel Shilla's Korean restaurant La Yeon in Seoul ranks 175th with a score of 92 on La Liste, a list of the 1,000 best restaurants in the world sponsored by the French Foreign Ministry and tourism board...More
Korean cosmetics companies have been thrown a lifeline by new import regulations in China.
They now only need to register their products on the website of China's National Medical Products Administration without prior approval, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety here said on Tuesday...More

Microdot (left) and Dok2
Korean cyberspace is atwitter with revelations about the fly-by-night families of stars big and small.
Rapper Microdot seemed to have reached the pinnacle of success until his parents were accused of eloping to New Zealand in the middle of the night 20 years ago after borrowing a lot of money from relatives and friends...More

Cheong Wa Dae has started redesigning its petition website after it became a forum for anyone to vent their spleen and was swamped with trivial messages.
In many instances the public also used the website in an effort to pressure judges to arrive at particular rulings. Cheong Wa Dae previously defended the trend, saying it was useful for the public to have any kind of outlet...More

"My Aunt in Texas", a new play produced by the National Theater Company of Korea, investigates the struggle of women who migrate to another country in search of happiness...More

BTS Celebs's OpEd on K-drama leads is here:
Another year of K-dramas is upon us, and that means it's time to reminiscence about the wonderful stars that made this year just a little brighter. From rookies to veterans, these leading men will be unforgettable in the years to come...More

Park Sung-hyun has retained her world No. 1 ranking despite finishing far behind world No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand at the Buick LPGA Shanghai on Sunday...More

Boy band EXO will showcase their latest album early next month. They will unveil their fifth album, "Don't Mess up My Tempo", on Nov. 2 at a casino in Yeongjong Island, Incheon...More

Koreans are increasingly embracing cheaper Chinese electronics and abandoning their traditional preference for homegrown gadgets...More

The annual Bucheon International Animation Festival will mark its 20th anniversary as it opens later this week. The fest will begin its five-day run from Friday...More

Shin Seung-hyun, CEO of Funtastic Korea, said she was inspired to start her own business after hearing about the travel needs of her many international friends...More

/Newsis
A strong won and cheap airfares have resulted in Koreans spending a record W32 trillion overseas last year, according to the Bank of Korea (US$1=W1,130). That is an increase of 9.3 percent from a year earlier.
The figure does not even include online shopping on overseas websites like Amazon and Alibaba or spending on business trips, meaning most of it occurred on holiday or during overseas study or training...More

Goo Ha-ra, formerly of the girl band Kara, accuses her ex-boyfriend of threatening to post a sex tape of the two of them online.
Goo (27) and her ex-boyfriend, identified by his surname Choi (27), have been conducting a very public spat since Choi filed a police report on Sept. 13 claiming Goo assaulted him at her home...More

A growing number of Korean men fear being wrongfully accused of sexual harassment in crowded public places due to the new zero-tolerance policy for such offenses.
One woman posted an appeal on the Cheong Wa Dae website last Thursday claiming that her husband had been wrongfully accused of groping a woman in a busy restaurant and sentenced to six months behind bars...More

Morbid ditties about suicide and self-harm are all the rage among schoolkids in Korea.
One mother of a primary school student was shocked recently when she heard her child sing a song that sounded like a children's song but featured the word "suicide" more than a dozen times...More

Clockwise from top, an art work rented by Open Gallery, a clothes refresher by Coway and an automatic pet feeder by Lotte Rental
Leased and rental products are becoming increasingly popular in a country where more and more people live alone and spending money is tight amid record household debt.
Korea's No. 1 supplier of rental products, Coway, launched a new service last month renting out clothes fresheners, a product dominated by LG. "We added an air purifier and humidifier function to clothing fresheners and provide filter changes at regular intervals", it said...More

Foreigners are increasingly dominant in the market for housemaids, often illegally. About 250,000 foreigners work as maids here, and only 20 percent of them are Korean Chinese who are officially permitted to do the job, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor...More

Park Min-young (third from left) takes a selfie with visitors at the launch of Samsung's new Galaxy Note 9 phone in Singapore on Friday. /Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
Samsung has launched a global marketing blitz after unveiling the Galaxy Note 9 flagship smartphone in New York on Aug. 9.
The Korean electronics giant also launched the phone in Singapore's Botanical Gardens on Aug. 10, since the Note series is popular in the city state...More

A dog runs on the treadmill at an animal gym in Seoul on July 30.
Korean pets are increasingly overweight as they are often kept in apartments and do not get enough exercise, which has led to a fad for pet diet programs...More

Yemenis wait to file asylum applications in Jeju, in this undated picture. /Newsis
The government on Wednesday promised to toughen screening of asylum seekers amid a surge of xenophobia over the arrival of hundreds of Yemenis on Jeju Island.
Record numbers of citizens signed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website urging the government to toughen screening of foreigners...More

The annual Jecheon International Music Film Festival will be held in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province next week...More

Reporters wait for a press conference by the Shinil Group in Seoul on Thursday. /Yonhap
A company whose share price skyrocketed in recent weeks after it claimed to have discovered a sunken Russian ship with W150 trillion worth of gold on board has predictably backed off its claim (US$1=W1,123).
Shinil Group had been enticing investors since the beginning of this year by saying it found the fabled missing ship off the coast of Ulleung Island. But once controversy escalated about its real aims, it fired several executives and distanced itself from the claim. It also emerged that the former head of the company has been indicted on a separate fraud charge...More

The entrance of a Mumuso store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Enterprising Chinese manufacturers are doing brisk business on the back of the resurgent Korean Wave across Asia.
A staffer at the Ho Chi Minh City office of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said, "We are seeing an explosive growth in stores selling bogus Korean products".
Sometimes it is just a question of printing some Hangeul characters on a bag or playing Korean pop music in stores. But they mainly entice Southeast Asian customers with knockoffs of popular Korean products...More

Director Gwi-dong (played by Kang Ha-neul) is hanging out in the woods with a busted arm eating a birthday cake and checking out his own profile on South Korean film websites. He made "Members of the Funeral", a reference to actual director Baek Seung-bin's first movie. But anyway, Gwi-dong is sad, pathetic and lonely looking. Then there's an ominous explosion and some weird hikers pop up out of nowhere. One of them claims to be a big fan of Gwi-dong's work, and asks to see his next scenario...More

North Korea is cracking down on women wearing short skirts and banned people from imitating dance moves by South Korean music groups.
The war on capitalistic influences brought on by the Korean Wave comes despite an unprecedented thaw in cross-border relations that saw North Korean leader Kim Jong-un enjoy a performance by South Korean pop stars in Pyongyang...More

Yemeni asylum seekers wait in front of an immigration office on Jeju Island on June 18. /Newsis
The number of refugees who have fled to Korea for sanctuary now exceeds 35,000 including those whose applications are still pending...More

A heist on Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb on Wednesday netted W35 billion for the daredevil hackers (US$1=W1,107).
The incident sent investors into a panic who had trusted Bithumb's advertising pitch that its security is unmatched in the industry...More

Another woman has come forward to claim that disgraced actor Cho Jae-hyun sexually assaulted her.
A 42-year-old Korean-Japanese actress told a news website on Wednesday that Cho raped her in the men's toilet of a TV network building 16 years ago. She said she first met Cho while shooting a TV drama in 2001...More

Abandoned children of Korean men in the Philippines are seeking compensation and help finding their fathers...More

Sales of apartments have plunged in Seoul, dwindling to just one-ninth of the same month last year in the upscale district of Gangnam...More

Superstar K-pop boy band BTS are eroding Western perceptions of Asian men as weak and effeminate and becoming poster boys even among white girls.
South Africa's the Dailyvox wrote BTS "is reimagining masculinity -- and it's about way more than how they dress. Their growing popularity means that they are creating new standards of how to be a man"...More

Two of the creators behind one of Korea's most successful varieties, RUNNING MAN, have produced BUSTED!, a new show that pits teams of celebrities against each other to solve a mystery. BUSTED! is produced in partnership with NETFLIX to be seen in 190 countries; a first for a South Korean variety programme...More

The annual music festival will kick off its two-week run in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province in July...More

Overseas fans of popular boy band BTS are rushing to Korean shopping websites to buy the band's latest hit album "Love Yourself: Tear"...More

Singer and actress Bae Suzy has always been lovely at every age.
A community website posted pictures of Bae Suzy during three different stages of her life...More

The "Me Too" movement that swept Hollywood and other celebrity hubs has divided Korea, where every day seems to bring new assertions of fierce girl power in the traditionally patriarchal society.
On the feminist website Womad on Wednesday, a post promised hidden camera shots of men on the toilet -- a dig at the thousands of similar clips of women on offer on porn sites...More

The Internet portals that retain a unique role in Korea's online world are dragging their heels amid an online opinion-rigging scandal and a global uproar over the spread of "fake news" on the web.
Naver and Daum, the two top portals, remain helpless against online opinion-rigging tactics like "macro", or using computer programs to boost the number of clicks on a particular article, and "coordinate sharing", or swiftly passing on the URLs of articles and websites favorable to a group's opinion to boost clicks and "likes"...More

Most jobs advertised online are part-time positions, suggesting that small restaurants and convenience stores are opting to hire staff only for a few hours a day as the minimum-wage hike kicks in.
A growing number of employers resort to this strategy, which results in no improvements in the wages of part-time workers...More

Since Han Ye-seul openly conveyed her feelings regarding a medical accident that occured, the hospital finally released an official apology...More

Kyu Hyun Kim reviews the surprise hit "Gonjiam" for Koreanfilm.org, KoBiz lists the seven highest-grossing K-horrors of all time, the Wildflower Film Awards honours independent filmmaking excellence, and Bollywood is experiencing a "Korean film remake boom"...More

Han Kang /AP-Yonhap
Korean novelist Han Kang, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 for "The Vegetarian", was shortlisted for the prestigious award again this year for "The White Book". The shortlist was announced in London, Britain last Thursday...More

The audio-visual festival "Big Day South" will be bigger and better than before, National Geographic showcases K-coolness, Jeju's new Shinhwa World is a stunning one-stopped resort for the whole family, and Wallpaper reviews Kosmos Hotel on the volcanic island of Ulleungdo...More

Actor Heo Jung-min is calling the shots for the first time in his 24 year career...More

National Geographic shares a stunning short time-lapse video of the streets and landmarks in Seoul, Korea Stripes have five great reasons to visit Korea's favourite Island, Rebecca Zhang shares ten top suggestions for traditional temple stays around the country, and don't miss out on these upcoming festivals...More

Worsening air quality aggravated by fine dust particles is taking its toll on Koreans. City dwellers have begun to move to a seemingly pleasant town on the outskirts of Seoul and other remote areas or even emigrate to escape the pollution...More

I daresay, in 2018, the hottest young actor of K-drama world is none other than the actor Jung Hae-in. He seems to have everything: the handsome face, fit body, great acting skills, cute image, outstanding fashion sense, gentleman-like personality… the list could go on and on...More

Amid all the saddening news dominating K-drama newsfeeds, actor Jo Hyun-jae brings something to celebrate with the announcement that he will be ringing the wedding bells this month...More

In some surprising and exciting news, "Mother - Drama" has been selected as a competitor for the first ever CANNESERIES, Cannes International Series Festival. My cynicism over awards and dislike for the support Cannes has shown for problematic figures aside, this is a great opportunity for Korean content abroad...More

A picture of BIGBANG's leader, G-Dragon, in the military was released online...More

Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay continues to make the case for Cass, Eat Your Kimchi stars Simon and Martina share their tips for exploring a new city's food scene, wine researcher Sookyung Henriet wants to up Koreans appreciate of wine, and BuzzFeed has 29 reasons why Seoul has some of the best street food in world...More

Trailer released for the upcoming Korean movie "Gate"...More

10 Magazine track down the 10 best bibimbap spots around the country, Sue makes a beef stew (bulgogi jeongol) packed with mushrooms on My Korean Kitchen, the BBC reports on the significance of eating tteokguk for Lunar New Year, and learn more about the country's complicated relationship with dog meat...More

KoBiz tracks a cluster of rising stars to keep an eye on this year, Darcy Paquet shares his top ten films of the last year, Pieces of Work lists some of the country's best gangster films, and where does "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" stand in the list of Korea's highest-grossing films of all time?...More

Subway trains and buses in Seoul will have their operating hours extended for two days during the lunar New Year break next week, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday...More

Along the news about Go Hyun-jung leaving the drama "Return", there has been active arguments from those who claim to have witnessed Go Hyun-jung creating conflict with the production team of dramas and variety shows...More

While many people enjoy the suspenseful story lines and excellent acting of veteran actress Ko Hyung-jung, evil Shin Sung-rok and Bong Tae-gyu, there's another actress who shines on screen every time she appears. Actress Jung Eun-chae is the newest scene-stealer in the drama "Return"...More

EXO's Xiumin shared his thoughts on materialistic gifts he receives from the fans...More

Bloated Cat Productions and Penguin Films will World Premiere their latest horror feature film, "Under the Knife", at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival 2018 on Saturday, March 17th at 9pm. Among the world's elite genre festivals, Yubari, now in it's 28th year, is the largest horror festival in Japan...More

Korean movie "I Have a Date with Spring" is among the eight films vying for the most prestigious award at the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) currently taking place in The Netherlands (January 24 to February 4, 2018). The competition line-up (below) includes seven world premieres and one international premiere...More

Actor and a member of K-pop group JYJ Park Yoo-chun has released his first official schedule since his discharge from military duty...More

Make your own sweet walnut pastry with My Korean Kitchen, The Korea Times pairs wine with Gangwon's local delights ahead of the Winter Games, these hot and comforting foods will help you forget the chill, and multi-Michelin-starred restaurant owner welcomes travellers at Incheon International's new Terminal 2...More

Get the best K-beauty advice from some of the country's top YouTubers, browse the most popular stories of last year from the hard-hitting Korea Expose, Quartz looks at the power political memes in Korea, and avoid committing these cultural faux pas...More

The year of 2017 was full of adorable couples on KBS. A total of 13 nominees were up for the Best Couple Award and the winners were chosen by audience votes on the official 2017 KBS Drama Award website...More

Actor Kim Woo-bin greeted fans 7 months after news released that he had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer...More

If you don't want to hit the road and travel to a beach to see the first sunrise of the New Year, you can still enjoy it from one of several mountains in and around Seoul...More

The Education Ministry on Thursday bowed to a public outcry and reversed plans to ban English language education in kindergartens and childcare centers...More

Ticket sales for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang surpassed 60 percent last week, the organizing committee said on Sunday. Some 655,000 tickets, or 61 percent of the total 1.07 million available tickets, were sold.
Tickets for alpine skiing were the most popular, at 81 percent sold, followed by cross-country skiing (79 percent), short-track speed skating (74 percent) and bobsleigh (70 percent). Ticket sales for the opening ceremony reached 67 percent...More

tvN drama sources for "Prison Playbook" explained that okbarazi.com was a place where inmates in prison with no outside sources asked for favors...More

Apple late last month responded to customer complaints by warning them not to use their iPhones in subzero weather...More

Christopher Weatherspoon looks at how successful Korean comedies are able to tickle funny bones around the world, Pierce Conran (Modern Korean Cinema) lists his top ten films of the year, KoBiz's latest infographic charts four of year's best horrors, and Soompi thinks these seven Korean films would make for wonderful dramas too...More

Holly goes beyond kimchee with her latest soup recipe, The Korea Herald has this great guide to Korean specialities found at 'tented bars' (pojangmacha), Chinese royal cuisine comes to the capital, and explore Korean Bapsang for a list of delicious vegetarian dishes you can make at home...More

Pierce Conran reviews Jeong Ji-woo's "Heart Blackened" on Modern Korean Cinema, The Hollywood Reporter reveals how Bong Joon-ho's and his team created the curious chimera in "Okja", Michelle Cho explores the borderlands between various box office successes and Korea's political climate, and the Busan gets a big boost with the opening of its new Visual Industry Center...More

Boy band Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, released a promotional song for Seoul titled "With Seoul" on Wednesday...More

The venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province is blanketed with snow on Sunday. /Yonhap
Ticket sales for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang have accelerated as the opening approaches, with more than half of the tickets now sold. The Olympics begin on Feb. 9 and run until Feb. 25...More

'Snarkitecture' plays on the borderlands between art and architecture with a complex 400 meter marble track in Seoul, Lonely Planet catches up with a French photographer who fell in love with Jeju's 'mermaids', Tomás Saraceno's first exhibition in Korea is inspired by the beautiful complexity of spiderwebs, and Crystal Tai explores South Korea's street style revolution...More

An upcoming drama based on multi-talent film "Beauty Inside" has been announced and my head is spinning trying to visualize how something like this could work in drama form. The story is about a man who changes sex, gender, nationality, age and generally form every day and the woman who falls in love with him. Aside from changing the love interest from a woman to a man for the drama, the basic concept remains the same...More

Jin-jin's professional work hazards are consistently one of the more unimpressive means of generating conflict on "Boy and Girl From the 20th Century", which is saying a lot considering how challenged this drama is when it comes to developing conflict at all. I'm still wondering how exactly a can of soda can be poisoned in the first place. Does the anti-fan manufacture her own soft drinks? Or was there arsenic on the lid?...More

Make "sweet, nutty and velvety" pumpkin porridge with My Korean Kitchen, the charity on display at the Seoul Kimchi Festival catches the BBC's eye, see why "man-made meat" is becoming popular in North Korea, and blogger Mark Wens has a great travel guide for Seoul-seeking foodies...More

Chinese tourists wait outside a duty-free shop in Seoul in March last year.
Some Chinese travel agencies have started selling cheap package tours to Korea again...More

Singer and actor Choi Si-won is under fire for failing to properly restrain his pet dog, which attacked a neighbor who died later in hospital early this month...More

At the celebrity screening for "Becoming Who I Was", an outpouring of love was shown after the famous folk exited the theater. Combined with the audience reviews, the outlook is looking good for this story about a Buddhist boy who travels to find himself...More

Young Koreans increasingly travel abroad to experience a different lifestyle rather than just tick off the major tourist attractions. Some choose volunteer or job-training experiences, all with the aim of getting a brief taste of what it is like to live like a local...More

Right away the finale for "Criminal Minds" tips its hand by accidentally pointing out the stupidity of its own premise. The suspect is in custody and there is...not actually any evidence linking him to the serial killings outside of the website, which he claims is a fan website. This is a completely plausible explanation...More

The Korean Wave used to be limited to Asia but is now reaching the shores of the U.S. and other western countries as well. MsMojo, a website dedicated to pop culture, recently published a list of the 10 most popular Korean dramas among English-speaking fans...More

There is such wonderful affection between our leads in this opening greeting for "I Can Speak". Such good rapport permeates past the boundaries of the screen and makes me feel good inside. These two hope you'll join them for the film they worked hard on. It's currently airing in Korea...More

Korean actor Kang Ha-neul's first official military photo since he enlisted for active military service earlier this month was released...More

A growing number of young Koreans are looking for jobs abroad amid record youth unemployment at home...More

Some 6.11 million Koreans traveled abroad in the second quarter and spent W4.18 billion on their credit cards (US$1=W1,129). That boils down to $685 per person...More

Han Da-gam was at the Seoul Drama Awards on the 7th in a lacy skirt and top...More

Singer Na Hoon-a is returning to the spotlight after an 11-year hiatus with a nationwide comeback tour...More

Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" helps to raise consciousness about the suffering of animals, create kimchi fried rice with My Korean Kitchen, Holly has a cold seaweed and cucumber soup to enjoy before the end of summer, and 10 Magazine finds 10 new (and delicious) restaurants in the capital, Seoul...More

On the 29th, actor Sol Kyung-gu released an official apology to the fellow actress Seolhyun regrading his comment in that she has "baekchimi...More

In the opening narration to "Write or Dance", Si-hyeong (played by Choi Si-hyung) explains that while he's always meeting up with women, they always end up breaking up with him because he's boring. But Si-hyeong thinks it's not that he's boring, but that the part of him they used to think was interesting has become boring to them. Why this distinction is supposed to be meaningful was not clear to me, and the ensuing five short stories of Si-hyeong meeting up with all these women one on one did not clarify matters...More

Song Hye-kyo and professor Seo Kyeong-deok are promoting Korean historical sites in commemoration of Liberation Day. 10,000 guide books called, "Our History in Foreign Countries" were donated to Kyoto, Japan.
This guidebook was printed in Korean and Japanese and it introduces numerous Korean historical sites...More

An estimated 2.82 million Koreans have traveled overseas for their summer holidays this year, the highest number on record. Cheap flights and falling hotel prices mean the days are gone when Koreans saved up for months to go on vacation somewhere in their own country...More

A long time ago, director David Redman went to the National Library of France to inquire about Jikji, the first book in the world (that we know of) to be printed with movable metal type. Jikji predates the Gutenburg Bible by several decades, and yet nobody outside of Korea has ever heard of it. The obviously inherently interesting premise is no doubt how "Dancing with Jikji" was able to get funding, so it's a bit disappointing that writer/director Woo Kwanghoon's documentary is so...meandering...More

Lately, I've been noticing the actor Sung Hoon being so popular among netizens...More

The co-CEOs of Kakao Bank give a presentation at the launch in Seoul on Thursday. /Newsis
Korea's second Internet-only bank Kakao Bank was off to a roaring start when it opened its virtual doors on Thursday morning.
Customers' response was overwhelming, with 280,000 downloading the bank's smartphone app, 20,000 deposit accounts with over W36 billion opened and W14.1 billion extended in loans on the first day of business (US$1=W1,115). So many customers accessed the website on the first day that the computer system froze temporarily...More

Boy band EXO are set to return with their fourth full-length album, "The War"...More

Girls' Generation topped a list of the 10 best K-pop girl groups of the past 10 years released by Billboard on Wednesday...More

More Korean airliners will carry banners promoting the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games...More

Korea's struggle for identity takes to the catwalk, Great Big History features a Korean balancing artist from Tancheon, contemporary North Korean art on display at the American University, and take your selfie game to the next level with this dedicated selfie studio...More

Crashing Down
During moments of utter despair, one's true character is often revealed. This is certainly the case for "Missing 9", a gripping disaster drama centering around a plane crash that leaves nine individuals, mostly celebrities, stranded on an uncharted island. The only known survivor at the beginning of the drama is Ra Bong-hee (Baek Jin-hee), the inexperienced and compassionate stylist of celebrity Seo Joon-oh (Jung Kyung-ho), and she suffers from temporary amnesia due to the trauma...More

Koreans log in two hours and 10 minutes a day on their smartphones, the sixth-longest time in the world, according to a study by German market researcher Statista on Saturday...More

Actress Sung Yu-ri tied the knot at a private ceremony with only family members in attendance on Monday.
"Sung Yu-ri married professional golfer Ahn Sung-hyun on Monday after about 4 years of dating", her agency said on Tuesday...More

"Liberation Day" documents the first foreign rock band to play in North Korea, check out these American films that feature conflicts with North Korea, enjoy JIFF films online thanks to KoBiz Online Screening, and Seoul Webfest gears up for its third edition...More

With one day left before the 53rd Baeksang Awards, likely nominees are being discussed.
The 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards is being held on the 3rd of May in COEX, Seoul...More

The Jeonju Film Festival puts 'alternative films' in the spotlight, KoBiz reveals which films will compete at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival, Netflix teases new 'Super Pig' website ahead of Bong Joon-ho's "Okja", and get to know some of Korea's smaller film festivals...More

Former rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has made her first foray into show business. Son will host a show on educational channel EBS alongside comedian Kim Gook-jin...More

Former figure skater Kim Yu-na poses with the torch for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics at an event in Seoul on Monday. /Newsis
The torch relay for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang will begin its more than 100-day run on Nov. 1.
It will wind its way along a 2,018 km route across the country. The organizing committee for the sporting event on Monday unveiled its plans for the relay ahead of its opening in February next year...More

53nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2017 : most popular actress in a drama nominees list...More

53nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2017 : most popular actor in a drama nominees list...More

53nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2017 : most popular actress in a movie nominees list...More

53nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2017 : most popular actor in a movie nominees list...More

A year has passed since the historic baduk or go match between Lee Se-dol and a proto-artificial intelligence program developed by Google. Now a documentary film about the historic match will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York from April 19 to 30...More

Stir-fried chicken and bok choy is on the menu in the Korea Herald's "Home Cooking" segment, Graham Holliday's new book "Eating Korea: Reports On a Culinary Renaissance" is a thoughtful foodie travelogue, My Korean Kitchens has a great suggest for your lunchbox or party table, and Jin Joo gets around to a recipe she's been dying to share for a while...More

Korean festivals see a surge in film submissions, Yoon Min-sik reviews Hong Sang-soo's latest ("On the Beach at Night Alone") for the Korea Herald, find out more about Jeong Da-hee's award-winning animated short film, and Pierce Conran explores the rise of prison dramas...More

Steam some skate at home with the Korea Herald and Korea Bapsang, My Korean Kitchen puts together a delicious sweet and sour pork dish, Kimchimari gets spoilt for choice at a Korean breakfast buffet, and discover the wonderful world of Korea's temple foods...More
Korea's largest portal site Naver unveiled its own Internet browser Whale on Tuesday in a bid to wean Koreans off their attachment to Microsoft's buggy Internet Explorer.
Users can download the program for free at
whale.naver.com and install it on their PC, but the Mac version will have to wait.
"This is a pilot period", a Naver spokesma...
More

Netflix scoops up an exciting Joseon zombie series, read Pierce Conran's review of "A Single Rider" on Modern Korean Cinema, KoBiz examines Korean filmgoer's shift in viewing habits, and know the real independence fighters behind their cinematic counterparts...More

Seoul ranks 24th among 87 world cities in terms of the price of renting a home.
San Francisco tops the list with a staggering W 5,595 per square foot in 2017 Rental Affordability Index released by U.K. property website Nested on Sunday (US$1=W1,132)...More

Two auto-translation programs are to face off against a professional human interpreter here later this month in a bid to gauge progress toward artificial intelligence...More

Arts Desk reviews the DVD version of Na Hong-jin's "The Wailing", discover the long-standing relationship between South Korea cinema and the Berlin International Film Festival, Pierce Conran shares his thoughts on Lee Joon-ik's tenth film about Korea under Japanese occupation, and KoBiz's latest infographic reveals the common thread running through three of Korea's most recent successes...More
For the first time, overseas shoppers are buying more from Korean online stores than Koreans are buying from foreign websites.
According to Statistics Korea, Korean sites' overseas sales surged 82 percent in 2016 from a year earlier to more than W2.25 trillion, or about US$2 billion (US$1=W1,148)...More

Lee Yong-dae (left) poses with his girlfriend in this picture posted on his fan website.
Badminton player Lee Yong-dae will tie the knot with actress Byun Soo-mi in a few months' time. Lee acknowledged being in a relationship with Byun in 2012...More

Pyun Hye-young
"Ashes and Red" by Korean writer Pyun Hye-young has been chosen as the 2016 Book of the Year in Poland...More

Koreans are spending ever more money overseas while foreigners are spending less here.
Korean spent a record W7.62 trillion abroad in the third quarter last year, up a whopping 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea on Monday (US$1=W1,162)...More

Added new stills and poster for the upcoming Korean movie "Flirty-zel"...More

Sumi Jo tweets on Tuesday about the cancellation of her tour in China.
Korean soprano Sumi Jo's tour of three Chinese cities that had been scheduled to start on Feb. 19 has been canceled without explanation.
The cancelation comes amid growing signs of petty retaliation in China for Korea's decision to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery from the U.S. here...More

Fight or Flight
"Bring It On, Ghost" is a mystery romance drama about a reclusive university student and ghost exorcist, Park Bong-pal (Ok Taecyeon), who falls in love with a feisty ghost with lingering regrets, Kim Hyeon-ji (Kim So-hyun). Though their initial meeting is marked with hilarious savagery, they soon form an alliance, which leads to a budding romance...More

Hear how K-pop is enjoyed over the DMZ from a defector, Han Kang's latest novel "Human Acts" gets released, check out these eight Hollywood celebrities who love K-pop, and is Korea's work culture as hectic as Japan's?...More

Eugene and Ki Tae-young took a couple's photo shoot.
The couple was featured on the fashion and style magazine "InStyle"...More

With the ten-year anniversary of "Coffee Prince" approaching, is actress Yoon Eun-hye getting ready for a comeback or taking an extended break? ...More

Check out the most popular recipes of 2016 from My Korean Kitchen, the Economist explores South Korea's food-show craze with an eye on men in the kitchen, soju prices are at a record level, and hear how many are feeling the pinch from the steep rise in egg prices...More

Playboy will get its own Korean edition in June, the Korea Times puts the works of Ryu Kyung-chai in the spotlight, check out a photoblog from a new food tour, and stay up to date with the rise of modern Korean art through the country's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art...More
Online shopping sites are increasingly turning to cars, which can often be sold cheaper than in showrooms.
Online retailer Interpark said Wednesday that it will sell Mazda's Miata convertible roadster and Fiat 124 Spider roadster, though only five of each will be available...More

Variety reports on South Korea's box office figures for 2016, film critic Pierce Conran (Modern Korean Cinema) picks his top 15 film for last year, enjoy classic Korean films thanks to new Blu-rays and KOFA's VOD service, and read professional reviews of Korean films released in 2016 with Darcy Paquet and Kyu Hyun Kim...More

Popular vote for SBS Drama Awards K-Wave Star award is now open...More

Director Park Chan-wook was chosen as one of the TOP 5 directors.
American Website IndieWire conducted a survey with 200 critics on 15 different categories including Best Picture and Best Director...More

Adult rated trailer released for the upcoming Korean movie "Flirty-zel"...More

Added the upcoming Korean movie "Flirty-zel"'s page to HanCinema database...More

If you were in love with the Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, you will definitely enjoy the new kdrama coming out this December called "Hwarang"....More

Actress Shin Min-a showed off her charm in a photo shoot as parts of a campaign to help those in need...More

Ji-yeon (played by Kim Yunjin) is an ace attorney who is also a loving, if somewhat busy mother. Then, for "Seven Days", Ji-yeon is forced to search the world upside-down to solve an intense high-action mystery that has nothing to do with her. And it all happens so fast. One scene it's happy smiles and the next it's vehicular action then emotional wailing then clandestine meetings with rabid dogs and chase scenes and mental institutions and wow, you can just feel the adrenaline right now through the words of this review can't you?...More

Moon Hee-jun (left) and Soyul
Moon Hee-jun, who was a member of the now-defunct boy band H.O.T., and Soyul from girl group Crayon Pop are engaged to be married in February next year...More

My Korean Kitchen shows us how to make one of Korea's most popular drinks, a grandmother's makgeolli business is booming, Korean cooking shows are on the rise, and will Michelin's new restaurant guide help uphold the integrity of Korean food?...More

With estimated earnings of US$44 million, K-pop boy band Big Bang ranked 13th on Forbes' list of the world's 30 highest-paid celebrities under 30 this year...More

Chinese customers are proving the mainstay of Korean online shopping malls, with revenues from overseas doubling over the past year.
Statistics Korea on Wednesday said the total sales of Korean online shopping malls amounted to a record W551.2 billion in the third quarter, up a whopping 105 percent compared to the same period of 2015 (US$1=W1,146)...More

Celebrities will donate their personal items to an auction to help children in need.
K Auction said on Wednesday that it will hold an online charity auction on its website (www.k-auction.com) next Tuesday...More

One of the best ways to learn about a foreign language and culture is to listen to its music. Arirang TV's two-hour radio show "Catch the Wave", which airs at 6 p.m. every day, delivers K-pop around the world based on requests from fans, while also introducing everything from culture and food to travel tips...More

The "2016 Crush On You Tour" Will Stop in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York
Embarking on his second solo concert series, the Hip-Hop and R&B singer-songwriter Crush will be performing and meeting fans from around the world as a true global artist – also performing concerts in Seoul and Europe. Presented by CJ E&M, the organizer of many global concerts including KCON and MAMA, the "2016 Crush On You Tour" will hold concerts in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York throughout November 2016...More

KoBiz brings us all the winners from Korea's oldest film awards, Darcy Paquet showcases the directorial debuts from BIFF on his website, film professionals can now take advantage of KoBiz's online screening service, and are there enough "interesting female personas" in modern Korean cinema?...More

A park in Sangam-dong, Seoul is ablaze with autumn foliage. /Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government
This is the best time to enjoy the autumn foliage as trees and leaves turn their flaming colors.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday released some 100 places in Seoul where visitors can still enjoy the beauty of autumn foliage instead of going to the county side...More

Actress Jo An unveiled her pre-wedding photos taken on Jeju Island. She and her fiancé plan to marry later this month...More

Actor Park Bo-gum will appear at a signing event in central Seoul next Wednesday for fans of his TV series.
"Moonlight Drawn by Clouds", which ends its near three-month run next Tuesday, has enjoyed great popularity with viewer ratings topping 20 percent...More

Actress Jo An is getting married to someone 3 years older than her.
She's getting married on the 28th of this month at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul...More

Devotees of Korean-style pop from all corners of the globe are set to strut their stuff in a festival in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province on Friday...More

Over 8 million spectators filled the stadiums to watch professional baseball games this season. This is the first time Korea's professional baseball league has reached the mark in its 35-year history.
The record turnout has been attributed to a combination of factors including the expansion to a 10-team league and the construction of new stadiums...More

This year's Busan International Film Festival will start its 10-day run next week.
Some 300 films from 69 countries will be screened at the annual event, which opens on Oct. 6 with the Korean film "A Quiet Dream" directed by Zhang Lu. The movie revolves around a young woman who runs a small bar and the young men who try to win her heart...More

Seolhyun (left) and Zico
Seolhyun of girl band AOA and Zico of boy band Block B split up after dating some six months, their agencies said in a separate press release on Tuesday...More

Park Ji-sung, who aspires to a career in football administration, has taken his first step toward becoming a sports administrator. Park enrolled in a course at De Montfort University in the U.K. to earn a Master's accreditation.
The former Manchester United player will spend three months at the university...More

Yoo Ah-in is competing with Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Seoul Drama Awards is being held at KBS Hall in Yeouido on the 8th. The 11th SDA is the only drama special awards show in the world. 265 dramas were selected out of 51 countries and 28 drama producers and artists from 28 dramas....More
The number of foreigners studying in Korea has surpassed 100,000 for the first time. The Education Ministry on Tuesday said there are 104,262 foreign students at universities and colleges here, up 14.2 percent from last year.
The overall number of university students has been falling for two years as the young population dwindles, but foreign students keep increasing...More

Incheon International Airport on Tuesday announced measures to recover declining transfer passenger traffic.
They include allowing passengers who bought their ticket directly from an airline to transfer to different flights at the airport, and offering them half-day tours while waiting for their flights and discounts at duty-free shops...More

South Korea's advanced cinematic technologies reach Wales, Short List explores North Korea's fascination with moving images, Taste of Cinema has 20 South Korean thrillers you won't to miss, and visit Darcy Paquet's website on Korean films for the best reviews and insight around...More

On the northeastern coast of South Korea lies Gangneung. Though not heavily populated, Gangneung is easily reachable from most bus terminals in South Korea by virtue of its proximity to the ocean. I went to Gangneung in anticipation of the Jeongdongjin outdoor film festival and my time in the city was marked by constant ceaseless wandering, Sure there's a pretty big beach, but by and large the center Gangneung is your standard urban area. And at this time of year it's murderously hot even at night...More

Discover two "outrageous" attractions in Korea tourists can't get enough of, take a look inside Korea's massive "Taekwondo Town", The Discovery Seoul Pass will ensure you get the most bang for your buck in Seoul, and Adventure Korea makes it easy for visitors to have the time of their lives...More

Fashion magazine Elle has revealed Park Shin-hye's fascinating behind-the-scenes images.
Park Shin-hye, a new muse for Swarovski, wore contemporary style pearl accessories and a watch and earrings from the Fall and Winter 2016. Park Shin-hye, beloved for her natural beauty, exudes the pure-hearted and yet chic moods...More

AOA member Seolhyun displayed the cover of the September issue of Cosmopolitan.
Seolhyun posed in 9 different manners with the jewelry brand. She went from innocent, charismatic and even sexy...More

Zico and Seolhyun
Seolhyun of girl band AOA and Zico of boy band Block B have been in a romantic relationship for five months.
Seolhyund's agency on Wednesday said they two became close because they "counted on each other while going through tough times"...More

Jeonju to host two special events to celebrate the cities traditions and culture in August and September, the Japan Times takes a look at the Andong Hahoe folk village and its importance now and in the past, Pokemon Go glitch causes spike in tourists, and the Korea Tourism Organisations should be your first stop to discovering Korea your way...More

Kim Gook-jin (left) and Kang Su-sie
Comedian Kim Gook-jin is dating singer Kang Su-sie, their management agencies said on Thursday.
The pair have been appearing together on a reality show since March last year and their relationship gradually developed...More

Making phone calls to strangers to wake them up in the morning is fast becoming a popular part-time job among young people in a dismal labor market.
The wake-up call service costs W30,000-50,000 a month (US$1=W1,140). Customers post wanted ads seeking wake-up calls online and choose service providers on a trial basis for a day before they commit themselves...More

Kim Woo-bin adorned the cover page of Elle August issue.
During the photo shoot, which took place on July 6th, Kim Woo-bin pulled off the pieces by Louis Vuitton Men's Collection perfectly...More

The hallyu movement is growing faster than ever. While the popularity of K-Pop has been accelerating rapidly since 2010 in North America, KCON 2016 Presented by Toyota has been arranged for fans who cannot meet hallyu stars easily due to vexing geography. KCON invites large number of hallyu stars to New York and LA. Since KCON 2016 Presented by Toyota held their first concert in California in 2012, they've expanded their venues to the east side of New York. KCON now comes to Abu Dhabi, UAE, Chiba Prefecture, Japan and Paris, France in order to meet the international fans around the globe...More

KCON New York 2016 presented by Toyota featured over ninety booths in the outdoor convention, and many of them were beauty booths. HanCinema stopped by the booths to chat with the businesses that bring Korean beauty products and skin care to New York and the rest of the world outside beauty-forward South Korea. Let's take a look a four amazing companies that set up booths at the Prudential Center June 24 and June 25 for KCON New York 2016! Don't forget to check out the instructions at the bottom of the article to enter our giveaway. Three mystery beauty gift bags are up for grabs this go 'round...More

On a daily basis my main frame of reference for what "looks" like Daegu was bizarrely enough this old Anglican Church, built in 1917 and dedicated to Saint Francis (the guy Pope Francis named himself after). The irony of this being, of course, the fact that an old style Anglican Church is fairly obviously not representative of Daegu in any way but I passed by it all the time in my favored back streets...More

Taeyeon of Girls' Generation broke the 100,000 mark in pre-orders with her second solo mini-album, according to SM Entertainment on Monday...More

After 10 years teaching in middle school there is one thing that baffles Lee S oo-jung -- how many of the girls are wearing makeup. "Just 10 years ago only a couple of girls in a class wore makeup, but now more than half of them do", she says.
The school tried to ban it, but to no avail. "Many girls put on makeup after coming to school, and we aren't sure where to draw the line", Lee says. "We can't simply tell students not to do something without explaining why, plus many girls are very sensitive about how they look"...More

Movie critic DJUNA expressed her disapproval about this whole Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee issue.
She posted on her SNS, "Hong Sang-soo is the most transparent person in the movie industry. I would keep as far away from him as possible but then again, how would I know what their story is? They decided to take the risk and chose to live like that"...More

KBS 2TV's forthcoming Wednesday & Thursday drama, "Uncontrollably Fond" has revealed some snapshots taken during their script reading session through the drama's official website.
In the revealed photos, actors look focused on their acting. The actors show off the perfect matching look for each of their characters as shown in the making film unveiled prior to these snapshots...More

Hwang Jung-min and Kim Hye-soo have been named the most popular actor and actress in an email survey of 10,286 people by the Chosun Ilbo and ticketing site Max Movie.
Kim was also voted best actress, while best actor went to Song Kang-ho.
All three are all in their 40s, while only a few stars in their 20s made it into the top 10. The results clearly reflect the changing demographic of moviegoers in Korea...More

North Korean actress Choe Sam-suk performs in this undated screen grab from the official [North] Korean Central News Agency.
The daughter of decorated North Korean actress Choe Sam-suk is among 13 North Korean restaurant workers who recently defected from China, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday.
The revelation came after the parents of the defectors in a statement demanded their "rescue", apparently under pressure from the North Korean regime...More

The Korea Tourism Organisation releases a new guide for tourists in various languages, discover why South Korea is perfect for family travel, check out six top travel blogs/websites, and The Korea Times has a host of exciting events happening around town...More

Dive head first into the wonderful world of Korean webcomics with a great list from Korea Boo, visit a naughty park in Jeju, explore National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's website for all their latest news and events, and browse Shutterstock's impressive gallery on South Korea...More

Korean women seem to be most suspicious of their husbands, according to big data analysis by market researcher Daumsoft.
The firm analyzed 530 million words that appeared on blogs and community websites and found that the word "husband" appeared most often along with the words "suspicion" and "can't trust"...More

Find out why "Spirits' Homecoming" was a "small miracle", check out the top Korean films on IMDb, Film Doo analysis Korea's film industry in relation to VOD, and visit KOBIZ's website to discover the highest-grossing films released in Korea this year...More

Jung Yoo-mi, who is currently starring as Chae Yeo-gyeong in KBS 2TV's Wednesday & Thursday drama, "Master - God of Noodles" has revealed her summer fashion pictorial for InStyle June issue.
In the pictorial with the title, 'Every Beats', Jung Yoo-mi showcases street summer style. Compared to her usual simple and refined style, this is her transformation to try the new looks...More

Consumers are increasingly so spoiled for choice that it paralyzes them and they end up buying nothing, which is where new "curated" or personally tailored shopping services and goods collections come in.
Assisted choice of this kind ranges from evening meals to baby products and everything in between...More

Critics accuse official sex education materials of perpetuating chauvinism and medieval attitudes to women and their sexuality.
They perpetuate such chestnuts as that men are excited by seeing women without their clothes on whereas women are aroused by "mood", and that girls should avoid "provocative" clothing...More

Next on my itinerary to return to Seoul via the most unnecessarily complicated route was Gamgok, which is located to the north of Jincheon in Eumseong County. Gamgok District (감곡면) is farmland. Peaches are the main crop grown there. Unfortunately the peaches are not in bloom in May so Gamgok looks rather nondescript right this minute. It's the kind of township where solar panels look really cool, simply because they're different from most of what else is available to look at...More

Ha Ji-won and women's fashion brand Crocodile Lady revealed 2016 summer fashion pictorial.
In the revealed pictorial, Ha Ji-won matched a white ethnic blouse with a pair of neutral tone cropped wide pants to create the clean and cool summer look. Her long wavy hair added innocent appeal to the look...More

A new web variety coming your way brought to you by our buddies over at Soompi: Topp Dogg: All-Kill. You may have seen teasers floating around on social media. If you haven't, check the official "Topp Dogg: All-Kill" twitter account and the links below to stay on top of the most current news...More

Actor Lee Min-ho is celebrating his 10th year anniversary.
He showed off the 10th anniversary cake his fans prepared for him on his Instagram...More

"Civil War" continues to dominate despite a host of new challengers...
Marvel's latest outing continued to reign supreme atop the Korea box office, but a string of new releases shuffled the rest of the pack considerably. This latest superhero flick was released in Korea late last month and topped the charts its frist weekend out by capturing over 90% of the box office pie. Over the weekend, Marvel's mighty movie added another 1.5 million admissions (64.8%) to bring it total tally now to 7.3 million ($52.7 million). Worldwide, "Captain America: Civil War" has, to date, banked an incredible $678.4 million...More

Finding a romantic comedy drama that does not go majorly dark and depressing or then lose its coherence completely is hard. "Beautiful Gong Shim" promises a return to the good ol' days, where people trying to hook up with people happily was possible without major physical and emotional scarring. There is still a mean grandmother in the mix, but that is a rom-com staple in Korean drama...More

The Korea Herald has its roundup of travel news from around the world with great specials for travelers, see the celebrities that are enjoying the Land of the Morning Calm, discover great deals and events at some of Korea's top hotels, and how 'smart' is the city of Songdo, exactly?...More

52nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 : most popular actress in a drama nominees list...More

52nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 : most popular actor in a drama nominees list...More

52nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 : most popular actress in a movie nominees list...More

52nd Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 : most popular actor in a movie nominees list...More

Free screenings of independent films will take place at 29 public facilities including art galleries, museums and libraries from May to December, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Monday.
The city government organized the event to promote the independent film industry...More

American gaphic novelist Onrie Kompan has illustrated the famous naval Battle of Myeongnyang in which Admiral Yi Sun-shin defeated a 330-strong invading Japanese fleet ships with only a dozen of his famous turtle ships...More

Ever dated a sassy girl before?
You know, the one that was a bit different than your normal, typical girl. She's a bit strange, wild, and aggressive towards their significant other...More

Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin are going to be parents.
On April 29th, a news report announced Bae Yong-joon's wife, Park Soo-jin, is in the early stages of pregnancy. We've put together all of the important moments of the couple from their engagement announcement to their most recent pregnancy news...More

The battle between Song Hye-kyo and the jewelry brand J. Estina is intense. Song Hye-kyo sued J. Estina for using her image without notice in March and both sides are radical. The core of this situation is image rights.
As the issue got heated up, J. Estina claimed that it understands how Hallyu contents influences national finance and that it respects the actress and her company. However, that doesn't mean the issue has died down. Sports Dong A took a look at three issues related to this case...More

This year's Jeonju International Film Festival is set to kick off its 10-day run on Thursday.
A total of 211 films -- 163 feature and 48 short films -- will be shown on 19 screens at five theaters in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province...More

Lee Joon-gi exuded his mysterious charms in his recent pictorial for men's style magazine Geek.
In the revealed pictorial, Lee Joon-gi showed off the charismatic glare in his eyes while he pulled off the various swoon-worthy styles perfectly...More

Park Hae-jin made unforgettable memories along with his fans on the tenth anniversary of his debut.
Park Hae-jin's Fan Meeting Celebrating Tenth Anniversary of debut was held at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on April 23rd. Boom emceed the evet, which was streamlined live on Naver V live and the Chinese video streaming website, Youku...More

The Roh Moo-hyun Foundation is opening the former president's home in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province to the public on May 1.
The opening coincides with the seventh anniversary of his death on May 23...More

A growing number of singles have only their houseplants for company because they cost less and require less attention than cats or dogs.
According to online shopping site 11st, sales of cactuses rose 17 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2015. Sales of hydroponic plants grew 22 percent...More

The official website for Frankie and Friends describes the franchise as an "eco-friendly growing up story". In short, the television show's main operating gimmick is that the characters live in a world where food has to come from a specific place- their garden. The usual kids' show moral lessons all come from that vein, and the film version, "Frankie and Friends the Movie: The Tree of Life" is no different. It's a story about how if you wastefully throw away food, a witch will use the energy of the food's unfulfilled souls to power super beetles devoted to absorbing immortality sap from the tree of life. Magic mushrooms are involved...More

Talent alone won't make a singer a pop star. To captivate the public, to capture their imaginations, he or she needs something more -- charisma or "star quality". Whatever it is called, 24-year-old singer and composer Dean definitely has it.
Dean gave mesmerizing performances at South by Southwest (SXSW), one of the world's largest pop music festivals, in Austin, Texas last month. Some 100 American fans wearing "Dean" stickers on their chests followed him around throughout the festival. Dean made his debut in the U.S. before establishing himself in Korea...More

On April 15th, Park Seo-joon's agency, Keyeast Entertainment confirmed through their official website and Facebook, "Park Seo-joon's recent injury did not occur while filming" and "His next drama is currently being filmed under safe environment".
The agency also said, "Park Seo-joon has been making continuous appearances without taking a break since he debuted. Thus his health was affected by the accumulated fatigue" and "The injury has occurred due to the health condition during his training before the filming begins fully"...More

New rental contracts in Seoul dwindled in March by more than 20 percent on-year, but the proportion of monthly rentals reached a record 47 percent.
According to a property information website run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 37,049 rental contracts were signed in Seoul from March 1 to 28, roughly 1,235 a day and down 23 percent from the same period last year...More

The Hallyu wave and Korean culture craze is taking over Canada! Hallyu North is breaking pop culture limits
Hallyu North is proud to announce that SHINee's first time in Canada will be hosted by the Hallyu North 2016 expo taking place on May 6 and 7, 2016 at the Enercare Centre (Canadian Exhibition Place) in Toronto...More

Hong Soo-ah poses at the JARRET fashion show at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Tuesday...More

Actor Park Hae-jin is taking over China.
Park Hae-jin is starring in the Chinese drama "Long Way Love" as a good looking CEO named Sim Ahn. The drama started on the 1st of March and every episode has been getting tremendous feedback...More

Kim Go-eun's refreshing Hawaii pictorial has been revealed.
In the pictorial for the fashion magazine 'Cosmopolitan', Kim Go-eun showed off her lovely smile and her endless charms on the Hawaiian beach. She presented the various stylish looks using the ethnic print dress along with pants and blouse of unique patterns...More

Song Joong-ki, Yoo Ah-in, Park Bo-gum, G-Dragon, Girls' Generation, Li Yifeng, Song Seung-heon, Lee Jung-jae, Lee Hanee, Ha Ji-won have been selected as the ten style icons who will lead the fashion trend in Asia.
The ten stars received awards at the Style Icon Asia Awards 2016 (SIA 2016), which was held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on March 15th...More

Style Icon Asia will be livestreamed on the KCON USA website at 4:00am PST, 7:00am EST. Tune-in and see what G-Dragon, Girls Generation, Yoo Ah In, Song Joong Ki and more all decide to where to one of Asia's premiere fashion award shows...More

The fifth Marie Claire Film Festival took place at the Cheongdam CineCity in the afternoon on March 10th.
This year's award recipients include Lee Byung-hun for his role in 'Inside Men: The Original' for Pioneer Award, Seolhyun for her role in 'Gangnam Blues' for Rookie Award, Busan International Film Festival team for Special Award...More

- Artist & Contents Production Management Company 'RYU Ent.' will open its official website 'RYU GENERATION (aka. RYUGEN)' again on March 1st after its renewal.
- 'RYUGEN' is the official website of 'RYU Ent.' as well as a brand channel and a market platform for contents distribution of its artists...More

Average per-capita spending on private crammers for schoolkids reached W240,000 a month last year, the most since the government began tallying statistics in 2007 (US$1=W1,238).
The statistics were gathered in a survey of 43,000 parents across the nation, but since some of them probably underreported their spending, the total is estimated over W30 trillion overall...More

Security experts work at the headquarters of Microsoft's Cybercrime Center in Redmond, Washington, in this picture from the Microsoft website.
Microsoft will open a Cybercrime Center in Seoul next month, it was confirmed Thursday.
The company hopes to share information with international law enforcement agencies...More

As Park Hae-jin's behind-the-scenes stories have been revealed, it drew explosive attention from his fans.
According to Park Hae-jin, as soon as the sales site for the DVD, 'Yoo Jeong's Story: Yoo Jeong's untold story' was open at 6 PM on February 23rd, the online traffic from all over the world rushed in and the sales site crashed as the result...More
Kim Yu-na (left) holds a smoothie she made, in this video grab from the official website of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
A video clip of figure skating star Kim Yu-na making a smoothie has been uploaded to the official website of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Kim is currently serving as a promotional ambassador for the Youth Olympics.
Kim's smoothi...
More

Actor Park Hae-jin is planning a special treat for his fans to celebrate 10 years in the entertainment business. He will meet several thousand of them on April 23, though the venue has not yet been set.
Park said it was his wish to stage the event to thank his fans for the undying support they have showed since he made his debut on April 1, 2006...More

Singer actor Lee Seung-gi's photo from his military training center has been revealed.
On February 11th, the official website of the Korea Army Training Center posted a group photo including Lee Seung-gi along with other trainee soldiers who enlisted same day...More

f(x) member Luna said she wanted to co-star with So Ji-sub in a melodrama.
Movie "Bungaeman" leading actor and actress Jeong Hyeon-jin and Luna appeared in the February 9th's episode of SBS Power FM radio show, 'Two O'clock Cultwo Show'...More

Wooh Na-young
Wooh Na-young, better known by her pen name Obsidian, has established herself as a well-regarded illustrator with creative interpretations of classics with a modern and Korean twist...More

Added new character posters and making video for the upcoming Korean movie "Bungaeman"...More

An increasing number of seniors are looking for part-time jobs, as more people retire at a younger age, only to find they still have to make ends meet but cannot afford to open their own businesses.
According to part-time job portal Alba, 24,682 resumes of people aged 50 or over were posted on its website last year, a whopping 664 percent increase from 3,232 in 2010. A similar portal, Albamon, saw its resume count for the over-50 age group grow by 26 percent last year compared to the previous year...More

Korean movie ""A Melody to Remember"" to be released in theatres on January 29th in CGV Los Angeles and nationwide on February 2nd
Synopsis
War took away many things
But hope was never gone.
South Korean platoon leader HAN Sang-ryul (Im Si-wan) lost his family and comrades due to the Korean War. He assigned to another unit and comes across war orphans, some of whom are exploited for profit. He decides to help the orphans by creating a choir, thereby healing their wounds with beautiful songs with the help of volunteer teacher Park Ju-mi (Go Ah-sung). Their beautiful voices rise from the battlefield and begin to melt everyone's hearts...More

Tzuyu
The Twitterstorm surrounding a teenage member of manufactured girl group TWICE who waved a Taiwanese flag in a webcast refuses to subside.
Tzuyu (16) of of the nine-member multinational group has apologized for waving the flag in the webcast, but so vociferous has been the online response that politicians are now getting involved in the non-event...More

Added main trailer and first stills for the upcoming Korean movie "Bungaeman"...More

Singer actress Bae Suzys pictorial has been revealed.
On January 15th, Beanpole Accessories has unveiled their spring 2016 pictorial starring Bae Suzy. Bae Suzy exudes her innocent, fresh and vivacious appeals in the pictorial...More

Actor Song Il-gook is going to narrate the EBS FM "100 Actors, Read Korean Literature".
He will be reading a novel by Song Yeong called, "Stonemason"...More

Actors Yoo Ah-in, Lee Min-ho, Lee Seung-gi, Kim Joon-soo, Choi Seung-hyun (T.O.P) from Big Bang, Joo Won and others have the military coming up ahead of them.
First of all, Yoo Ah-in, born in 1986, is on the top of the list. He debuted in 2004 with the drama "Sharp 1" and has been building on his filmography ever since. He's made it big with "Tough as Iron", "Punch", "Veteran" and "The Throne". He's currently performing in the SBS drama "Six Flying Dragons" as Lee Bang-won and is looking forward to the release of the movie "Like for Likes"...More

In the rural outskirts of Andong a seventy-year old man pushes his ninety-five year old mother home in her wheelchair. And that's about all there is to "Where Is My Son??"- a documentary focused almost entirely on ambience. There's the love between a son and his mother, the sense of peace that comes as the elderly mother slowly but steadily moves toward the end of her life, and then there are the visuals of rural Andong, where traditional architecture and greenery overwhelms every shot...More

Actress Bae Doona has become the first Korean to participate in the commercial campaign of the luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton has unveiled their global commercial campaign, Series 4 starring Bae Doona on January 4th. This campaign is based on the inspiration of the the last 16 years of Spring and Summer collection by Louis Vuitton and the campaign is targeted at the global patrons worldwide...More

Added poster and updated cast for the upcoming Korean movie "Bungaeman"...More

SBS Drama Awards 2015 vote for best actor is now open until December, 30...More

Lee Min-ho said a word of caution after hearing that counterfeit tickets were being sold in China.
Lee Min-ho is holding an exclusive concert called 'MINOZ MANSION' on the 16th of January in Korea and in Japan on the 25th. Other countries haven't been confirmed yet...More

Namsan Tower, officially named the "N Seoul Tower", is one of the quintessential romantic spots found in Korean film and drama, and is also a tourist attraction for Koreans and international visitors alike. The communication and observation tower is famous for it's night glow, the "Locks of Love", and the spectacular cityscape view that is lovely during the day and mesmerizing at night...More

The Korea International Photo Festival wraps up its third year, see how North Korean interior design needs a reality check, the Academy of Korean Studies showcases nine images from their research catalogue, and see how Korean beauty trends came and went in one time-lapse video...More
Yeon Jung-hoon and
Soo Ae received Best Actor and Best Actress awards at Grime Awards 2015, which took place in the afternoon on December 10th at KBS New Building in Yeouido-dong, Seoul on December 10th.
Yeon Jung-hoon and
Soo Ae received Best Actor and Best Actress awards for their roles in SBS
"Mask". Drama
More

Actress Hwang Jung-eum on Tuesday confirmed that she is in relationship with a professional golfer and businessman Lee Young-don.
The admission came after the couple were papped by a gossip website holding hands on a date...More

SBS Drama Awards 2015 partial nominees for the 2015/12/31 ceremony...More

As it turns out "Riders: Get Tomorrow" is now finally firmly in the whole rickshaw business stage, so throughout the entire episode we're getting snippets of how the rickshaw business is managed / mismanaged. See, Gi-joon is making the rather questionable decision of getting So-dam involved in the plot by hiring her to do a job it's not clear the rickshaw business actually needs- at least on a full-time basis. The quoted salary really was a tad high, and the dinner especially was unnecessary even if it could probably be written off as a business expense...More

Actor Lee Min-ho's single "The Day" is in second place on the Japanese Oricon Charts.
The single album which came out on the 30th in Japan made it to Top 2 without promotion which is a rare case...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M says that best-known Chinese actor CHOW YUN FAT and famous Taiwanese singer JOLIN TSAI are confirmed to attend 2015 MAMA, which is set to take place at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong on December 2nd.
CHOW YUN FAT, born in Hong Kong in 1955, started to gain immense popularity after starring in TV series "Hotel" in 1976. In 1980, his role as Hui Man Keung in another television smash "The Bund" made him a household name throughout Asia. In 1986, Asia's legendary gangster action film "A Better Tomorrow" made him a mega star and won him Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards...More

In a fairly radical turnabout, this episode ignores the present day adventures of Ri-hwan and Haeng-ah altogether, instead having the story take place entirely in flashback. I wasn't sure what to make of this creative decision at first, but upon further reflection "Bubble Gum" really did need the reprieve. The melodrama had become just about completely unbearable. At least in flashback mode there are decently long stretches of time between individual sad events...More

HyunA, Jessi, San.E confirm to join star-studded night in Hong Kong. GOT7, MONSTA X, Seventeen, Vivian Koo to perform on the red carpet event
Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M announced HyunA, Jessi, San.E as final additional lineup for 2015 Mnet Asia Music Awards, which is set to take place at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong on December 2nd...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has officially announced that EXO, SHINee and TAEYEON from Girls' Generation will join the line-up of the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards, which is set to take place at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong on December 2nd...More

Lee Min-ho has showed off his unbeatable popularity again as the tickets for his first talk show in the year of 2016 was sold out as soon as the tickets were out for sale.
Lee Min-ho's solo talk show, 'Minoz World (second title, MINOZ MANSION) will take place at 8 PM on January 16th, 2016 at Grand Peace Palace of Kyung Hee University...More

The photos of Choi Si-won and Changmin, who enlisted at the same time, have been revealed.
In the photo revealed on the official website of Korea Army Training Center, Choi Si-won and Changmin look happy and manly. Changmin with his clear-cut face features and Choi Si-won, reminding of the image of the dissembling Ttol reporter from his recent drama, "She Was Pretty", made the fans seeing the photos happy...More

- PSY, acclaimed for sweeping various global music charts and breaking Youtube records, is set to perform at 2015 MAMA
- Celebrity list includes Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Kwang-soo, Choo Ja-hyun, Claudia Kim, Han Chae-young, Lee Jung-jae, Park Bo-yeung, Son Ho-jun, Yeo Jin-goo and more
Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has announced a list of artists and celebrities who will take part in 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), set to take place at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong on December 2nd...More

CJ Entertainment's latest thriller "The Priests" makes its North American debut beginning Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2015 in Los Angeles and Dallas, followed by a wider release on December 4, 2015 in San Francisco, New Jersey, Honolulu, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto and more...More

Kim Soo-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun stand atop the stairs of the National Theater of Korea in episode 21 of "My Love from the Star" and share a heartbreaking kiss just before he suddenly disappears. This "red carpet kiss" is one of the most famous drama kisses in recent history and it was filmed on the steps on the first national theater in Korea, a space dedicated to supporting Korean traditional arts and the arts in general. As the home of three national performance groups, the theater holds a lot of history even though it was established fairly recently in 1950...More

Son Heung-min (left) and Yoo So-young
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Son Heung-min has been papped on a date with Yoo So-young, an ex-member of girl group After School who has turned her hand to acting.
The candid shots were published by online gossip rag the Fact...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has announced that there will be a new program added to 2015 MAMA this year from November 28th to December 1st called, '2015 MAMA Nominees' Day & Night', through which it plans to provide a whole new experience for fans...More

Airbnb is conquering Korea, but resistance remains to the flagship of what is being touted as the "sharing economy".
Since it got started in Korea nearly three years ago Airbnb has listed 11,000 lodging spaces, a 2.3-fold jump from last year.
More and more younger people are discovering a simple and convenient way of making money by letting their home through the site, in full or in part, year-round or while they are away on holiday or business...More

The 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards will hold a free screening event playing the nominated films from November 12th to 20th in Hall Two of CGV Yeouido.
This event has been organized for movie fans to enjoy the nominated films for free prior to the main award ceremony. This is a special opportunity for the public to be able to enjoy the best Korean films in 2015 at one spot...More

Kim Soo-hyun's new winter fashion pictorial has been revealed.
Men's clothing brand ZIOZIA has revealed their winter 2015 pictorial starring their exclusive model Kim Soo-hyun in Korea and China simultaneously...More

Best Producer, Best Engineer, and Best Live Entertainment in Asia
Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has announced that they will be adding three professional awards categories including Best Producer, Best Engineer, and Best Live Entertainment for 2015 MAMA. Winners will be chosen from those who have played important roles in contributing to the development of Asian pop culture over this past year...More

Did you know North Korea has its own car company? The New York Times examines the life and death of those who can't afford either, pressure to change Korea's image-orientated hiring practices, and is South Korea's fashion too petite for the rest of the world?...More

One thing I love about these diary pieces is that I can tell you, HanCinema readers, about my adventures in Korea and bring you along with me no matter how big or small my adventure may or may not have been. One thing I particularly loved about the Korea Joa 2015 program was that I not only met dedicated colleagues of Korean entertainment, but I also made friends. There is nothing quite like sharing good times with a good friend...More

One Lucky Fan Will Win A Trip To The 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards
KCONUSA'S COM2US MAMA 2015 Sweepstakes has begun. One lucky fan will win two roundtrip tickets to Hong Kong on December 2nd with their accommodation paid for by KCONUSA to attend The 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), the biggest K-Pop award show of the year. The winner and their guest will fly economy class on Asiana Airlines from the United States to Hong Kong on November 30, 2015 and return to the United States on December 3, 2015. In addition to winning a trip to Hong Kong, the winner and their guest will have the opportunity to see their favorite K-Pop stars...More

Starts this Friday!
The 13th Annual New York Korean Film Festival showcases the nation's cinema doing what it does best: the crime thriller, the romantic fantasy, and feverish erotica. The Peninsula's filmmakers bend genre cinema to a uniquely Korean pulse and purpose, making the countrys national film industry the most vibrant in East Asia...More

KBS 2TV's new Monday & Tuesday drama, "Oh My Venus" starring So Ji-sub and Shin Min-a has revealed exceptional bed scene teaser.
The second teaser released on KBS' official website is 29 second video. In the new teaser, So Ji-sub and Shin Min-a present the shyly sexy and romantic bed scene while an ambient music plays. The scene creates curiosity about an unusual and provocative side of the drama...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has announced a full list of nominees across 18 categories for the upcoming MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards), set to take place at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong on December 2nd. The announcement was broadcast live on Mnet and through Naver's mobile application V at 6 p.m. (KST) on October 30th.
The nominees have been carefully selected from a pool of artists, who have had songs and albums released during the period from October 26th 2014 to October 29th 2015...More

On the official website of MBC's "She Was Pretty", a series of behind-the-scenes photos with a caption saying, 'Who made Sin-hyeok wear a big smile on his face?!" have been posted.
In the revealed photos, Choi Si-won is looking at somewhere while smiling brightly. The following photos show Jeong Jun-ha and Hwang Kwanghee wearing the funny makeup for filming 'Infinite Challenges'...More

Fashion magazine Elle met the beautiful actress Park Shin-hye in the romantic city, Paris.
Park Shin-hye had the special meet with the local people in Saint-Ouen in Paris. Although the environment was not familiar, Park Shin-hye's amiable and friendly personality fascinated the Parisians she met...More

Actress Han Ji-min is a enthralling fall woman in her new pictorial for magazine Cosmopolitan.
The synonymous name for a pure and innocent image, actress Han Ji-min has presented the five fall makeup looks in her pictorial taken for magazine Cosmopolitan...More

Find out how to make spicy shredded squid from Beyond Kimchi, make sure your kimchi fried rice comes out right every time, Maangchi has some tips for K-food newbies, and forget the pancakes you used to know with Jinjoo...More

So-yeon (played by Kim Min-kyung-III) has recently suffered through a miscarriage. She grieves in her own way, as does her husband Joon-sik (played by Jo Han-sun). So-yeong comes up with an idea to try and make the pain more bearable- a trip to a nice island villa with a view of the beach. There they meet the owners Seong-cheol (played by Ma Dong-seok) and Min-hee (played by Ji An). Seong-cheol appears to enjoy off-color jokes, and Min-hee suffers in silence. But are they really jokes, or is Seong-cheol...possibly evil..?...More

The Seoul Senior Film Festival will open its three-day run on Wednesday next week, featuring 41 short films...More

Actress So Yi-hyun took pictures of her pregnant self.
She participated in the 'Moms are women too' campaign run by skin care brand Biotherm...More

A woman sits on roadside late at night in Jongno in downtown Seoul on Sept. 23, 2015.
Violent crimes against women occur in such a wide variety of locations that it is becoming impossible to call anywhere safe.
The Chosun Ilbo analyzed cases of murder, robbery, rape and abduction from 2013 and found that 45.3 percent of murders and 21.7 percent of rapes occurred in homes, and 18.8 percent of murders and 16.6 percent of rapes in the streets. With robberies more than three out of 10 occurred on the streets...More

8th Korea Drama Awards 2015 nominees list...More

Taeyeon of Girls' Generation unveiled songs on her first solo mini-album on major music-streaming websites on Tuesday at midnight and garnered tons of clicks overnight as soon as its release.
She will make the rounds on music shows starting Thursday and will hold concerts from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25 and between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1...More

Korea's only specialised documentary project market, Docs Port, kicks off later this month; check out BIFF's official page to find out what's happening at Korea's biggest film festival; KOBIZ recaps the Hollywood blockbusters that made bank over the summer; and Hangul Celluloid shares their experience of the 'Korea Joa Project'....More

The annual Busan International Film Festival kicked off its 10-day run in the southern port city on Thursday.
Actor Song Kang-ho and Afghan actress Marina Golbahari hosted the opening ceremony, during which Studio Ghibli received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award...More

HanCinema has begun its Korea Joa journey! KOFICE - The Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange - brought fifteen Korean culture-focused websites together to the Ritz Carlton Hotel of Seoul to commence the first year of Korea Joa, a program geared towards sharing Korean culture through its entertainment and the journalists' personal experience of Korea itself. September 30th was the orientation banquet where the journalists met with the KOFICE director general and staff, and with one another...More

Korean beauty trends via online videos are becoming more popular, 10 Magazine showcases 10 over-the-top gift sets for Chuseok, Eat Your Kimchi reflect on suicide in Korea, and how good is your K-slang?...More

More than 300 films from 75 countries will be screened during the annual Busan International Film Festival, which starts its 10-day run on Oct. 1 in the southern port city.
The Indian film "Zubaan", directed by Mozez Singh, will open this year's festival. The film is about a young man's search for his true self. Closing the festival will be the Chinese melodrama "Mountain Cry", directed by Larry Yang. Set in a remote village, the film revolves around a young villager and a widow who fall in love...More

Actress Ha Ji-won turned into a goddess in Hawaii.
On September 21st, fashion magazine 'Cosmopolitan' has unveiled a pictorial starring Ha Ji-won...More

What is Korea Joa?
We have been looking forward to sharing this with our readers for months and the time is finally here. HanCinema has been invited by KOFICE (Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange) to attend ten days of events covering Korean culture and entertainment, including Korean cinema, Kdrama and Kpop. The project, named 'Korea Joa', includes 15 members from 9 nations. The events will take place mainly in Seoul and Busan, where we can also follow the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). Members of the 'Korea Joa' project will be creating content for their respective sites and we will also be collaborating to promote one another's content through social media, giving you a fuller experience...More

Taeyeonof girl group Girls' Generation will stage her first solo concert next month in Seoul. She will hold six shows from Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at COEX in Samseong-dong.
It will also be the second in a series of concerts staged by SM Entertainment featuring artists on its roster...More

Actor Park Si-hoo is running an Internet travel site called PSH Tour. The website is currently gathering tour requests for the Kimje Jipyeongseon Festival from the 7th of October to the 11th. In April this year, the website held a birthday party tour for his fans.
What's unusual about this website is that, not only is it making it convenient for foreign fans to participate in his own events, he's linking them to domestic festivals as well. This is only possible due to Park Si-hoo's reputation abroad...More

Son Heung-min, who recently transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, is set to make his English Premier League debut this weekend.
The London side announced on its website Wednesday that Son had been granted a work permit to play in England, finalizing the paperwork for his transfer from Bayer Leverkusen. Son is expected to play against Sunderland on Sunday...More

Several decades ago Maggi lost both of her sons to unforeseen incidents, leaving behind only three daughters. In traditional Confucian culture this is a big deal- children and especially sons are supposed to care for you in old age. So Maggi dealt with this problem by buying Chunhee, a mentally deficient woman, to serve as her husband's temporary concubine. Now, in the present day, long after Maggi's husband has died, "With or Without You" chronicles the irony of their continued living arrangement...More

Being an American in my late twenties I have an appreciation (well, disgust is probably the better word) for the extent to which empty pop culture references pass for communication. And yet for all that, while I've heard the name Ed Sullivan, I never knew what Ed Sullivan actually looked like until I saw "Try to Remember - Documentary". There was this huge pop culture phenomenon regarding what I can best describe as lounge music, and today we don't even have a good word to describe what that genre of music even was. What does this have to do with Korea? Well, "Try to Remember - Documentary" is the story of the Kim Sisters- who became the first Korean girl group to break into international popularity...More

Director Lee Eun-ji-I came out of film school in her thirties at a bit of a loss as to what to do with her life. She ultimately ended up deciding that the best way to move forward, for the moment anyway, was to accompany her mother on a trip to France. Lee Eun-ji-I's mother, a professor who also does translation work, had been commissioned to produce a new translation of the works of Michel de Montaigne. And so it seemed that Michel de Montaigne, one of the world's most famous and influential philosophers, would help Lee Eun-ji-I figure out what she wanted to do with herself...More

Actress Han Sung-yun showed off the fabulous chemistry with EXO members, Chen and Do Kyung-soo, while they are all dressed up in school uniforms.
On September 8th, Han Sung-yun's agency said, "The school uniform brand, IVY Club has released a commercial cut through their official website, featuring their model Han Sung-yun and the EXO members....More

HanCinema recently met up with actor Kahlid Elijah Tapia to find out about his experience working in South Korea's television and film industry.
You came to South Korea back in 2009 to teach English. What was it about the country and culture that inspired you to explore its film and television industry?
This is a funny one actually because it wasn't the country or the culture. I was living in Florida taking acting classes before I came to Korea and I actually was just wanting to live in this country for one year and go home. A fellow actress and now close friend recommended that I put my headshot and resume on Craigslist. I thought to myself, "For what?" "This is Korea, I can't get anything done here". But I did it and 28 credits on IMDb later, I'm still here. What I learned after posting my information is that I can be an actor anywhere. Especially in this internet driven age...More

Actor Ahn Yong-joon and his lover, singer Venny, who is 9 years older than him, will tie the knot soon.
On August 26th, Ahn Yong-joon's agency has announced in a press release, "Ahn Yong-joon and Venny will tie the knot on September 19th at Ramada Seoul Hotel. Any further specific details have not been decided yet"...More

Young people who are making ends meet doing part-time jobs commonly suffer abuse at work, a straw poll suggests.
Job portal website Albamon polled 612 part-time workers and found that seven out of 10 suffered abuse at work. Part-time workers are people who are employed for less than one-year contracts, including temps...More

Fashion magazine Elle has unveiled their cover page featuring Lee Min-ho and his interview for 2015 September issue.
Elle Korea's exclusive cover page is drawing attention with Lee Min-ho's image set in the desert of LA in the background. Two more intense pictorial images featuring Lee Min-ho's strong and sexy appeals also have been unveiled...More

Eun-beom (played by Baek Sung-hyun) manages a part-time job search website. He has to take care of his little sister Eun-byeol (played by Kim Ji-young-III), but other than that life is mostly unremarkable. Matters take a turn for the dramatic when on a live debate show Seong-woo (played by Jang Se-hyun) takes the entire production hostage. And from there the story takes an even more bizarre and outlandish turn. What could possibly be more extreme than a deranged hostage negotiation? Well...I don't want to ruin it...More

The annual EBS International Documentary Festival will be held in Seoul from Aug. 24 to 30. In its 12th year, the festival will feature 52 documentaries from 32 countries.
"Good Things Await", the opening film, tells the story of Danish farmer Niels Stokholm whose biodynamic farming methods aren't widely accepted in the European Union...More

Park Bo-young, Cho Jung-seok's ghostly romance, 'Oh My Ghostess' has been drawing heated attention domestically and globally.
While the drama is still running, it has already been sold to eight different countries. Putting aside the high viewership rating, it has been receiving explosive reaction on VOD as well...More

Rapper So Ji-sub will release a summer song.
So Ji-sub will unveil his new song, 'Cola Bottle Baby' at noon on August 10th through major music source websites. With his sparkling 'Fizzy hip hop', he will captivate the ears of music listeners...More

A growing number of young people are heading to ear, nose and throat surgery clinics in Gangnam to undergo surgery to change their voices.
Some are aspiring singers in their teens who want to be on reality TV show, while others are college students or jobseekers who want to work as TV presenters or flight attendants...More

This year's Jecheon International Music and Film Festival takes place in the North Chungcheong Province city from Aug. 13 to 18, featuring 101 films about music from 25 countries.
"Try to Remember" by Korean director Kim Dae-hyeon opens the festival. The documentary is about the Kim Sisters, the nation's first girl band who were active half a century ago...More

K-pop girl group Wonder Girls unveiled a teaser on Monday for their third full-length album "Reboot".
The image was posted on their official website and JYP Entertainment's Facebook and Twitter accounts...More

Jin-han (played by Choi Jong-hwan) is the long-lost eldest brother of the Choi family, and the not-exactly-husband of Eun-soo. He's gotten amnesia and now lives a humble existence selling street food with his wife. Strictly speaking "Make a Woman Cry" hasn't actually confirmed that this person is Jin-han, but he's currently listed as such on MBC's official website. And besides, given how much of the conflict lately has been about Jin-han, it would be pretty ridiculous if the snack guy wasn't actually Jin-han after all...More

Intelligence officials look at screens at the National Cyber Security Center in Seoul.
The number of cyber attacks against South Korea has surged after it was confirmed that North Korean hackers obtained leaked data from a top Italian hacking software company.
According to intelligence officials, a total of 17,000 cyber attacks were aimed at major websites operated by the government and other agencies as of 8 a.m. Thursday. At 9 a.m., the frequency surged to 35,000, and a total of 1 million took place over the whole day, averaging at around 41,000 per hour...More

2015 Session 2 Free Korean Language Classes are back on Macquarie Campus on the 10th of August for 14 Weeks!!!!!!
Registration line will open on 27th of July, 10:00 AM (sharp), so don't miss out this time! Online application is on the KCC Official Website . Please be advised that any applications applied BEFORE the due date and time will be invalid...More

Girl group A Pink showcased their second full-length album in a live performance at Kyunghee University in Seoul on Thursday.
The group's six members, who have tried to set themselves apart from other "sexy" girl groups, said they had made a great effort to broaden their musical horizons on the new album...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M says that KCON 2015 USA will be an attractive site for K-beauty lovers, as the event is endorsed and joined by a large group of people from the beauty industry, ranging from small startups and individual YouTubers to cosmetics company sponsors.
"We are confident that KCON 2015 USA will be a good business opportunity for Korean beauty companies trying to find ways to expand their business overseas. Also, it will be a big K-beauty extravaganza for the visitors who want to catch the latest trends in K-Beauty", says Hyun-Soo Kim, head of Global Festival Business at CJ E&M, who is in charge of organizing KCON 2015 USA...More

Goo Ha-ra of girl band Kara will make her solo debut next week.
"The songs of her first mini album will be released to major music-streaming websites on July 14", her management agency DSP Media said on Monday...More

Movies of fantastic features including fears, grotesqueness, suspense and action, which fans cannot experience in real world, are coming in droves.
The 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Movie Festival (BiFan), which will take place on July 16 July 26, will showcase 235 movies under the theme Love, Fantasy and Adventure from 45 countries. The opening film is the French movie Moonwalkers (director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet) and the closing work will be "The Chosen: Forbidden Cave" by Kim Hwi...More

Well Go USA Presents "Northern Limit Line"
Starring:
Kim Moo-yul , Jin Goo , Lee Hyun-woo
Directed by Kim Hak-soon
Release date: July 17TH, 2015 (WELL GO USA)
Cities:
New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Hawaii, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver...More

Seven years ago, an ambitious reality show called Family Outing appeared on Korean TV. Hosted by "The Nation's MC" Yoo Jae-suk (most may know him only as the guy with the bowl cut in PSY's recent videos), this variety show took outdoor reality to a level that is still trying to be reached. The show ran for nearly 2 years on SBS's 'Good Sunday' and had many of the same cast and crew members from the game show X-Man. What this show offered was more than just silly games and jokes, it was a travelogue of Korean villages and offered a glimpse into the Confucian-based society unheard of in America...More

Girls' Generation will be back on stage with the release of a new single and music videos this weekend.
The single "Party" is set to be unveiled on major music-streaming websites on July 7 and will also be available at local stores the following day...More

Fashion magazine Elle had an interview with Kim So-eun, who has recently completed MBC's 'We Got Married', in which she co-starred with Song Jae-rim, and is getting ready for her new drama, 'Scholar Who Walks the Night'.
Kim So-eun, who has been loved much for the lovely chemistry between her and Song Jae-rim, first talked about the reality variety show. She said, "I have so many memories from the last 9 months. I felt so emotional when I thought I had to leave the people whom I had met on the set". She explained why she shed her tears in the last episode. She also said it was a good opportunity for her to share her truthful heart with the public...More

Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M has completed the list of K-pop artists who will be performing at KCON 2015 USA (see below for the full list). Besides the K-pop artists, a number of celebrity guests are expected to join, and their names will soon be announced...More

The main street in the shopping district of Myeong-dong, Seoul is empty amid fears of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on Wednesday. /Newsis
The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which began with the first confirmed case on May 20, has caused many businesses and workers to struggle to make ends meet...More

CJ E&M's Must-see Event Will Take Place on July 24-26 in Ansan, Korea
Award-winning rock bands and artists, such as Foo Fighters, The Chemical Brothers, Noel Gallagher, Motorhead and Deadmau5, will excite tens of thousands of fans this summer at the popular Ansan M Valley Rock Festival, organized by Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M...More

Added the upcoming Korean movie "Bungaeman"'s page to HanCinema database...More

Bae Yong-joon's fiancé Park Soo-jin posted her handwritten letter on her personal Instagram on May 20th.
The letter said "I've been thinking hard because I didn't know how to start my words. So here I am finally" and "Thank you so much for your congratulations and support despite the sudden revelation of the news"...More

Fashion magazine Elle June issue revealed actress Song Hye-kyo's recent interview and pictorial. She is currently getting ready for filming KBS 2TV's new drama, 'Descendants of the Sun' starting in June.
Song Hye-kyo will play Kang Mo-yeon, who is a military medical doctor dispatched internationally. She said, "It's a cheerful role that I took on first time in a while in Korea. It's like an adult version of 'Full House" while she revealed her anticipation on the new project...More

What Korea films are on at Cannes this year? Chris Horn reviews the heartbreaking "Taegukgi" for Modern Korean Cinema, actor Cha Seung-won to play famous geographer in Kang Woo-seok's first period film, and be sure to visit Korean film critic and journalist Darcy Paquet's website for quality news and reviews...More

2015 51st PaekSang Arts Awards : most popular actress in a drama nominees list...More

2015 51st PaekSang Arts Awards : most popular actor in a drama nominees list...More

2015 51st PaekSang Arts Awards : most popular actress in a movie nominees list...More

2015 51st PaekSang Arts Awards : most popular actor in a movie nominees list...More

While Bae Yong-joon and Park Soo-jin have announced they are getting married through their agency's official website on May 14th, the SNS posting by the two are drawing public attention.
In the morning on the day their relationship was announced, the two posted each one's selfie with the big bright smiles on their personal Instagram...More

Jeon Do-yeon and Kim Nam-gil's "The Shameless" will hold a special photo exhibition.
As one of the official selections invited to the sidebar "Un Certain Regard" competition of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, "The Shameless" has been garnering attention.
"The Shameless" now will hold a special photo exhibition from May 12th to June 7th at several movie theaters including CGV Yongsang, CGV Yeongdeongpo, and Busan cgv centum city...More

Actor Yoon Park's pictorial has been revealed.
Yoon Park has had a pictorial session and an interview with KWAVE, a Hallyu magazine recently...More

"Angry Mom"s top issue maker, Ji Soo brought a coffee truck as a gift to the set.
Ji Soo successfully earned the viewers' hearts for his role in "Angry Mom", presenting his versatile ever-changing appeals. He has become a public topic with every episode of the drama by putting his name along his character name Go Bok-dong within the top range of the search word ranking on portal websites...More

Luxury hotels here are struggling as profits dwindle amid a marked decline in high-rolling Japanese customers.
Lotte Hotel, the biggest hotel chain in Korea, saw operating profit fall by half last year to W24.3 billion (US$1=W1,071). Hotel Shilla, a favorite choice of visiting foreign dignitaries and heads of state, posted an operating loss of W20.6 billion last year...More

Myung Films Art Center and Myung Films Institute opened on April 30 at the Myung Films HQ building in Paju City of Gyeonggi Province, which are spaces designated for complex video art and culture with a medium of movie. Myung Films, a Korean film production that marks the 20th anniversary of its foundation this year, provides various entertainment to the public under the motto of Movie City in the Paju Book City...More

Actor Lee Min-ho will participate in the campaign to protect endangered animals.
On April 30th, his agency Starhous Entertainment has said Lee Min-ho will participated in the endangered animal protection campaign collaborated with the jeans casual brand, Guess...More

Romantic casual fashion brand Union Bay revealed BTS images featuring IU and Lee Hyun-woo from the set to film their 2015 summer commercial.
In the revealed images, Lee Hyun-woo and IU, who are dressed up each in a cool sky-blue colored linen shirt and a casual shirt, look focused on taking the pictorial...More

Actor Ji Chang-wook's Bali pictorial has been revealed.
"Healer" actor Ji Chang-wook proved his acting ability as well as his ability to earn public fame and has emerged as one of the top stars...More

On April 23rd, men's total lifestyle brand, TNGT by LF (CEO: Goo Bongeol, www.lfcorp.com) has announced they will launch the promotion event with Lee Min-ho, 'The Tomorrow Man, Min-ho's Gift'.
Starting April 24th, TNGT stores nationwide will present a gift package, 'Min-ho's Gift' to their customers on first-come, first-served basis. 'Min-ho's Gift' includes an eco-friendly bag, a bracelet and 2015 S/S catalogue starring Lee Min-ho...More

Actress Han Ye-seul has revealed her pictorial taken in the set of night in Paris.
Fashion magazine Singles has released Han Ye-seul's pictorial for Decke. In the Pictorial, Han Ye-seul showcased various styles from a blue dress to two-piece set. She also matched the signature bags by Decke to each of her styles in the pictorial...More

On April 21st, the production team of KBS 2TV "Producers" revealed a video clip on their official website.
The revealed video showed the two leading actors Cha Tae-hyun and Kim Kim Soo-hyun having a meeting prior to the main filming begins...More

Over 200 smitten teenage girls and young women congregated at EBS headquarters in Dogok-dong in southern Seoul on Monday to see JYJ's Kim Jun-su on stage.
He was performing on EBS' music show. It was a rare exception to the usual indie lineup, made possible by the persistence of JYJ fans. Since Kim released a solo album in March, fans kept writing requests on the EBS' website to have him on the show...More

Many older people are joining the online sales market dominated by 20- and 30-somethings as e-commerce has grown markedly and become much easier to handle.
People over 50 accounted for a mere 18 percent of the startup sellers on shopping website 11st.co.kr in 2012. But their proportion jumped to 24 percent in 2013 and 39 percent in 2014, more than doubling in two years...More

The new generation Hallyu star, actor Lee Jong-suk's popularity is heating up globally.
People are buzzing about his live streamed fan meeting, '2015 Asia Tour in Shanghai', which was held on March 28th. The simultaneous online traffic recorded 800,000 people...More

Model and actress Lee Sung-kyung who is currently starring in the MBC drama "The Queen's Flower", modeled for fashion magazine Vogue.
She displayed ADIDAS Stella Sportswear which included jackets, shorts, sneakers, and everything from gym wear to street wear...More
JYJ member Kim Jae-joong has a headache.
According to sources, various local travel agencies have been selling illegal 'Kim Jae-joong Farewell Tour' packages to fans which takes place during March 30th to April 1st. The package includes going to see the artist entering base on the 31st of March and visiting a few of his relevant places...More

Spicy Dandelion Salad, Asia's Top Restaurants Revealed, and Zen Kimchi's latest "Seoul Restaurant Expat Guide" has your taste buds covered for 2015...More

Korean Cinema Today...
The latest two episodes of KOFIC's bimonthly podcast features Simon McEnteggart (founder of Hanguk Yeonghwa: "The Home of Korean Cinema") as he joins Pierce Conran and June Kim in studio to chat about Korea's indie cinema circuit, and then again about the blockbusters Korean cinephiles can get excited about this year...More

Byun Yo-han's rebellious image went on the cover page of magazine 1st Look 85th issue. His charismatic eyes and masculine beauty get your heart pumping.
Byun Yo-han's mischievous and rebellious facial expressions appeared on the magazine's cover page. The pictorial was a collaboration with a watch brand, Swatch...More

China is expected to lift a ban on kimchi imports from Korea later this year.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Thursday said China's National Health and Family Planning Commission announced on its website on Feb. 11 plans to ease regulations on the permitted level of coliform bacteria so kimchi imports can resume...More
Actress Jang Nara showed her special appreciation to her fans.
On her official website, a 'live time comment' event was held on the 8th. Jang Nara commented on her fans' posts in live time in celebration of the New Year. This allowed for communication with her fans...More

Lee Su-jin's "Han Gong-ju" @ 24fps...
There are so many films flashing furiously past our eyes nowadays that it's hard to remember some of the devilish details, moments, and ideas from our favourite features. Add to that all the music videos, T.V. series, news broadcasts, digital advertisements, YouTube playlists and gaming, and it might well start to feel like there's an insurmountable backlog of compelling content, and you'd be right (sooner or later). Our lifetime is slowly being replaced by digital dream streams that if we were to watch all the classics, the critically acclaimed, personal recommendations and cultural must-sees, our lives would no longer have a convincing anchor in reality, and screen-time would be our only time...More
Total lifestyle brand TNGT appointed Lee Min-ho as their official model.
The brand released pictures of the actor in 'Real City Life'. The concept of the look is a sophisticated one where Lee Min-ho is wearing a blue jacket with matching jeans...More

"Emergency Couple" took home three awards including Best Korean Drama, Best Actress and the Boldest Moment Presented by Toyota
Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M is proud to announce that its hit romantic comedy drama "Emergency Couple" won three awards – Best Drama, Best Actress (Song Ji-hyo) and the Boldest Moment Presented by Toyota (wedding scene in the 1st episode)–at the 3rd DramaFever Awards, which took place at Hudson Theatre, Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York on February 5, 2015...More

Actor Lee Min-ho will meet his fans through a concert in Hong Kong this March.
According to Starhouse Entertainment on February 5th, Lee Min-ho will join his fans in Lee Min-ho LIVE IN HONGKONG 2015, which will take a place in AsiaWorld-Expo arena in Hong Kong on March 21st...More

Chinese film, 'Diamond Lover' starring Rain is being filmed in Seoul.
According to a media source, Rain is filming the movie along with other actors in Seoul. The female lead, Tang Yan is staying in Seoul as well to participate in the shooting...More

Actress Oh Yeon-seo's beauty collection is in fashion magazine 'Cosmopolitan'.
Oh Yeon-seo is wearing bronze make-up that makes her look like a doll with long wavy hair down her sides. She's wearing a white dress that makes her look like a goddess and a tube top dress with frills and more...More

CJ E&M to Promote the Must-see Summer Event Globally, Using Its Music Brand M
Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M announces that it has renamed its premier annual rock festival as Ansan M Valley Rock Festival, and that the event will be held in Ansan, a city located south of Seoul, from July 24-26...More

Actress Kang So-ra is attracting attention with her office look that reminds of Ahn Yeong-I of "Incomplete Life".
On January 16th, the magazine Cosmopolitan released Kang So-ra's photos taken for its February issue...More

The melodrama "Ode to My Father" is set to become the 14th film ever to draw 10 million viewers here on Tuesday.
The first film to achieve the mark in Korean cinema was the 2003 blockbuster "Silmido"...More

The collection of Actor Ji Chang-wook's eight different facial expressions is drawing attention.
Ji Chang-wook (Seo Jeong-hoo) from KBS 2TV drama, "Healer" has been winning female fans' heart through his thriving acting performance lately. The collected image of his eight different facial expressions have been uploaded on an online community website...More

People are buzzing about the triplets' photo uploaded on an online community website, showing Song Il-gook and triplets, Daehan, Minguk, Manse who went to market for red bean porridge.
On December 22nd, the Winter solstice in Korea, which marks the longest night of the year, they went to a market to get red bean porridge...More

Actress Kim Yoo-jung revealed her ways of practice.
She claimed that she wrote letters of advice to children who dreamed of being an actress like her, on the EBS Plus2 "School Land – Teen Teen Interview"...More

The Sales Team 3 from tvN drama, "Incomplete Life" wore their custom-ordered group T-shirts.
In one of the photos uploaded on Park Hae-joon's fan club website, it showed the Sales Team 3 in their group T-shirts in a restaurant. The actors from 'Incomplete Life" in the photo wore shirts imprinted Chajang (Deputy general manager), Gwajang (Manager), Deari (Assistant manager), and Sawon (Staff) on each one's...More

An indie documentary about a devoted elderly couple is rewriting the history of Korean cinema.
"My Love, Don't Cross That River" topped the box office on Friday last week, and maintained its lead on Saturday by drawing 247,658 viewers in one day. It has now been watched by 776,424 people and is on course to hit 1 million 18 days after its release on Nov. 27...More

- With 10 months of preparation and 16 years of production know-how, CJ E&M successfully hosted Asia's premiere music awards ceremony
- The show has reached 2.4 billion people in 16 countries and garnered 65 million online votes worldwide
- Renowned Korean, Chinese, and US artists such as EXO, Taeyang, and John Legend delivered stunning performances in front of 10,000 audiences
The 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) was successfully held in Hong Kong on December 3 announced Asia's leading content and media company CJ E&M today. In its sixth year since evolving into Asia's premier music festival, MAMA's impact has spread far beyond its origins in Korea to across Asia and other parts of the world...More

Red carpet event of 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (2014 MAMA) was held in the evening on the 3rd in Asia World Expo Arena, AWE, Hong Kong.
In the phone, actress, Kang So-ra walks red carpet at the venue of 2014 MAMA.
The 2014 MAMA is hosted in Asia World Expo Arena, the largest performance venue in Hong Kong...More

- CJ and UNESCO partnership - "Bright Girls. Bright Future!" - supports the education of young girls
- The Asia's premiere music awards speaks to the power of music to bridge cultures and bring people together
Oscar-winning actor and the honorable UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation Forest Whitaker will deliver a video message for girls' education at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) announced Asia's No.1 content and media company CJ E&M today...More

Added many new posters and briefing video for the upcoming Korean movie "Dad for Rent"...More

Novelist Lee Oi-soo has been diagnosed with stomach cancer and will undergo surgery next Wednesday. Lee broke the news on Twitter account on Wednesday, saying the test results were worse than he had thought...More
Korean consumers are more enthusiastic online shoppers than their Chinese and Japanese counterparts, according to a study by IBM.
Surveying 30,554 adults in 16 countries, the company found that Chinese consumers are avid users of social media, location tracking services and smartphones, while the Japanese consumers prefer traditional offline shops...More

The 20-minute short film "A Rose Reborn" directed by Park Chan-wook was unveiled at the closing ceremony of the Shanghai Fashion Week on Wednesday. The film, having three episodes plus the finale, is a global collaboration between Park and the Italian luxury brand Ermenegildo Zegna.
British actor Jack Huston and California-born Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu starred in the film, wearing costumes made by the luxury label...More

Added new official trailer and press photos for the upcoming Korean movie "Dad for Rent"...More

Chinese investors are increasingly putting their money into Korean TV soap and movie productions as they continue to enjoy huge popularity on the mainland and beyond.
That means they can also flex more muscle in showbusiness here...More

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then a low-rent Chinese soap firmly establishes Korean TV dramas at the top of entertainment products in the world's most populous country.
"The Heirs from the Star", a 10-episode Chinese miniseries, has understandably stirred up a plagiarism controversy with its mash-up of two popular Korean soaps, "The Heirs" and "My Love from the Star"...More

Open for trade visitor which are sourcing for Korean products to represent in Malaysia, public and K-WAVE fans.
K-Show 2014 Invitation to K-Wave fans and businessmen sourcing for innovative Korean products to bring into the market.
'Anyeonghasaeyo!' The 2nd K-Show 2014 has return again introducing its presences with wider range of Korean's latest beauty and lifestyle trends, technology, food and beverage products. A trade exhibition with the objective to introduce exclusive Korean products to Malaysians!...More

Janice Min, who leads Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter, the two most influential U.S. showbiz publications, has some advice for the popular music industry of her ancestral home.
Min attended the MU:CON Seoul 2014, a world music market hosted by the Korea Creative Contents Agency, which ended on Wednesday.
Min delivered a keynote speech on Monday on K-pop and shared candid thoughts about it at a press conference afterwards...More

Lee Byung-hun is going through a great ordeal.
The aftermath of this scandal is lingering with the two women who were prosecuted after trying to blackmail the actor out of 5 billion won. The brand Lee Byung-hun is currently modeling for, has reduced exposure of him and his movie. They're looking for an ideal release period for his exposure...More

Chinese tourists shop in a duty free shop in Seoul (file photo).
Seoul has emerged as one of the favorite destinations of Chinese tourists. The Beijing Youth Daily reported in early September that Korea and Japan were the top two destinations for Chinese tourists last year thanks to geographical proximity, citing a report from the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF)...More

Asian horror is without a doubt one of the biggest genres known to international viewers. Korean horror specifically has its hits and misses, but very few movies really manage to go beyond the entertaining type of pop-corn horror. Those that manage something different usually have a strong human drama behind them, but that is still not a guarantee of quality and leaves no surprises by now. "Arang" is an interesting and good enough thriller film and has a bit more to it than your average "light" pastime horror, but certain aspects of it keep it from being great...More

The annual DMZ International Documentary Film Festival started its weeklong run on Wednesday in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
Some 111 documentaries from 30 countries have been selected from among 661 entries from 69 nations...More

CJ E&M teams up with major broadcasters to present a new preschool show for children to enjoy the diverse cultures around the globe
CJ E&M [http://en.cjenm.com], Asia's leading content and media company, announced today that its animated preschool series, Super Wings, will be launching on major television networks worldwide including Canal Plus' preschool channel, Piwi+ in France, SVT in Sweden, EBS in Korea and other key channels in the US, Latin America, Germany, Spain and Russia...More

Added the upcoming Korean movie "Dad for Rent"'s page to HanCinema database...More

"My Lovely Girl", a new Korean television series to be aired by SBS, a major broadcasting network, on Sep. 17, has been sold at the record price of 200,000 US dollars per episode.
SBS said on Tuesday that it signed a copyright contract over the series with Youku Tudou, China`s largest video hosting website. The series has 16 episodes and the total price is up to 3.2 billion won (3.2 million dollars). "Fated to Love You", an MBC series starring actor Jang Hyuk and actress Jang Nara, and "It's Okay, That's Love", an SBS series starring actor Jo In-sung and actress Gong Hyo-jin, had been sold to China at the highest price of 120,000 dollars per episode...More

OPENS IN SELECT THEATERS SEPTEMBER 12th
STARRING: Kim Nam-gil, Son Ye-jin, Yoo Hae-jin, Lee Kyung-young, Kim Tae-woo, Park Chul-min, Oh Dal-soo
DIRECTED BY: Lee Seok-hoon
RELEASE DATE: September 12th, 2014 (WELL GO USA)
CITIES: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Denver, Boston, Hawaii, Toronto, Vancouver...More

Sun Hyun-woo launched the website Talk to Me in Korean in 2009 to teach Korean via various online formats such as YouTube videos, podcasts and e-books. His business has made big strides in no more than five years with some 8.7 million users from 199 countries around the world. Total downloads of his lessons have surpassed 50 million.
The 34-year-old first got inspiration for his business from exchanging letters with foreigners while at university.
"When I returned to school after a two-year absence to complete mandatory military service in 2004, I wanted to make foreign friends, so I introduced myself on foreign websites and asked for people to contact me if they wanted to chat with me", Sun said...More

Fans can experience all things KCON 2014 from the comfort of their own homes right now
KCON (www.kconusa.com), the largest annual fan celebration of Korean entertainment and culture, announced that every aspect of KCON 2014 will be showcased exclusively on Mnet America's website www.mnetamerica.com and their YouTube page through the docu-series -KCON Experience 2014 – airing now. If you can't come to LA for KCON, Mnet America is bringing all the excitement to you...More

American Teens Take a Deep Dive into the Korean Wave and Explore K-Pop's Cultural Roots at 3rd Annual Hallyu Camp
WHAT: Korean Pop/Traditional Culture Immersion Camp for American Teenagers
WHEN: August 11-15, Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
WHERE: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland
(3800 Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD 20742)
WHO: 20-30 teenagers + Korean youth interns
HOSTS: Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C., The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission...More

Son Heung-min, who plays for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, is dating Bang Minah of K-pop band Girls Day.
They were caught dating at night, according to an online website on Thursday. As a photo of the two walking hand-in-hand, which was taken in mid-July, was revealed, Bang Minah's management agency admitted that rumors of the relationship are true, but it said that the two recently started dating and have met just twice so far...More

KCON 2014 Includes Two Night of K-pop Concerts, Appearances from Top Korean Drama Stars, "League of Legends" Exhibition Match, and the "Taste of KCON"
A Larger Convention with More Panels, Workshops and Special Guests from Across Hallyu Storm Downtown L.A. August 9 and 10
KCON, the largest annual fan celebration of all things Hallyu, announced today that the third annual convention will feature a free marketplace with vendors from around LA and a free outdoor stage. KCON 2014 also revealed its program schedule for this year's two day convention taking place August 9 and 10 in Downtown Los Angeles. Building on last year's highly successful event at the Los Angeles Memorial Arena, KCON 2014 will return with a programming slate double the size and more varied than ever. In addition to two star-studded K-pop concerts (up from one in 2013), special guests and a new program of panels and workshops, KCON 2014 will add a slew of first-time features to the convention.
These include:
- A free market and outdoor stage, which will showcase local artists along with vendors from the L.A. area including the "Taste of KCON", serving up some of the best food from K-Town.
- Huge K-Drama stars Yoo In-na, Lee Seung-gi and Lee Seo-jin appearing at KCON as special guests...More

Ha Seok-jin and Lee Jae-yoon both modeled for a photo shoot with fashion magazine Cosmopolitan, August issue.
Under the concept of five different sports categories, the two actors were dressed for horseback riding, fencing, tennis and more...More

Indie Korean Music and Cinema are Finding Its Feet Internationally
Psy's Gangnam Style was just the beginning. There is no longer any doubt that the independent music and movie scene in Korea is gaining traction all over the world-especially in the United States and United Kingdom. K-Pop has been huge in the US and other western countries for a couple of years and more and more Korean movies are getting screen time in "mainstream" American movie theaters...More

Courtesy of the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival
The 10th Jecheon International Music and Film Festival will take place in North Chungcheong Province from Aug. 14 to 19, featuring 88 films about music from 32 countries...More

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan), which marks its 18th anniversary this year, started 11-day-long move festival.
Starting with an opening ceremony at Bucheon stadium in Bucheon City of Gyeonggi Province on Thursday, PiFan presents a variety of 210 films from 48 nations (123 long films and 87 short films). Stereo, a German thriller film directed by Maximilian Erlenwein, was screened as opening film. Based on the gangster genre, the film transcends present and past, and tears down the barrier between reality and fantasy...More

Asia's leading contents company CJ E&M [http://en.cjenm.com] has released official photos of M COUNTDOWN held in Seoul on July 3. The photos feature the first ever performances of new singles by f(x), T-ara's Hyomin, and 100%...More

The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday ordered a cosmetic clinic in Busan to pay actress Kim Sun-ah W25 million for using her name in advertising without her permission (US$1=W1,012)...More

Lee Young-ae (left) talks to a Taiwanese mother at International St. Mary's Hospital in Incheon on Sunday, in this screen grab from Sina.com.
Actress Lee Young-ae has quietly picked up the huge hospital bill of a Taiwanese tourist who gave birth prematurely on her holiday to Seoul in February.
According to Taiwanese website Sina.com, Lee paid a visit to International St. Mary's Hospital in the western port city of Incheon on Sunday and met the mother and baby...More

By Choosing Favorite K-Pop Song of the Decade Fans can vote online for their favorite K-Pop song of the decade
M COUNTDOWN, the world's No.1 live K-Pop chart show, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a special online poll allowing fans to vote for their favorite K-Pop song of the decade announced CJ E&M today...More

Its the rights of the sexual minority! vs. Were concerned that children might see them
There is controversy over Korea Queer Culture Festival, the largest event for the sexual minority in Korea. The event started in 2000 and marks the 15th anniversary this year. A parade heralding the beginning of the festival was scheduled to take place on Yonsei-ro, Shinchon, Seodaemun district in Seoul on June 7, but the district office cancelled the permit to the event on Tuesday. A queer festival has been held to promote the understanding of the general public on the sexual minority and increase a sense of pride among the sexual minority in Korea...More

South Korea's highly anticipated film "No Tears for the Dead" (directed by Lee Jeong-beom) is set to be released in North American theaters June 20th!
PROLOGUE
Veteran hitman Gon (Jang Dong-gun) receives a mission, which is to target Mogyeong (Kim Min-hee). The trouble is, he falls in love with her.
SYNOPSIS
Abandoned by his mother shortly after immigrating to America, Gon is raised by the mafia and grows up to become a cold-blooded hitman. Though usually flawless in taking out his targets, Gon makes a terrible mistake of killing an innocent young girl. A flood of guilt takes over his life and the situation becomes worse when his boss assigns him the job of killing the young girl's mother. Gon's new target, Mogyeong, is a risk manager at an investment firm and has buried herself in work to bury her grief. She is completely unaware of her role at the heart of a dangerous conspiracy. Finally, she meets the man who wants to tell her the truth behind the death of her child...More

Its the rights of the sexual minority! vs. We're concerned that children might see them.
There is controversy over Korea Queer Culture Festival, the largest event for the sexual minority in Korea. The event started in 2000 and marks the 15th anniversary this year. A parade heralding the beginning of the festival was scheduled to take place on Yonsei-ro, Shinchon, Seodaemun district in Seoul on June 7, but the district office cancelled the permit to the event on Tuesday. A queer festival has been held to promote the understanding of the general public on the sexual minority and increase a sense of pride among the sexual minority in Korea...More

K-pop icon Seo Taiji will go on a nationwide tour with his first album in five years.
Label Wellmade Yedang, which signed a contract with Seo for his new album, on Monday said the singer will release his ninth album this fall, and start the countrywide tour in Seoul...More

KBS 2TV weekend drama comes in first out of the 3 broadcasting stations.
According to Nielsen Korea, "Very Good Times" on the 27th rated 27.9%. This is 3.7% higher than the previous episode...More

The sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival (TFEFF) will be held in two central London venues over ten days from Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June, showing 23 films including International and European premieres.
The festival is one of the UK's biggest showcases for contemporary Asian cinema, boasting an electrifying mix of movies from emerging and established artists across a range of genres. The 2014 edition will open on Friday 23 May with the UK premiere of ON THE JOB, the latest ground-breaking work from Erik Matti which premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2013 in the 'Directors' Fortnight'. The closing film of the festival, screened on Sunday 1 June, will be the International premiere of JUDGE! with special guest appearance from director Akira Nagai...More

The 15th Jeonju International Film Festival takes place throughout the city from May 1 to 10.
The JIFF has a reputation for featuring innovative and experimental movies rather than the mainstream fare...More

Kim Soo-hyun is having a fan meet.
He's going to be at the autograph signing event for the men's clothing brand ZIOZIA on the 11th at 6.30PM...More

Sun-ye with her husband
Wonder Girls' Sun-ye will leave for Haiti with her husband in a few months' time to participate in long-term missionary work there. The K-pop singer revealed her plan on a website run by her fans on Tuesday.
"My husband and I have decided to spend the next five years in Haiti from this July conducting missionary outreach projects", she wrote...More

Lee Min-ho, Kim Soo-hyun, Jang Keun-suk, Kim Woo-bin and Lee Jong-suk are the most loved in China. While "My Love from the Star" and "The Heirs" are great hits in China these days, www.kugou.com, a music and entertainment website, carried out a fan vote online. 1,355,150 netizens logged on to vote for this survey and Lee Min-ho came first with 510,764 votes.
Then came along Kim Soo-hyun from "My Love from the Star" with 469,948 votes. This is 34.7% of the votes, 3% less than Lee Min-ho...More

Singer Lee Seung-gi smiles at a promotional event for a social media website in Seoul on Friday...More

"Another Family" is coming out on TV.
Gom TV is providing simultaneous theater service for "Another Family". A payment of 10,000 won allows to you download or stream from the website...More

Figure skating star Kim Yu-na, who won gold at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and silver at the recently ended Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, has admitted she is dating ice hockey player Kim Won-jung, who is six years her senior.
Her management agency All That Sports said in a press release on Thursday, "Most of the reports about the dating rumors [by entertainment website Dispatch] are true, and they are in a relationship".
On Thursday morning, the Korean online paparazzi published an article claiming that the two athletes were in love, along with numerous photos showing them together out on dates...More

This Korean psychedelic/folk rock band is very well known in South Korea, and about to perform at SXSW2014 this March. After attending SXSW, the band decided to perform in NYC as well.
Currently they are booked for two shows in NYC, and one of 'em is almost sold out...More

The sixth Terracotta Far East Film Festival (TFEFF) will be held in two central London venues over ten days from Friday 23 May to Sunday 1 June.
The festival is one of the UK's biggest showcases for contemporary Asian cinema, boasting an electrifying mix of movies from emerging and established artists across a range of genres...More

South Korea's "Tabloid Truth" is coming to N. American theaters on March 7th!
A scandalous rumor about an up-and-coming actress is included as a gossip item in a stock market tipsheet and propagated by the tabloids, causing her to take her own life...More

Park Chan-kyong (left) and Park Chan-wook
If a city is like food, what could Seoul taste like? To film director brothers Park Chan-wook and Chan-kyong, Seoul is bittersweet. Out of 11,852 video clips of Seoul, the brothers chose 154 cuts and edited them into a 65-minute film promoting the city.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government called for video images of Seoul for 100 days from Aug. 20 to Nov. 25 last year, and 6,523 video clips were submitted by Koreans and 5,329 by foreigners.
The resulting montage the Park brothers edited and created was unveiled on YouTube last week...More

- Taking place April 2 at Yokohama Arena, anticipation at a fever pitch among both local and international fans as hit K-Pop chart show makes its first global tour stop in 2014
- Event will also feature various fan engagement events including a meet & greet, red carpet ceremony, and cultural workshops/booths
Seoul, Korea (February 21, 2014) – Popular K-Pop groups Choshinsung, 2PM, and Girl's Day are slated to appear at "M COUNTDOWN: No.1 Artist of Spring 2014" on April 2 at Yokohama Area in Japan announced executive producer CJ E&M [http://en.cjenm.com] today. With the first lineup of artists revealed (all top-notch K-Pop stars ranked on M COUNTDOWN's weekly charts during the first quarter of the year), anticipation is at a fever pitch among both local Japanese and international fans as the popular K-Pop chart show makes its first global tour stop in 2014...More

- Connecting with a new generation of viewers, show has ranked as one of nation's top two cable programs among 20-49 year olds in each of the 11 weeks it has aired to-date
- Show has also propelled the "Muk-bang" (eating scene) TV trend in Korea where viewers, inspired by scenes of characters enjoying delicious meals, hunt down these foods in real life
Seoul, Korea (February 13, 2014) - Exploring the isolation of modern Korean society and food as an important medium to connect, CJ E&M's [http://en.cjenm.com] recent drama "Let's Eat", starring actress Lee Soo-kyung and Yoon Doo-joon from K-Pop group BEAST, has been a hit with a new generation of Korean viewers. According to Nielson, the drama has ranked as one of the nation's top two cable shows among 20-49 year olds in each of the 11 weeks it has aired to-date. The show has also propelled the "Muk-bang" (eating scene) TV trend in Korea inspiring a food craze as viewers passionately watch and hunt down the foods they see on episodes...More

Cable channel tvN drama "Answer Me 1994" is parting with Min Dohee for a while.
Min Dohee acted out Jo Yoon-jin from Yeosu and was put in the spotlight for speaking with a dialect. Thanks to the popularity she gained here, she continued to star in various TV shows such as MBC "Radio Star", KBS 2TV "Happy Together Season 3", SBS "Running Man" and more. She also appeared in Lunar New Year Specials and modeled in various ads and commercials...More

Added new trailer, images and updated cast for the upcoming Korean drama "Pluto Squad"...More

Introducing HanCinema simplified Website for mobile phone...More

CITIES: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Las Vegas, Boston, Washington D.C., Hawaii (Aiea), Toronto, Vancouver, Anchorage, Denver
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 2014 (WELL GO USA)...More

K-pop group Girls' Generation ranked fifth on U.S. news weekly magazine Time`s "Top 10 Songs of 2013" with "I Got a Boy".
"The nine-woman South Korean group Girls' Generation is a ridiculously effective hook machine, and a major phenomenon in Asia, whose biggest pop acts make One Direction and Katy Perry sound like audience-alienating avant-gardists", the magazine said in an article posted on its Website Wednesday. "If you like songs that do everything at once, go straight to YouTube and call up the over-the-top video for this monomaniacally charming hybrid of bubblegum, dubstep and hard rock...More

Added the upcoming Korean drama "Pluto Squad"'s page to HanCinema database...More

MBC anchor Kim Joo-ha is seeking a restraining order for her estranged broker husband.
Legal sources on Thursday said Kim is seeking the restraining order citing repeated physical abuse by her husband of nine years as the couple prepare to divorce...More

Traditional Korean lanterns lit simultaneously at Changgyeong Palace in Jongno district at 6:30 p.m. on October 1, 30 minutes ahead of its first nighttime opening this autumn. The lamps brightened up at the main entry Honghwa Gate to Myeongjeong Gate, and to Myeongjeong Pavilion. People lined up long outside at the ticket office to buy tickets.
A father visited the palace with this son, and pointed out to Myeongjeong Pavilion, saying, "This is where King lived". He said, "I work in Jongno but it is the first time that I visited Changgyeong Palace. I came here with my family to enjoy nighttime scenery and because I thought it would be a good history and cultural experience for my child". On the way east to the Chundangji Lake, couples were either walking hand in hand or with baby in stroller. The lights stayed bright on the pathways to the 6,400 square meter botanical garden located on the north of the lake...More

Upcoming movie "Tough as Iron" (starring Yoo Ah-in from "Punch" and "Sungkyunkwan Scandal") to be released in North America on October 11th this week! The movie has been released in S. Korea last week and has received rave reviews from critics and moviegoers...More

Actress Kang Sung-yeon now hosts her own poetry reading program on EBS, but even until high school she was extremely shy and recalls being afraid to look others in the eye. Her personality naturally drew her to books, she says.
"I was too afraid to speak and felt like I was going to burst if I wasn't able to express myself on paper at least", Kang recalls...More

Rumors of celebrity relationships have been added day after day. On Wednesday, two models, Kim Woo-bin and Yoo Ji-an, were reported as a couple while Thursday saw two more romantic rumors -- idol star Sulli of the girl group FX and singer Choi Ja of Dynamic Duo, and Soyeon of the popular girl group Tiara and singer Oh Jong-hyeok. Friday added one more couple of idol star Kim Myung-soo of the boy group Infinite and an ordinary woman.
Though Sulli (19) and Choi Ja (33) denied their romantic relationships, many netizens believe they are a couple based on pictures of them posted on the Internet in which they walk hand in hand. Because of the 14-year age gap, a netizen commented, Choi Ja is a true winner! Another netizen said, Sulli used to say that she adores a man like a father. The father-like man must have been Choi Ja...More

Unique style and cultural festival with awards ceremony, fashion shows, film festivals, photo exhibitions, and more
Having promoted K-Culture worldwide, will be broadcast and streamed live across Korea, Southeast Asia, China, and the U.S.
The highly anticipated 2013 STYLE ICON AWARDS (2013 SIA) will take place on October 22-24 in Seoul, Korea announced CJ E&M today. A unique style and culture festival with fashion shows, film festivals, photo exhibitions, celebrity parties and more, SIA has grown rapidly in popularity worldwide, with this year's awards ceremony to be broadcast and streamed live across Korea, Southeast Asia, China and the United States...More

The 5th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival will take place for a week from Oct. 17 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
The festival, largely non-competitive, will feature 119 documentaries from 38 countries...More

HeeJun Han Takes a Seat Next to Danny Im for the First Time
Thursday September 26 on Mnet America at 7:00 pm ET/ 4:00 pm PT
Mnet America (www.mnetamerica.com) the only national, English-language lifestyle network in the U.S. for fans of Asian pop culture, is bringing on American Idol vet HeeJun Han to co-host their flagship talk show Dannyfrom LA with former K-pop superstar, Danny Im. The singer currently is making headlines raking in YouTube views with his new single"Bring the Love Back" featuring Pusha T...More

Taking place September 6 to November 3 in the city of Gwangju in southwest Korea, the 2013 Gwangju Design Biennale will showcase around 660 installations and designs works. Around 358 participants, including 339 designers from more than 20 countries, will take part in the event.
Held every two years, the Gwangju Design Biennale was initiated in 2005 by Metropolitan City of Gwangju following the success of the Gwangju Biennale, the first biennale to be held in Asia...More

Seoul is opening a festival for those who want to enjoy the last days of summer. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday it would hold the 2013 Seoul Open Night for two days this Friday and Saturday at Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza and Yongsan and Seongbuk districts. Now in its sixth year, the event is a key summer festival in Seoul where people join and enjoy various cultural events.
The event contains three themes. "Seoul Music Festival" will be held at Seoul`s key cultural spaces under the theme music; "Open House Seoul" will prepare various architecture and facilities with storytelling; cultural project "Sangsang +" will help people experience cultural and arts imaginations of Seoul and create new culture...More

Singer Lee Hyori unveiled her wedding photos and thoughts about her recent marriage on Tuesday on a website run by her fans. Lee tied the knot with guitarist Lee Sang-soon in a private ceremony on Jeju Island on Sunday.
"I hope you understand how I wanted to be just like an ordinary daughter and daughter-in-law to my family, relatives and parents-in-law on my big day", she wrote. "I was worried about the possibility of rain, but luckily the weather was very pleasant. The wedding preparations were not easy, but still enjoyable"...More

Seoul is opening a festival for those who want to enjoy the last days of summer. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday it would hold the 2013 Seoul Open Night for two days this Friday and Saturday at Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza and Yongsan and Seongbuk districts. Now in its sixth year, the event is a key summer festival in Seoul where people join and enjoy various cultural events.
The event contains three themes. "Seoul Music Festival" will be held at Seoul`s key cultural spaces under the theme music; "Open House Seoul" will prepare various architecture and facilities with storytelling; cultural project "Sangsang +" will help people experience cultural and arts imaginations of Seoul and create new culture...More

Making authentic electronic music based on the alternative and punk rock sounds of the 90's and pop sounds of the 80's, is creating a heavy buzz around this visionary group of musicians
With each of its members possessing more than a decade of experience, becoming more and more sensitive to their music than anyone else. Love X Stereo is quickly becoming a band that people are watching with interest. These consummate professionals, whom also handle all of their own composing, lyrics, producing, recording and mixing are about to take their years of live performing on the road to share it with the recording industry and the rest of North America...More

The six member band Beast from South Korea made an exciting comeback on 19th July with their new song Shadow. Based on a dark, creepy theme, the track went viral among fans on the release day and didn't take long in topping the charts.
Shadow showcases the kind of music that suits the band pretty well. Beast went away from usually summer hippie style and it worked well for them because the track reached number 1 on major Korean music websites...More

Actor Lee Beom-soo has made his directorial debut with a short film urging people not to smoke.
Lee, who is a promotional ambassador for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, unveiled "Puppet" at the Sponge House Theater in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on Tuesday. It was made as part of an anti-smoking campaign funded and organized by the ministry...More

Singer Seo Taiji and actress Lee Eun-sung, who is 16 years his junior, tied the knot at Seo's newly-built home in the affluent Pyeongchang area of northern Seoul on June 26.
Seo broke the news of his wedding on his website on Wednesday...More

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Hosts Largest K-pop Convention in North America - August 24-25
Full Line-Up of M COUNTDOWN What's up LA Includes Major K-pop Artists EXO, f(x), Dynamic Duo, TEEN TOP, 2AM and G Dragon
Five-time Grammy Award winning rapper, singer-songwriter Missy Elliott is coming to KCON 2013, the country's largest K-pop fan convention to perform as part of the event's M COUNTDOWN What's up LA concert on August 25.
"I'm excited to be a part of KCON. This event will allow me to interact with a diverse group of artists and fans", said Missy Elliott.
Missy Elliott represents the most recent example of a hip hop artist participating in the worldwide explosion of K-pop. Since releasing her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly and hit single "The Rain" in 1997, Missy Elliott and her distinct vocal style skyrocketed to the upper echelons of rap music success and became one of the most recognizable figures in America pop culture...More

Former Wonder Girls' member Sun-mi revealed the first teaser photos ahead of her solo debut on Monday. To promote her return to show business, her agency JYP Entertainment posted three pictures of the singer sporting pink bobbed hair on its website.
Sun-mi quit the girl band in January 2010 to go back to school in order to prepare for college entrance exam...More

Kim Yeon-ju, a housewife, has to struggle every day with her 7-year-old daughter who throws a tantrum all day long to use a computer. But once the kid gets on a computer, she does not leave the computer for hours. Kim said, A few days ago, my daughter asked me to buy something for her while pointing to the computer. On the computer screen, I found a lot of toys in a shopping cart. Im worried if I can let her be like this.
Many Korean children aged six through nine are found to have developed high dependence on the Internet. The Korea Internet Security Agency conducted a study on the Internet use of 5,000 children aged six or older across the country, which was titled The 2012 Survey of Information and Culture. According to the study, children aged six through nine use the Internet an average of 2 hours per day...More

We hope you are prepared for the Many Faces of Korean Cinema!
If you love Korean movies, culture and food then the 4th KOFFIA Korean Film Festival in Australia is perfect for you! Taking place across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, the festival will showcase the very best of Hallyuwood, the vibrant cinema emerging from South Korea. 17 feature films including 7 Australian premieres and many short films will screen in an exciting line-up not to miss!...More

[KOTRA Open Gallery Series] 2013 KOTRA Hallyu Art Competition Winners' Exhibition
About a month ago AT&D Korea Blog featured the KOTRA Open Gallery exhibition 'Life of Small Companies'.
KOTRA has recently opened a new Open Gallery exhibition about Hallyu that shows how Hallyu is influencing the world. Let us have a look around this Open Gallery exhibition...More

CJ E&M's Online Content Channel INSITE TV's Hallyu Makeup Show 'Pony's Beauty Diary' is among the most popular!
Korea's largest entertainment group CJ E&M introduces a high-profile Hallyu makeup show "Pony's Beauty Diary" online to target young female audience throughout Asia. Currently, the show is rapidly growing in online popularity. "Pony's Beauty Diary" is updated every Friday on INSITE TV's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/insiteTV1
"Pony's Beauty Diary" stars a renowned makeup artist in South East Asia 'Pony' (Park Hye Min) who introduces the latest Hallyu makeup tips in various occasions...More

Convention Capping Concert Includes EXO, f(x), 2AM, TEEN TOP with Additional Artists to be Announced in the Coming Weeks
KCON 2013, North America's first and largest Korean pop culture convention has announced that G-Dragon, one of the biggest individual music stars in Korean pop, will be headlining KCON's M Countdown: What's Up LA! concert.
G-Dragon is the leader, rapper, and producer of the extremely popular Korean boy band BIG BANG. Since beginning his career at the age of 13 with YG Entertainment, G-Dragon has grown to become one of the biggest individual male icons in Korean pop music...More

Park Hee-eun
Park Hee-eun is the 28-year-old CEO of Korea's largest online dating site "ium", which has over 900,000 members and registered annual sales of W4 billion as of July. She achieved this within three years of setting up the business in November 2010 at the age of just 25.
The site provides a social dating service with a twist. Members can be introduced to one person each day via a mobile app that automatically matches their profiles and asks them if they'd like to exchange contact information. Both parties must consent to proceed...More

Verizon Presents One Grand Prize Winner with the Ultimate K-Pop Experience
The KCON Fly-Away Sweepstakes presented by KCON Gold Sponsor Verizon is back this year. One lucky fan will win a VIP trip for two toKCON 2013, the first and largest Korean pop culture convention in North America. The winner will receive VIP access at the convention and VIP tickets to the concert, an exclusive meet & greet opportunity with the artists performing, and travel and hotel accommodations...More

Communicating Environmental Issues through Film!
The Green Film Festival in Seoul (GFFIS) is a festival that provides us a place to think about the coexistence of humans and nature through film. Founded in 2004, the GFFIS is an international film festival, held annually, that has discovered and introduced about 100 outstanding environmental films from all over the world.
The 10th Green Film Festival in Seoul began in May 2013. With 21 submissions that qualified for the main contest, a total of 146 films from 46 countries were shown in various categories under different themes, such as "Climate Change & Future", "Green Panorama", "Korean Eco-Panorama", "Children of the Earth", and "Animal, Our Sweet & While Companion".
This festival was hosted by Korea Green Foundation and was sponsored by Ministry of Environment, Seoul Special City, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Embassy of Canada to Korea and Korean Film Council...More

The 17th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival will take place from Thursday to July 28 in the city that also goes by the spelling Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province, providing an escapist diversion from the searing heat and monsoon rains. On the themes of love, fantasy and adventure, a total of 230 films -- 135 features and 95 shorts -- from 44 countries will be screened this year.
"The Terror Live", a Korean thriller directed by Kim Byeong-woo and starring Ha Jung-woo, will close the festival. It focuses on a radio show host who takes a call from a terrorist threatening to blow up a part of the city. The movie will hit local theaters on Aug. 1...More

/AP-Newsis
Ryu Hyun-jin has been rated as the Los Angeles Dodgers' best rookie this season by MLB.com.
Ken Gurnick, who covers the Dodgers' beat, wrote an article for the official website of U.S. Major League Baseball on Wednesday under the headline and prediction, "Player health at forefront, LA could overtake NL West". In it, he looked back at the players' performances over the first half, and named those who deserved the MVP, Cy Young, rookie, and top reliever awards based on their contributions so far...More

TEEN TOP Joins EXO and 2AM In Line-up for Convention Capping Concert August 25
Bekkah (formally of After School) also Scheduled to Participate
As tickets for KCON 2013 go on-sale today, North America's first and largest Korean pop culture convention announced that TEEN TOP will be one of the six groups to perform at this year's two day convention and concert. The line-up already includes EXO and 2AM. Tickets can be purchased through the KCON website here. Additional announcements surrounding the artists including headlining acts attending KCON 2013 will be shared in the coming weeks...More

Communicating Environmental Issues through Film!
The Green Film Festival in Seoul (GFFIS) is a festival that provides us a place to think about the coexistence of humans and nature through film. Founded in 2004, the GFFIS is an international film festival, held annually, that has discovered and introduced about 100 outstanding environmental films from all over the world.
The 10th Green Film Festival in Seoul began in May 2013. With 21 submissions that qualified for the main contest, a total of 146 films from 46 countries were shown in various categories under different themes, such as "Climate Change & Future", "Green Panorama", "Korean Eco-Panorama", "Children of the Earth", and "Animal, Our Sweet & While Companion".
This festival was hosted by Korea Green Foundation and was sponsored by Ministry of Environment, Seoul Special City, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Embassy of Canada to Korea and Korean Film Council...More

The Greatest Dance Battle on Earth "Dancing 9" to be Aired on July 20, 11PM via Mnet
Cheif Producer Met with Jon Chu to Discuss the Show!
Contestants from 62 Countries Worldwide!!
Shinhwa′s Lee Min-woo and Girls′ Generation (SNSD)′s Hyoyeon & Kwon Yuri Join as Team Masters!!
Korea's renowned music channel Mnet now presents a new kind of dance survival TV show "Dancing9"...More

ENVEX 2013: Green Technology
The 35th International Exhibition on Environmental Technology & Green Energy
From June 11 to 14, "The 35th International Exhibition on Environmental Technology & Green Energy" (ENVEX 2013) was held at the COEX. This exhibition was hosted by the Korea Environment Corporation, the Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation, the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, and the Korea Environmental Preservation Association. This year's ENVEX was held to provide a "space to maximize promotion and marketing opportunities" to assist businesses in establishing themselves as key enterprises spearheading green growth through green technology and new renewable resources...More

Won Bin (left) and Lee Na-young
Actor Won Bin is in love with actress Lee Na-young, their management agency Eden Nine Entertainment said on Wednesday.
"They got intimate recently, as they bumped into each other a lot because they are both under the same management agency", the agency added...More

With just weeks to go before the 4th Korean Film Festival in Australia opens, it's time to mark the date in your diary as this is the one you will not want to miss!
This year we will begin our festival journey at Event Cinemas Myer Centre, Brisbane (Aug 14-18) before traveling down to our new venue of Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney (Aug 21-29)...More

South Korean Fashion and Kpopsicle: Summer Dresses for Trendy Ladies
Kpopsicle is a stylish online fashion store which provides amazing fashion all year round. In this article, the emphasis is on adorable summer dresses from Kpopsicle which stand out based on lovely designs, delightful color schemes and the natural feel they represent. Therefore, with the sweltering heat of the Far East about to get even hotter over the next few months; then clearly these elegant and stylish dresses will appeal to trendy ladies who adore fashion.
The exquisite Kpopsicle (http://kpopsicle.com) website highlights the stylish buzz of South Korean fashion whereby the Korean wave related to K-pop and other areas is still running high. Indeed, the beauty of Kpopsicle is that they fuse the dynamic styles of America, Japan, and South Korea, in order to provide a lovely international vibe which appeals all over the world...More

Some natural beauty before the the ugliness of the rant
Okay, so this article will probably annoy a few people and while that's not my intention, I just can't keep quiet this time. I didn't write a response to the last celebrity-in-the-military scandal and I should have. So I have to say something now because it's just bursting out. I need to put my two cents in...More

Cine-Asie is pleased to present the 1st edition of the Korean Film Festival (KFF). This festival is touring through five cities across Canada and showcases a total of ten critically acclaimed Korean films. The festival focuses on rising Korean actor Ryoo Seung-yong, director Bong Joon-ho, and feature films representing Korea at the Oscars. There will also be a selection of the best short films from the prestigious MSFF (Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival) that takes place every year in Seoul...More

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Korea, a selection of 10 outstanding Korean films will be showcased in Montreal from July 4th to 10th, 2013.
Ciné-Asie, along with the major support of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, presents the first edition of the Korean Film Festival in Canada – KFF – which will be launched in five Canadian cities, highlighting Montreal in partnership with the Cineplex Odeon Forum and Mosaicultures Internationales Montréal at the Montreal Botanical Garden (an event that expects nearly two million visitors this summer), the KFF anticipates to receive a large number of visitors for its first edition. For the first time, the KFF website is composed in three different languages: English, French, and Korean.
The KFF will present ten full length feature films and five short films.
The feature films are either the highest grossing movies in recent years, totalling 7 to 13 million admissions in South Korea, or have gained international critical acclaims, winning significant awards. Among them include Kim Ki-duk's "Pieta" (Le grand prix at Venice 2012), "Miracle in Cell No.7" (over 12 million admissions in Korea, 2013), and "Masquerade" starring actor Lee Byung-hun (over 12 million admissions in Korea, 2012)...More

Over 100,000 people attend ULTRA Korea held in Olympic Stadium in Seoul's Jamshil area on June 14-15, 2013.
ULTRA music festival came back to Seoul, South Korea for a second year as a two-day musical event the weekend of June 14-15. 2013. ULTRA is considered the worlds most famous electronic music festival.
The event began in 1999 in Miami and has grown massively in recent years into an international festival with multiple stages and some of the biggest electronic headlining artists...More

"Content Curators" evaluate and provide perspectives on fragmented information on the internet
Source: http://bit.ly/14LgeQi
As modern Korean culture focuses on speed and simplicity, services that offer a customized list of products for consumers with too many choices and too little time, such as busy office workers, are coming into the spotlight. These kinds of services make up what is called "Curation Commerce". Curation Commerce is a type of E-commerce, in which experts in particular fields provide a customized selection of products for customers...More

Dreaming of a Beautiful and Safe City
Design is everywhere. There is almost nothing in today's world for which the importance of design does not matter. Think of an example as common as cooking your dining. It is important not only to cook something delicious but also to make it with a consideration of the harmony of the colors and shapes of the ingredients, to present it on a nicely matching plate, and to arrange the plates on the table as attractively and conveniently as possible.
Designing refers to any formative activity intended to make our living more pleasant, beautiful, and convenient and thus includes planning and engineering. While design is frequently discussed as a main topic of the corporate world concerned with promoting consumerism, it is also closely integrated into people's daily lives on a broader level. We find good examples of this broader concept of design on Korean streets...More

'Terracotta Film Club' presents "Hansel and Gretel" at the Prince Charles Cinema on Wednesday 26 June
To time with the release of HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS on DVD, 'Terracotta Film Club' offers the chance to watch the South Korean adaptation of HANSEL AND GRETEL at the cinema...More

Kim Soo-hyun posted on a community website a while ago.
This was when he was preparing to apply for university. He said, "I'm a repeater Kim Soo-hyun. I am getting ready to apply for university. I've applied for Chung-Ang, Hanyang, Sungkyunkwan, Gungook, Gyeonggi, Kyunghee and Seokyeong universities. I've been chosen for the second interviews and I'm working hard in preparing the acts, skills, questions and answers. I wish for good results"...More

by: Raine
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I'm so mad. The show was amazing when Soon-shin found out the truth. And now it should be called "Mi-ryeong is the Worst" because I don't think this show is about Soon-shin. She's more of a football being kicked around between people.
AGB Nielsen Nationwide had this episode coming in at 24.4%...More

Police in Incheon are investigating a 51-year-old man on charges of spreading malicious and libelous online comments about singer Jang Yoon-jung.
The man, identified as Song, is accused of posting 29 libelous comments from April 6 to 29 on the website dedicated to the trot singer which he runs...More

With 2 days to go to the Opening Night, it's time to reveal the guests of the 5th annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival and the Festival organisers are delighted to make a series of other announcements.
Highlights of this edition are the guest talent from Asia who will be attending the festival, the talent Masterclasses, the winner of the inaugural Terracotta Short-Film Competition, unveiling of the Official Trailer and the festival parties...
More

If you ever have lived in Britain, you must have heard about the popular TV program, 'Master Chef'. The Korean version of the program called 'Master Chef Korea Season II' is also a smash hit in Korea.
Do you remember Leo Kang? Leo Kang is a star chef in Korea famous for his cooking skills recognized by the world. He became a star overnight as one of the presenters of Master Chef Korea. His professional competence in the TV show was not something built in a day. Let me tell you his special story...More

Are you planning a trip to Korea to see K-pop stars?
KTO LA office offers K-pop fans some very special opportunities to attend a live taping of "Show Champion", a K-pop program of MBC MUSIC at UNIQLO-AX in Seoul. Around 15 K-pop singers/groups perform on stage in front of a live audience and is broadcast in Korea.
We at the KTO LA office are securing some seats for K-pop fans traveling to Korea this Summer! Check out the de...tailed information below...More

Swansea City midfielder Ki Sung-yueng will wed actress Han Hye-jin, eight years his senior, in July, just months after they went public with their relationship in March.
Han's management agency said on Friday that they decided to tie the knot in July in consideration of their work schedules, dispelling rumors of a shotgun wedding due to the sudden nature of the announcement. "The relatively short dating period had no bearing on their decision to tie the knot", the agency said...More

New York, NY - NYC Parks & Recreation and CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects, in cooperation with the Union Square Partnership, is pleased to debut LOTUS, by Seoul-based artist, Jaehyo Lee, in New York Citys Union Square Park. Located at the parks south eastern triangle, the exhibition will be on view May through October, 2013.
This is the gallerys second public art exhibition with Parks Art in the Parks program. A ribbon-cutting event is scheduled for Friday, May 3 at 5:30 pm to inaugurate this six-month long exhibition, weather permitting.
Please visit the website for event confirmation.Lee exhibits internationally, with recent works included at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; the Saatchi Gallery, London; and the Sungkok Museum, Korea, among others. LOTUS follows Lees signature use of Korean big-cone pine...More

Park Gyu-ri was seen in the subway.
A picture of Park was posted on the official Kara website LINE on the 1st. Park Gyu-ri with her hair down is riding on the subway, looking out far...More
The government will revise its website for the Dokdo islets, currently only available in Korea, to include the six official UN languages -- English, Chinese, French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish -- as well as Japanese...More

Psy's latest song "Gentleman" is soon expected to rack up 200 million views on YouTube after it breached the 100-million mark last Wednesday in a world record time of 80 hours of it entering the public domain.
It was released online at midnight on April 12...More

The third Olleh International Smartphone Film Festival will be held from Wednesday through Saturday at the COEX branch of cinema chain Megabox in Seoul.
An international section will join the domestic and youth competitions for the first time this year, and organizers will also recognize the best director and best actor in addition to the existing best film award...More

Here Is the Solution for Your Genre Film Project
PiFans NAFF It Project 2013: Call for Submissions
After its ambitious debut in 2008 and the splendid success of past five years, Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan)s industry initiative, seeks prospective films and filmmakers from all over the world for the 6th edition of It Project...More
A Seoul district court on Saturday upheld the government's suspension of the license of an ophthalmologist who ran online ads giving the false impression that celebrities underwent surgery at his clinic.
The doctor, identified only by his surname "Uhm", filed a suit against the former health and welfare minister for suspending his license for two months. But the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that the false ads caused co...
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The Terracotta Festival, for its 5th year anniversary, will expand from the usual four-days to 10 days from Thursday 6 June to Saturday 15 June 2013. The festival will increase the number of films and venues, and still remain in the heart of the capital.
To commemorate this special occasion, Terracotta Festival organisers are delighted to announce that more strands have been added to the line-up. The four strands of the festival are:
CURRENT ASIAN CINEMA,
IN MEMORY OF
: Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui,
SPOTLIGHT ON: Indonesia and the
Terror Cotta Horror All-Nighter.
Terracotta Festival will continue to screen its usual selection of best contemporary films from any genre, any Far East country, at the Prince Charles Cinema from 6-9 June 2013. Like previous editions, guest actors and directors will attend the festival to introduce their film, host Q&A sessions, run Masterclasses and interact with festival goers. This will be the CURRENT ASIAN CINEMA section of the festival...
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Ryu Hyun-jin (right) does the "Gangnam Style" horse-riding dance with teammates Matt Kemp (left) and Clayton Kershaw.
A "Gangnam Style" performance by Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won his first victory in Major League Baseball on Sunday, was revealed on the Internet on Tuesday...More

A video starring K-pop girl band f(x) and American actress Anna Kendrick of "Twilight" fame has been released on U.S. comedy website Funny or Die (www.funnyordie.com).
In the video that lasts four minutes and 36 seconds, Kendrick is told to learn K-pop in order to keep up with trends. She then goes to f(x) and manages to learn their song and dance moves after a great deal of trouble...More

The Seoul Central Prosecutors Office on Thursday said it is investigating TV personality Kim Yong-man on charges of illegally gambling billions of won. According to prosecutors, Kim allegedly bet more than W1 billion (US$1=W1,117) since 2008 through on several illegal gambling websites using the bank account of his manager.
Prosecutors summoned Kim for questioning on Tuesday and apparently obtained a confession that he blew a lot of money gambling...More

Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle "The Last Stand", which was released in Korea on Feb. 21, has tanked at the box office and dropped off the list after attracting only 66,698 spectators in just under a month.
The film is directed by Kim Jee-woon, who shot to fame with "The Good, the Bad and the Weird", but the combination of top director and star was unable to attract viewers. This appears to be part of a wider trend where star power is fading in favor of strong storylines.
Film booking site Maxmovie asked 2,754 members of its website from Feb. 26 to March 6 what they consider when choosing a movie and found that a massive 74.2 percent said the plot is the most important factor...More
As the dust settles after a massive cyber attack on major broadcasters and banks in South Korea on Wednesday, intelligence officials here say North Korea's persistent online subversion and propaganda pose a more fundamental threat.
North Korean spy agencies have been launching concerted activities to spread propaganda and foment dissent and subversion in South Korea by using 84 directly operated websites as well as hundreds of accounts on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Their aim is to influence South Korean public sentiment in favor of the North and to split the population along ideological lines...More

Stylish tech accessories… compact, convenient gadgets… technology today is all about form and function! To recognize the best designs existing today, the iF Industrial Forum Design joins other design professional organizations around the world with a mission of increasing public awareness about design.
Mid-century modern was all the rage in 1953, when the iF (International Forum) Design Awards were established. Now, 60 years later, diminutive devices dominate the 4,352 entries from 51 countries. They were judged by renowned experts across the industry and, like recent years past, Korean companies were well represented...More

Yoo Seung-ho's picture was put up in the training camp website on the 12th. He's being handed over a gun and he's seems like he's been disciplined already.
Netizens say, "He's awesome", "Come back quickly", "He's all grown up now", "He looks good in uniform" and more...More

Park Si-yeon and Lee Seung-yeon charged with illegal injection of propofol.
The celeb world is being smudged with continuous happenings.
From rape charges to illegal injections and marijuana. The atmosphere is muddled as stars continue to be in trouble for the wrong reasons. It seems like celebrities have to ring the alarm and stay alert and practice self control to avoid any legal trouble...More

by: Raine
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Episode 10 dropped a percentage point to 9.6%. I can't really blame viewers. This show is suffering from severe multiple personality disorder.
So this website is called "Raine's Dichotomy". I think my emotions this episode really embody that. Brain versus heart. I was dreading writing this recap because I really didn't think I knew what to write besides exactly what happened. My brain was completely appalled. My heart was moved...More

When I hear "IFC Mall", I immediately think of Hong Kong's IFC Mall, which opened back in 2003 and is home to some of the city-state's best shopping and restaurants. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear that Korea was getting an IFC of its own in Yeoido, known to some as Korea's Wall Street/Financial District.
Opened in August 2012, the three towers that make up IFC Seoul definitely catch the eye and have transformed the Yeoido skyline, previously defined by the 63 Building. The project consists of nearly 6 million square feet distributed over two office towers and the 5-star Conrad Hotel, owned by Hilton...More

Cosmetic surgery is costly. There are also serious complications and risks associated with cosmetic surgery, from blot clots to infections and in some cases death. Another major risk, of course, is that the outcome is never guaranteed. A doctor can speculate how a patient will look after their procedure, but the result may be different than what the patient expected. Further surgeries may then be required to repair the problem, resulting in additional money spent and more exposure to other risks.
Despite these risks, researchers are discovering significant increases in the number of people undergoing cosmetic surgery. Even teenagers, as young as 12, are having cosmetic procedures.
According to a new study from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, approximately 15 million cosmetic procedures were performed worldwide by licensed cosmetic surgeons in 2011, up almost 5 percent since 2010.
Where is most cosmetic surgery performed? If you answered the USA, you are correct. When it comes to sheer numbers, more cosmetic surgery procedures are carried out in America than anywhere else, with over 3 million performed in 2011. America is followed by Brazil, China, and Japan...More

While actor Park Si-hoo has been charged with rape, tax evasion has been added to his charges.
A post titled, "I am reporting Park Si-hoo to the tax office" spread throughout the net on the 27th. A netizen had posted captured pictures regarding this online...More

Final Extended Deadline for Submissions is July 19
2013 Guam-USA Int'l Film Festival Announces Call for Entries
HAGATÑA, GUAM, USA - The Guam International Film Festival (GIFF) has officially announced its open call for entries to begin on February 1st, for its third annual event scheduled to take place in September. Submission forms can be completed directly online at the official GIFF website, www.guamfilmfestival.org.
Deadlines to submit films for the 2013 Guam International Film Festival are:
April 5, 2013 - Earlybird Postmark Deadline
June 7, 2013 - Regular Deadline
July 5, 2013 - Late Deadline
July 19, 2013 – WAB Extended Postmark Deadline...More

Park Chan-wook, director, screenwriter, and producer, is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers on the international film festival circuit. To celebrate the release of "Stoker", his major directorial debut in Hollywood, The Korea Society and MoMI co-present a retrospective of his work. The special screening of "Stoker" (starring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, and Matthew Goode) will play on February 28 at 7PM at MoMI.
Park Chan-wook, a director, screenwriter, and producer, is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers on the international film circuit. To Celebrate the release of "Stoker", his major directorial debut in Hollywood, The Korea Society and MoMI co present a retrospective of his work. He debuted with 'The Moon is What the Sun Dreams of' in 1992, but he started to gain international recognition from the sensational movie 'JSA - Joint Security Area' in 2000 which The Guardian praised it as "airy, subtle and playful, and showcases the best elements of modern Asian cinema"...More

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/RKPffV
It's Monday again! The worst day of the week! The dread of having to go back to study or work started creeping up on you on Sunday evening and now it's very real. You knew it when you opened your eyes in the morning. It is real. It is Monday. You cannot run away.
Enough with the pessimism! You're not the only Monday-hater. Take Korean designer, Hong Jung-mi, for example. She hates Monday so much that she created a brand called "i hate monday". As a smart gal, she focused on ways of making herself feel better and came up with the idea of making fun, colorful socks and putting them into vending machines. Why? Because wearing cute socks made her happy… Even on a Monday...More

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/X3BrhE
Korea will greet a new president (our first female president!) at the end of the month and according to the Wall Street Journal, she sees information technology and science as so important to the future of Korea that she's creating a new ministry just to handle these two areas...More

A bronze statue of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at Mansudae in Pyongyang before (left) and after being fitted with his trademark anorak. /Reuters-Newsis
North Korea has replaced the overcoat of a massive bronze statue of Kim Jong-il with the former leader's trademark shapeless anorak.
To mark the Lunar New Year holiday, the official Rodong Sinmun daily on Monday published on its front page a photo of North Koreans placing flowers in front of statues of Kim Jong-il and his father, nation founder Kim Il-sung, atop Mansudae Hill in Pyongyang.
Compared with a photo the daily published on Jan. 2, the statue of Kim Il-sung is unchanged, but Kim Jong-il is wearing a brand-new anorak...More

NCsoft, one of the leading Korean game makers will take its two most popular games to China in the second half of this year.
Both "Blade & Soul" and "Guild Wars 2" are MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) and highly popular worldwide. Sales of Guild Wars 2 passed 3 million copies and for its beta test, Blade & Soul got more than 150,000 players.
How fun are NCsoft's games? Apparently the company got sued for making one of it's games "too addictive". A player named Craig thought that the game was too addictive that as a result, he decided to sue NCsoft. He played the game for 11 hours per day, on average, over a 5-year period. As one could imagine, Craig couldn't function in real life. While we couldn't find any articles of what happened in this lawsuit, it's incontrovertible evidence of how fun the game is...More

"Les Militaribles", a video parody of the movie "Les Misérables" produced by the Korean Air Force, is receiving much attention on YouTube. It attracted over 3 million hits as of Monday, six days after it was first uploaded on the video-sharing website.
The 13-minute video revolves around an airman called Jean Valjean, the same name as the lead character in Victor Hugo's classic novel. His girlfriend comes to visit him while he is tasked with clearing snow on a runway, but he has only a few minutes to see her. As they part, he says he will overcome his sadness "for spring will come at last...More

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/VHstLT
It is no surprise that young people often prefer "cool" music genres such as pop, rock, hip hop, house and electronic to classical music. I've heard sneers when I admit my own love for compositions made hundreds of years before I was born. One group has set out to change the way young people see classical music.
The Ahn Trio, comprised of twin sisters Lucia (piano) and Maria (cello) and younger sister Angella (violin), were born in Seoul and educated at the Juilliard School of Music. They are on a mission to get younger audiences to connect more closely with classical music. To fulfill this task, they have appeared on MTV television series, MTV Unplugged and regularly visit middle schools, high schools and colleges, giving workshops and master classes...More

Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/XjKdcQ
Every year the Korea Grand Sale draws fashionistas from around the world who are looking for great deals on Korean or global designer label fashion. And every year, these fashionistas drag with them friends and significant others who have absolutely no interest in clothing. We think that this spectacular sale can be fun for everyone and we've put together a guide for people who are more interested in sleek designs and sleek electronics than the sleek lines on an Andre Kim dress...More

Psy amassed millions of fans, raising interest in Korean entertainers in the process. Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/Y2r4MU
Girls' Generation's latest single "I got a boy" racked up over 30 million views on YouTube, but K-pop fans outside of Korea have a new option: Now you can listen to all your favorite K-pop right on your smartphone. KT Corp announced that it was expanding its Genie KPOP mobile music app to 45 countries to meet global demand.
It's undeniable that K-pop fever has only increased with Psy's breakout fame in 2012 and the continued popularity of groups like Big Bang, 2NE1 and SHINee around the world. But it wasn't always easy for fans outside of Korea to buy music and video content of their favorite celebs...More

The 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games kick off on Tuesday for their eight-day run, with high-profile dignitaries such as Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi set to attend the opening ceremony at Yongpyeong Dome from 6 p.m.
The international sporting event is held every four years for people with intellectual disabilities and is now being held in Korea for the first time. Some 4,200 people including President Lee Myung-bak, volunteers and 3,190 athletes from 111 countries will attend. Korea is being represented by 236 athletes, more than any other country.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, leader of her country's National League for Democracy, entered Korea on Monday. She is also scheduled to deliver a speech at the Global Development Summit on Wednesday in front of world leaders to discuss welfare programs for people with intellectual disabilities...More

The bitch was sprinting now, faster than I had ever seen her run. I called her name repeatedly but she openly ignored the pleas. I found myself slapping the side of my right leg in frustration and in an effort to get her attention. The long beach taunted me with its scale as I briefly pondered the thought of having to chase her along the seemingly endless strip of cooling sand and shells. I haul her name at her again, my face reddening as passers-by start to turn their heads. She was free, and there was very little I could do for her now. I would just have to trust that she would come back to me, me and the secretly sticky treat I had snuck into my pocket before we left the house.
She was perfect, but at the time I wasn't sure if I could have her. I had seen pictures of her online and, while beautiful and particularly striking, I was also reminded of just how much time, effort, and, most definitely money, it would take to keep her happy, to keep her by my side and coming back to me. I wasn't sure if I was ready, I also wasn't sure if I could, in all honestly, do this to myself again. Was I ready? What about when I leave Korea? Would she come back with me? These were some of the questions I had to ask myself before committing to this 'till-death-do-us-part' relationship, at least that's how I planned to look and it. She was perfect and mine...More

Born in Queens to Korean parents, Jennivere is a first generation Korean American. From an early age, Jennivere had a strong passion for the arts. She took tap, jazz and ballet classes throughout her childhood as in addition to playing piano and making costumes for church plays. As soon as she was of legal age, Jennivere worked two jobs after school. She worked weekdays after school at an ice cream bakery and as an orthodontist assistant on the weekends.
When she was 16, her mother enrolled her in fashion design classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Noticing Jennivere's restlessness, her English teacher recommended she take a drama class. Jennivere enjoyed the class but never considered pursuing it as a career, since it was rare to see Asian actors on television. Upon graduation from high school, she took a break to work, travel, write and soul search. After a year, she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology as a Fashion Design major. While at FIT, she learned of her more fulfilling first love - writing. After taking another break from her studies to work and experience life, she became a personal fitness trainer, a real estate agent, waitress, personal assistant, photographic model, artist model and even a street canvasser for Greenpeace during a very cold winter! She feels that her life experiences add enrichment and fuel her need to experience even more life has to offer...More

A performance by global superstar Psy of "Gangnam Style" fame is being considered for the inauguration of president-elect Park Geun-hye on Feb. 25. Officials planning the event on Thursday agreed to make the ceremony as dignified and frugal as possible...More

Korea is a leader in next generation lighting technologies like LEDs. Companies like Seoul Semiconductor churn out solid state lighting that makes its way into TV backlights, advertising marquees, car headlights and, more and more commonly, our homes.
With Korea's contribution to lighting, there's no better place to put an entire museum dedicated to lights and lighting. About an hour north of Seoul by car in Yanju, sits the Feelux Lighting Museum. The facility aims to showcase the beauty and innovation of a technology that's often taken for granted.
If your lighting history is a bit rusty like mine, one section of the museum will take you through the evolution of lighting from electric bulbs to fiber optics. After that, absorb a fascinating exhibit about the medical use of light through light therapy. It explains how coming to rely mostly on artificial light as we've moved more of our activities indoors has distanced us from the changing brightness and color temperature of the sun, moon and stars, which used to dictate life...More

Shin Dong-wook's CRPS is a rare disease that no one knows the cause of.
While it has been known that actor Shin Dong-wook is suffering from a rare disease, attention for CRPS increased as well...More

Girls' Generation's new album "I Got a Boy" is receiving rave reviews from the U.S. media.
Billboard on Friday ran a review on all the tracks on the album and described them as "polished K-pop confections that combine elements of forward-thinking EDM (electronic dance music), classic and modern R&B, 80s new wave, and more". It added that "it should more than satisfy not only K-pop fans but also listeners of all types of popular music".
It said the title song is "one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country", adding that, "with this title track, Girls' Generation just set the bar truly high for pop in 2013...More

K-Pop has made it onto the website of arguably the biggest musical honour in the industry...More

Half a dozen stars such as actor Jang Dong-gun are suing a cosmetic clinic for W120 million in damages for using their pictures without permission (US$1=W1,064).
According to the Seoul Central District Court on Monday, they include actress Song Hye-kyo, actor Kim Nam-gil, singer BoA, and Jessica and Tiffany of Girls' Generation...More

K-Pop has made it onto the website of arguably the biggest musical honour in the industry.
The now internationally-recognized PSY along with idol group B.A.P.
were included in a section titled "Snapshot: Best of 2012" on the official website for the Grammy's...More

Singer and actor Rain, who is serving his mandatory military service, has provoked controversy over the privileges enjoyed by star conscripts by taking unusually frequent holidays. The star attracted the latest unwelcome publicity after it was reported that he is dating actress Kim Tae-hee.
Rain began his service in October 2011 as an assistant instructor at a boot camp on the front line but was transferred to Seoul in March last year to serve in the Army's entertainment corps.
According to the Defense Ministry, Rain got 17 days off as a reward and took another 10 overnight vacation days since March. He spent another 44 days outside his military base on official business such as morale-boosting performances, recording sessions and dance practice for military events. In July, Rain spent four days at one studio in Gangnam...More

Singer Lee So-eun recently passed the U.S. bar exam, offering an alternative role model for Korean youngsters who regard becoming a celebrity as the be-all and end-all of existence.
For Lee, going to law school was not an escape from a flagging musical career. She has released four albums since debuting in 1998, when she was just in high school. Lee spent her childhood in the U.S. and had difficulty adjusting to school back to Korea. Then she happened to hear about an audition on education broadcaster EBS and entered it. She made it to the finals with a piece she composed by herself...More

An electric blanket is a popular item in Korea in winter, warming up faster than ondol, or a boiler heating the floor. But the faster the device warms up, the more electromagnetic waves are emitted.
A study on electric blankets by seven manufacturers has found that the device emit electromagnetic waves of an average of 21.4 mG, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research under the Environment Ministry on Sunday...More

Korean hallyu is so much more than just K-pop and K-dramas! As we mentioned before, Korean skincare and makeup products are dominating the global cosmetics industry. According to Statistics Korea, Korean cosmetic sales are up by 9.6% since a year ago- a growth obtainable largely due to Korea's international visitors. I'm also no stranger to "care package" requests from friends living overseas for brands such as Etude house, MISSHA, Skin Food and Too Cool for School! Most of you who have tried to get your hands on these products know how difficult it is to purchase Korean cosmetics let alone get the latest news about the products. But a new online store called Soko Glam (Soko, short for South Korea) is on a mission to change all that – by offering high quality, affordable Korean cosmetics...More

South Korean singer PSY's music video for "Gangnam Style" has now received a record number of hits on video-sharing website YouTube...More

CJ Entertainment is thrilled to announce the North American release of "The Tower" on 1.11.2013. Already stirring up intense interest in Korea where it opens as the holiday blockbuster offering for this Christmas, "The Tower" features a star-studded ensemble cast including