When JTBC’s band audition program, “Super Band,” announced the opening of registration for the second season, the application requirements reignited the gender discrimination controversy the first season of the program faced. “Any male musician in fields such as practical music, K-pop, classical music, traditional Korean music, rock, EDM, hip-hop, musical, jazz, world music among others can appl...

Shortly after her video was uploaded on Saturday, Koreans flooded the comments section on YouTube and Facebook, criticizing her for misrepresenting the traditional Korean dish as Chinese. “I’m not saying anything about making it, but shouldn’t you at least write that it’s a traditional Korean food? When I saw the cabbage split in half I thought, ‘no way,’ but after seeing it being seasoned, I co...

The group’s first online concert this year, titled “IN-COMPLETE,” will be held on Jan. 23. It will be their second online event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, following their online fan meeting in August. Over 20 songs will be performed during the concert and four different multi-view livestreams of the concert will be available. Seventeen’s two albums “Semicolon” and “Heng:garae”...

Sales of exercise equipment have thrived in the COVID-19 pandemic. Purchases of stationary bikes surged by 86 percent, while sales of push-up bars shot up 82 percent in December compared to same period last year, according to e-commerce website Gmarket. Sales of treadmills also jumped 72 percent and sales of dumbbells climbed 70 percent. Some who set up their own home gyms have even put up daily...

InterContinental’s Strawberry Promotion returns as full table service The Lobby Lounge located on the ground floor of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas presents the Strawberry Gourmet Boutique. Starting with a strawberry mojito and fresh strawberries as welcome items, the Lobby Lounge presents a three-course brunch. Following croque monsieur, fruit salad and onion cream soup with ravioli, lob...

The first season of megahit SBS drama “The Penthouse: War in Life” ended with a record-high viewership rating of 28.8 percent on Tuesday. The show also received an official warning from the Korea Communications Standards Commission and was asked to raise its rating from the current PG-15. The last episode of the first season earned a peak viewership rating of 31.3 percent, making it the first dr...

Lee Seung-u’s “Heart’s Buoyancy” won the 44th Yi Sang Literary Award, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Korea given by publishing company Munhaksasang, on Monday. “A novelist getting a prize for his work is like unfamiliar guests suddenly coming into the clerk’s office full of rules and repetition,” said Lee in receiving the award. “Why did the guests come find me? Instead of asking...

When the foundation for esports in Korea was established in the early 2000 with the launch of a StarCraft league, esports remained far from being considered among “real sports.” Pro gamer as an occupation was a new concept, and player wages were not sufficient to make ends meet. In fact, pro gaming was not considered an actual career in the beginning, as players had to pay additional taxes becaus...

“If people who came to Korea during COVID-19 times had come at a better time, they would have been able to experience Korean culture and have diverse experiences,” said Na in a live broadcast Dec. 26. “Through their one-night stay in a hanok, I wanted to make them truly experience Korean culture.” Actors Lee Seo-jin, Jung Yu-mi and Park Seo-joon, who were with Youn in “Youn’s Kitchen,” once agai...

The pandemic also accelerated a transition to OTT platforms such as Netflix. OTT platforms were already expected to surpass cinemas in 2020, with PwC predicting that the global OTT market would surpass the theater market without knowing of the pandemic to come. In 2017, Netflix created its first original content in Korea, the film “Okja” directed by Bong Joon-ho. Netflix invested 60 billion won ...

After three weeks of reorganization, SBS drama series “Delayed Justice,” starring veteran actor Kwon Sang-woo, will return with its 13th episode on New Year’s Day. Jung Woo-sung, who replaces actor Bae Seung-woo following a drunk driving incident, will join the TV drama starting from the 17th episode, adding more star power to the program. The decision to take a three-week break following its 1...

With many webtoons being made into movies, TV dramas and games, the medium is enjoying new heights of popularity. Although COVID-19 has made the creation of webtoons more difficult, it could not stop the fast growth of the industry. At the same time, however, illegal websites that feature pirated webtoons have persisted with no signs of abating, despite governmental efforts. The Korea Creative C...

“I made my own cake in a more free way after seeing children play with clay and getting inspiration from Jeff Koons’ ‘Play-Doh.’ I didn’t think this would become such an issue ^^,” Kwon wrote. She also deleted the hashtag #TakingOrders. “Solbi, of course, knew of Jeff Koons’ work. She tagged modern art and thought many would be familiar with it since Jeff Koons is such a famous person. She edit...

As the YouTube market has grown, YouTubers attacking other YouTubers became common and controversy on the YouTube platform even led to a change in government policy. In August, YouTubers Cham PD and Hong Sound, among others, criticized YouTube channels practicing backdoor advertising, or the act of hiding that products in the videos were sponsored for advertisements. The revelation followed well...

League of Legends world champion Damwon Gaming continued its dominance, rolling over the other LoL Champions Korea teams in the Korea e-Sports Associations Cup held over the Christmas weekend. Damwon headed straight to the finals after sweeping the group stages 4-0 and dropping only one game to Hanwha Life Esports with Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-gyu in the semifinals on Saturday t...