Kakao Entertainment announced Thursday that it has decided to merge with South Korea’s leading online music streaming platform, Melon. The decision comes as Kakao aims to secure competitiveness and leadership in the showbiz industry. The two companies jointly agreed at a board meeting held Thursday and attended by both sides. The deal is expected to be finalized through a shareholders meeting on Sept. 1. Under the merger, one share of Kakao will be exchanged with around 7.8 shares of

K-pop July 15, 2021

Sony Music Entertainment Japan announced Monday that it would team up with K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment to launch a new boy band. The two jointly held an online press conference in Korea and Japan to share their plans for the production of the new group, which will be elected through the survival reality program “Nizi Project.” The upcoming audition show will be aired in the latter half of the year. Park Jin-young, the chief of the label, expressed his excitement about cre

K-pop July 13, 2021

The 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival announced Friday it will continue offline screening after concerns of a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections prompted organizers to consider canceling the event earlier. The announcement came after the government decided to raise virus curbs to the toughest level in Seoul and its neighboring Gyeonggi Province and Incheon from Monday for two weeks. The online-offline hybrid festival kicked off Thursday and will run through July 18 in Buche

Film July 9, 2021

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Green Seoul Citizens Committee jointly hosted a fashion show behind closed doors Friday to underscore the importance of climate variability at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul. This year’s fashion show was held without an audience under the slogan “Dealing with climate change with citizens.” Related videos will be available on YouTube. “I would like to thank the citizens and companies for participating in making clean

Arts & Design July 9, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is once again standing in the way of the South Korean entertainment industry, as the coronavirus and its more contagious delta variant slash through the nation. Local broadcaster KBS is on alert as Lee Kun-jun, a producer at the KBS drama department, has tested positive for the virus. Lee is believed to have been in close contact with a cast member on June 29 and was informed the following day that person had been confirmed with the virus. He immediately went into self

Television July 7, 2021

Novelist Yun Ko-eun become the first Asian to win a prestigious CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger on Thursday. The Dagger awards, conferred by the Crime Writers’ Association in the United Kingdom, recognize excellence in the art of crime writing. This year’s winners were announced during an online event hosted by the winners from last year. Yun was the first Asian winner since the association established a separate award in 2006 to recognize both the translator of a work an

Books July 2, 2021

Streaming platform Tving’s original action thriller “Midnight” has been invited to screen at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival and the 20th New York Asian Film Festival. The horror flick centers around a woman with a hearing impairment who becomes a serial killer’s target after witnessing a murder at midnight. Since its release on Wednesday, the movie has topped the domestic box office and is set to premiere in France, Japan, Vietnam and elsewhere. It is d

Film July 2, 2021

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is to share plans about the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection, and is expected to mention the possibility of opening a new museum. The ministry announced Thursday that details on some 23,000 artworks donated by Lee’s family, will be shared next week at a briefing at the government complex in central Seoul. On April 28, President Moon Jae-in called for coming up with ways to manage the art collection, including the possi

Arts & Design July 1, 2021

Saenggwabang cafe, located inside the grounds of the main palace Gyeongbokgung, has become embroiled in controversy for an inappropriate comment against complaints directed to the cafe on its official social media account. On Tuesday, a comment on a post updated by the cafe’s social media account said, “I hope the cafe will be more cautious about sanitation and hygiene. The folding dining table was sticky, and there was something on the tea kettle. It was a mess.” “I

Culture July 1, 2021

S.M. Entertainment recently announced plans to augment its business portfolio and garner more fans to engage in the process. The label held an online YouTube event Tuesday morning to share its futuristic visions and strategies to lead the entertainment industry. SM Congress 2021 was the first event of its kind since the company was established in 1995. Lee Soo-man, the chief producer and founder of the label, said, “S.M. has been and is a content-based company. Our metaverse content

K-pop June 30, 2021

The EBS International Documentary Film Festival started recruiting audience panels on June 21. The participants will cast votes for the grand prize, the Grand Prix prize, and the audience panel award under the two main competitive sections, “Festival Choice: Global” and “Festival Choice: Asia.” The panels will also have to choose the best audience panel award as well. The winner of the audience panel award will be decided by adding up the audience panel’s votes

Film June 29, 2021

  Now that the muggy summer days are here, the state-run Cultural Heritage Administration’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation will invite visitors to experience a royal palace in Seoul on a summer night. Nighttime tours of Changdeokgung will be made available online starting Tuesday so that disadvantaged people outside the capital can experience the popular Moonlight Trip to the palace and its grounds. After receiving “moonlight packag

Culture June 28, 2021