South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo will compete at the Berlin International Film Festival for the third year in a row. 　 　According to the lineup for the 72nd edition announced Wednesday, Hong‘s 27th feature, “The Novelist’s Film,” was listed as one of the 18 movies that will vie for the Gold and Silver Bears at the festival scheduled for Feb. 10-16. 　 　It is the third consecutive year that a Hong Sang-soo film has been invited to the competition section of the Berlin fes

   　 Boy band Luminous held an online showcase to put out its second EP “Self n Ego” on Wednesday. 　 There are many artists coming out with new music this month, but they would rather not follow the trend that tends to be fancy or catchy, and base their music on solid ambience, said Woobin. This EP goes deeper than their debut EP, making listeners think, he added. 　 “When you are down, someone’s consolation or sympathy can give you great strength. Such feel

An appellate court on Wednesday upheld life sentence of a South Korean man who murdered three women in the same family. While upholding the lower court’s ruling, the Seoul High Court also insisted the 26-year-old murderer Kim Tae-hyun should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. “Although the judicial authority’s opinion has no binding force to parole decisions, the court should clarify its opinion regarding the opportunity of parole,” the court said. “Th

　CITIC Capital, a global investment company managing $16 billion worldwide, has invested in Organica, a plant-based food company in Korea, the companies said on Wednesday. 　It is the first case of CITIC Capital of China making a direct investment in a Korean company, they added. 　CITIC has shown interest in Organica’s vision for sustainability and its plant-based product lines, ranging from clean juices and snacks to ready-made meals, the Seoul-based company said. It aims to gain a glob

Kang Dong-han, vice president of content at Netflix Korea, on Wednesday introduced 25 new Korean original content works that the streaming platform will introduce in 2022 with an expectation to see more successful cases like the global hit series “Squid Game.” “Last year was special, as Oh Young-soo who won the Golden Globes said, it was no longer ‘us in the world’, but ‘the world in us’,” Kang said during a press conference held via Zoom with loc

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol met with the Russian ambassador to Seoul on Wednesday and called for more investment and exchanges between the countries. Ambassador Andrey Kulik paid a visit to Yoon of the conservative People Power Party at the party's headquarters in Seoul, and the two discussed a range of areas including business and culture. "There should be more vigorous regional investment and economic and cultural exchanges, as well as strengthened cooperation o

Senior diplomats of South Korea and the United States had a phone conversation Wednesday to discuss North Korea's recent missile tests and reaffirmed the bilateral alliance's efforts to tackle regional challenges, the foreign ministry said. Seoul's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and his US counterpart Wendy Sherman talked over the phone after Pyongyang said it test-fired two tactical guided missiles Monday, the fourth show of force this month alone. "The vice ministers shared t

Kang Ha-neul is returning to the big screen as a trouble-making swordsman in “The Pirates: Goblin Flag” directed by Kim Jung-hoon. Director Kim’s new movie is set in the Joseon era and revolves around a journey by pirates looking for hidden treasures of a Goryeo Kingdom that no longer exists. “When I first read the script, I thought of Muchi (the character played by Kang) as a troublemaker, so it was important for him to stay somewhat hyper most of the time. I thought o

Between various scandals, the leaking of private conversations and talks of possible unified candidacies, support for the three major candidates in Korea’s ongoing presidential race has fluctuated unpredictably throughout. But there are those who believe that hints lie in the faces of the three – the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung, and opposition parties’ Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo -- and one can read them through the art of fortunetelling known as “gwansang.&r

South Korean stocks extended their losing streak to a fifth consecutive session Wednesday as rising US yields and rate hike forecast weighed on investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 21.96 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 2,842.28 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 457 million shares worth some 9.6 trillion won ($8.1 billion), with losers far outnumbering gainers 653

South Korea's Defense Minister Suh Wook called on all armed services Wednesday to unify their "will and efforts" to ensure this year's planned assessment required for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) will proceed successfully. Suh made the remarks during a meeting of top commanders to evaluate South Korea's efforts to retake OPCON from the United States, as the allies are set to stage the full operational capability (FOC) assessment later this year. Duri

Ruling party’s Lee offers swift apology to contain fallout

The viewership of the SBS drama “Our Beloved Summer” might have been disappointing, but the sales of its scripts are telling another story. The scripts of the TV show have topped the bestselling lists of local online book stores Aladin and Yes24, proving the growing popularity of the 16-part series that is scheduled to end on Tuesday. The success of a TV series has been judged largely by its viewership rating, but the growing popularity of over the top platforms and services have le

The South Korean government is on alert as the omicron cases increase

Nearly a decade after winning a historic Olympic football medal together in London, veteran forward Park Chu-young and longtime coach Hong Myung-bo have been reunited on the perennial K League contender, Ulsan Hyundai FC. After Park left FC Seoul, the only K League club he'd ever played for, in December, Hong and Ulsan reached out and signed him on Sunday. Park, a 36-year-old forward who didn't score in 17 matches in 2021, suddenly had a lifeline to continue his playing career. He'd turned down