Suga, a member of K-pop superband BTS, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his management agency said Friday. Suga was confirmed to have the virus in a polymerase chain reaction test after arriving in Seoul from the United States on Thursday, according to Big Hit Music. "Suga received his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in late August," it said. "He has no special symptoms and is sta...

The South Korean webtoon industry saw its combined sales top 1 trillion won ($843.6 million) for the first time last year, government data showed Friday. The total sales of the local web-based comic market amounted to 1.05 trillion won in 2020, up 64.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the culture ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). It is the first time t...

K-pop superband BTS has become the first international act to be best-selling artist of the year in Japan. According to the annual rankings released by Japanese music tracker Oricon on Friday, the septet placed No. 1 on the total sales by artist, based on the aggregated sales of albums, DVDs, online streamings and online singles. The company said BTS is the first non-Japanese artist to top the ...

Netflix dating show ‘Single’s Inferno’ under fire for male contestants’ comment on skin color

Spider-Man: No Way Home (US) Opened Dec. 15 Action Directed by Jon Watts With Spider-Man‘s identity now revealed, Peter (Tom Holland) asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help. But Doctor Strange’s spell goes wrong and dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man. Encanto (US) Opened Nov. 24 Animation Di...

According to the report, 36 artist groups are currently connected with fans via Weverse, with 23 new teams joining the community this year. It not only includes big name K-pop acts, such as Blackpink and Treasure, but also global artists, such as British pop trio New Hope Club. Around 16.8 million new fans signed up for membership this year, pushing the total number of accumulated users on Wever...

Veteran girl group Apink has finalized its plans to return as a whole unit, according to a local media report Thursday. All six bandmates, including Son Naeun who moved to YG Entertainment in June, were shooting a music video on the same day, according to the report, adding the group is set to come out with a new album in February. It has been almost two years since their previous album, ...

Meanwhile, Julia Fischer, a German classical violinist and pianist, is scheduled to perform the entire cycle of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin at Lotte Concert Hall on Dec. 7-8. By Lee Si-jin ( sj_lee@heraldcorp.com )

“This is sensational! In welcoming Korean violist Park Sueye’s BIS album of the complete Paganini Caprices back in January 2018, I suggested that this excellent player countered the cliche of ‘Paganini as devil’ with an alternative image of Paganini as a seducer. Remarkable as that program is, ‘Journey Through a Century’ -- the 20th century, that is -- is finer still, and not only because Park is...

South Korean director Erick Oh’s short animation “Namoo,” which means tree in Korean, on Wednesday made it onto the 94th Oscar shortlist after being nominated in the animated short film category. The Academy Awards will announce the final list of nominees on Feb. 9 and the awards ceremony will take place on March 27, 2022. Oh’s new animation follows the journey of a man’s life -- from beginning...

Boy band Onewe will come back with its second EP “Planet Nine: Voyager” on Jan. 4, announced agency RBW Entertainment on Wednesday, uploading a poster with an image of Saturn that resembled the letter “o.” It has been seven months since its first EP “Planet Nine: Alter Ego,” which included songs that were all written by the bandmates. On Tuesday, the band teamed up with Oneus, another mal...

Gong Yoo, who previously made his Netflix debut with a brief appearance on “Squid Game,” was honored to take part in this project. “Unique setting, interesting scenario and amazing cast aside, I was personally interested in a dystopian world and stories about the near future,” said Gong. “I was disappointed that Korean contents were lacking in diversity, where similar stories and genres were con...

By earning a total of 2,660.42 points, Seodo Band took first place, followed by Kim Jun-su and Aux with 2,154.94 points and 1,915.17 points, respectively. Kim Ju-ri came in fourth place, while Esang and Ondo were fifth and sixth, respectively. After winning the competition, Seodo Band said that it was an honor to participate in the program as a contestant. The group also mentioned that the hards...

The opening of the musical version of “The Lion King” will be delayed, as performers and crew face difficulties in flying into Korea after several airlines abruptly canceled flights bound for the country, according to S&Co, the production company of the international tour. “Our performance team members’ entry (into Korea) has been delayed due to COVID-related travel problems,” S&Co said in a sta...

South Korean over-the-top service provider Watcha is set to air its first original music variety show “Double Trouble,” featuring duets by 10 K-pop stars. “Double Trouble” presents a series of performance battles in which 10 male and female idol members compete for the title of “Best Duo.” During its 10-episode run, the artists will pair up with different partners to put on five performances. ...