Black Pink's "As If It's Your Last" music video surpassed 100 million views on YouTube on Tuesday, the group's agency said.The song, released in June, became the fourth music video by the act to hit the milestone after "Boombayah," "Playing with Fire" and "Whistle," YG Entertainment said. The milestone was reached in 46 days. (YG Entertainment)The four-member K-pop team, which includes Thai national Lisa, made its debut with "Square One" in August of 2016 and became last year's breakout rookie s

Performance Aug. 8, 2017

A Korean film about the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising surpassed 5 million in attendance Tuesday, the 7th day of its run, the film's distributor said."A Taxi Driver" hit the threshold at 8:30 a.m., becoming the fastest film to reach the milestone this year, according to Showbox. The pace is one day faster than eight days for "The Battleship Island."The film accounted for 35.8 percent of tickets sold on Monday, considered a high rate for a weekday, and 42 percent of tickets reserved for Tues

Film Aug. 8, 2017

"A Taxi Driver," a South Korean film about the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju, has sold more than 3 million tickets by the fourth day of its release, data showed Saturday.The film hit the 3-million mark on Saturday afternoon, according to the computerized box office tally from the Korean Film Council. The pace is on par with "Roaring Currents," the most-viewed film ever in South Korea that gathered 17.6 million. (Showbox)The movie, starring Song Kang-ho and German ac

Film Aug. 6, 2017

The only daughter of the late South Korean actress Choi Jin-sil, whose surprise suicide in 2008 shocked the nation, said Saturday that she has been habitually abused by her maternal grandmother and that police are aware of the situation.Choi Jun-hee, a 14-year-old, said in a social media post that her maternal grandmother verbally and physically abused her to prevent her from making contact with her great-aunt, who raised her after the actress' suicide about a decade ago. (Choi Jun-hee`s Instagr

Television Aug. 6, 2017

Heize and Suran were amongst the newest group of performers to join a retrospective project honoring the 25th anniversary of legendary K-pop icon Seo Tai-ji, according to Seo's company Thursday.The two solo divas, along with Eddy Kim and Crush, are on board for a project to remake Seo's past hits, Seo Tai-ji Company said.The four artists were joined by Seo's recommendation, the company explained.  Eddy Kim, Suran, Crush and Heize (from top left, clockwise)/ YonhapSince last month, BTS, Younha an

Performance Aug. 3, 2017

Idol band Girls' Generation and Japanese new age composer Yuhki Kuramoto are among the artists set to perform at this year's DMZ Peace Concert near the inter-Korean border north of Seoul, according to organizers Thursday.The two-day concert at the unification-themed Nuri Peace Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, will be held from Aug. 12, with the first day dedicated to K-pop stars, including Girls' Generation, BTOB, B1A4, Cosmic Girls and GFriend, MBC TV said. (S.M. Entertainment)On Aug. 13, Yuhki

Performance Aug. 3, 2017

"A Taxi Driver" on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju dethroned fellow Korean historical blockbuster "The Battleship Island" at the box office on its opening day, data showed Thursday.The period drama starring Song Kang-ho and German actor Thomas Kretschmann conquered the previous one-week leader, selling a total of 697,858 tickets on Wednesday, according to the computerized box office tally from the Korean Film Council.  "A Taxi Driver" was screened 7,068 times on 1,446 screens across t

Film Aug. 3, 2017

"The Battleship Island," one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, debuted at No. 1 on the weekend box office chart in South Korea, surpassing 4 million in the accumulated number of views, data showed Monday.The historical action flick directed by Ryoo Seung-wan claimed the top spot by attracting 2.5 million people to 2,019 theaters across the country over the July 28-30 weekend, according to figures from the Korean Film Council.The movie surpassed the 4 million audience mark Sunday,

Film July 31, 2017

YG Entertainment said Sunday it will produce its own reality TV program featuring its stars as the company is set to push its boundaries beyond the music industry. "From September, we will start shooting a reality show titled 'YG JeonJa' based on real-life episodes happening inside YG," the company said in a statement. "JeonJa" in Korean is short for strategic archive. It also unveiled a teaser video titled "Planning Meeting of YG JeonJa."

Television July 31, 2017

K-pop group Girls' Generation will unveil its new album at an upcoming fan meeting slated for next week, its management agency said Sunday.S.M. Entertainment said the eight-member act will sing new songs, including "All Night" and "Holiday," from its sixth full-length album "Holiday Night" during the meeting on Aug. 5 to mark the 10th anniversary of its debut.The event titled "Holiday to Remember" will take place at 7 p.m. at the Olympic Hall of the Olympic Park in eastern Seoul. (S.M. Entertain

Performance July 31, 2017

K-pop's true big players, for the most part, consist of highly choreographed and stylized boy and girl groups. But that doesn't mean there's zero space for diversity. From Bolbbalgan4 to Akdong Musician, several breakout talents have proven that the space and demand for new music exists in the Korean music scene. The East Light, a new six-member boy band that is an actual "band" -- as in musicians that play instruments and sing -- has emerged in that vein, with the young members (average age bei

Performance July 27, 2017

"The Battleship Island," a new South Korean World War II blockbuster film, is set to make an opening day splash on Wednesday, with nearly 600,000 tickets having been reserved on the release date.According to the computerized tally from the Korean Film Council, the number of ticket reservations for the film stood at 594,370 as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, accounting for 70.1 percent of all movie reservations for the day.The film, directed by Ryoo Seung-wan and starring Hwang Jung-min, Song Joong-ki and S

Film July 26, 2017

K-pop acts Black Pink and Sechskies will perform at the 2017 Busan One Asia Festival in October, according to organizers Tuesday.The two groups, along with GFriend and Ailee, were part of the second roster of K-pop artists announced by Busan Metropolitan City, set to perform at the festival scheduled for Oct 22-31 in South Korea's second-largest city in the southeastern coast. (YG Entertainment)Leading idol bands Apink, B.A.P, Astro and indie duo Bolbbalgan4 were previously announced to take par

Performance July 25, 2017

K-pop sensation Twice's inaugural Japanese album has sold over 200,000 copies, according to its agency Tuesday."#TWICE" has sold 200,018 copies in Japan since the June 28 release there, JYP Entertainment said, citing a tally from Oricon, Japan's key music sales tracker. The album remains one of the top selling records in the country, ranking fifth on Oricon's daily album sales chart as of Sunday. (JYP Entertainment)The record holds Twice's past hit songs both in Japanese and Korean. It topped ni

Performance July 25, 2017

"Idol School," Mnet's new idol trainee competition show, debuted at the top of a benchmark TV popularity index, data showed Tuesday.The Thursday-evening program scored 278.7 points on the Content Power Index, becoming the most popular TV program from July 10-16.CPI, developed by entertainment company CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, measures the popularity of TV shows based on the number of views of related news stories, online search tallies and buzz on social media.The show puts 41 young female conte

Television July 25, 2017