Veteran actor Moon So-ri is returning to the big screen as a middle child of three sisters, a devout Christian who always tries to please the pastor, in the upcoming movie “Three Sisters.” During a press conference held at the CGV Yongsan movie theater in Seoul on Monday, Moon said she had some difficulty understanding her character Mi-yeon at first. “I have one younger brother and no sisters. I never attended church either,” Moon said. She added that she attended chur

Film Jan. 19, 2021

Won Buddhism announced Monday that it had appointed Juksan Hwang Do-gook as its new leader in the Americas. Hwang’s appointment ceremony took place virtually on Jan. 13 with followers from 23 countries watching. Hwang is the first leader in charge of Won Buddhism centers located outside South Korea, according to the religious group. The decision to appoint a leader outside Korea was reached as Won Buddhism found it necessary to have a leader who understands the local situation. Hwang h

Culture Jan. 18, 2021

  Are you tired of playing video games on your small TV screen? CJ CGV, the country‘s largest cinema chain, on Saturday officially launched its console game platform business AzitX, which will allow video gamers to play at 34 local movie theaters, including CGV Yongsan in central Seoul. CGV said it launched an AzitX pilot service for five days at four local theaters, including CGV Ilsan, and received positive feedback. “We saw that AzitX was popular among many people who wa

Film Jan. 17, 2021

The second episode of “Youn’s Stay” -- a spinoff from reality TV show “Youn’s Restaurant” -- marked a viewership rating of 10.2 percent, according to Nielsen Korea on Saturday. During the show that aired Friday night, the cast served traditional Korean drink makgeolli, as well as Korean foods they had learned to make in the previous episode, including bugak (seaweed chips), tteokgalbi (beef patties), jeon (savory pancakes) and vegan gungjung tteokbokki (roy

Television Jan. 17, 2021

Over the Christmas holidays, seven Korean YouTubers gathered in a room to draw lots for a Secret Santa gift exchange. In another room, almost a hundred YouTubers posed together for a group picture. No one wore face masks. Or rather, their virtual, Lego-like avatars didn’t. Under South Korea’s strict social distancing guidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the YouTube community took their gatherings online on Minecraft – the most popular video game of all time. Communiti

Culture Jan. 16, 2021

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday announced that it plans to establish three funds worth a total of 298.5 billion won ($271.6 million) to support local content creators and sports and tourism businesses. The money will be injected through a fund-of-funds managed by Korea Venture Investment Corp., in line with the Culture Ministry’s practice since 2005 of investing indirectly in small and midsized cultural businesses through venture capital funds instead of choosing

Culture Jan. 16, 2021

Wonder Woman 1984 (US) Opened Dec. 23 Action Directed by Patty Jenkins In 1984, the title character Diana (Gal Gadot) works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington while performing heroic deeds. One day, Diana unknowingly uses a stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back to life. However, new enemies also emerge, preying on humanity’s desires. Diana is now the only hope of saving the world.　  In the Mood for Love　 (China) Reopened Dec. 24 Romance Directed

Film Jan. 15, 2021

Kim Young-jin selected new head of KOFIC Kim Young-jin, former vice director of the Korean Film Council, has been selected as the new chairman of the state-funded film organization. Kim was chosen through a vote by the nine KOFIC committee members during the committee‘s first regular meeting Monday. His term of office runs through Jan. 3, 2022. “We will seek a practical support plan to overcome the difficult times of COVID-19, and also focus on presenting a blueprint for respon

Film Jan. 13, 2021

Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung won three more best supporting actress trophies from US film critic circles -- the San Diego Film Critics Society, Music City Film Critics Association and the DiscussingFilm Critic Awards -- for her role in “Minari.” So far, Youn has won a total of 11 best supporting actress awards given by US film critics circles and festivals, including the Columbus Film Critics, Oklahoma Film Critics Circle and the North Carolina Film Critics. Drama film’s dire

Film Jan. 13, 2021

South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in Myanmar held a ceremony on Monday to present four booklets on Korea’s mural conservation and management to Myanmar’s cultural authorities. Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar Aung Ko, the director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, South Korea’s ambassador to Myanmar Lee Sang-hwa and Head of the Bagan Office of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation Kim Dong-min attended the event at

Culture Jan. 11, 2021

  The number of moviegoers over the weekend dropped to a new record low last week, according to data from the Korean Film Council. A total of 80,735 people went to theaters from Friday to Sunday last week, a deep plunge from 149,000 a week earlier. Over the three days, “Wonder Woman 1984,” directed by Patty Jenkins, topped the local box office with attendance of just 26,000. The Hollywood superhero movie has been dominating the local box office, with the accumulated number

Film Jan. 11, 2021

“Youn’s Stay” -- a spin-off of the popular Korean reality TV show “Youn’s Restaurant” -- got off to a good start Friday with a rating of 8.2 percent. The show features foreign guests staying at a hanok guesthouse in Korea run by a group of celebrities. It began with the production team expressing concerns about airing a program during the pandemic. It was noted that all celebrities and guests on the show had tested negative for the coronavirus. “Youn

Television Jan. 10, 2021

Although a significant number of married couples decide to go their separate ways each year in Korea, divorce is not a topic that Koreans talk about casually, largely because it is still a taboo subject. The divorce rate in Korea has increased for two consecutive years since 2018, according to Statistics Korea. Although the divorce rate decreased by 4.3 percent year-on-year from January to October 2020, the number of couples that got divorced stands at 88,455. “I have a close friend fro

Television Jan. 10, 2021

Korea’s top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify chalked up a total of 10.6 billion streams on the platform in 2020, the popular streaming service announced on Thursday in its yearly wrap up. 　 Boy band BTS was the most streamed Korean artist globally, followed by Blackpink, Twice, Stray Kids and Red Velvet, according to Spotify’s 2020 Wrapped data. BTS also took the top spot in the category of the most-streamed global group in 2020. 2020 Wrapped, which compiles data from Jan. 1 t

Performance Jan. 9, 2021

Wonder Woman 1984 (US) Opened Dec. 23 Action Directed by Patty Jenkins In 1984, title character Diana (Gal Gadot) works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington while performing heroic deeds. One day Diana unknowingly uses a stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back to life. However, her enemies also appear, and they want to destroy humanity. Diana is now the only hope of saving the world. In the Mood for Love　 (China) Reopened Dec. 24 Romance Directed by Wong Kar-w

Film Jan. 8, 2021