K-pop concerts in hot water over disappointing experience, pricing issues

Rapper Swings is hosting a free concert on June 3 with the artists that he houses in his hip-hop label AP Alchemy. “It was our CEO Swings’ decision to transition from the paid concert into a free one. He invested his personal money into it,” announced AP Alchemy on Thursday. The concert slated to be held at the Tiger Dome at Korea University on June 3 was initially planned as a paid concert wit...

Actor Song Joong-ki attended the 76th Cannes Film Festival for the first time in his 15 year acting career with his action thriller flick “Hopeless.” Invited as part of the Out of Competition category, the low-budget “Hopeless” is director Kim Chang-hoon's long feature debut film. Rookie actors Hong Sa-bin and Kim Hyeong-seo, also known as singer Bibi, were next to Song during the film's world p...

Lighting event will paint Seoul purple; main event to take place in Yeouido on June 17

Taeyong of NCT is holding a fan showcase to celebrate his solo debut. According to SM Entertainment, Taeyong will present his solo debut album “Shalala” to his fans during the showcase to be held in Seoul on June 5 at 8 p.m. The showcase, titled “Code: Stage,” will consist of Taeyong’s introduction of singles from his mini album, and performance of some of the tracks including the title track f...

It took more than four years, but K-pop group Vanner is finally making a name for themselves. Over the last few years, the group struggled. The members had to work part-time jobs just to make ends meet, as becoming a K-pop artists only left them with debt. However, those days appear to have reached their end. “Once, I met a fan when working at a store. I was really worried about what the fan wo...

“Many creative ballet productions have been choreographed and performed recently,” said Park In-ja, the artistic director of the Ballet Festival Korea. “We hope to explore the values of different eras through ballet pieces -- thus, ‘facing the era in ballet.’” Park added that a growing number of new productions are being submitted for the festival each year, with this year seeing 16 submissions,...

Boy band MCND will visit six countries in Latin America from May 26 for its "World Adventure 2023" tour, said agency TOP Media on Wednesday. The tour will begin in Porto Alegre, Brazil and bring the fivesome to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico. It is returning to the region about eight months since its weeks-long tour. Early this month, the band performed in Dubai, United Arab Emirat...

While six episodes remain of the 14-part series, “The Good Bad Mother” is ranked No. 2, following “Doctor Cha,” in Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines’ Netflix charts. “Korean dramas often deal with the relationships between families and friends, which are unique to the Eastern culture. And many Southeast Asian viewers share similar cultural backgrounds to Koreans. Interestingly, if you watch...

Lee also stressed the importance of accurate line delivery. “Academics and theater are different. Theater needs to be appreciated and understood by the audience,” said Lee. “Shakespeare’s plays are mixed with monologues and asides. We are focusing on delivering the lines with the right rhythm.” This 16-day performance could be the last chance to meet Lee as King Lear, according to the productio...

The Boyz has uploaded a poster for its second international tour with added destinations. The ongoing tour, dubbed “Zeneration,” will bring the band to six cities in Japan from end of May until early July. The tour will continue in seven more regions -- Taiwan, Macao, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand -- for 15 concerts in total. The 11-piece went live in Seoul last week to kic...

Super Junior is the new ambassador of the Saudi Arabia Tourism Authority, SM Entertainment announced Tuesday. The inauguration took place during a tourism roadshow at the Westin Josun Seoul on Monday. “We will do the most we can to advertise tourism in Saudi Arabia. We were recently invited to the country by the Saudi Arabia Tourism Authority and there we made unforgettable memories. Saudi Arab...

Fantagio’s new boy group Lun8 will debut on June 15, the agency said Tuesday. The eight-member group is dropping its first mini album “Continue?” on the same day, according to Fantagio. The eight-piece is Fantagio's first boy group in seven years since the debut of Astro. Lun8 consists of seven Korean members -- Chael, Jinsu, Junwoo, Dohyun, Ian, Eunho and Eunseop -- and one Japanese member, T...

The K-pop singer forays into Cannes Film Festival with her first acting in HBO's series "The Idol"