Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Bang Min-ah wins rising star award at NY film fest
Actor Bang Min-ah, widely known as Minah of K-pop girl group Girl’s Day, has won an award at the New York Asian Film Festival 2021. The 20th edition of NYAFF was held virtually and in-person at the Lincoln Center, New York, from Aug. 6-22. Bang won the Rising Star Asia Award for her role as Kang-yi in the Korean film “Snowball,” directed by Lee Woo-jung. The film, an adaptation of the award-winning novel “The Best Life” by Lim Sol-ah, revolves around three teena
Aug. 25, 2021
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Netflix released films to be screened in local CGV theaters
Due to the COVID-19 situation, some Korean movies have chosen to skip their theatrical release and gone straight to Netflix. But now, these movies will be screened in local CGV theaters, according to Netflix on Wednesday. Last year amid the pandemic, the number of people who visited local theaters plunged 74 percent from the previous year. It was the greatest decline since the Korean Film Council started compiling box office data in 2004. This drop led thriller “Time to Hunt,” direc
Aug. 25, 2021
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EBS doc festival showcases daily life around the world
Selected documentaries from around the world are being presented at the 18th EBS International Documentary Festival 2021 until Sunday on public broadcaster EBS. EBS International Documentary Festival, which began Monday, is Korea’s only documentary festival that combines TV broadcasting with online and theater screenings. Under the slogan “normal is now special,” the EIDF seeks to send a hopeful message of overcoming the pandemic and documenting the slowly vanishing moments o
Aug. 24, 2021
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Selections from 22nd Jeonju International Film Festival to be rescreened
The Jeonju International Film Festival will hold a special event, “ Falling in Jeonju,” from Sept. 9 to 12 to screen a selection of films that drew great attention during the film festival that was held from April 29 to May 8. Thirty movies -- 16 features and 14 short films -- that were screened during this year’s film fest will be presented. The opening film of the 22nd Jeonju IFF, “Father” directed by Srdan Golubovic, is included in the list of films to be scr
Aug. 24, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Film on film: ‘The Rain Comes Soon’ is comedy about releasing movie during pandemic
It was a hot summer day last year when director Ko Bong-soo decided to start making his new comedy film, “The Rain Comes Soon,” about a director who releases a film during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since the virus outbreak, many people had been saying that they felt depressed. As a filmmaker, I thought about what I could do to make the situation better. Since my specialty is making comedy films, I decided to make people laugh,” Ko said during an interview with The Korea H
Aug. 23, 2021
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Action thriller 'Hostage' tops S. Korean box office over weekend
The South Korean action thriller "Hostage: Missing Celebrity" topped the local weekend box office in its first week of release, data showed Monday. The movie about the kidnapping of star Hwang Jung-min garnered a combined 454,000 ticket sales over the Friday to Saturday period, bringing its combined total to over 638,000 since its release last Wednesday, according to data from the Korean Film Council. The disaster comedy film "Sinkhole" dropped to second place with 326,000
Aug. 23, 2021
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[Herald Interview] ‘Sinkhole,’ disaster movie with comedy twist: Cha Seung-won
Veteran actor Cha Seung-won, 51, is not afraid of challenges. When choosing movies, he tries to pick something out of the ordinary. “I don’t like films that have a single genre. I am into stories with twists. I liked ‘Sinkhole’ because it is a movie about the disaster, but there are comedy elements to it. I love how humor is being used in an extreme situation,” Cha emphasized during an interview via Zoom with a group of local reporters. “It was really funny
Aug. 20, 2021
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Politically censored S. Korean films to be released online
The Korean Film Archive announced that it will sequentially post a collection of South Korea’s earlier films censored by the state through the Korean Movie Database online history archive center, starting Thursday. The KOFA received donations and preserved some 10,000 materials regarding censorship from the Korea Council for Performing Arts Promotion, the predecessor of the current Korea Media Rating Board, from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In the past, the materials had only been avai
Aug. 20, 2021
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[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week
Sinkhole (Korea) Opened Aug. 11 Comedy Directed by Kim Ji-hoon Although he has an annoying neighbor (Cha Seung-won), office worker Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun) is very happy that he finally has become a homeowner after saving up for more than 10 years. Dong-won invites his co-workers over to his new place for a housewarming party, but the next morning the building falls into a giant sinkhole. The Suicide Squad (US) Opened Aug. 4 Action Directed by James Gunn Intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Vi
Aug. 20, 2021
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Korean hit films set to be remade in US, Spain
Korean movies have been increasingly drawing interest from global production studios and streaming platforms for local adaptations amid the rising presence of Korean content in the world's show business. "The Villainess," directed by Jeong Byeong-gil, is set to be adapted for television by Amazon Studios, according to Next Entertainment World (NEW), the movie's Korean distributor. Amazon Studios is behind hit TV series "The Wilds" through its Amazon Prime Video service and O
Aug. 19, 2021
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‘Sinkhole,’ ‘Escape From Mogadishu’ conquer box office over Liberation Day weekend
Over the three-day Liberation Day weekend Aug. 14-16, South Korean films “Sinkhole” and “Escape From Mogadishu” conquered the local box office. Disaster comedy “Sinkhole,” directed by Kim Ji-hoon, was released Aug. 11 and took the No. 1 spot, attracting more than 740,000 viewers over the holiday weekend for a total to date of over 1.14 million. It passed the 1 million mark faster than any other film this year. “Sinkhole” is set at Chungwoon Vil
Aug. 17, 2021
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'Sinkhole' surpasses 1m admissions at fastest pace of 2021
South Korean disaster comedy film "Sinkhole" has surpassed a cumulative 1 million admissions on the sixth day of its release, the fastest pace among homegrown flicks released this year, data showed Tuesday. The film, released last Wednesday, attracted 741,000 people over the Saturday-Monday Liberation Day holiday, bringing its combined total to 1.14 million, according to the data by the Korean Film Council. It topped the 1 million threshold on Sunday, becoming the eighth 2021 film to
Aug. 17, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Lee Kwang-soo returns as relatable office worker in disaster comedy ‘Sinkhole’
Lee Kwang-soo, 36, returns to the big screen as a relatable young office worker in the disaster comedy “Sinkhole,” directed by Kim Ji-hoon. “Sinkhole” centers on the residents of Chungwoon Villa, one of the cheaper apartment buildings available in pricey Seoul. It took Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun), an office worker, over 10 years to finally become a homeowner. Soon after moving in, Dong-won invites his co-workers over to his new place for a housewarming party. After the o
Aug. 15, 2021
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Documentary ‘Assassins’ focuses on aftermath of murder of N. Korean leader’s half-brother
Ryan White’s documentary “Assassins” tells the story of Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam -- the two women who killed Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam -- and what happened to them afterward. The documentary features surveillance footage of the murder of Kim Jong-nam and shows how the two women were arrested. It also shows how they were duped into smearing the lethal chemical agent VX on Kim Jong-nam’s face at Kuala Lumpur Internatio
Aug. 12, 2021
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DMZ Docs aims to be leading documentary film festival in Asia
The 13th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival will kick off in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Sept. 9 under the theme of “peace, communication and life.” DMZ Docs, which uses images taken by Korean documentary photographers every year for its poster, unveiled this year’s poster, titled “Baek Gi-wan’s fist.” The image, taken by photographer Noh Sun-tag, shows the clenched fist of social activist Baek Gi-wan who passed away in February. “The fist r
Aug. 12, 2021
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Disaster-comedy 'Sinkhole' sets opening-day record for S. Korean movie this year
Disaster-comedy film "Sinkhole" has attracted over 147,000 moviegoers on the first day of its release, marking this year's highest opening-day attendance for a South Korean movie, data showed Thursday. The film drew 147,304 viewers upon its debut on Wednesday, pushing two-week box office leader "Escape from Mogadishu" to No. 2, according to data compiled by the Korean Film Council. "Sinkhole" logged the third-highest first-day score among all movies released this
Aug. 12, 2021
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[Herald interview] Former ambassador recalls harrowing escape from Mogadishu in 1991
The blockbuster film “Escape From Mogadishu,” released July 28, has drawn more than 1.85 million theatergoers, becoming the biggest box office hit so far in a year that is seeing many of the films originally set for release last year finally make it to screens despite the continued pandemic. The harrowing escape scene and the exotic location -- the film was shot in Morocco for three months last year before the pandemic halted virtually all international travel -- are certainly rivet
Aug. 12, 2021
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Movie about K-pop to be created with Hollywood producer
Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM on Tuesday announced that a movie about k-pop titled “K-Pop: Lost in America (working title)” will be created jointly with Hollywood producer Lynda Obst. Obst is known for collaborating with director Christopher Nolan to co-produce the science fiction film “Interstellar.” She also produced many hit movies including “Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging” directed by Gurinder Chadha and “Sleepless in Seattle “ direct
Aug. 10, 2021
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S. Korean cinema chains remain in slump in Q2 amid COVID-19
South Korean cinema chain operators remained in a slump in the second quarter of 2021 but found a glimmer of hope for a rebound amid the protracted novel coronavirus pandemic, financial data showed Tuesday. CJ CGV, the No. 1 multiplex operator under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its operating loss reached 57.3 billion won ($49.9 million) over the April-June period, narrowing from an operating deficit of 130.5 billion won a year ago. Its sales shot up 288 percent to 161.7 billi
Aug. 10, 2021
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Hwang Jung-min returns as abductee in ‘Hostage: Missing Celebrity’
For veteran actor Hwang Jung-min, playing a character who shares his name in the upcoming movie “Hostage: Missing Celebrity” was huge challenge. “When I was asked to play Hwang Jung-min, I was concerned with how I should act in the movie, because I had never experienced being kidnapped before and was not able to imagine how I would behave if I was really abducted,” Hwang said during an online interview after the press preview on Thursday. Director Pil Gam-seong’s
Aug. 8, 2021