[Herald Interview] Ra Mi-ran feels she could not ask for more from 'The Good Bad Mother'

When veteran actress Ra Mi-ran walked in for an interview with a group of local reporters at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul on Thursday, the traces of her latest character, Jin Young-soon, were long gone. Sporting a platinum blonde hairstyle for her upcoming project and speaking in a low tone, she appeared to have metamorphosed from her role as the rural pig farmer and single mother of “The Good Bad Mother.” The actress, who has starred in more than 60 projects -- including mus

June 11, 2023

‘His Man’ to return with season 2

Local streaming service Wavve on Tuesday confirmed the return of its popular reality dating show “His Man” with a second season. “His Man,” which premiered in July 2022, was South Korea’s first gay dating reality show. The 11-part series initially caught many viewers’ attention with its cast of gay male participants, the first ever in a dating reality show. As their romances developed, the couples' stories were seen as more real and sincere than any other

June 7, 2023

Disney+'s 'The Zone: Survival Mission' to return with season 2

Disney+’s star-studded, unscripted “The Zone: Survival Mission” will return on a bigger scale with expanded stories for its second season on June 14. The show features comedian Yoo Jae-suk alongside actors Lee Kwang-soo and Kwon Yuri as they endure catastrophic situations in eight different disaster scenarios for four hours. Adapting escape room-style games, the first season presented disaster situations such as a water shortage and zombie apocalypse. The upcoming series is set

June 2, 2023

People turn to broadcaster alerts

Text alerts have become a dominant channel of communication for emergencies in South Korea. Though some might have become tired of messages about someone going missing or the latest COVID-19 figures, the system has led many people to pay more attention to public safety issues. But, when internet servers temporarily crash due to a sudden surge of traffic in a crisis situation, paralyzing data and other internet-related services when they are most needed, people turn to the emergency broadcasts on

May 31, 2023

Paramount+, Tving to air new Star Trek prequel season 2

Paramount+ has unveiled the official poster and trailer for the second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," scheduled to be released in June. For fans in Korea, the new season will premiere on Korean streaming platform Tving. "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a prequel to the iconic "Star Trek: The Original Series," revolving around beloved characters like Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Commander Una Chin-Riley, commonly known as Number One (Rebecca

May 30, 2023

[Reporter’s Notebook] Why is 'XO, Kitty' struggling to win Korean viewers over?

After looking up to the West for a long time, many Koreans are perceptive to what Westerners think about the country and its people and yearn for their acknowledgement. Stories about Korean culture being featured in overseas projects -- mostly produced in the US -- regularly make local headlines. Back in 2017, people in Busan shared their excitement about how their port city would be shown in Marvel’s 2018-action flick “Black Panther” as soon as the news about the production te

May 30, 2023

Korean dramas’ popularity still strong in Southeast Asia

Though no Korean drama so far this year has created an international sensation to the extent of “Squid Game” (2021), or even “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (2022) or “Reborn Rich” (2022), there are many series that are enjoying popularity overseas, especially in the Southeast Asian market. Cable channel tvN’s fantasy series “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938” has landed on Amazon Prime Video's top 10 charts in 19 countries as of Tuesday, accord

May 24, 2023

tvN’s ‘Vincenzo’ to make jump to Japanese musical stage

Cable channel tvN’s smash-hit crime series “Vincenzo” will be adapted into a Japanese musical. According to Studio Dragon, the production company behind the 2021 television series, the stage musical is scheduled to premiere on Aug. 11 at AiiA 2.5 Theater in Kobe, Japan. The musical will run through Aug. 13. The show will then travel to Tokyo where it will be staged at Nippon Seinenkan Hall, starting from Aug. 18 to 21. The last shows of the musical tour will be in Osaka at Sank

May 19, 2023

Women-centered series go mainstream in Korean content industry

Portraying relationships between female leads -- be it friendship or rivalry -- is becoming the dominant trend for successful projects in South Korea. While 2022 TV dramas received both local and global popularity with strong, independent woman -- “Juvenile Justice,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Under the Queen’s Umbrella” and more -- this year’s projects explore more female-centered stories with multiple female leads. Lim Ji-yeon and Song Hye-ky

May 17, 2023

‘EXchange’ to be made into Japanese Amazon Prime original

Local streaming platform Tving confirmed that its dating reality show “EXchange” is being adapted into a Japanese remake “Love Transit.” The eight-part dating program “Love Transit” will be the released as Amazon Prime original by Amazon Prime Video -- a subscription-based video streaming service run by Amazon -- on June 15, according to a Tving official. The upcoming show follows the basic format of “EXchange,” in which a group of ex- couples coha

May 16, 2023

Studio Dragon off to strong start in US content market

South Korean drama production Studio Dragon has secured a solid foothold in the US market with its first original American drama series “The Big Door Prize.” The company, which was behind many mega-hit series, including “Mr. Sunshine,” (2018), “Crash Landing on You,” (2019), “Big Mouth” (2022) and “The Glory,” agreed to co-produce the drama series with US company Skydance Television in Feburary 2020. “The Big Door Prize,” wh

May 11, 2023

‘Race’ to offer realistic, relatable stories of office life

Disney+ seeks to entertain viewers with realistic stories that unfold inside a public relations firm in its upcoming series, "Race." The global streamer’s project helmed by director Lee Dong-yun centers around an office worker, Park Yoon-jo (played by Lee Yeon-hee), who becomes the newest member of a top public relations company in South Korea. “When I read the script, I felt that the troubles and concerns of office workers, who are around my age, were realistically feature

May 9, 2023

‘Tale of the Nine Tailed’ returns with unexpected twist

While many popular dramas make triumphant returns with a second season, usually centering on the lives of the lead characters after the end of the previous season, "Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938,” the second season of the tvN’ 2020-fantasy series “Tale of the Nine Tailed” will take viewers back in time, bringing the lead character to the Korean Peninsula in 1938. Director Kang Shin-hyo shared that the male “gumiho” Lee Yeon, played by Lee Dong-wook, become

May 4, 2023

JTBC’s ‘Doctor Cha’ captivates viewers with story of unusual resident

South Korea’s latest family medical drama “Doctor Cha” is slowly but surely garnering attention from both local and global drama viewers with a relatable, encouraging story of a middle-aged woman, Cha Jeong-suk. Many viewers empathized with Cha, who sacrificed her life and career for her family. The series' latest episode recorded a solid 13.2 percent viewership rating on April 29. “Doctor Cha” became the most viral drama series in the third week of April, with

May 3, 2023

Lee Dong-wook, Kim Hye-jun to star in 2024 Disney+ series

Walt Disney Co. Korea confirmed on Tuesday that actors Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun will star in “The Killer’s Shopping Mall,” a Disney+ original, as uncle and niece. The new mystery thriller is set for release in 2024, according to the global streamer. Adapted from a 2020 novel of the same title written by Kang Ji-young, the series will center around the story of Jung Ji-an, a young woman who is raised by her uncle Jung Jin-man following her parents' death. The story beg

May 2, 2023

tvN’s ‘Earth Arcade’ to return with second season set in Finland

The hit reality show “Earth Arcade” from 2022 will return with a second season on May 12, looking to continue its winning streak with a proven cast of stars. Helmed by TV director Na Young-seok, who was behind numerous smash hit variety shows including KBS’ “2 Days 1 Night” (2007-2012), tvN’s “Grandpa Over Flowers” (2013), “New Journey to the West,” “Three Meals a Day” and “Jinny’s Kitchen,” the upcoming pr

May 2, 2023

Park Eun-bin, "Decision to Leave" win top honors at Baeksang Arts Awards

Park Chan-wook's romantic thriller movie "Decision to Leave" and Park Eun-bin, who starred in the drama series "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," have taken top honors at this year's Baeksang Arts Awards. "Decision to Leave" won the grand prize in the movie category at the 59th awards ceremony on Friday night. Park Chan-wook clinched best director and Chinese actress Tang Wei received best actress for her role in the movie. The period thriller "The Night O

April 29, 2023

[News Analysis] Experts, industry insiders have mixed reactions to Netflix's investment pledge

Netflix chief Ted Sarandos’ decision to invest $2.5 billion in Korean content for the next four years made headlines across local media outlets on Tuesday. The announcement represented South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first major accomplishment on his US state visit. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Yoon said he “sincerely welcomed the unprecedented investment” made by Netflix. But some speculation remains as to whether Sarandos’ announc

April 26, 2023

‘The Dessert’ poised to become the sweetest cooking competition

South Korea has had a diverse array of survival series, spanning everything from K-pop idol auditions to Korean cookery battles and grueling physical challenges. You might be forgiven for thinking there are no new survival ideas, Tving is set to add a touch of freshness with a dessert-making competition. “Dessert-related programs are not new in overseas countries but I found that South Korea did not have such programs yet. I simply wanted to take the first step to produce this type of pr

April 25, 2023

‘Yonder’ tops Paramount+ international series chart

Tving’s 2022 sci-fi series “Yonder,” which was released globally via Paramount+ on April 11, has topped the streamer's international series chart. “Yonder” became the most-viewed work among other international series that were aired this year the first week after its release, Tving said in a press release Monday, quoting Paramount+. The international series chart includes all non-American projects that are serviced by Paramount+. “Yonder,” which was

April 24, 2023