Song Hae, veteran presenter of ‘National Singing Contest,’ mulls retirement from show

Veteran television presenter Song Hae is considering stepping down as the host of KBS’ “National Singing Contest” after 34 years, following reports of his latest hospitalization for an unspecified illness, a KBS official said Wednesday. The 95-year-old, the longest-running presenter of a local television program, told the show’s production team that “now is a good time to leave the show due to health issues,” according to the official. The broadcaster however

May 18, 2022

[Reporter’s Notebook] Why desire to be ‘revered’ resonates with many Koreans?

JTBC’s drama “My Liberation Notes” does not conform to the typical K-drama mold. There’s no handsome chaebol prince; there’s no crazy mother-in-law. What you see in it are three siblings who live in a small and humble house on the outskirts of Seoul. Although it takes one and a half hours to their workplaces in Seoul, none of them have a car because their conservative father -- who despises unnecessary spending and believes in the dignity of labor -- won&rsquo

May 17, 2022

Korean broadcasters start to release overseas projects, film abroad

South Korean broadcasters are beginning to air TV programs filmed abroad as they resume long-suspended plans for shootings overseas. With the easing of travel restrictions, including mandatory quarantine for international arrivals and the reopening of international routes, broadcasters are keen to resume filming TV programs in exotic locations. Cable channel tvN recently released the new entertainment show “Unexpected Journey,” a series starring Oscar-winning Youn Yuh-jung. The sh

May 17, 2022

Local broadcasters MBC, JTBC continue forays into NFTs

South Korean broadcasters are seeking to expand their platforms with non-fungible tokens. Attempting to turn the highly popular “Infinite Challenge” intellectual property into NFT artwork, terrestrial broadcaster MBC is holding a special exhibition to showcase its NFT project. Inspired by popular “Infinite Challenge” episodes, South Korea’s longest running and most successful variety show, the artworks present well-known scenes from the show. Drawn by artist Seo

May 16, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘The Sound of Magic’ was a challenge, but consolation as well: Choi Sung-eun

For actor Choi Sung-eun, 25, the challenge posed by Netflix’s latest series “The Sound of Magic” was compounded. It was not just her first major role in a series – but her first singing and dancing as part of the role. “Our series decided to present the thoughts and emotions of a teenage girl through music. There was some pressure in acting and singing at the same time. ‘The Sound of Magic’ gave me time to grow as an actor,” said Choi during a

May 16, 2022

[Herald Interview] Screenwriters Yeon Sang-ho, Ryu Yong-jae learned valuable lessons from ‘Monstrous’

While satisfied with the recent success of Tving’s suspense thriller “Monstrous,” screenwriters Yeon Sang-ho and Ryu Yong-jae believe that they still have a long way to go to satisfy the public. “‘Monstrous’ is a six-part series with each episode running almost 30 minutes. I wanted to make a series presenting a straightforward storyline at a quick pace. I believe ‘Monstrous’ is the first film-length series to be released by a local streaming plat

May 15, 2022

Paramount+, HBO Max set to launch services in S. Korea

As new American players like Paramount+ and HBO Max are set to start their services in South Korea later this year, competition is expected to intensify in the local streaming service market. US media giant Paramount Global said earlier this month that Paramount+, its subscription-based video streaming service, will land in South Korea next month in partnership with Tving, a local online video-on-demand platform run by CJ ENM. Its original and library content from Paramount Pictures and CBS like

May 11, 2022

Tving’s ‘House of Lies’ a mystery thriller to satisfy your inner detective

Amid the flood of sci-fi, rom-com and period dramas, director Chang hopes to draw viewers’ attention with a bizarre mystery thriller, “House of Lies.” “I recognize that many Korean content creators produced terrific TV series in different genres, allowing viewers to see occult creatures and zombies. Our series is dealing with a rather realistic story in South Korea, the rising price of old apartments that are being redeveloped, director Chang said in an online press con

May 10, 2022

'The Sound of Magic' lands at No. 4 on global Netflix chart

Netflix’s new Korean fantasy series, “The Sound of Magic,” made a successful debut on the platform, soaring to No. 4 on the service’s global top 10 chart. The musical drama ranked seventh on Netflix’s global chart as of Saturday, a day after its release, before climbing up to land at the fourth slot on Sunday, according to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol. “The Sound of Magic,” helmed by director Kim Seong-yoon who was behind hit w

May 9, 2022

'Squid Game,' director Ryoo of ‘Mogadishu’ win grand prizes at Baeksang Arts Awards

The Netflix sensation “Squid Game” and director Ryoo Seung-wan of the period action thriller “Mogadishu” have won grand prizes at this year‘s Baeksang Arts Awards. The Netflix’s South Korean original series and Ryoo were honored respectively in the TV and film categories during the 58th awards ceremony at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, on Friday night. The advances made by the streaming service‘s original

May 7, 2022

Baeksang Arts Awards to return with streaming contents

The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards is set to kick off on Friday at the Kintex exhibition hall in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Honoring outstanding domestic entertainment productions in television, film and theater between April 12 last year and March 31 this year, the awards ceremony returns to fans and spectators face-to-face at the country’s largest convention center. The Friday event is considered the biggest awards ceremony since the government’s lifting of most pandemic-related regul

May 6, 2022

Netflix’s ‘The Sound of Magic’ talks about childhood innocence, dreams

For director Kim Sung-youn, 46, of Netflix’s “The Sound of Magic,” adapting a renowned fantasy webtoon was a long-awaited project. “I have been talking with the webtoon ‘The Sound of Magic’ author Ha Il-kwon for almost 8 years. It took some time to solve some problems like copyright issues, but I am excited to showcase the fantasy series to the viewers at last,” Kim said during an online press conference Tuesday. The director said that some adjustmen

May 4, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘D.P.’ star Koo Kyo-hwan wishes to live up to his name as go-to actor

While Koo Kyo-hwan stays humble and tries not to dwell too much on the public’s praise, his fans already consider him one of the go-to actors with an impressive list of successive hits. His hits include “Peninsula” (2020), “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” (2021), “D.P.” (2021) and “Escape from Mogadishu” (2021). “I am grateful (to the viewers) for loving my performances. Whenever I hear such feedback and expressions like ‘go-to act

May 3, 2022

Korean TV dramas climb back up global video streaming chart

While Korean original series have been drawing attention from the creative content industry since Netflix’s global phenomenon “Squid Game” (2021), local television dramas -- including many that have ended their runs -- are starting to enjoy unexpected worldwide popularity as well. With the continued success of Korean content on video streaming services, seeing Korean originals ranked high on a global chart is no longer an unexpected, mind-blowing event. However, TV dramas cl

May 2, 2022

Actor Park Bo-gum to host Baeksang Arts Awards as first activity after military discharge

Actor Park Bo-gum will resume his activities after completing his mandatory military service duties by hosting the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards, the ceremony’s organizers said Monday. The 28-year-old will host the show with singer-actor Suzy and comedian-television host Shin Dong-yup, reuniting the team from two years ago. Before enlisting in the military, the actor promised to return to Baeksang Awards as a host. The trio hosted the annual award ceremony for three years in a row until 2020

May 2, 2022

Apple TV+’s ‘Pachinko’ to return with season 2

Apple TV+ on Saturday confirmed the return of its Korean original series “Pachinko” with a second season. The period drama shows the life of Korean family moving to Japan in the 20th century, presenting the universal story of immigrants throughout the world. Based on Korean American author Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel of the same name, the series depicts the life of a Korean woman named Sunja (played by Youn Yuh-jung and Kim Min-ha), who was born to a poor family in Busan

May 1, 2022

‘You Quiz on the Block’ defends having President-elect Yoon as guest on show

The production team of “You Quiz on the Block” on Wednesday defended its decision to cast President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol in the tvN talk show, after it came under criticism for politicizing the beloved comedy program. “Faced with an unexpected result, we agonized, reflected on our actions, and were in pain. Like everyone else, we worked week by week with sincerity. So we can speak with pride,” the team said in a statement aired after the end of the latest episode on Wed

April 28, 2022

President Moon Jae-in interview with JTBC elicits diverse reactions

The last part of cable channel JTBC’s two-part special “Five Years of Moon Jae-in” aired Tuesday, reflecting on the Moon presidency’s five years. Hosted by veteran JTBC journalist Sohn Suk-hee, the one-on-one interview reviewed Moon’s achievements and regrets, ranging from his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to international relations. On Monday’s first episode, Moon talked about real estate prices and his administration’s efforts to tame South Kore

April 27, 2022

Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Seol-hyun confident in ‘fast-paced, entertaining’ tvN mystery comedy

Cable channel tvN’s new Wednesday-Thursday drama, “The Killer’s Shopping List,” will be unlike any of the currently trending dramas with either heartwarming storylines or hard-hitting action sequences. “Unlike the typical mystery thrillers with intense mind games and breathtaking actions, our series takes a different approach to a mysterious murder case. The exciting script aside, the character was really new to me. I thought I would not have another chance to pla

April 26, 2022

Lee Kwang-soo stars in comedy 'The Killer's Shopping List'

  South Korean star actor and entertainer Lee Kwang-soo is back to the small screen as a cashier at a neighborhood supermarket in the upcoming mystery comedy "The Killer's Shopping List." Motivated by the novel "The Killer's Shopping Mall" by Kang Ji-young, tvN's Wednesday-Thursday primetime series follows people who hunt for the killer in a mysterious murder case that occurs near a humble neighborhood supermarket named MS Mart. Lee stars as Dae-sung, the son of the

April 25, 2022