One of the two women charged with blackmailing A-list actor Lee Byung-hun was found to be Dahee, a member of K-pop girl group GLAM, according to news reports. Earlier on Tuesday, Korean news outlets reported that two women were investigated by the police on charges of threatening Lee, but the pair‘s identity was not released. Later that day, it was found that Dahee, 20, was one of the alleged b...

The South Korean historical drama “Joseon’s Gunman” topped the Chinese video charts for five weeks straight on Monday. The action-romance show became the most-watched video on daily, weekly and monthly charts of China’s video streaming site “QQ Video,” garnering about 8 million views every day. Since the 11th episode was broadcast on July 30, the epic drama has remained at the No. 1 spot on the...

South Korean actor Lee Joon-ki shared his feelings about wrapping up his drama “Joseon’s Gunman” on Saturday. “I will do my best for our audience who has loved and supported ‘Joseon’s Gunman.’ I almost cried after reading the script for the final episode,” he wrote on Twitter. In the period drama, Lee plays Park Yoon-gang, a hero who turned from the last swordsman into a gunman to avenge his de...

Seoul is the top sender of foreign students to U.S. universities, followed by Beijing and Shanghai, according to a report by Brookings Institution released Friday. The South Korean capital sent 56,503 students to the United States on full-time student visas between 2008 and 2012. The Chinese cities ― Beijing and Shanghai ― ranked second and third, sending 49,946 and 29,145 students, respectively...

South Korean hip-hop artist Jay Park, also known as Park Jae-beom, will release his second studio album “Evolution” on Sep. 1, his label SidusHQ announced Monday. The upcoming album consists of 17 tracks, including the title song “So Good.” Park helped write and compose all the tracks on the album, an official from the label said. Park worked on the title track in partnership with Cha Cha Malon...

K-pop girl group Kara’s former member Kang Ji-young is to make her way into the Japanese entertainment scene as an actress in partnership with a Japanese agency, Japanese news outlets reported Thursday. According to the news reports, Kang signed a management contract with Japanese talent agency Sweet Power to launch her acting career. Sweet Power is a Japanese entertainment powerhouse that manag...

Lee Sung-woo, a 38-year-old South Korean office worker, has become an online sensation after visiting Kansas City in the U.S. at the invitation of its pro baseball team the Royals early this month. He was given a hero’s welcome in the city and drew a great deal of attention from citizens and Royals’ officials, players and fans. The club invited him as he has been an ardent fan of the Royals for...

Pope Francis beatified 124 martyrs executed in the 18th and 19th centuries by government officials of the Joseon period (1392-1910). The Joseon dynasty was Korea’s ruling royal family until 1910 when Japan annexed Korea. Officials of the period did not tolerate Catholicism, fearing the religion could invite unwanted western political influence to Korea. By Jeong Hunny ( hj257@heraldcorp.com )

Rookie K-pop group Winner topped major music charts with its debut album Tuesday. As the YG Entertainment boy band dropped its debut EP “2014 S/S” at midnight on Aug. 12, one of the two main tracks, “Empty,” instantly appeared at the top of the nine major Korean music charts, including Mnet, Olleh Music and Naver Music. The other tunes on the album, including the other main track “Color Ring,” ...

South Korean boy band 2PM will embark on a world tour concert series in major cities, its label JYP Entertainment announced Monday. The sextet is to kick off “2PM World Tour,” with the first concert to be held in Seoul from Oct. 3-4 shortly after its new album release. Following the two-day concert, 2PM will tour around several countries including Thailand, China, the U.S. and Indonesia to perf...

K-pop rookie band Winner unveiled a poster on Monday heralding the launch of their official debut in the entertainment scene. The fledgling group’s management agency YG Entertainment released a poster, titled “Winner ― 2014 S/S Debut Week,” on its official blog at midnight on Aug. 4. In the poster, the five members stand in line while looking ahead in dark suits, exuding charisma. The poster a...

Organica, a Korean premium organic whole food company, unveiled a three-day detox program with juice made with superfoods on Tuesday as part of its efforts to lead the nationwide juice cleanse trend. The three-day juice cleanse program, called the “Just Juice 3-day Super Cleanse,” enriched nutrients and flavors by high-pressure processing methods and adding superfoods such as spirulina, turmeric...

Korean heartthrob Rain will return to the small screen with a rom-com in September. The TV drama, tentatively titled “The Lady Who Is Lovely to Me,” will go on air from Sept. 17 every Wednesday and Thursday on Korea’s TV network SBS. Popular entertainer will play Hyun-wook, the CEO of a showbiz firm who has lost his lover to an accident. He meets a would-be singer who later turns out to be his ...

JYJ became the first K-pop band to advertise themselves through a TV commercial. The commercial to promote JYJ was first broadcast on July 21 right after the closing of MBC’s 23-episode action drama “Triangle,” starring group member Jaejoong. The TV commercial brings JYJ’s three members -- Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu -- into the spotlight, with the catch phrases “One for all” and “All for one.”...