‘We’ll still perform when we’re 88’: Big Bang vows to keep going

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province — Big Bang kicked off its 20th anniversary world tour over the weekend with its first full-group concert in nearly nine years, signaling that the group's next chapter has only just begun. “XX: Cosmos,” held from Friday to Sunday at Goyang Stadium, drew more than 100,000 fans over three days. Toward the end of Sunday’s show, the members hinted that more music would be on the way after “Biiig,” the digital single released on the group's anniversary, Aug. 19. Daesung raise

Georg Baselitz's unplanned farewell

Visitors expecting Georg Baselitz's famous upside-down figures at his first Korean museum retrospective are greeted instead by a picture of cattle, hung front and center right upon entering the galleries. In it, two cows stand in a green pasture. A clean horizontal cut runs through the canvas, and the halves sit out of register, so that muzzles and shoulders no longer align. The picture hangs right side up, yet it manages to unsettle all the same. "Two Cows Divided I" (1966), the oldest work in

Le Sserafim returns as quintet with ‘Pureflow’ tour opener

INCHEON — Le Sserafim opened its second world tour over the weekend with a concert that felt defined less by spectacle than by relief, gratitude and the visible joy of standing together as five once again. Held Saturday and Sunday at Inspire Arena in Incheon, “Pureflow” marked the group’s first world tour since “Easy Crazy Hot,” which began at the same venue in April 2025. The shows also carried significance as it was leader Chaewon’s first performance after suspending her activities in May due

'Hope' is the weirdest blockbuster money can buy

"Hope" is a shock-and-awe monster rampage stretched to a monstrous 160-minute runtime, and that might be all you could ask for. The set pieces are stunning: vehicles and debris flung around like toys, torrents of gunfire raking creatures that simply will not die, storefronts ripped open and streets buried in rubble, all captured in tracking shots so fluid it's hard to say how anyone pulled them off. The monsters themselves are nothing special to look at — imagine "Attack on Titan" by way of "Res

Babymonster launches 2nd world tour with rock festival intensity

Babymonster turned the stage of Jamsil Indoor Stadium into a full-fledged dance party over the weekend, opening its second world tour with the kind of powerful live vocals and high-intensity performance the group has become known for. The group kicked off its world tour, "Choom," with three shows in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, from June 26-28. Spanning 18 cities and 29 shows so far, the tour will reach five continents — including first-ever stops in Oceania, Europe and South America — with more d

Biggest-ever Seoul concerts just the beginning for TWS

Boy group TWS took another major step in its rise as one of K-pop’s leading fifth-generation boy groups, holding its first solo concert at Kspo Dome just over two years after its debut. The six-member group held its “24/7:For:You” concert on Saturday and Sunday at Kspo Dome in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, drawing a combined audience of 18,000 across two sold-out shows. The concerts marked TWS’ largest solo performances to date and the opening stop of the group’s first Asia tour. For many K-pop act

In Lim Yunchan's Mozart, the left hand carries the feeling

Pianist Lim Yunchan closed a five-concert, all-Mozart tour of Japan and Korea at Lotte Concert Hall on Monday, alongside Camerata Salzburg under Masato Suzuki. The collaboration was Lim's own idea. The 22-year-old, who in 2022 became the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, proposed the series to Camerata Salzburg, the ensemble long resident at the Salzburg Festival and Mozart Week, on a single condition: that the music be all Mozart. The program paired two concert

BTS marks 13th anniversary with emotional Busan homecoming

BUSAN — BTS wrapped up a two-day concert in Busan on Saturday that felt less like another stop on its ongoing “Arirang” world tour and more like a homecoming years in the making. The second and final night, held at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on the group’s 13th debut anniversary, June 13, drew approximately 110,000 fans. The sold-out two-day run attracted a combined audience of about 220,000. The concerts marked BTS’ first return to Busan since 2022’s “Yet To Come in Busan,” a performance remember

Arirang' without its melody? 'Ballet Arirang' finds answer in spirit

When BTS chose "Arirang" as an album title and wove the familiar refrain — "Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo" — into its music, the move sparked widespread discussion about meaning, identity and cultural heritage. "Ballet Arirang," presented at the Seoul Arts Center's CJ Towol Theater over the weekend, approached the iconic folk song from a different angle. Although the title invoked Korea's most familiar melody, not a single note of "Arirang" was heard during the performance. Instead, the production s

Korea's beloved sci-fi story is hitting the screen. Is the animation up to it?

"Pilgrims" is built on the two things Korean cinema just can't seem to pull off. On paper, that's a recipe for disaster; on screen, it gets about halfway to proving otherwise. Start with the sci-fi problem. Koreans have proven time and again they can do period epics, gangster pictures, zombie thrillers — you name it — but science and speculative fiction remains the white whale. Homegrown titles of the past few years, from the lavishly mounted "Space Sweepers" to the 28-billion-won belly-flop "Th

Casting coup helps K-pop comedy hit the right notes

Before K-pop became the global phenomenon it is today, there was the 1990, the decade that laid the groundwork for Korea’s modern pop music industry. That era has found new life. A retro boom is evoking nostalgia among older generations while overwhelming younger audiences with a style that, ironically, feels fresh to them. Opening in theaters June 3, "Wild Sing" taps directly into that trend, blending 1990s music, throwback music videos and broad comedy. What further sets the project apart is i

In 'Mysterious Sweets Shop Jeoncheondang,' the wishes are magical — the movie less so

Japanese manga and anime have spent the last decade quietly winning over the normies, and the live-action gold rush is now in full swing. Hollywood's got Taika Waititi's long-gestating "Akira," Jim Mickle's Netflix-backed "Gundam," and Lee Isaac Chung's adaptation of Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name" cued up. Major studios are betting big that Japanese storytelling can carry tentpoles. Korea, despite a troubled history with its former colonizer and a long stretch of state-led restrictions on Japanese

'Bonjour Bakery' is soothing TV with a commercial aftertaste

In a new Coupang Play series, actors open a dessert cafe in the countryside to offer older residents comfort and companionship. On paper, such a healing viewing experience is almost impossible to criticize. But once menu prices come into focus, "Bonjour Bakery" becomes a more complicated watch. The eight-episode original series, released weekly on Fridays, follows Cha Seung-won, Kim Hee-ae, Kim Seon-ho and Lee Ki-taek as they operate Bonjour Bakery in Gochang, North Jeolla Province. The cast alo

Day6’s Wonpil returns with ‘Unpiltered’ solo concert, embracing honesty beyond familiar image

Day6's Wonpil returned to the solo stage with a concert that felt less like a dramatic reinvention than a careful unveiling of who he has become as both an artist and individual. Held from Friday to Sunday at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul, Wonpil’s “Unpiltered” marked his first solo show in more than four years, following his 2022 concert “Pilmography.” The final show opened with “Toxic Love” and “Already Grown Up,” immediately setting the tone for a performance centered on honesty. Ra

Enhypen launches ‘Blood Saga’ tour as six-member group in Seoul

Enhypen opened its new world tour “Blood Saga” with immersive, narrative-driven concerts at Kspo Dome in southern Seoul over the weekend, marking its first major performance as a six-member group. Held from Friday to Sunday, the group’s Seoul concerts drew a total of 32,250 fans, setting the stage for a global tour spanning 21 cities. The performances carried added weight as the group’s first since Heeseung’s departure in March. From the outset, Enhypen leaned fully into its signature vampire lo