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

'My Name': A massacre, a classroom, and good intentions gone astray

In the spring of 1948, on an island now mostly associated with cherry blossoms and honeymoon suites, South Korean troops and right-wing paramilitaries began a seven-year campaign that would kill as many as 30,000 civilians, most of them rounded up on suspicion of communist sympathies. Through decades of authoritarian rule that followed, talking about it in public could get you jailed. Veteran Chung Ji-young's "My Name," which premiered at the Berlinale's Forum sidebar in February and opened in l

NCT Wish closes tour with youthful energy, opens door to next chapter

Dressed in all white and rising from the center of a star-shaped stage, NCT Wish opened the final night of its “Into the Wish: Our Wish” encore concert at Kspo Dome in southern Seoul on Sunday with the clean, bright visual that has come to define the group. Beyond the polished staging, the night carried a deeper meaning: the finale of a six-month tour and the threshold of a new era, coming just a day before the release of its first album, “Ode to Love.” While the show looked back on the journey

Byeon Woo-seok, IU's 'Perfect Crown' stuns in scale, stumbles in sync

The current K-drama landscape is undeniably dominated by "Perfect Crown," a tentpole new entry led by two of the industry's most bankable stars — IU ("When Life Gives You Tangerines," "Hotel Del Luna") and Byeon Woo-seok ("Lovely Runner"). Only two episodes have aired as of Wednesday, but the series has already made a historic debut. The rom-com has recorded the second-highest opening score in Korean TV drama history, trailing only "The Penthouse: War in Life" (2020), according to Good Data Corp

BTS’ ‘Arirang’ experiment takes shape onstage

GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- When Netflix’s documentary “BTS: The Return” premiered on March 27, one scene stood out for its tension: Bang Si-hyuk, Hybe chairman, and the members of BTS sat around a table debating whether to incorporate “Arirang,” a traditional Korean folk song, into their new hip-hop track “Body to Body.” Some members voiced concern about foregrounding such a weighty cultural symbol. Bang argued that in a stadium of 60,000 to 70,000 people — with more than half likely to be int

Seventeen powers through rain-soaked finale, promises future together at ‘New_’ encore

INCHEON — Under flashes of lightning and pouring rain, Seventeen brought its seven-month world tour to an emotional close in Incheon, turning what could have been a disruption into one of the most memorable moments of the show. Held April 4-5 at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, boy band Seventeen’s world tour encore concert, “New_,” marked the final stop of the group’s global tour, which began at the same venue in September and spanned 14 cities, drawing more than 900,000 fans online and offline. The

Why has the baking version of 'Culinary Class Wars' been such a flop?

When the Korean cable network MBN unveiled "Cheonha Bakery: Bake Your Dream," expectations ran high. The series was quickly framed as the bakery counterpart to Netflix's cultural phenomenon "Culinary Class Wars," a food survival format pitting white team chefs, established names with long-standing careers, against a black team of underdog contestants. Riding the momentum of that global sensation, anticipation centered on whether the new show could once again boost the standing of the Korean culi

Hottest K-drama this spring is 'Phantom Lawyer'

"Phantom Lawyer" is proving to be one of the hottest properties on Korean television this spring, outpacing competition including Netflix's mega-tentpole rom-com "Boyfriend on Demand." The 16-part SBS drama, airing Fridays and Saturdays, centers on I-rang (Yoo Yeon-suk), a rookie attorney with the ability to see ghosts. Constantly hounded by spirits seeking justice for their wrongful deaths, I-rang assents, only to find himself cracking major cases with the help of voices only he can hear. Ratin

[Herald Review] The wait is over: BTS returns as seven in historic Gwanghwamun comeback

The wait was finally over. “BTS Comeback Live: Arirang,” the group's first full-group performance in three years, set a new record, making BTS the first K-pop group to host an exclusive live performance at the historic Gwanghwamun Square. Lasting an hour, the performance was livestreamed worldwide on Netflix as the platform’s first-ever broadcast of a single act’s concert. Throughout the day, fans were seen dressed in the fandom’s signature purple and traditional hanbok with Korean traditional a

Illit presses start on first tour with playful, game-themed Seoul concert

Girl group Illit launched its concert tour in Seoul over the weekend with a colorful, game-themed show, sharing the excitement of a long-awaited milestone with its fandom, Gllit. The five-member group — Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha — held its first concert since debut in 2024, “Illit Live ‘Press Start’ in Seoul” on March 13 and 14 at Songpa, southern Seoul. Both shows sold out during presales, demonstrating the group’s growing ticket power. As the show opened, the members kicked off the

Korea’s first dating show for the disabled challenges genre with tender, humanistic lens

South Korean broadcasting has long been a powerhouse for the dating show genre, but SBS' latest three-part series, "Mongle Mongle Mongle," is breaking new ground by centering on a demographic often left out of romantic narratives -- people with disabilities. The program follows the journey of three young adults -- Ji-hyun, who has a level 3 intellectual disability; Ji-hoon, who is on the autism spectrum; and Ji-won, who has Down syndrome -- as they embark on blind dates with other young adults w