Female Forward: Korean Dramas Evolve With More Women Screenwriters and Complex Protagonists

Rebecca Souw One of the leading actors of his generation, Korea’s Choi Min-sik is tackling his first TV role in some 25 years, with Disney+ crime drama series “Big Bet.” Choi says the gamble was a challenge, but ultimately worth the risk. While he has notched up iconic cinema roles in “Oldboy” “Shiri,” “I Saw the Devil,” Luc Besson’s “Lucy” and all-time Korean box office record holder “Roaring Currents,” Choi’s last significant TV role was in dark comedy “The Moon of Seoul” (aka “Seoul ui Dal”) in the 20th century’s pre-streaming era. Choi says that the changes in the TV industry are palpable and mostly for the better.

Tamar Herman South Korean alt-rocker Loren (stylized LØREN) has written songs for Blackpink and G-Dragon, appeared at South By Southwest and recently partnered with 88Rising, leading to a performance at the influential collective’s summertime Head in the Clouds festival — all before he released his first album. Out Friday (March 24), the EP “Put Up a Fight” is the result of a years-long effort while working at the Black Label, a prominent South Korean record company associated with Blackpink’s home YG Entertainment. According to the singer-songwriter, a full-length follow-up is almost finished.  Loren, born Lee Seung-joo, hopes to ingest a bit of punk and grunge to South Korea’s rock scene, and “Put Up a Fight” is his call to arms to like-minded music fans. Even amid waning popularity worldwide, and especially in South Korea where only the occasional indie or pop-rock band makes registers a blip, Loren is undeterred. 

BreAnna Bell Korean drama “The Glory” sits atop Netflix’s global top 10 list of titles for the second week with the release of part 2. During the March 13-19 viewing window, the show earned 123.59 million hours viewed. “The Glory” has also moved up the Most Popular List into the No. 7 spot with the release of Part 2, totaling 380.38 million hours viewed in the first 28 days of each episode’s premiere. The series follows a woman who sets out on an elaborate revenge plot to make her tormenters pay years after she survived horrific abuse in high school. “The Glory” first debuted with Season 1, Part 1 in December of last year. Part 2 was released on March 10.

You Season 4 is continuing its reign over the Netflix Top 10, despite the debut of Shadow and Bone Season 2 last week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Streaming platform Paramount+ has set a release date for Korean series “Yonder” that is one of the first titles flowing from Paramount Global’s alliance with CJ ENM. The show will premiere on April 11 in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.  Set in 2032, “Yonder” is a science fiction-drama series about a man who receives a message from his deceased wife inviting him to a mysterious space. The space is designed for the dead to be able to live on by uploading memories of their lifetime from their brain. The show raises questions about life and death and what it means to have eternal happiness as humanity faces a world altered by advancements in science and technology.

Thania Garcia Twice will be Pandora’s newest guest DJs for the streaming platform’s Artist Takeover series. Starting today, the nine-member girl group will be the new faces of the newly minted K-pop station for “The Takeover: Twice” — the first-ever feature on the streaming platform with content in both English and Korean, Variety can exclusively share. The Takeover will allow users access to exclusive content and guided listening experiences, where members Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, discuss each song on “Ready to Be.” In addition, the singers will customize fans’ listening experiences with commentary on their recent successes, upcoming world tour and more, while their songs and others play in between.

J-Hope has announced that he will be the next member of BTS to enlist in the South Korean army. The exact date on which he will step away from music to carry out his two years of mandatory military service is yet to be announced.In a message to fans on WeVerse, he said: “I can’t tell you exactly in detail, but I have the date to enlist already.

In “Kill Boksoon,” a female hitman finds out that killing is simpler than raising a kid. Fresh off its world premieres at the Berlinale last month, South Korean director Byun Sung-hyun‘s new film stars “Secret Sunshine” actress Jeon Do-yeon as an assassin that sees her family and professional lives collide to antic results.

Although Filmart felt quiet on its first morning, with many attendees glued to their phones watching the Oscars, it soon turned into a reasonably vibrant market, with sales companies locked in back-to-back meetings, new project announcements and a few star appearances to liven up proceedings. 

Queens of K-pop. The girl group TWICE has continued to dominate the music industry, both in Asia and around the world.

A high-flying career! Chuck Norris is known for his work on the small and big screens, as well as his impressive martial arts talent.

Manchester United reportedly face competition from several sides for Napoli ace Victor Osimhen, with the Reds keen to sign the frontman in the upcoming transfer window.

Last year, as the industry was looking to lift itself out the pandemic’s purgatory at the box office, SXSW lit the wick on A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which wound up dynamiting the 18-34 hipster moviegoer set in what became the highest-grossing indie film of 2022, the best ever for the New York-based distributor, and now a potential Oscar Best Picture winner.

NewJeans swept the K-pop categories at this year’s Korean Music Awards, beating out popular contemporaries such as (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM, IVE and more.The quintet took home the awards for both Best K-pop Album and Best K-pop Song, with their self-titled debut EP and the hit song ‘Attention’ respectively. In addition, the girl group also clinched the trophy for Rookie of the Year, besting fellow K-pop acts LE SSERAFIM and IVE, among others.Meanwhile, the biggest winner of the night was DJ and producer 250 – real name Lee Ho-hyung – who took home four awards: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Electronic Song, and Best Electronic Album.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” has surpassed over 150 million hours viewed since its release on Oct. 14, 2022. The film, which dominated the BAFTA Awards in London with a record-breaking seven wins, including best film, director (Edward Berger), adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, original score and non-English language film, climbed up to No. 2 on the global list, according to numbers released by Netflix. Berger’s World War I epic tells Paul’s (Felix Kammerer ) journey from being a young, enthusiastic school boy wanting to join the army to a tired, worn soldier. It has been on the global Top 10 Non-English Film list for 14 weeks and has reached the Top 10 Films in 91 countries, including Germany, the U.K., U.S., Australia, France, Mexico and South Korea.

For those who love South Korean cinema, Na Hong-jin‘s “The Wailing” was a special treat when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016: a rural police procedural with a touch of the macabre and supernatural. But that was almost seven years ago, so what has Na been up to lately? Well, the director has a new short called “Faith” he shot on the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, ready for its release after a press screening late last month.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix and Korean public broadcaster MBC on Thursday defeated a court application for an injunction to stop the airing of their documentary “In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal.” The 8-part series began airing from Friday (March 3). It is a Netflix Original, meaning that the streamer has global rights, including in Korea. The show examines “the chilling true stories of four Korean leaders claiming to be prophets [and] exposes the dark side of unquestioning belief.” Among its subjects is Christian Gospel Mission, also known as Providence, and also known as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS. It shares those initials with its controversial leader Jeong Myeong-seok (aka Jung Myung-seok) who is currently awaiting trial in Korea for sexually assaulting some of his female followers.

EXCLUSIVE: Sing Again, a Korean singing competition series that’s outperformed The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice, has landed a third season on the JTBC network and Discovery+.

Big Hit Entertainment has issued a statement following reports that an employee of the Korail transport system had accessed RM’s personal information nearly 20 times over the course of three years.On March 1, SBS reported that a Korail employee, referred to only as A, had accessed RM’s personal information – including his mobile number, address and more – 18 times and had helped their friend book a train seat close to the BTS leader.The employee reportedly said of their actions: “I simply looked at it because I was curious. I am reflecting on my mistakes.”Korail, or Korea Railroad Corporation, said that the employee was in charge of IT development and had the authority to access customer’s personal data, reported the Korea Times.

Scott Sternberg Productions and CJ ENM are teaming to bring Korean lifestyle format Get It Beauty to the U.S.