K-Pop Boy Band VICTON's Heo Chan Is Leaving the Group Amid Controversy - Find Out Why

Lee Jihan is dead following the Seoul, South Korea stampede tragedy.

LE SSERAFIM members are recovering after an incident.

It’s so hard to say goodbye, but sadly, several K-pop groups are disbanding for good.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In its continued bid to expand its footprint worldwide, Paramount+ is launching its service in France on Dec. 1 and Germany, Austria and Switzerland on Dec. 8. Already available across the Americas, Paramount+ launched in South Korea, the U.K. and Ireland in June and Italy in September. The SVOD platform is expected to be available in 45 markets by year’s end. Paramount+ is rapidly expanding its presence globally, bringing audience a unique content offering with the biggest stars and most compelling global and local stories. With these launches, Paramount+ will continue to see major growth across Europe, becoming one of the top players worldwide,” said Marco Nobili, executive VP and international general manager of Paramount+.

The members of K-pop band BTS will fulfil their mandatory military duties under South Korean law, their management company has said. Big Hit Music said the band’s oldest member, Jin, will revoke his request to delay his conscription at the end of the month and undertake the required conscription steps.

Park Chan-wook is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the past 20 years. He’s also one of the rare South Korean filmmakers who has broken through the foreign-language barrier to become a recognizable name throughout the world.

With a formalist’s eye for visual symmetry, an architect’s sense of structure, and a poet’s ability to stoke the passions raging inside his precisely balanced frames, Park Chan-wook makes ferociously controlled films about ferocious, uncontrollable impulses. Ever since his international breakthrough with 2003’s “Oldboy,” remembered most for the oft-imitated hallway sequence in which a hammer-wielding Choi Min-sik lays waste to enemy waves in a righteous bid for freedom, the South Korean filmmaker has been widely associated with operatic bursts of sexuality and extreme violence, the kind often considered a signature of the New Korean Cinema.  Park has hardly shied from this notoriety, even binding “Oldboy” together with “Sympathy for Mr.

The BBC has posted a new podcast series exploring the evolution and global rise of K-pop from the perspective of six super fans. Hosted by journalist Lucy Ford, the Beeb says that the series “traces the evolution of the South Korean music genre from its beginnings in South Korea to its rise up the music charts to catapulting into mainstream global culture”.Ford adds: “I’m so excited to be hosting this series which looks at the history of K-pop, its place on the global stage and the real-life experiences of the people who love it – the stans! A lot of conversations about K-pop mischaracterise or leave fans out of the equation altogether, so I’m really THRILLED to be centring them in this conversation and letting them be the ones to tell their stories!”“Having been a huge K-pop stan for so long”, she goes on, “it’s amazing to be a part of sharing with the world why it’s so meaningful and fun for fans, and maybe – just maybe! – convert a few more newbies in the process”.As well as the fans, the series also features people involved in the K-pop business, plus Radio 1’s Adele Roberts, who appears because she was the first person to play a track by BTS on the BBC pop station.Roberts says: “In 2017, I gave BTS its first play on Radio 1, marking the beginning of my journey of discovering K-pop, meeting stans and icons and even travelling to South Korea.

Sunmi likes to use her "emotions" as inspiration for her style. The 30-year-old star - who was initially known as a member of South Korean Pop group the Wonder Girls - explained during an appearance in New York that she came across like a vampire in the music video for her solo hit 'Heart Burn', which was released earlier this year. She said: "I've always thought New York was quite a chic city.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Urban Sales has sold Japanese director Chie Hayakawa’s dystopian drama Plan 75 to KimStim for North America, in addition to several other territories. The film won a Camera d’Or Special Mention when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, and is also Japan’s submission to the Best International Feature category of the Oscars. 

South Korea’s military appears to want to conscript members of the K-pop supergroup BTS for mandatory military duties, as the public remains sharply divided over whether they should be given exemptions.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In what plays like Singapore’s answer to “About Schmidt,” never-too-late-to-live dramedy “Ajoomma” follows a widowed housewife as she steps out of her comfort zone by making a solo trip to South Korea. This upbeat debut from director He Shuming — whose title is the Korean equivalent of all-purpose Asian term of respect “Auntie” — offers longtime TV actor Hong Huifang (“Housewives’ Holiday”) a chance to shine in the title role, which has already netted her a Golden Horse Award nom. Selected to rep Singapore at the Oscars, affable “Ajoomma” is more of a dark horse in that race, albeit one with art-house sleeper potential. Mrs. Lim’s life is light on excitement. What it lacks in drama, she fills by binging on Korean soap operas — a not at all uncommon obsession among Asian women (and a growing number of Americans, thanks to services like Kocowa and Viki). “Auntie,” as most of the other characters call Hong’s character, fusses a bit too much over her only son, who long ago agreed to accompany her on a special tour of Seoul. Now, mere days before they’re to depart, he backs out for a job interview in New York — one that would put some much-needed distance between the closeted young man and his overly suffocating mom.

Robert Downey Jr. comes out for the Decision To Leave premiere at the Linwood Dunn Theater on Thursday (October 6) in Los Angeles, California.

whether they should be given exemptions.Lee Ki Sik, commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration, told lawmakers on Friday that it’s “desirable” for BTS members to fulfill their military duties to ensure fairness in the country’s military service.Earlier this week, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup made almost identical comments about BTS at a parliamentary committee meeting, and Culture Minister Park Bo Gyoon said his ministry would soon finalize its position on the issue.Whether the band’s seven members must serve in the army is one of the hottest issues in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces possible enlistment early next year after turning 30 in December.Under South Korean law, all able-bodied men are required to perform 18-21 months of military service. But the law provides special exemptions for athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers who have won top prizes in certain competitions that enhance national prestige.Without a revision of the law, the government can take steps to grant special exemptions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong multi-hyphenate Peter Chan Ho-sun is far too intellectual to call himself an “arms dealer,” as Sony Pictures has in casting itself as an unattached supplier to streaming platforms. But politeness and Bob Dylan references aside, Chan’s new company, Changin’ Pictures, aims to become a major independent purveyor of premium Asian TV content for the streamers. The company is using this week’s Busan International Film Festival as its launchpad and will unveil the first five series of its 20-title pan-Asian slate.  Chan’s thesis is that global audiences are hungry for Asian content but have not been able to access it easily under legacy film and TV distribution systems. With streaming making everything accessible everywhere, and audiences no longer balking at subtitles, quality Asian drama can and will travel.

North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday morning local time, just two days after Pyongyang sent an intermediate-range ballistic missile flying over Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.  About 40 missiles have been launched by North Korea this year, including six in the past two weeks, but Tuesday's test marked the first time in five years that the country has sent a missile over Japan.  The U.S. and South Korea staged joint drills on Wednesday in response, with the USS Ronald Reagan moving into waters east of South Korea.

AKMU‘s Lee Chan-hyuk will be making his debut as a soloist later this month with his first album, ‘Error’.Lee’s upcoming effort, titled ‘Error’ was first announced via social media earlier today (October 5). It will mark the musician’s first-ever solo project outside of sibling duo AKMU.A teaser image for Lee’s forthcoming record was also unveiled alongside the announcement, which features a cryptic photo of himself distorted by oversaturated film filters.

SHINee member Key will be making his upcoming ‘G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) in The Keyland’ concert available to online audiences.On October 3, concert streaming platform Beyond Live announced that it would be selling tickets to the online broadcast of the second day of Key’s live concert on October 23 at 4PM KST.

Bae Suzy is set to release new music in the form of a new digital single this week.In an Instagram post earlier today (October 3), Suzy announced that she will be releasing a new single titled ‘Cape’ on October 6.