South Korea Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Citizen of a Kind,” a comedy-drama about a woman who takes matters into her own hands after becoming the victim of a scam, fulfilled its promise from an earlier week of previews. “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, accounting for a more than 40% market share.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Whenever Denis Villeneuve decides it’s time to make a third “Dune” movie, Zendaya is ready to reprise her role of Chani. During a cast interview with Fandango ahead of “Dune: Part Two” opening in theaters, Zendaya said returning for a potential “Dune Messiah” movie is a no brainer. Villeneuve has already stated publicly that his dream is to make a third “Dune” film — he confirmed in December that a script for the project is almost finished.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Concrete Utopia,” the highly regarded drama-thriller that was South Korea’s Oscars contender and one of the biggest box office hits of 2023, has scored a streaming release in North America. Rakuten Viki, which specializes in Asian content, has licensed exclusive rights to the film in the U.S. and Canada and will begin streaming it to North American audiences from Friday.

Noah Centineo has officially embarked on another dangerous adventure as Owen Hendricks in The Recruit, and the cast has been unveiled.

Netflix has rounded out its recurring cast for Season 2 of The Recruit, which has begun production in Vancouver. Filming will also take place in Seoul, South Korea on the series from Alexi Hawley.

BreAnna Bell Felix Solis, Brooke Smith, Omar Maskati, Alana Hawley Purvis, Devika Bhise, James Purefoy, Do Hyun Shin, Young-Ah Kim, and Sanghee Lee have joined the cast of Netflix‘s “The Recruit” for Season 2, which is currently in production in Vancouver, Canada. The streamer also announced that filming will additionally take place in Seoul, South Korea. Solis (“Ozark”), who’s joined among the cast by his “The Rookie: Feds” castmate Bhise, plays Tom Wallace, a senior diplomat in the State Department tasked with bringing American hostages home, he will talk to anyone to get our people back – even the worst of America’s enemies.

ITZY have announced the dates and venues for their upcoming 2024 ‘Born to Be’ world tour, featuring concerts in North America, Europe, Asia and more.Today (January 25), ITZY revealed the dates and venues for their upcoming 29-date world tour, titled ‘Born to Be’ after their new studio album of the same name.ITZY’s new tour will kick-off with a two-night concert at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The following month, the K-pop girl group play three shows in Oceania, as well as one in Bangkok Thailand.April and May 2024, ITZY play a one-night-only concert in Singapore, before starting the Latin America, Europe and Japan legs of their tour.

It’s not easy being a K-pop idol, and sadly, several K-pop groups are likely disbanding for good this year.

NCT rapper Taeyong will release new solo music next month, his label SM Entertainment has announced.Today (January 25), SM Entertainment confirmed in a statement to Sports Chosun that NCT member Taeyong will be dropping new solo music on February 26.The upcoming release will be his first since his debut solo mini-album ‘SHALALA’, which dropped in June 2023. The project was led by a single of the same title, and also notably featured the song ‘Move Mood Mode’ featuring Red Velvet singer Wendy.Aside from new music, Taeyong will also be holding his first-ever solo concert next month.

CIX have released their first ever single album ‘0 or 1’, featuring title track ‘Lovers or Enemies’.The single album, alongside the video treatment for ‘Lovers to Enemies’, dropped today (January 24) at 6pm KST, portraying the five members of CIX in some sort of cybernetic universe as they struggle to figure out where they stand with the girl of their dreams.“Now, either embrace me / Or become my enemy / It has to be one of the two / It can’t get simpler, right?” CIX belt on the chorus. Apart from ‘Lovers to Enemies’, ‘0 or 1’ only includes one other track, titled ‘My Name Is Shadow’.‘0 or 1’ marks CIX’s first music of 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iconic Hollywood musical film “La La Land” is to re-release (again) in South Korean theaters from Wednesday. Distributed by Pancinema, it will play at the country’s Imax cinemas for a one-week limited run with tickets costing upwards of KRW15,000 ($11.25) for adults. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling (newly Oscar-nominated for his role as Ken in “Barbie”) and Emma Stone, and holds the box office record for movie musicals with global box office of $470 million. It recently re-released in cinemas in China in time for the Christmas peak season.

(G)I-DLE‘s new single ‘Wife’ from broadcast on the network due to “sexually explicit” lyrics.The announcement was made earlier today (January 24), after KBS had conducted a review of the song’s eligibility for national broadcast after it was released on January 22. According to Yonhap News Agency, (G)I-DLE’s ‘Wife’ contained “many metaphorical lyrics with sexual nuances”, however neither the outlet nor broadcaster outlined specific details.KBS also announced that (G)I-DLE’s upcoming song ‘Rollie’, which will be released on Friday (January 29) alongside their album ‘[2]’, has also been banned from broadcast due to product placement in its lyrics.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Webtoons, the digital comics that have been the source material for scores of Korean films and TV series, are to receive a major boost from the South Korean government. Yu In-chon, minister for culture, sports and tourism, on Tuesday said that the government will foster webtoon platform development, launch a major webtoon festival in the autumn of this year and by 2027 open a school dedicated to the emerging genre. Webtoons emerged in the early years of the 21st century shortly after the mass market a acceptance of smart phones – a technology sector where Korea’s Samsung Electronics is a major manufacturer – and are vertically-scrolling comics designed for consumption on a small screen. As a relatively new medium webtoons have escaped some of the strictures of Japan’s manga business or the cartoon industry in other countries. Instead, they have diverse story genres, are cheap to produce, which allows creators from non-professional backgrounds to participate, and have been quickly internationalized through multi-lingual translations and overseas platforms.

Apartment 404, starring BLACKPINK‘s Jennie. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming series.On December 20, 2023, tvN announced the cast of Apartment 404 in a video uploaded on its official YouTube channel.The series will notably star Jennie of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK.

Before making Past Lives, writer-director Celina Song says with a laugh, she didn’t even know how to read a call sheet. Flash forward a year, though, from the A24 romantic drama’s world premiere at Sundance, and she’s landed an Original Screenplay nom for her debut feature.

Atresmedia TV’s “Dreams of Freedom,” RTVE’s “Detective Touré” and Mediterráneo’s “Fentanyl: A Deadly Epidemic,” feature in Spain Content Goldmine: In Demand Like Never Before, a showcase of new and upcoming Spanish series unspooling Jan. 23 on the first day of Content Americas. The title’s no hype.

Kim Jae-joong has addressed his stalker fans – or sasaengs in Korean – in a series of posts on Instagram Story.Yesterday (January 22), veteran K-pop idol Kim Jae-joong took to Instagram Story to call out sasaeng fans and the taxi service that allegedly help them stalk him and other South Korean celebrities.“The drivers follow me relentlessly, saying they have to do what the passenger tells them to do,” he wrote, as translated by Koreaboo. “They make a profit off harassing me emotionally and wasting my time.”The singer then said that “times have changed” since his career started, claiming that he has obtained “footage” of these activities and will have the law “deal with those of you who violate other people’s private lives”.“It’s been 20 years.

Super Rich in Korea, hosted by GOT7‘s BamBam.Today (January 23), Netflix unveiled details for its upcoming reality TV show, titled Super Rich in Korea. According to a press release by the streaming service, the series will follow “the ultra-luxurious lives of the world’s wealthiest in the heart of Korea”.Super Rich in Korea will feature personalities such as South Korean figure Yoo Hee-ra, Singaporean entrepreneur David Yong and Arab social media celebrity Noor Naim, among others.Netflix says the show will “unveil a realm where luxury cars and haute couture are everyday sights, and exclusive parties are the norm.

KISS OF LIFE have said that they would love to collaborate with Sabrina Carpenter and Usher.KISS OF LIFE recently made a guest appearance on the DIVE Studios talk show The Daebak Show, hosted by Korean-American singer Eric Nam. During their time on the episode, the quartet revealed the artists that would love to collaborate with, including Sabrina Carpenter and Usher.Member Belle mentioned Carpenter as her “dream collaborator”, citing her love for songs such as ‘Because I like a boy’, ‘feather’, ‘Mona Lisa’ and more, before giving the singer a personal shout-out.Nam then echoed Belle’s sentiments, saying that he especially likes Carpenter’s hit song ‘Nonsense’.

Angelique Jackson We’re living in the age of “Barbie,” and nowhere has that been more evident than the custom fashions Margot Robbie and stylist Andrew Mukamal curated for the billion-dollar grossing movie’s press tour. Since debuting the first look at “Barbie” at CinemaCon in April 2022, Robbie has rocked Barbiecore styles on nearly every red carpet and press appearance (most recently stunning in custom Armani inspired by 1977’s Superstar Barbie at the Golden Globes), all of which will now be commemorated in the fashion photo book “Barbie: The World Tour.” “This book was an idea I had in my living room when I started dreaming about Margot’s wardrobe for the ‘Barbie’ press tour in March 2023,” Mukamal wrote in an Instagram post revealing the book cover — which features a Barbie-fied Robbie clad in a pink Chanel suit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Time traveling-fantasy-adventure movie “Alienoid 2” was a comfortable winner at the South Korea box office over the weekend. But with few fresh films on release the cinema-going market slowed. “Alienoid 2” earned $2.06 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was down by 42% compared with its opening session a week earlier and leaves it with a total of $7.96 million after 12 days on release. The first instalment of “Alienoid” was one of the biggest flops of 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sound of Freedom,” the indie action-drama film that earned some $184 million at the North American box office, has set a significant theatrical release in South Korea. Angel Studios, the crowd-funded Utah-based production and distribution firm behind the film, initially set up direct-to-theater releases for the film’s first international outings in the U.K., Australia and Latin America. In Korea, rights have been licensed in conventional fashion by the N.E.W. – Contents Panda group, which plans to give the picture a release from Feb. 21, 2024.

The thriller premiered its first season in December 2022 and was renewed for another season in early 2023.

What To Watch. Today we recommend a mix of new releases and newly available titles, from movies and shows, all available to stream on the most popular platforms.What to Watch: The 7 most anticipated shows of 2024What to Watch: 7 movies and shows to stream this week - Jan 12“Love on the Spectrum” premieres its second season on January 19. The reality dating series follows various people on the spectrum who are on the look for love, with the producers pairing them with possible prospects as well as providing them with the necessary tools to form romantic relationships.

Single’s Inferno co-producer Kim Jae-won has revealed that controversial season three contestant Lee Gwan-hee originally applied for season two.Netflix’s popular reality dating show Single’s Inferno recently wrapped up its third season last Tuesday (January 11) with its final two episodes, which saw the 12 contestants make their final choices and pair up in order to leave the island of Inferno.Kim Jae-won and Kim Jung-hyun, the producers of Single’s Inferno, recently spoke to The Korea Times about the third season of the show and controversial contestant Lee Gwan-hee, revealing that they originally planned for him to appear on season two instead.“Lee applied for Season two and when we interviewed him, he was a genuine, straightforward and confident man,” Kim Jae-won said. “So we definitely wanted to cast him”.However, according to the producer, the professional basketballer’s training schedule didn’t work out with the production timeline for season two, so they had to “give up” on casting him the first time around.Meanwhile, Kim Jung-hyun spoke about how Lee was “the most honest character” on the latest season and had “showed everything about himself” during his appearance.

Cignature has addressed plans for its future with member Belle set to join the upcoming girl group, UNIS.Earlier this week, Belle won a spot on the upcoming K-pop girl group UNIS after ranking eighth on the South Korean reality TV singing competition, Universe Ticket. The group are expected to be active for two-and-a-half years.In response to her spot in the new group, her agency C9 Entertainment has addressed the future of Cignature, saying that the act have been “reorganised into a 6-member system” for the duration of Belle’s tenure in UNIS, as translated by Soompi.“They released their fourth mini-album in August 2023, achieving their best performance since debut, while diversifying individual activities for each member,” the agency added.

The stars of the upcoming spy movie Argylle stepped out for their first major red carpet premiere this week!

NCT, will make their debut next month.Today (January 18), NCT’s agency SM Entertainment announced that NCT WISH will make their long-awaited debut in February 2024. The new group will feature six members – Sion, Riku, Yushi, Jaehee, Ryo and Sakuya – who were previously confirmed through the reality show NCT Universe: Lastart.According to reports by Korea JoongAng Daily and Yonhap News Agency, NCT WISH will be based in both South Korea and Japan, through which they’ll conduct their global activates.

Universe Ticket has aired, with the announcement of the final members of new girl group UNIS.Universe Ticket aired on South Korean TV network SBS from November 18, 2023 to January 17, 2024.

Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell are promoting their new movie Argylle in South Korea.

The Family Stallone is accepting guests again into their home. All 10 episodes of the second season of the docuseries featuring Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Flavin Stallone and their daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet will premiere February 21 on the streamer.

The Berlinale has announced the full line-ups of its Panorama, Forum and Generation sidebars for the 74th edition running from February 15 to 24. (scroll down for full list)

NMIXX singer Bae recently covered songs by Hyukoh, 2NE1 and more during an appearance on Lee Mujin Service.NMIXX’s Bae made a guest appearance on the latest episode of music talk show, where she discussed the girl group’s new mini-album ‘Fe3O4: Break’. Opening the episode with a piano-led performance of their new single ‘Dash’, Bae went on to sing several covers.The idol performed covers of Bebe Rexha’s 2018 song ‘I’m a Mess’ and South Korean alt-rock band Hyukoh’s 2014 single ‘Wi Ing Wi Ing’.

Jang Wonyoung of K-pop girl group IVE has reportedly won a lawsuit against controversial YouTuber Sojang.Today (January 17), Wonyoung’s agency Starship Entertainment released an statement with an update on its lawsuit against South Korean YouTuber Sojang (known only as Mr Park, per Law Times) over his alleged circulation of false information about the company’s artists.“Through the continuous circulation of false information, Sojang committed grave defamation, and they not only hindered with the agency’s business but also caused serious pain to artists and fans,” the agency said, as translated by Soompi. Starship also shared that the criminal charges filed against Sojang were recently forwarded from the police to the prosecution, and that legal proceedings concerning that matter were ongoing.Additionally, two civil lawsuits have been filed against the YouTuber for defamation, one by Starship Entertainment and one by Jang Wonyoung herself.

IU has announced her 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour, featuring dates in Asia, Europe and the US.IU’s newly announced 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour will kick off on March 2 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea, where she will play four shows over two weekends. During the same month, the singer will also perform two shows at the Yokohama Arena in Japan.The K-pop idol’s upcoming world tour will then head to other countries and regions across Asia, including two shows in Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta in April, followed by two Hong Kong shows in May.In June, IU will host one concert in the Filipino capital of Manila, alongside two concerts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

SISTAR19 have made their long-awaited return with a music video for ‘No More (Ma Boy)’.‘No More (Ma Boy)’ comes 11 years after SISTAR19’s last project, their 2013 mini-album ‘Gone Not Around Any Longer’. The new release features two songs, title track ‘No More (Ma Boy)’ and B-side ‘Saucy’, both co-written by Hyolyn.“With this new album, we wanted to show how much we have changed,” Hyolyn told The Korea Herald.