MAMAMOO to kick off ‘MY CON’ world tour in Seoul next month

South Korea’s entertainment industry has postponed several events in the wake of the tragic crowd surge that killed more than 150 people in Seoul’s Itaewon district on Saturday night. The country is in a week-long period of mourning. 

Stray Kids singer Seungmin has dropped a brand-new single titled ‘Close To You’ as a contribution to the Love In Contract official soundtrack.The release of Seungmin’s new track was first announced by representatives of South Korean cable network tVN on October 19, via Daum News. The song was subsequently released on all major music platforms on October 20 at 6pm KST.Described as a song that “showcases Seungmin’s outstanding vocal ability”, ‘Close To You”s lyrics “contains feelings of love that have already occupied a large space in the heart”.

Viaplay Plans November 1 Launch Date For UK As Premier Sports Deal Closes

Highlight recently held their 13th anniversary fan meeting where they announced their forthcoming return next month.On October 15 and 16, the veteran K-pop act (previously known as BEAST) held their ‘2022 Highlight Fan-Con’ in Seoul to commemorate their 13th anniversary as a group. At the end of the second night of the event, Highlight announced that they would be releasing new music on November 7.According to Sports DongAh, they also played a snippet from one of their new tracks where member Gi-kwang can be heard singing the lyrics: “Because I’m alone, without you I’m alone”.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Nearly a decade after acquiring the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer is finally realizing his dream to build a bigger and better TV platform for his beloved basketball franchise. The Clippers today are launching ClipperVision, a regional subscription streaming service that offers six channel options for watching the vast majority of the team’s home and away games – more than 70 out of 84 regular season games. The service will cost $199 per season and is available largely in Southern California. The service’s first live stream bows Oct. 22. with an away-game against the Sacramento Kings. One of the six channel feeds will be dedicated to the team’s traditional linear cable TV coverage via Bally Sports. Two more are dedicated to Spanish-language and Korean-language coverage of live games – with the Korean team anchoring from a studio in Seoul.

ITZY are set to release a new English-language single ‘Boys Like You’ later this week.On October 17 at Midnight KST, the quintet shared a poster on Twitter announcing their upcoming pre-release single ‘Boys Like You’, due out on October 21 at 12AM EST/1PM KST. Although ITZY have released English versions of their singles in the past, this will mark the act’s first original English-language track.At the time of publication, JYP Entertainment has yet to announce the exact details and date for ITZY’s upcoming return.ITZY Pre-Release English Single “Boys Like You”⏰ 2022.10.21 FRI 0AM (EST)│1PM (KST)⏰ https://t.co/kFcsIZRjwa#ITZY #MIDZY @ITZYofficial#ITZY_BoysLikeYou pic.twitter.com/3mJfmI9loS— ITZY (@ITZYofficial) October 16, 2022‘Boys Like You’ arrives just three months after the release of ITZY’s fifth mini-album ‘Checkmate’, which was led by the single ‘Sneakers’.

BLACKPINK have opened their world tour in Seoul where bandmember Jennie treated fans to a performance of an unreleased solo song – see footage, setlist and more below.The K-pop band kicked off their tour, which is in promotion of their second album ‘Born Pink’, on Saturday (October 15) at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in South Korea. BLACKPINK play another show at the venue today (October 16) before heading to North America for a series of concerts.Bandmembers Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa will then visit Europe to finish off 2022.

FNC Entertainment, SF9’s management agency, reassured fans that the group were unharmed following a minor car accident their vehicle was involved in.In a statement issued yesterday (October 13), FNC Entertainment explained that the car transporting the group were scratched by another vehicle attempting to park at a rest stop. At the time, SF9 were travelling to Ulsan for the closing ceremony of the National Sports Festival.The statement added that the group and their staff were not in the car during the incident, and were not injured in any way.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” (aka “Nana”) topped the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with nods in four categories including best film and best director. The film, about a gentlewoman’s memories of escaping from a Communist purge, narrowly headed three films with three nominations each: “Poet” (aka “Akyn”) by Kazakhstan’s Darezhan Omirbayev; “This Is What I Remember” (aka “Esimde”) by Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat; and Philippines director Lav Diaz’s “When The Waves Are Gone” (“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”). APSA casts its net wide, seeking honors for cinematic excellence from 78 countries and territories defined as Asia Pacific. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at HOTA on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 11, 2022.

VICTON, weeks after reports that he was under police investigation for a drink driving incident.Heo’s label IST Entertainment issued an official statement yesterday (October 11) to Seoul Kyungje announcing his departure from the band. The company shared that the decision was made “taking into consideration the opinions of Heo Chan, who said that he did not wish to cause further damage [to the group] and the other members”, as translated by Soompi. VICTON will not replace Heo, as the label also said the group will continue as a six-piece consisting of Han Seung-woo, Kang Seung-sik, Im Se-jun, Do Han-se, Choi Byung-chan, and Jung Subin.IST Entertainment also added that the group’s forthcoming ‘2022 VICTON Fan Concert [Chronicle]’ online show – scheduled to take place this weekend on October 15 and 16 – will only be performed by five members.

EXCLUSIVE: Seoul- and Los Angeles-based Bound Entertainment (Apple’s Dr Brain) is teaming with author Ann Liang to develop her genre-bending YA debut novel, If You Could See the Sun as a series.  

Transgender women must still register for the military draft, according to the U.S. Selective Service.  "US citizens or immigrants who are born male and changed their gender to female are still required to register," the Selective Service states on its official website.  Individuals who were born female, but identify as male do not need to register for the military draft, per the government.  The policy is not new, but gained attention after the Selective Service tweeted at parents on Friday, reminding them that their sons must register.  U.S.

Rebecca Souw TITLE: Behind The Scenes For Singapore-Korea Co-Production “Ajoomma” And Its Journey Ahead Post-Busan The past few weeks have gone by in a blur for Singapore-Korean co-produced comedy film “Ajoomma.” In a short span, it had a world premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival, earned four Golden Horse nominations including best actress, best new director, best original screenplay and best supporting actor. And Singapore has selected the film as itOscars contender. But it took seven years to get his far. At a Busan workshop on Saturday, first-time director He Shuming, co-founder of Giraffe Pictures and the film’s executive producer Anthony Chen and co-producer Lee Joon-han discussed the how the film came to life. “Ajoomma: The Curious Case Study of a Singaporean-Korean Co-production” was presented by mylab at the Asian Contents & Film Market.

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.

Lee Jung-jae will get a chance to see the “Squid Game” star in his earliest starring role, as a manipulative male model in 1994’s “The Young Man.” Korean indie distributor and sales agent Mirovision has added the 1994 picture to its sales lineup at the Asian Contents & Film Market, on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival. Set in Seoul’s Rodeo Drive district, the film sees Lee play a model trying to break into commercials. After he accidentally kills an agent and dumps the body in a river, he has to turn up the charm to get away with the slaying. The role earned him best new actor awards from four organizations.

Rebecca Souw “Bogota: City of the Lost,” one of the most expensive Korean films ever made, heads the sales slate presented at Busan by Megabox Plus M, part of Korea’s J Contentree listed company. Crime noir, “Bogota” took 21 months to produce and saw its principal photography start in January 2020 but soon become a victim of COVID. Song Joong Ki (“Space Sweepers”) stars as a young man moving to Colombia with his family for a better life, but he ends up living from hand to mouth. He later goes against all odds to dominate Bogota’s black market. The picture also stars Lee Hee-jun (“The Drug King”) and was directed by Kim Seong-je (“The Unfair”).

Rebecca Souw Along with “Return to Seoul” and Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Broker,” Singaporean comedy film “Ajoomma” joins a growing list of recent foreign movies set in Korea or probing contemporary Korean culture.  “Ajoomma,” which premieres at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival on Friday in the New Currents competition section, tells the story of stereotypical Singaporean middle–aged woman (or “auntie”). Her obsession with Korean TV dramas leads her to visit Korea for the first time and as a result, embarks on a journey of self-discovery.