New courtroom K-drama ‘May It Please The Court’ to premiere on Disney+ this year

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Korean and two Indian movies make the cut in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents main competition section. Thet are joined by one each from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Germany. The section has a track record of making significant discoveries among new Asian films and directors.The selected titles are eligible for multiple awards, including the New Currents Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the NETPAC Award, and the KB New Currents Audience Award. The selection comprises: “Ajooma,” directed by Hu Shuming (Singapore-Korea); “Blue Again” from Thailand’s Thapanee Loosuwan; “Hail to Hell,” by Korea’s Lim Oh-jeong; “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Vietnam’s Marcus Vu Manh Cuong; “No End,” directed by Nader Saeivar and flying the flags of Germany, Iran and Turkey; “A Place Called Silence,” by Malaysia’s Sam Quah; “Shivamma,” fromIndia’s Jaishankar Aryar; Japanese director Kubota Nao’s “One Thousand and One Nights”; “A Wild Roomer,” from Korea’s Lee Jeong-hong; and The Winter Within,” directed by Aamir Bashir, and structured as a co-production between India, France and Qatar.

Big Mouth has come under fire for dialogue that allegedly perpetuates racial insensitivity.In the second episode of Big Mouth, which first aired on July 30, the series’ main character Park Chang-ho (played by Lee Jong-suk) provokes a fellow inmate on death row, asking if his mother had seaweed soup after giving birth to him.In South Korea, it is custom for Korean mothers to have seaweed soup after giving birth. However, Chang-ho continued to rile the inmate up by asking what his mother had eaten after his birth for him to grow into a psychopath.“Did your mother eat seaweed soup after giving birth to you? I am really curious as to what she ate to have given birth to a psycho like you.

Netflix has announced a premiere date for its upcoming Korean original drama series Glitch, starring Jeon Yeo-bin, Nana and more.Netflix Korea made the announcement earlier today (September 2) sharing the premiere date and first poster for the upcoming mystery series, which will star Jeon Yeo-bin (Vincenzo, Alienoid) and Nana (Oh! Master, Memorials), among others.In the poster attached to the announcement, a woman stands in the middle of a crop circle formation drawn on the floor of an outdoor parking lot. She looks up towards glitching, glowing lights.

Dreamcatcher will be releasing new music in October, which will reportedly be the sequel to ‘Apocalypse: Save Us’.Earlier today (September 1), a representative from South Korean music label Dreamcatcher Company issued a brief statement to Korean news outlet XSports News announcing that the girl group are due to drop a new album next month.“Dreamcatcher is in the midst of preparing with the aim of making a comeback in October,” read the statement, as translated by Soompi. At the moment, specifics about the comeback are scarce, however details about the release’s format, exact release date, tracklist and more are expected to arrive in the weeks leading up to the release.The K-pop group’s forthcoming return to music will mark their second comeback of the year following April’s ‘Apocalypse: Save Us’, which was Dreamcatcher’s sophomore studio album. That record included title track ‘Maison’.

BTS exemptions from mandatory military service.Debates over the necessity of BTS’ fulfilment of local military conscription requirements have long been a point of public contention, which have recently intensified as the boyband’s oldest member, Jin, is due to turn 30 this December. The law calls for all male Korean citizens – no older than age 30 – to enlist in the military for mandatory service.On August 31, The Korea Times reported that South Korea’s defence minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that he has ordered officials to implement a survey to gauge the public’s opinions on BTS’ enlistment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival will further honor its co-founder and former programmer Kim Jiseok, who died suddenly in 2017, by expanding the existing prize in his name into a fully-fledged competitive section. Previously, the Kim Jiseok Award was given to one of ten films selected from the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ sidebar which introduces new films from significant Asian directors, defined as those who have each made more than three films.  “Starting this year, the Kim Jiseok Award nominees have been sorted into a section of their own, namely the ‘Jiseok’ section. Also, Korean films will be included in the ‘Jiseok’ section,” Busan organizers said. “This program section aims to both reinforce the spirit and determination of [Kim], who devoted himself to the growth and support of Asian films, and direct attention to the nominated works.”

Parasite star and this year’s Cannes Best Actor winner Song Kang-ho has been confirmed for his first-ever Korean drama role of his 32-year career.On August 30, production company Slingshot Studio announced that Song has accepted a role in its upcoming K-drama series titled Uncle Sam Shik.The upcoming role will mark the critically acclaimed actor’s first-ever K-drama role of his acting career, which first began in 1990. Song spent the first six years of his career starring in theatre productions before making his film debut in 1996 with The Day a Pig Fell into the Well.According to Asia Gyeongje, the upcoming 10-episode series will follow the “bromance” between a pair of longtime friends, Sam Shik and Kim San, who survived South Korea’s turbulent 1960s period together.Uncle Sam Shik will be directed by Shin Yeon-shik, whom Song recently worked with on upcoming films One Win and Cobweb, which are currently in post-production.Best known for his roles in the films Thirst, Memories of Murder, Snowpiercer and Parasite, the 55-year-old became the first South Korean male actor to win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his recent drama film, Broker.The film, directed by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda and also starring K-pop idol IU, received a 12-minute standing ovation after its premiere screening at the festival earlier this year.“Winning an award from such a prestigious festival as Cannes is a great and happy moment, an unforgettable turning point of my life,” said Song during a recent interview.However, the actor added: “I have won the award, but that itself cannot become the purpose.

BLACKPINK took the stage for their first MTV Video Music Awards performance on Sunday, and they shut it down. Rosé, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo — dressed in matching black and pink crop tops and shorts with chunky boots — belted out their first comeback single in nearly two years, “Pink Venom,” to a crowd of screaming fans.

BLACKPINK took the stage for their first MTV Video Music Awards performance on Sunday, and they shut it down. Rosé, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo — dressed in matching black and pink crop tops and shorts with chunky boots — belted out their first comeback single in nearly two years, «Pink Venom,» to a crowd of screaming fans. Making their long-awaited return to the stage, the foursome — who won their first Moonman earlier in the evening for Best Metaverse Performance — made their VMAs debut count as they showcased their vocals, rap talent and dance on the MTV stage.Stars in the audience could not get enough of BLACKPINK's performance, with VMA winner Taylor Swift and Dylan O'Brien hyping up the K-pop stars by singing along and grooving to «Pink Venom.»One thing blackpink's gonna do is tear up a performance and make sure the crowd is hyped!pic.twitter.com/QvdBvXKu5xEarlier in the evening, the Korean girl group, who is also up for Group of the Year, hit the red carpet at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards -- making their U.S. awards show debut -- for the very first time, and they did not disappoint.BLACKPINK rocked head-turning black outfits as they strut their stuff on the VMAs carpet at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey ahead of Sunday's show.BLACKPINK wasn't the only act to make their VMAs debut Sunday night.

movie, but she had a message for fans who are sad about her character's absence. The upcoming Paramount+ movie reunites the majority of the original series cast, minus key alumni such as Cho and Dylan O'Brien. Cho, who headlines Netflix's new workplace series , confirmed in an interview earlier this summer that her decision not to appear in the movie was due to significant pay disparity with a few of her co-stars.Nonetheless, Cho expressed her gratitude to the fans for their support and love for her character, Kira.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo” has taken over the Netflix Top 10 chart. With 77.4 million hours watched, the series was Netflix’s most-viewed title during the Aug. 15-21 viewing window — racking up more hours viewed than Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” which was the most-viewed title the previous two weeks. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” follows Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), a lawyer with autism, whose eidetic memory helps her succeed at a large law firm as she also navigates difficult social interactions. “The Sandman” still sits at the top on the English-language chart for the third consecutive week, garnering 77.2 million hours watched over the last week. This marks a drop from last week’s 127.5 million hours as the series has now had its second full week of availability on the platform. Its continued No. 1 status is partially due to “A Dream of a Thousand Cats”/”Calliope,” a bonus episode that Netflix released on Aug. 19.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBlackpink kicked in the door with the release of “Pink Venom,” which has become the most-viewed music video on YouTube this year to date in the first 24 hours.The K-pop powerhouse group’s dance-fueled, female-empowerment video for “Pink Venom” reached an impressive 82.2 million views within 24 hours after it dropped on YouTube at midnight ET Friday (1 p.m. KST), according to the video platform’s public views counter.

AsianCrush and the Kocowa venture among major Korean broadcasters are generating viewership and creating a big secondary market for scripted series known as K-dramas — a movement that will only accelerate South Korea’s maturation into a major player in media and entertainment. For evidence, look no further than the 14 groundbreaking Emmy nominations racked up last month by Netflix’s “Squid Game.” “We’ve seen this growth in interest of Asian entertainment over the last 10 years and really picking up more recently in the last three to five years,” says Sam Wu, CEO of Rakuten Viki, the streaming arm of the Japanese retail conglomerate.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorTen years ago, organizers of the first KCON fan gathering had plenty of faith in the appeal of K-pop and South Korean pop culture, but there was nervousness about how many people would show up to celebrate it in Southern California.In October 2012, executives at CJ ENM were pleasantly surprised when about 10,000 aficionados turned out for a daylong conference and evening concert at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Orange County. At the time, KCON was the biggest real-world expression of CJ ENM vice chair Miky Lee’s determination to promote Korean content and culture on the world stage.A decade later, the seeds Lee and her team planted with KCON and other events are delivering a bountiful harvest.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo did not take the world by storm the way Squid Game did last year. The latest hit from Korea instead took the scenic route toward success by gradually building its popularity via word of mouth. Extraordinary Attorney Woo — a legal take on The Good Doctor (which also originated in Korea) with a female lead — has been growing every week, from 24M hours viewed in Week 1 to a new high mark of 67M hours viewed in its sixth week (8/8-8/14). This may be the first Netflix series to increase viewing in each of its first six weeks.

Netflix has shared the first teaser for its upcoming original Korean thriller series Narco-Saints.Created by The Spy Gone North filmmaker Yoon Jong-bin, Narco-Saints stars Ha Jung-woo (Ashfall, Entourage) as protagonist Kang In-su, an unassuming entrepreneur who visits Suriname for business but ends up framed by a Korean drug lord operating in the South American country.He’s later roped into a secret mission by Choi Chang-ho (Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo), an agent of the Korean National Intelligence Service, in order to apprehend Jeon Yo-han (Hush’s Hwang Jung-min), who is moonlighting as a pastor as a cover for his operations as the head of a notorious drug cartel.Narco-Saints is slated to make a global premiere on Netflix on September 9. Watch its teaser, which was released on August 11, above.Narco-Saints also features a supporting cast that includes Yoo Yeon-seok (Hospital Playlist, Dr.