South Korean culture minister calls on politicians to exempt BTS from military service

EXCLUSIVE: has cast Alicia Hannah-Kim for Season 5 of the hit Netflix series as the formidable South Korean sensei Kim Da-Eun who factors into Terry Silver’s (Thomas Ian Griffith) plans for accelerating Cobra Kai’s expansion. Dallas Dupree Young, who joined the show last season as Kenny Payne, has been upgraded to a series regular.

Kang Daniel has made his much-anticipated comeback with his first full-length studio album ‘The Story’, alongside a music video for title track ‘Upside Down’.In the new visual, the K-pop idol makes his way through a myriad of vibrant sets, accompanied by a team of dancers. His journey starts in neon-lit a barbershop, before he heads to a rooftop carpark, and stops by a laundromat for the dance break.“Just imagining it tires me out / Wanna know the reason, I don’t know / I feel like I’m the only one moving backwards / I need to change it back, turn everything around,” he sings on the new laidback track.‘The Story’ features ten new tracks, all co-written by Kang, alongside contributions from labelmate K-R&B singer Chancellor, who features on the song ‘Mad’.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSurprising as it may sound, the Korean film industry has had a rough time over the past couple of years. Get ready for a comeback.Just at a moment when Korean film producers might have expected to capitalize on the unprecedented multi-Oscar success of “Parasite” (and the previous year’s Korean-language “Minari,” COVID closed down Korean cinemas , stifled production and extinguished Korean audiences’ willingness to venture into cinemas.

Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP) is set to remake Ariel Winograd’s Argentinian comedy Mama Se Fue De Viaje (Ten Days Without Mom) in Turkey and South Korea.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticOn Oct. 26, 1979, South Korean president Park Chung-hee was assassinated by the chief of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency — a coup that ended the autocrat’s 16-year grip on a country that has wrestled with corruption and scandal ever since.

P1Harmony and American singer-songwriter Pink Sweat$ are set to collaborate on the upcoming single, ‘Gotta Get Back’.Yesterday (May 16), the boyband announced the upcoming digital single on Twitter, and also released the song’s pastel-coloured cover art. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, Pink Sweat$ composed the forthcoming collaboration, while P1Harmony members Intak and Jongseob helped pen lyrics for the track.

SEVENTEEN have announced the North American leg of their forthcoming ‘Be The Sun’ world tour.Today (May 17), the 13-member boyband took to Twitter to reveal their upcoming world tour. Titled ‘Be The Sun’, the tour is set to kick off in Seoul this June, before heading to North America, where SEVENTEEN will play in 12 different cities across the US and Canada.From August to September, SEVENTEEN will perform in US cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentJapan’s Tokyo Broadcasting System network is partnering with Naver Webtoon, South Korea’s leading digital comics platform, and Tokyo-based manga production house Shine Partners to launch a new webtoon company. Called Studio TooN and based in South Korea, the joint venture will plan and make webtoons with Japanese and Korean creators for the global market. One of TBS’s aim in launching the company, its first such venture in Korea, is to produce TV dramas, anime and other content from the webtoons.  Studio TooN will begin operations in June of this year with Shine Partners president Keita Iwamoto serving as CEO.     “When webtoon works are visualized, there is a synergy effect as the number of readers increases,” said Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Junkoo.

The stars are stepping out for the 2022 Billboard Music Awards!

B.I is back!

Marta Balaga “Face Off” helmer John Woo will receive a Career Achievement Award during Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, about to celebrate its 26th edition. The Hong Kong filmmaker is currently working on “Silent Night,” starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi.“I defy anyone to watch ‘Bullet in the Head,’ ‘Hard Boiled’ or ‘The Killer’ and not walk away wanting to break down the shots and make a movie.

admitted to a hospital in Seoul on Thursday (May 5) following a sudden cardiac arrest.Kang’s memorial service has been set up at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul. Her funeral ceremony will be held on Wednesday (May 11) and will be broadcast live through the Korean Film Council’s YouTube channel, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.The funeral committee will be led by Kim Dong-ho, former chairperson of the board of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).“Kang broke boundaries with her fearless performances.

Kang Soo-youn, who won South Korea’s first acting award from a Big Three film festival when she took home Best Actress honors at the Venice Film Festival, died Saturday, two days after suffering a cardiac arrest. She was 55 and her family said she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 3 PM at a hospital in southern Seoul.

Kang Soo Yeon has sadly passed away.

Holland said on social media that he was physically assaulted on a night out in Seoul.Earlier today (May 6), the openly gay K-pop singer took to Twitter to share more about an incident that occurred the previous night, where he had been walking around the Itaewon district in the South Korean city of Seoul with a friend and his manager.In his post, Holland claimed that he had been physically attacked by an unknown assailant. “Last night, I was walking around Itaewon with my manager and a friend,” he said. “Suddenly, a stranger man approached me and hit me on the face twice, calling me ‘a dirty gay’.”The singer also attached two pictures of the bruises he received on his nose as a result of the attack.

EXCLUSIVE: Fernanda Andrade (Let the Right One In) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller, Finestkind. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich, Clayne Crawford, Meghan Leathers and Ismael Cruz Cordova, as previously announced.

Mark Tuan has hinted at what appears to be plans for him to stay in South Korea for the foreseeable future.The GOT7 rapper wrecently appeared on Harper’s Bazaar Korea’s YouTube series Inside Bag, where he introduced to viewers the essential items found in his carry-on. For Tuan, one such item was his set of clear teeth aligners, which he explained was his second time undergoing an orthodontic process after seeing his dentist back in Los Angeles.He then revealed that he has to change out his aligners on a weekly basis, and that he brought about 20 sets. “I think I may stay in Korea for long, so I brought everything along,” he explained.Despite not elaborating further on his plans while he’s in South Korea, he’s so far been situated in the East Asian country for two months now, following his appearance at this year’s Paris Fashion Week.

BTS‘ exemption from the nation’s mandatory military service.The Culture Minister proposed in a press briefing on May 4 that globally recognised male pop-culture artists should be allowed to substitute their compulsory two-year conscription for alternative programmes.“It’s time to create a system for incorporating popular culture-art figures as art personnel,” Hwang said, per Yonhap News Agency, in recognition of figures such as award-winning athletes and classical musicians and their roles in enhancing South Korea’s image overseas.“The [exemption] system has been operated meaningfully to give those who have enhanced the national status based on their excellent skills more chances to contribute to the country, and there is no reason the popular art-culture field should be excluded from this,” he continued.Under South Korea’s current Military Service act, all able-bodied Korean men are required to enlist for approximately two years of military service before the age of 30. This was after an amendment to the act was made in late-2020 where the age limit was raised from the initial 28.“I thought somebody should be a responsible voice at a time when there are conflicting pros and cons ahead of the enlistment of some of the BTS members,” Hwang added.