South Korean Wave Hits With Big Impact as Entertainment Business Booms

BLACKPINK have announced the title ‘Shut Down’ for their upcoming lead single lifted from forthcoming album ‘Born Pink’.The K-pop quartet made the announcement on September 7 at midnight KST via their social media channels, through a “title poster” showcasing the lead single’s title and ‘Born Pink”s release date and time of September 16 at 1pm KST / 12am EST.In a statement to South Korean outlet Yonhap News Agency published shortly after the announcement was made, YG Entertainment described ‘Shut Down’ as “a title that is intuitive and creates a strange tension”. “BLACKPINK will once again captivate music fans around the world with [their] unique charisma and girl-crush charm,” the statement read.#BLACKPINK ‘Shut Down’ Title Poster2nd Album ‘BORN PINK’✅2022.09.16 12AM (EST) & 1PM (KST) #블랙핑크 #2ndAlbum #BORNPINK #Title #ShutDown #20220916_12amEST #20220916_1pmKST #Release #YG pic.twitter.com/wZE8nAYtlN— BLACKPINKOFFICIAL (@BLACKPINK) September 6, 2022In anticipation of ‘Born Pink”s full release, BLACKPINK released a pre-release single titled ‘Pink Venom’ last month.

EXCLUSIVE: Well Go USA Entertainment has picked up North American rights to Korean action-thriller Project Wolf Hunting, which will bow in TIFF’s Midnight Madness section next week.

BTS’ potential military exemption.South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence has followed-up on minister Lee Jong-sup’s previous comments regarding a potential public poll on BTS’ military exemption, announcing that it will not be going forward with the poll.During an August 31 parliamentary hearing, defence minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers of plans to implement a national survey to gauge public opinions on exempting the boyband from mandatory military service. The ministry later clarified that officials were only examining the need of such a survey at the time.As of September 1 however, it confirmed that it will not be conducting a poll on BTS’ enlistment.“The Ministry of National Defence will not arrange a public poll on the matter, nor making decisions on the issue of BTS’ military service solely based on the result of the poll,” it shared through an official statement, as reported by SBS News.All able-bodied male citizens of South Korea are to enlist in the military by the age of 28, serving at least 18 months of mandatory service under the current law.

As the debate in South Korea over whether or not BTS should serve military service continues to drag on, the latest idea is to put the matter to the South Korean public, as the country’s government has failed to reach a conclusion.Yeah, that’s right, a referendum on the future of a pop group. Why can’t we have votes like that, instead of bloody Brexit? Actually, this is more a survey to gauge public opinion than a full on referendum.

Jeff Benjamin With new headlines dropping daily about the global expansion of K-pop, overseas investors now have a chance to cash in. Today, Sept. 1, a K-pop and Korean-entertainment ETF — under the ticker name KPOP — launched on the NYSE Arca Exchange through South Korean IP investment company Contents Technologies. With top pop-culture players on board, KPOP marks the first time investors in the U.S. and Europe can access the companies most directly involved in the expanding K-pop music scene. Of the 30 corporations in the exchange-traded fund, the major holding companies of KPOP include several of the scene’s most internationally influential names, all publicly listed on the local Korea Composite Stock Price Index. 

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.

Korean actor Song Kang-ho, who starred in Parasite and won best actor at this year’s Cannes film festival for his role in Broker, is set to make his debut in a Korean series with Uncle Sam Shik for Seoul-based production company Slingshot Studio.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief More than 600 buyers from companies in 30 countries are expected to be in Seoul, South Korea from Wednesday for the in-person return of the Broadcast WorldWide convention, better known as BCWW. Although BCWW bills itself as Asia’s largest broadcasting content market, given the strength of the Korean wave, much of the focus will be on Korean content and the business of working with Korean companies. Registered buyers and potential partners include Amazon Prime, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, PCCW the Hong Kong-based owner of Viu, and China’s iQiyi, all of which have already become purveyors of K-programming. “For the past 22 years, BCWW has served as a foundation for K-content to garner the global attention it is getting today,” said Cho Hyun-rae, president of the government-backed Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). He added that he expects KOCCA and BCWW to “provide continuous support for K-content.”

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 modest entrepreneur who lands in Suriname for business and ends up getting framed by a Korean drug lord operating in the country and sent to prison.As he’s beginning to serve his sentence, In-su is roped into a secret mission by Choi Chang-ho (Squid Game’s Park Hae-soo), an agent of the Korean National Intelligence Service. Their goal is to eventually snare Jeon Yo-han (Hush’s Hwang Jung-min), the head of a notorious drug cartel and the one responsible for In-su’s imprisonment who is moonlighting as a pastor as a cover for his operations.The trailer begins with the conversation between Chang-ho and In-su as they discuss the details of the secret mission and what the latter needs to do for the NIS.

JYP Entertainment has announced it has taken legal action against “malicious”, defamatory posts made about 2PM singer and actor Lee Junho.On August 24, the South Korean label issued a statement via Korean news outlet OSEN, responding to widespread “defamation of character” against Junho and announcing its strict measures against its perpetrators, including “strong legal action”, per translations by Soompi. JYP Entertainment did not detail the posts and statements that are the subject of the criminal complaint it says it has filed.“We previously announced in the past that the spreading of false rumours and malicious posts about our artist would be subject to strong legal action,” the statement read.

The Company You Keep, starring Milo Ventimiglia, based on the 2019 Korean drama My Fellow Citizens!.On August 22, Variety reported that ABC has picked up the series for a full season, which is now set for a 2023 premiere, after it was originally ordered to pilot this year. The Company You Keep is set to star This Is Us actor Milo Ventimiglia, alongside Catherine Haena Kim.It is an adaptation of the 2019 South Korean drama My Fellow Citizens!, which starred Super Junior member Choi Si-won, Dr.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefInternational TV audiences may have fallen in love with Korean series “All of Us Are Dead,” “Itaewon Class” and “Dr. Brain” without ever being aware that each originated as a webtoon, or online comic.A clutch of Korean companies is now getting ready to make sure webtoons are the next big thing in the global K-culture takeover.Webtoons launched in the early years of the new century when Yahoo and Korean internet portal Daum started publishing news and web-only cartoons.

Psy concert left the venue “severely damaged”.On August 15, KBS News reported that the floor of Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu City, Jeollanam-do had been left “severely damaged” after Psy’s August 6 show at the venue, which drew 28,000 concertgoers.According to the report, half of the stadium’s 600 square metres of elastic flooring had been “badly dented and torn off” following the concert. Jinnam Stadium is part of Yeosu City’s multi-purpose sports complex, which serves the city’s population and its visitors.Yeosu City has since demanded Psy’s concert organisers assist in restoring the venue, after its investigators determined the damage was caused by the use of a forklift to transport stage equipment.“In the event of damage to the facility, it is supposed to be restored to its original stage as a condition of [granting] the permit,” said Ahn Bo-hyeon, the city’s deputy director of its sports support division, told KBS News.

With a premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, an epic 140-minute runtime, and a starry South Korean cast that includes Kim Nam-gil (“Memoir of a Murderer”), Lee Byung-hun (“I Saw the Devil”), and Song Kang-ho (“Parasite”), Han Jae-rim’s feature “Emergency Declaration” would appear, on the surface, as a prestige-play.  Continue reading ‘Emergency Declaration’ Review: Song Kang-ho Stars In An Entertainingly Ridiculous Airplane Disaster Thriller at The Playlist.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. who are shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking with Korean super-agent Soyoung Lee, who represents some of the nation’s biggest stars and talked to us about her experiences of the Korean content boom.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA+E Networks is giving a multinational launch Wednesday to “If You Wish Upon Me,” a Korean drama series that was produced by its A+E Studios unit.The show is a transformational story of an impoverished man with a troubled past and a twisted attitude who accidentally joins Team Genie, a group which carries out the last wishes of patients in hospice care. He starts caring for people other than himself for the first time and learns how to open his heart and live harmoniously.