Yoo Ah-in dropped from Netflix’s ‘Hellbound’ as actor is reportedly investigated by police for illegal drug use

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, star of “Burning,” “The Throne” and Netflix series “Hellbound,” must report to the police on Friday in connection with the alleged use of a variety of drugs. Allegations of Yoo’s drug use emerged a month ago and he has previously spoken with authorities. The Yonhap news agency now specifies that he will be considered as a criminal suspect when he presents himself to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Friday. It is unclear whether Yoo will be formally arrested at that time. Yoo became a person of interest in early February after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety revealed that he had bought suspicious quantities of the sedative Propofol in a series of purchases starting in 2021. Propofol is a strong sedative that can also be used as an anesthetic. The authorities have looked into several doctors’ offices and clinics in Seoul that may have administered the drug.

NMIXX vocalist Lily has unveiled her cover of Bruno Mars’ 2012 hit ‘When I Was Your Man’.The singer’s cover was released as part of the South Korean live music YouTube series Begin Again Open Mic. The idol had also previously covered Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson’s ‘Symphony’ for the channel, which was released earlier this month.For her cover, Lily remains largely true to the original track, instead allowing her powerful vocals taking centre stage over a piano accompaniment.

9MUSES are reportedly planning to reunite and release new music this year.According to a report by South Korean news outlet JTBC, which cited music industry insiders, 9MUSES are aiming to make a comeback this summer.The report claims that a four-member sub-unit called 9MUSES A – comprising Kyung Li, Hyemi, Sojin, and Keumjo – will release a song in May first. Following that, the full group will make their comeback sometime in July or August, though the line-up for the full group comeback has yet to be confirmed.Notably, 9MUSES went through a number of line-up changes over their 9 years as an active K-pop group from 2010 to 2019, with only 14 different members during their original run.

K-pop collective Balming Tiger have shared their thoughts on the current K-pop industry.Last week, Balming Tiger performed at SXSW’s Tiger Den event, where they spoke to Rolling Stone about what K-pop is in their view and their hopes for the future of Korean music.“In our opinion, [K-pop] is not a genre because, in K-pop, there’s R&B, hip-hop and everything. So, you can’t really specify what genre it is.

In “Kill Boksoon,” a female hitman finds out that killing is simpler than raising a kid. Fresh off its world premieres at the Berlinale last month, South Korean director Byun Sung-hyun‘s new film stars “Secret Sunshine” actress Jeon Do-yeon as an assassin that sees her family and professional lives collide to antic results.

Hellbound star Yoo Ah-in could be called in by South Korean police for questioning as soon as next week.This is according to a statement by an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, per The Korea Times, who said that the police will summon Yoo for questioning after they “wrap up the analysis of materials seized from [the actor’s] home and hospital this week”.The South Korean actor’s run-in with the law started in February when he first tested positive for propofol. At the time, Yoo had taken a drug test as part of an investigation by the police into alleged non-medical use of the anaesthetic.The Korea Times noted that Yoo has since also allegedly tested positive for marijuana, cocaine and ketamine, following a test on his hair and urine samples that was carried out by South Korean’s National Forensic Service.The South Korean police recently raided two of Yoo’s homes to collect evidence, and have also looked into the actor’s medical records to determine frequency of his alleged drug usage.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was awarded with best feature at the Asian Film Awards (March 12), along with prizes for best editing and best original music. The multiple award winning Japanese drama premiered at Cannes film festival in 2021 and also won the Oscar for Best International Feature last year.  

Queens of K-pop. The girl group TWICE has continued to dominate the music industry, both in Asia and around the world.

BTS member J-Hope has just become the first member of the K-Pop supergroup to achieve a solo entry in the Official Singles Chart Top 40. 

A high-flying career! Chuck Norris is known for his work on the small and big screens, as well as his impressive martial arts talent.

Suga of K-pop boyband BTS and soloist IU are reportedly set to reunite for yet another collaboration.Today (March 10), South Korean media outlet SpoTV News reported that the two K-pop idols are set to release a new song together. If true, it would be the duo’s second collaboration, following their 2020 song ‘eight’.Big Hit Music has since spoken out about the report in a statement to Sports Today, saying that it is currently “difficult to confirm” whether or not Suga and IU are working together on new music.Suga will be the first member of BTS to go on a solo world tour.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mk2 films has enlisted leading distributors around the world for “Reality,” Tina Satter’s feature debut starring Sydney Sweeney, on the heels of its buzzy world premiere at the Berlinale. The movie, which bowed in the Panorama section, stars Sweeney (“White Lotus,” “Euphoria”) as Reality Winner, a 25 year-old whistleblower who spent five years in prison during the Trump administration. A former U.S. Air Force member and National Security Agency translator, Winner was convicted for leaking a confidential report on Russian election interference to the media. The film is based on Satter’s 2019 stage play “Is This a Room” and contains verbatim dialogue from the unedited transcript of a FBI audio recording. “Reality” captures the tense and surreal 90 minutes of FBI’s interrogation with Winner at her home in 2017.

Naman Ramachandran After the triumph of Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” at the BAFTAs, Netflix has revealed a surge in viewership for non-English language titles. New Netflix data shows that in the U.K., viewing for non-English language stories has increased by 90% over the last three years. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is now Netflix’s fourth most popular non-English language film ever, with over 150 million hours viewed since its release on Oct. 14, 2022. It has been on Netflix’s global Top 10 Non-English Film list for 14 weeks and has reached the Top 10 Films in 91 countries, including Germany, the U.K., U.S., Australia, France, Mexico and South Korea.

BTS member Suga has donated ₩1,000,000 (roughly US$76,000) to aid earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.Suga’s donation “for emergency relief in Turkey and Syria” was revealed by non-governmental organization Save The Children today (March 9), which is also the K-pop idol’s birthday, in a statement to South Korean media outlet OSEN.“So many children and families have suffered great damage from this earthquake,” Suga said, according to OSEN, as translated by Soompi. “I send my condolences to the survivors and victims.”“I hope that this becomes at least a bit of help to children affected by the earthquake and hope this [donation] is used to provide relief goods for children,” he added.

Doyoung, Jaehyun and Jungwoo, members of the K-pop boyband NCT, are set to debut as a sub-unit.Earlier today (March 9), South Korean media outlet Sports Today reported that the three K-pop idols are set to form a trio sub-unit as part of their work with the boyband. Notably, the three singers previously worked together on the song ‘Can We Go Back’, which they performed at the 2022 MBC Gayo Daejejeon, as well as a Christmas medley posted on the official NCT YouTube channel.Their label SM Entertainment has since confirmed the report.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” has surpassed over 150 million hours viewed since its release on Oct. 14, 2022. The film, which dominated the BAFTA Awards in London with a record-breaking seven wins, including best film, director (Edward Berger), adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, original score and non-English language film, climbed up to No. 2 on the global list, according to numbers released by Netflix. Berger’s World War I epic tells Paul’s (Felix Kammerer ) journey from being a young, enthusiastic school boy wanting to join the army to a tired, worn soldier. It has been on the global Top 10 Non-English Film list for 14 weeks and has reached the Top 10 Films in 91 countries, including Germany, the U.K., U.S., Australia, France, Mexico and South Korea.

Ashnikko has announced their debut album ‘WEEDKILLER’ and shared details of a huge world tour for 2023 – find all the details below.The album will be released on June 2 via Parlophone, and will be available to pre-order from today (March 2) at 6pm GMT from here.“My bioluminescent heart is glowing. My post-apocalyptic fae world is here for you to journey into,” Ashnikko shared in a statement.

In this new teaser for Paramount+’s Fatal Attraction series, Lizzy Caplan’s Alex Forrest shares an elevator with Joshua Jackson’s Dan Gallagher and asks “Do you ever push that red button?” We can be pretty sure she’s not merely talking about an emergency stop.