Bobby and B.I of idol group iKON say that they make the best duo.“We’re a duo who really care for and like each other,” Bobby said during a group interview in Seoul Monday, talking about the two iKON rappers’ single “Anthem.”“At the end of the song, there are lyrics that talk about how great we are together, like ‘Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat.’ We hope fans will really hear those lyrics.”Other lyrics compare the duo to “cabbage and radish” and “beer and chicken.”B.I and Bobby (YG Entertainment

Idol group iKON member Ju-ne talked about what made him cry on the set of the music video for iKON’s new single, “Apology.”“The director asked me in a cut if I would be able to cry, but I couldn’t really do it,” he said during a group interview at a Seoul cafe on Monday.“I ended up thinking about my mom, and that made the tears come. I think it came out well in the music video, and I was happy,” he said. Ju-ne (YG Entertainment)Regarding the other members’ acting, Ju-ne said, “I didn’t get to se

Headed to the box office? The Korea Herald offers a weekend guide to what's in theaters. For something a bit out of the ordinary, catch the Chinese film "Monster Hunt," a mix between live-action and animated comedy. Those looking for a more realistic laugh should opt for "Burnt." If thrills and mystery are more your speed this weekend, check out the latest 007 movie "Spectre," the Spielberg offering "Bridge of Spies" or the first commerical occult movie to hit Korean cinema, "The Priests."Monste

Webtoon-turned-drama “Songgot-Piercer” from JTBC is unusual in two ways. The first is its subject matter: labor rights. The second is the way in which it brushes off expectations of fantasy.Although the series only has viewership ratings of about 1.7 percent according to Nielsen Korea, “Songgot-Piercer” has garnered interest and online buzz, constantly ranking highly on monitoring metrics from Daumsoft that tally mentions on Twitter.Labor rights has never been the direct subject of a TV drama in

This year, Chinese box offices were shaken up by a Chinese film -- and that’s unusual.As the second-largest film market in the world, China is a precious source of sales revenue for globally released Hollywood blockbuster series such as “The Fast and the Furious,” “Avengers” and “Terminator.” In fact, this year’s “Furious 7” reigned as the highest-grossing film of all time in China up until 52-year-old Hong Kong-born Raman Hui showed up with the dark horse “Monster Hunt.” Raman Hui (Edko Films)I

A woman who was once beautiful gains weight over the years, and begins to lose confidence, leading to crises in her personal relationships. With the help of a talented fixer, she reclaims her beauty and happiness. This, in a nutshell, is the plot of the new KBS drama “Oh My Venus” starring A-listers So Ji-sub and Shin Min-a.“Before watching it, the plot or the characters will feel familiar,” actor So told press at a press conference on Wednesday.  Cast of "Oh My Venus" (Kim Yu-jin/Korea Herald)T

“The Priests,” from award-winning short film director Jang Jae-hyun, is undoubtedly the most experimental commercial movie of the year, taking on the occult -- a genre that is still largely unfamiliar to Korean audiences.The film follows a priest surnamed Kim (Kim Yun-seok), a thorn in the side of the Korean Catholic community who scoffs at the church’s efforts to become a universally respected and beloved institution. When a young girl named Yeong-shin (Park So-dam) begins to exhibit signs of p

The latest web cartoon to cross over mediums is “Eating Existence” from Lezhin Comics, which has been made into a Web drama to be aired on portal site Naver’s TV Cast.Although the title may lead viewers to think that “Eating Existence” is a series purely about the enjoyment of good food, director Lee Cheol-ha says it’s really about finding consolation in today’s harsh world.“The original cartoon is also focused less on food and more on expressing the hearts and minds of young people today,” Lee

The “Reply” TV drama series from cable channel tvN has been hugely successful, evoking nostalgia in viewers by accurately and comically depicting Korean culture and everyday life in the 1990s.The success of the first two primetime installments of the trilogy not only made their leading female stars, Jung Eun-ji and Go A-ra, household names, but also boosted former cable underdog tvN into a prominent original content producer.But series producer Shin Won-ho has low expectations for the third fami

The Busan Climate Action Film Festival is returning for a second year with three films with messages about sustainability, two of them local. The festival begins Friday with a bring-your-own-cup-and-plate “Veggie Fest” party. The opening film is “An Omnivorous Family’s Dilemma,” which follows director Hwang Yun as she befriends a family of pigs on a farm and starts to think about the pigs’ family and her own family in parallel. (BCAFF)The second Korean film, which also closes out the festival, i

“Basic” is girl group Brown Eyed Girls’ sixth studio-length album, and their first in nearly two and a half years. Bringing all the members together at Mystic Entertainment’s label Apop and coming right on time for the group’s 10th anniversary, the album was carefully crafted in order to express what the members felt were at their “basic core.”“The album started with the question, ‘What is BEG’s basic?’” said rapper Miryo at a press showcase held at the Hyundai Card Understage in Seoul on Wednes

The Korean Movie Database is providing free streaming of 421 classic Korean films on its mobile website for the month of November.Users who log into the site through a smartphone or tablet PC will be able to view free classic Korean films. The streaming service will be available through paid subscriptions starting in December. Still from "Insect Woman" (KMDb)Some classic films that will be streaming for free include Im Kwon-taek’s 2000 film “Chunhyang,” Kim Ki-young’s 1972 film “Insect Woman,” a

“Collective Invention” is a movie about a fish man -- or more accurately, a man who turns half-fish after an experimental drug wreaks havoc on his body. Inspired by the eponymous painting by Belgian painter Rene Magritte and directed by Kwon Oh-kwang, who became the first Korean screenwriter to win the short film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 with “Safe,” the film is just as bizarre as it sounds.“When I was first handed the script, they told me, ‘It’s a story about a fish man.’

The seventh season of Korea’s largest audition program “Superstar K” prepares to draw to a close, and the five remaining individual and team contestants are proving to be an interesting bunch. For starters, for a show whose namesake purpose is to discover a “superstar,” none of them could say for certain what gives them star appeal. The finalists of "Superstar K7" (Mnet)Speaking to the media at a press conference held at Mnet’s M Academy in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on Tuesday, the top five contestants

A few minutes’ walk from the entrance of Gwangmyeong Cave in Gyeonggi Province stands the Gwangmyeong Upcycle Art Center, which opened in June. The Korea Herald got a look around the center’s two buildings -- one for exhibitions and one for hands-on classes and seminars -- with Suzy Kang, the executive director of Gwangmyeong City’s Cultural Regeneration Project Team, which oversees the center’s operations.“This is the first physical space in Korea devoted to the idea of upcycling,” Kang said. 

Heading to the movies this weekend? The Korea Herald offers a guide of what's playing on the big screen.Thrill and adventure abound at this weekend's box office in Korea. "The Martian" starring Matt Damon continues to ride strong, with moviegoers recommending the 3D theater experience. Crime thriller "The Phone" draws fans in with its fast-paced plot, while "The Exclusive" is gaining traction with its well-crafted balance between comedy and thriller. New openers are the dizzying "The Walk" starr

This is the second in a two-part series examining Korea’s digital music industry. – Ed.　If it’s hard to name more than a few Korean artists who are currently active and not idol stars, K-pop ballad singers or TV discoveries, it’s not because they don’t exist.“There are only two genres in today’s Korean music,” said Shin Dae-chul, head of the Barun Music Cooperative, at a forum in Seoul. “Idol music, non-idol music. The rest is meaningless. ... (The current digital music system) has naturally pus

Boy group BTOB member and actor Yook Sung-jae said that he’s “confident about playing someone in unrequited love.”At a press conference for his current drama “The Village: Achiara’s Secret,” Tuesday at the SBS Ilsan Production Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Yook was asked how he felt about his character’s subtle romantic feelings for the character played by Moon Geun-young. Yook plays a police officer named Woo-jae, while Moon plays a teacher named So-yun.“My fans tell me that I’m an actor

Cast members of the SBS mystery drama “The Village: Achiara’s Secret” said that they are just as clueless about the show’s ending as the viewers.The drama focuses on a small village called Achiara, which seems peaceful and uneventful until the body of a young woman is suddenly discovered -- and the dark secrets of the villagers are exposed one by one through the search for the murderer. Cast of "The Village: Achiara's Secret" (SBS)The cast members sat down for a press conference Tuesday at the S

This is the first in a two-part series examining issues pertaining to Korea’s digital music industry. – Ed. 　Ever wondered why K-pop has so many chart-topping debuts or new releases? How trustworthy do you think the K-pop charts are? According to some industry insiders and experts, the online charts are prone to manipulation. Melon charts (Melon official website screenshot)A major issue with the charts today is “hoarding,” efforts allegedly coordinated by fans or brokers to push certain songs up