Singer IU’s “Autumn Morning” secured the No. 1 spot on local music charts despite the new release from another K-pop big name BTS on the same day.As of 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, “Autumn Morning” remained on top of all seven local music charts including Melon, Genie and Bugs.“DNA,” the lead track from BTS’ new album “Love Yourself Seung Her,” took the No. 2 spot on all but two music charts -- Mnet and Monkey 3.  (Fave Entertainment)“Autumn Morning” is a track from IU’s upcoming remake album “A Flower Bo

Singer IU made a timely pre-release of “Autumn Morning” on Monday morning. “Autumn Morning” is a track from the singer’s upcoming remake album “A Flower Bookmark Two.” According to her agency, the sudden release at 7 a.m. was to celebrate IU’s ninth debut anniversary which fell on the day. As it is a precious day for both IU and her fans, the singer decided to pre-release the track to make the morning special, the agency said. “Autumn Morning” (Fave Entertainment)“Autumn Morning” is originally b

CL, formerly of 2NE1, sang on the soundtrack of upcoming animation “My Little Pony: The Movie,” her agency YG Entertainment confirmed Saturday. The upcoming film is a cinematic version of the popular television series “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” The singer sang “No Better Feelin’,” the 11th track on the soundtrack.  CL performs on stage during her “Hello B*****s” concert held in Toronto, Canada, on Nov. 14, 2016. (YG Entertainment)The song marks the singer’s first release since she de

Kim Jae-joong will kick off his Asia fan meeting tour in Seoul on Oct. 29, his agency C-Jes Entertainment said Thursday. “Despite the concert tour earlier this year, there was a deluge of requests for Kim Jae-joong to visit from all over Asia. So we planned the fan meeting tour adding cities that he hadn’t visited on the concert tour,” the agency said. In January, the singer kicked off his first concert tour since completing his military service. He visited nine Asian cities, including Hong Kong

NU’EST W fans have been warned against purchasing fake tickets from scalpers for the group’s upcoming concert in Taiwan. The event’s organizer took to its Facebook page Monday to clarify the situation and asked fans not to be deceived by the scalpers saying, “If you have purchased the tickets, they are absolute scams!” Tickets for the concert have not yet been released. Fans in Taiwan were confused by Weibo posts which said “reserved tickets” or “group tickets” for the concert were being sold. 

Mnet Asian Music Awards, an annual K-pop award ceremony, will hold “MAMA Week” in three countries this year, its organizer CJ E&M said Monday. The music awards will kick off in Hoa Binh Theater, Vietnam on Nov. 25, then head to Yokohama Arena, Japan on Nov. 29, before winding up in Hong Kong with two events, at W Hotel Hong Kong on Nov. 30 and at AsiaWorld-Expo on Dec. 1.  (CJ E&M)“Expanding MAMA, which has been a one-day event in an Asian country, as a week-long event in Vietnam, Japan and Hong

BTS’ upcoming album “Love Yourself Seung Her” will feature a collaboration with American DJ and producer duo the Chainsmokers.The track “Best of Me,” is an electronic dance music track featuring the Chainsmokers’ expressive harmonies. Rap Monster, Suga and J-Hope of BTS and Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers collaborated on the track.  (BTS' Twitter)The two artists met in May when BTS attended the Billboard Music Awards where the K-pop juggernaut grabbed the award in the top social artist catego

K-pop icon Seo Taiji will hold concerts at the end of the month, as encore for his 25th-anniversary concert that took place last week.Seo Taiji Company said Friday that in return for the fans’ support on Seo Taiji’s 25th-anniversary concert on Sept. 2, the singer will hold “Time: Traveler Encore” at the Olympic Hall inside Olympic Park on Sept. 29-30.“The 25 years of Seo Taiji is the 25 years of history with fans,” the agency said, adding that the show was prepared to give fans an opportunity to

Kiseop of U-Kiss suffered burns from an explosion during the filming of a music video “U-Kiss member Kiseop was in an accident involving an explosion while filming a music video,” said the K-pop group’s agency in a statement Wednesday night.According to NH EMG, the smoke emitter that the singer was holding exploded toward his face. He suffered second-degree burns and was hit by dozens of shrapnel. He was rushed to a hospital in Incheon, near the filming set. “He received primary care at a nearby

South Korean boy band NCT 127 will take over as DJ for Beats 1’s radio program “Take Over: NCT 127 Request.” It is the first time for a Korean artist to host a show on Beats 1.The members of the K-pop group finished recording the show on Aug. 21 at Beats 1 studio in Los Angeles during which they shared their thoughts on the group’s performances in the US such as “Today at Apple,” “KCON 2017 NY” and “KCON 2017 LA.” They also communicated with fans through FaceTime and introduced song requests.  N

Director Lee Chang-dong will direct a new film tentatively titled “Burning,” its production company Pine House Film said Tuesday. It will be the director’s new film in eight years since he released his last film “Poetry” in 2010. “Burning,” based on Japanese novel “Norwegian Wood” by Haruki Murakami, centers on Jong-su who tries to solve the mystery surrounding his lover Hae-mi.  Lee Chang-dong (Yonhap)Yoo Ah-in is confirmed to play the role of Jong-su while the role of Hae-mi has not yet been f

South Korean historical drama “A Taxi Driver” was submitted to the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, its distributor Showbox said Monday. The section allows only one entry per country. Korean films were submitted for the section every year but none of them made it to the final nominees. In 2016, “The Age of Shadows” was submitted for the section.  (Showbox)“’A Taxi Driver,’ based on the real story, well-illustrated the characteristic of Korea as well as human rights and democrat

K-pop artists managed by Korean record label Antenna Music, led by You Hee-yeol of Toy, held the second part of their label concert series, “With, Antenna,” at Jamsil Arena in Seoul, on Saturday and Sunday.A total of 11 acts -- Toy (You Hee-yeol), Jung Jae-hyung, Lucid Fall, Peppertones (Shin Jae-pyung and Lee Jang-won), Park Sae-byul, Lee Jin-ah, Chai, Jung Seung-hwan, Kwon Jin-ah and Sam Kim -- performed in front of some 90,000 fans over the weekend at the four-hour concerts.  A promotional po

Singer IU will release her new album “A Flower Bookmark Two” in mid-September, her agency FAVE Entertainment said Friday. The album is the singer’s second cover EP following “A Flower Bookmark” released in May 2014. The 2014 album featured the singer’s cover versions of K-pop classics from 1980s to 90s, such as Kim Chang-wan’s “The Meaning of You,” Kim Wan-sun’s “Pierrot Smiles at Us” and Kim Kwang-seok’s “Flower.” It received favorable reactions both from critics and the general public, sweepin

EXO has been listed in the 2018 edition of the book of Guinness World Records for winning the most grand prizes, or Daesang, at the Mnet Asia Music Awards. The K-pop sensation won the album of the year award at the annual awards ceremony in 2016 for its third full-length album “EX’ACT.” It won awards from 2013 to 2015 with the albums “XOXO” (2013), “Overdose” (2014) and “EXODUS” (2015). In 2014, the group also won the artist of the year award.  EXO poses at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards held

Black Pink’s Japan debut got off on the right path with its first mini album “Blackpink” topping Oricon and Tower Records’ album charts. In less than a day after its release on Wednesday, “Blackpink” sold more than 21,583 copies in the country, putting itself on the No. 1 spot on Oricon’s daily CD album charts by 9 p.m. The album also secured the top spot on the Tower Records’ comprehensive album chart. The Japan debut album consists of Korean and Japanese versions of the group’s hit songs -- “B

SBS hit drama “Legend of the Blue Sea” has been cleared of accusations of plagiarism.In January, screenwriter Park Ki-hyun filed a lawsuit against Park Ji-eun, screenwriter of the SBS show, claiming the TV series violated copyright of an unmade movie scenario titled “The Legend of Hae Wol Sea: Pearly Shells.”The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office on Monday decided there was no charge to make, as “there is no possibility that Park Ji-eun or the production company could have seen the claim

Former 2NE1 member CL took to Instagram on Monday to write a letter in English to her fans, expressing her feelings on the K-pop group’s disbandment and hinting at her new release. “I want to thank my fans for being patient/impatient and for always being there for me,” she wrote. “I promise you new music soon. I just want u to know I’m on my way and haven’t given up.”She said she was “completely broken” and that the “breakups from my love and to my group” -- were not easy for her because they we

A-nation, an annual summer concert series in Japan, wrapped up this year’s event Sunday, drawing tens of thousands of fans at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo.The two-day event featured a stellar lineup of K-pop acts, including EXO, NCT 127, Red Velvet, Black Pink, D-Lite (Daesung) of Big Bang and iKON. EXO performs at the A-nation 2017 concert held at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday. (S.M. Entertainment)The three K-pop groups of S.M. Entertainment -- EXO, NCT 127 and Red Velvet -- took to the

Actor Jang Dong-gun, star of the upcoming political noir film "V.I.P.," will cameo in a teaser video for rookie K-pop band Le Ciel, according to the latter's agency Tuesday."Jang Dong-gun will star in the teaser video for 'Thank You So Much,' the debut song of Le Ciel," said Kang Min, head of management agency Van Demn Tiger. (SM C&C)Kang added: "I asked for him to cameo as we've known each other for a long time since Jang's debut. I'm grateful for him accepting the offer without hesitation."Le