When asked about the famous line in the drama “The Sound of Magic” -- “Do you believe in magic?” -- the webtoon author and illustrator Ha Il-kwon replied with a brief answer: “I want to believe in magic.” “I think the question, which is continuously repeated throughout the webtoon, was my personal question to the readers, asking if they still have childhood innocence and dreams in their hearts,” Ha said in an email interview with The Korea Herald

South Korean broadcasters are beginning to air TV programs filmed abroad as they resume long-suspended plans for shootings overseas. With the easing of travel restrictions, including mandatory quarantine for international arrivals and the reopening of international routes, broadcasters are keen to resume filming TV programs in exotic locations. Cable channel tvN recently released the new entertainment show “Unexpected Journey,” a series starring Oscar-winning Youn Yuh-jung. The sh

South Korean broadcasters are seeking to expand their platforms with non-fungible tokens. Attempting to turn the highly popular “Infinite Challenge” intellectual property into NFT artwork, terrestrial broadcaster MBC is holding a special exhibition to showcase its NFT project. Inspired by popular “Infinite Challenge” episodes, South Korea’s longest running and most successful variety show, the artworks present well-known scenes from the show. Drawn by artist Seo

For actor Choi Sung-eun, 25, the challenge posed by Netflix’s latest series “The Sound of Magic” was compounded. It was not just her first major role in a series – but her first singing and dancing as part of the role. “Our series decided to present the thoughts and emotions of a teenage girl through music. There was some pressure in acting and singing at the same time. ‘The Sound of Magic’ gave me time to grow as an actor,” said Choi during a

Former South Korean Navy special warfare officer Rhee Keun, who left South Korea to fight as a volunteer soldier in the war in Ukraine, said in a YouTube post that he was injured in a recent mission. According to ROKSEAL (Rhee Reun’s YouTube channel) on Sunday, Rhee, also known as Ken Rhee, was injured while leading a special reconnaissance mission. “LT Ken Rhee recently incurred injuries while leading a special reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines. He has been transferred to

While satisfied with the recent success of Tving’s suspense thriller “Monstrous,” screenwriters Yeon Sang-ho and Ryu Yong-jae believe that they still have a long way to go to satisfy the public. “‘Monstrous’ is a six-part series with each episode running almost 30 minutes. I wanted to make a series presenting a straightforward storyline at a quick pace. I believe ‘Monstrous’ is the first film-length series to be released by a local streaming plat

Gokseong International Rose Festival The Gokseong International Rose Festival is scheduled to run from May 21 to June 6 at Seomjingang Train Village in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province. The annual event presents a total of 1,004 types of roses from around the world to delight flower-loving visitors, offering splendid photo opportunities. Visitors can enjoy the vibrant beauty of roses from a railbike or take part in a hands-on activity. Various programs have been prepared to entertain the visi

BUSAN -- The Mid-Season Invitational, one of the most important international League of Legends tournaments, kicked off at Esports Busan Arean in Busan on Tuesday. Coming from competitive League of Legends regional leagues including South Korea, China, Europe, and North America, the 11 spring season champions are set to clash for the prestigious MSI Championship. Starting with the congratulatory speech from the legendary Korean esports caster Jun, the opening video introduced the tournament p

Amid the flood of sci-fi, rom-com and period dramas, director Chang hopes to draw viewers’ attention with a bizarre mystery thriller, “House of Lies.” “I recognize that many Korean content creators produced terrific TV series in different genres, allowing viewers to see occult creatures and zombies. Our series is dealing with a rather realistic story in South Korea, the rising price of old apartments that are being redeveloped, director Chang said in an online press con

Netflix’s new Korean fantasy series, “The Sound of Magic,” made a successful debut on the platform, soaring to No. 4 on the service’s global top 10 chart. The musical drama ranked seventh on Netflix’s global chart as of Saturday, a day after its release, before climbing up to land at the fourth slot on Sunday, according to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol. “The Sound of Magic,” helmed by director Kim Seong-yoon who was behind hit w

WANJU, North Jeolla Province -- With the lifting of the outdoor mask mandate, festivals and cultural events around the country are starting to liven up again. Wanju, some three hours’ drive south of Seoul, is a small county in North Jeolla Province almost entirely surrounded by the famous hanok city Jeonju. It is a quiet serene county which recently became popular as a “BTS’ healing spot” and “BTS pilgrimage” site. In late April, the air in Wanju was warm a

The 58th Baeksang Arts Awards is set to kick off on Friday at the Kintex exhibition hall in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Honoring outstanding domestic entertainment productions in television, film and theater between April 12 last year and March 31 this year, the awards ceremony returns to fans and spectators face-to-face at the country’s largest convention center. The Friday event is considered the biggest awards ceremony since the government’s lifting of most pandemic-related regul

Korean movie stars, directors and fans are praying for Kang Soo-youn’s recovery after the veteran actor was taken to a hospital with cardiac arrest on Thursday. According to a Gangnam Severance Hospital official, the actor remains unconscious while detailed information is yet to be announced. Director Yeon Sang-ho, who is scheduled to make his Netflix return with Kang in an upcoming sci-fi film “Jung_E,” was shocked to hear about the actor. “I was really surprised when

Hampyeong Butterfly Festival The Hampyeong Butterfly Festival runs through May 8 in Hampyeong, South Jeolla Province, including Hampyeong Expo Park. The annual festival seeks to provide the opportunity to learn about the Korean nature, including flowers, insects and more. The event seeks to entertain the visitors and tourists with VR and hands-on experiences with butterflies, insects, local artists’ performance and other cultural exhibitions. The Hampyeong Expo Park is open from 9 a.m

For director Kim Sung-youn, 46, of Netflix’s “The Sound of Magic,” adapting a renowned fantasy webtoon was a long-awaited project. “I have been talking with the webtoon ‘The Sound of Magic’ author Ha Il-kwon for almost 8 years. It took some time to solve some problems like copyright issues, but I am excited to showcase the fantasy series to the viewers at last,” Kim said during an online press conference Tuesday. The director said that some adjustmen

While Koo Kyo-hwan stays humble and tries not to dwell too much on the public’s praise, his fans already consider him one of the go-to actors with an impressive list of successive hits. His hits include “Peninsula” (2020), “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” (2021), “D.P.” (2021) and “Escape from Mogadishu” (2021). “I am grateful (to the viewers) for loving my performances. Whenever I hear such feedback and expressions like ‘go-to act

While Korean original series have been drawing attention from the creative content industry since Netflix’s global phenomenon “Squid Game” (2021), local television dramas -- including many that have ended their runs -- are starting to enjoy unexpected worldwide popularity as well. With the continued success of Korean content on video streaming services, seeing Korean originals ranked high on a global chart is no longer an unexpected, mind-blowing event. However, TV dramas cl

Apple TV+ on Saturday confirmed the return of its Korean original series “Pachinko” with a second season. The period drama shows the life of Korean family moving to Japan in the 20th century, presenting the universal story of immigrants throughout the world. Based on Korean American author Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel of the same name, the series depicts the life of a Korean woman named Sunja (played by Youn Yuh-jung and Kim Min-ha), who was born to a poor family in Busan

As the trees start to dress in green and the warm breeze brings a spring-like atmosphere, mountain lovers are in search of mountains to scale. These passionate trekkers will be surprised by the new mountain trail which opened to the public for the first time in 54 years. When North Korean military infiltrators slipped into Seoul through the mountain route of Bugaksan to attack Cheong Wa Dae on Jan. 21, 1968, South Korean forces faced a fierce firefight. The hilly path of Bugaksan was used as

Beartree Park’s Royal Azalea Festival The Beartree Park’s Royal Azalea Festival, which started from April 14, will run through May 8 at Beartree Park in Sejong. After the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms fell off, the azaleas are dressed in red, white and purple, creating some colorful sceneries across the park. The park welcomes the flower-loving visitors of all ages from 9 a.m. Tickets for children are 8,000 won. For teenagers and adults, it is 10,000 won and 12,000 won, respe