Megahit director Lee Eung-bok made his Netflix debut with the webtoon-based, monster-packed drama series “Sweet Home” on Friday, opening a new door for K-drama. Lee, who has directed numerous local hit series including “Descendants of the Sun,” “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” and “Mr. Sunshine,” returns with “Sweet Home,” which is void of the romantic stories for which Lee is known. Instead, residents of apartment complex Green H

The domestic gaming market in 2019 was worth 15.575 trillion won ($14.1 billion), a 9 percent increase from 2018, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency’s 2020 White Paper on Korean Games. Korea accounted for 6.2 percent of the global gaming market, putting it as the fifth biggest market. A survey of 3,084 people showed that 70.5 percent of respondents had played games at least once since June 2019, with 91.1 percent of those who responded in the affirmative having played mobile

As the winter cold wave hit Tuesday, the many YouTubers surrounding the residence of child rapist Cho Doo-soon left one by one, leaving behind worried and weary residents. On Friday, the alleys around Cho’s house were quiet and empty, according to residents and police. While YouTubers left with their mission of grabbing online interest successfully completed, the residents were left angered by the YouTubers on top of their worries about Cho. Cho was convicted of raping an 8-year-old gir

The annual Korea Travel Expo is being held online for the first time due to the pandemic situation until Tuesday. Around 120 organizations, including Korea Tourism Organization and local governments, are participating in the online expo hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and run by Tourism and Korea Tourism Association aimed at providing information on travel after the pandemic has gone away or become less severe in the future. The theme for the expo is “safe travel.” Durin

Park Hyatt Seoul unlocks staycation with ‘Winter at Park’ Park Hyatt Seoul presents the Winter at the Park package, a seasonal getaway. The package, available for stays until the end of February, combines one night in a Park Hyatt guestroom with 100,000 won in dining credits for use with room service and at all hotel restaurants, a gift of Aesop hand balm (75 milliliters) and use of the hotel swimming pool and fitness center. Guests choosing a suite are also presented with a comp

The three in-game characters that League of Legends Champion Korea players will use to play against a Chinese team in the 2020 All-Stars on Saturday was revealed by Riot Games on Wednesday. The characters, known as champions, were selected through an online vote by over 16,200 fans that took place from Dec. 12-14. The 2020 LoL All-Stars is an annual LoL event where professional players, popular streamers and retired pros come together to play in a series of exhibition matches. The five partici

The highly anticipated Netflix original series “Sweet Home” will kick off its first season Friday, bringing the celebrated webtoon to life. “Sweet Home” is about teenager Hyun-soo, played by Song Kang, who moves into a new apartment after losing his family. In the apartment, monsters that reflect human desires appear, which Hyun-soo and his neighbors have to fight off as they solve the mystery behind the apartment. The original webtoon that was serialized on portal site

While the League of Legends Champions Korea offseason is a time of many roster changes and player transfers, it is also when many veteran players decide to retire from professional play. Two members of former team ROX Tigers, Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng and Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun, announced their retirement this week, while former world champion Lee “Crown” Min-ho announced he was ending his professional career earlier this month. Kuro and GorillA both reached t

JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul launches ‘Sweet Moments’ experience JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul presents the “Sweet Moments” experience until May 2021. “Sweet Moments” includes one night in a Deluxe, Executive Deluxe or Executive Suite room, breakfast for two at Tavolo 24, and complimentary use of the swimming pool and fitness center.  The “Salon de Strawberry with Barbie” is also offered, which is an in-room afternoon tea set

Veteran actor Hwang Jung-min will return to the small screen for the first time in eight years as a hardened reporter in JTBC’s human drama “Hush.” Hwang demonstrated why he is one of the most beloved actors in Korea at Thursday‘s online press conference, with his genuine, unfiltered personality and passion for the drama on full display. “I got the script for the first six episodes and read it in no time. It was so enjoyable,” said Hwang. “The story w

More fans than ever went online to watch the LoL World Championships this year, according to Riot Games, with over 1 billion hours watched worldwide during the games that took place from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31 in Shanghai. The Play-in Stage, where the representative team from weaker regions such as Oceania, Latin America, Brazil, Japan, Turkey along with fourth seed teams of China and Europe and third seed team of North America among others competed for a spot in the Group Stage, also reached rec

Upon opening up a meal kit of spicy chicken ribs, I realized at once the cooking wouldn’t be too difficult. The chicken ribs, special sauce, vegetables, sweet potatoes and rice cakes were in separate packaging, and all were prepped for cooking. The cooking instruction on the back of the package involved putting the ingredients one by one into a pot. My family's reaction to the dish was unanimous: “This tastes just like what is sold in restaurants.” Many aspects of daily life

Dia TV and Naver Z have teamed up to support virtual reality creators. CJ ENM’s content creator support business, Dia TV, announced the signing of an memorandum of understanding with Naver Z on Tuesday. By having creators on Naver Z’s avatar service app Zepeto, Dia TV hopes to expand the audience for its creators who are popular with the “MZ Generation” -- those born between the 1980s and the early 2000s -- on a global scale, as well as exploiting advertising and mark

Five K-pop idols in their 20s running through scenic courses around the country is the theme of Mnet’s “Running Girls,” whose first episode airs Wednesday. Sunmi, Chungha, Hani of EXID, YooA of Oh My Girl and Chuu of Loona run together as a crew in a show that is as much about bonding as it is about introducing viewers to running courses. Chungha, who was confirmed with COVID-19 on Monday, was absent from the online press conference for the show held Tuesday. With filming hav

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea announced the winners of the 2020 Korean Literature Translation Award, with Mariko Saito winning the grand prize. For this year’s prize, 115 translated works in 24 languages were considered. Mariko Saito, who translated the short story collection “To Hyun Nam Oppa” by Cho Nam-joo and six others into Japanese, won the top prize and 20 million won ($18,500) in prize money, last Thursday. Translators Jeong Eun-jin and Jacques Batil

Every member of K-pop girl group Twice was tested for the new coronavirus on Monday, and so were all staff members who had come into contact with band member Sana recently. The singer Chungha tested positive Monday after she and Sana came into contact. Chungha was tested after coming into contact with another person who also tested positive. “Twice’s Sana, who came in contact recently with Chungha, as well as other members of Twice who worked with Sana and the staff, were tested t

With the development of artificial intelligence and deep learning, things that were once impossible are now becoming possible, including re-creating the voices of deceased musical artists to sing contemporary songs. Music channel Mnet will show AI music project “Once More Time” on Wednesday and Dec. 16, “resurrecting” deceased artists through holograms and AI voice covers. The first episode will feature Turtleman, leader of trio Turtles, who died of a heart attack in 2

More and more webtoons, or web comics, are being made into dramas and movies, as the rich storytelling format gains broader popularity. Webtoons are comics posted online that are read by scrolling down the screen, a presentation format that is unique to Korea. While some webtoons had existed online on personal blogs and websites, it was when popular local web portals like Naver and Daum started releasing daily webtoons that the market really expanded. In its early days in the early 2000s, web

Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung won the award for best supporting actress at the Sunset Circle Awards on Tuesday for her role in “Minari,” by director Lee Isaac Chung. The 73-year-old actress won over other nominees, Amanda Seyfried of “Mank,” Amy Adams of “Hillbilly Elegy,” Zazie Beetz of “Nine Days” and Oliva Colman of “The Father.” As many of them are thought to be in the running for 2021 Oscar nominations, Youn’s win raises hope

Online TV platform Netflix announced the making of a new project Friday titled “Paik’s Spirit,” featuring food researcher, businessman and entertainer Paik Jong-won. On the show, Paik will have a drink with guests in diverse fields who represent South Korea and will talk about their stories, as well as the stories behind the liquors they prefer. “Paik’s Spirit” will be Netflix’s first reality series introducing Korean drinks, food and culture. Paik wi