Korean online music festival #saveourstages kicked off Monday with the aim of supporting indie music venues hit hard by COVID-19. A total of 67 groups will be performing through Friday at five different stages -- Rolling Hall, West Bridge, Prism Hall, Radio Gaga and Dream Hall -- all located in the Hongdae area in Seoul, which is known for its indie music scene. Each venue will host about two acts per day, giving guests a diverse choice of music to listen to. “We can’t solve this

Director Hong Sang-soo won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival for his 25th feature film, “Introduction,” on Friday. The three-part movie, starring Shin Seok-ho, Park Mi-so and Kim Min-hee, revolves around a young man named Young-ho’s journey to visit his father, his lover and his mother. “More than telling a story, or advancing a narration with efficiency, this script fabricates those momentary intervals between one action and

Sky Lounge presents the ‘Aperitivo’ Sky Lounge, located on the 30th floor of InterContinental Seoul Coex in Samseong-dong, is launching its “Aperitivo” program. Aperitivo, an early evening premeal drink originating from a northern Italian tradition, will be presented by chef Luca Carrino along with Italian wine and delicious appetizers. The Aperitivo will feature an assorted platter of Italian treats completed with recommended wines and cocktails carefully selected by

The Korea Creative Content Agency and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday announced a budget of 14.66 billion won ($13 million) to support the local video content industry. The budget, which was increased by around 3 billion won in total compared to last year. The conventional broadcast sector will receive 4.5 billion won in funding. A new subcategory for documentary series has been made this year under this sector. In the short-form sector, 2.15 billion won has been allot

The Mid-Season Invitational for League of Legends, featuring 12 teams from regions across the world, will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland from May 6 to 23, according to Riot Games on Tuesday. As the second biggest LoL event of the year, behind only the World Championships in the fall, the MSI was canceled last year due to COVID-19. One of the biggest awards for winning the spring split for teams around the world is punching the ticket to MSI. It is one of few opportunities for teams in minor r

As soon as tickets for the Seoul concerts featuring the 10 finalists of the popular audition show “Sing Again’ became available on Feb. 15, over 130,000 people clicked frantically to purchase a ticket. Interpark, the ticketing website, crashed momentarily and within 10 minutes of going on sale, all three days of shows were completely sold out. The audition program was filmed without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the upcoming concerts the first chance for fans to

Ahead of the March 3 theatrical release of Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” the cast and director shared the joy and surprise at the reception of the film. The movie won 74 awards in film festivals around the world, and Youn has won 26 awards for best supporting actress so far. “Minari” depicts the story of an immigrant family of four from Korea who move to the middle of the US in Arkansas. Jacob, played by Yeun, and Monica, played by Han Ye-ri, pursue their American d

Enjoy strawberry experience at Sheraton Grand Incheon Hotel Sheraton Grand Incheon Hotel offers the Deep in the Strawberry promotion for guests to enjoy strawberries in season. The package offers 10 different strawberry desserts and three types of baked goods, including a strawberry sandwich with caviar and open sandwich with jamon. In addition, complimentary tea or the choice of a strawberry drink is offered. The promotion is available at both the lobby lounge and club lounge on the 22nd fl

Global streaming giant Netflix introduced numerous original series and movies planned for 2021, along with its plans to invest 550 billion won ($496 million) in Korean content this year. Netflix held the online press conference “See What’s Next Korea 2021” on Thursday to commemorate the fifth year of Netflix service in Korea. During the event, Netflix released still scenes of many original series planned for this year and announced the creation of two original Netflix Korean

The Korea Creative Content Agency announced a budget of 22.4 billion won ($20 million) to promote the local games industry and produce global game content. The budget, which is a significant increase from last year's 14.7 billion won last year, will be used to fund four different sectors -- general games, functional games, new technology-based games and new market-creating games. The total number of projects to receive funding also increased to 66, from 46 last year.   Of the 22.4 billion

Broadcaster Sijosae on livestreaming platform Afreeca apologized in the early hours of Wednesday for videos he uploaded during his trip in Brazil earlier this month. Videos of Sijosae’s trip stoked controversy as Sijosae presented a Brazilian favela in a derogatory light and commented on the appearance of women walking in front of him. He also was criticized for walking around without properly wearing a mask. Brazil is among the countries that has been worst hit by COVID-19. The videos b

The first round of the League of Legends Champions Korea Spring Split season came to an end Friday, with the 10 teams all having faced each other, making apparent the advantages and disadvantages of the franchise system. The current standings after the first pairings of the second round are as follows. 1. DWG Kia (9-1) 2. Gen.G (7-3) 3. DRX (7-3) 4. Hanwha Life Esports (6-4) 5. T1 (5-5) 6. KT Rolster (5-5) 7. Afreeca Freecs (3-7) 8. Nongshim RedForce (3-7) 9. Fredit Brion (3-7) 10. Liiv Sandb

With KBS’ “Gag Concert,” the last regular sketch comedy show on a terrestrial broadcaster, coming to an end last year after a 21-year run, and COVID-19 greatly limiting opportunities for onstage performances, last year saw numerous comedians rushing to start their own YouTube channels. “To be honest, it’s sad that many comedy programs have disappeared. ‘Gag Concert’ and ‘People Looking for a Laugh’ among others disappearing is the reason wh

SBS suspense drama series “The Penthouse: War in Life” reached over 20 percent viewership rating with its first two episodes in its follow-up season, continuing the success from the first season. Written by popular screenwriter Kim Soon-ok, “The Penthouse: War in Life” revolves around the intense conflict between residents of Hera Palace, a prestigious high-rise apartment in Seoul. The dark and convoluted relationship along with the suspense-filled story involving murde

InterContinental launches collaboration with artist Jackson Shim InterContinental Seoul Coex in Samseong-dong offers the “Gallery in the Room with Jackson Shim” package, where guests can appreciate the artwork of the rising pop artist in their own rooms. Business suites will showcase five artworks worth about 30 million won, along with Jackson Shim’s hand-drawn paintings on guest room windows. The guests will also receive poster books and T-shirts decorated with the artist&r

Big Hit Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced Thursday plans for a Los Angeles-based joint venture between UMG’s Geffen Records and Bit Hit Ent for the launch of a new global K-pop band in the US. The members of the new boy group will be chosen through a global audition that will air in the US in 2022. Big Hit Entertainment created K-pop group BTS while UMG is one of the biggest music companies in the world, with top artists such as Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Maroon 5. In th

Local over-the-top media services gathered at Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday to express their anger at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s approval in December of an increase in the music copyright fee levied on local streaming services. Watcha, Tving and Wavve formed the OTT Music Copyright Committee in July after the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) attempted to increase the music copyright fee. KOMCA proposed to the Culture Ministry in July an increase in the copyright f

Winner Lee Seung-yoon, runner-up Jeong Hong-il and third-place contestant Lee Mu-jin of JTBC’s audition program “Sing Again” shared their thoughts on going from nameless singers to famous singers during an online press conference Tuesday. “Sing Again,” which aired its final episode Feb. 7, captured the audience by giving a second chance to 71 singers who had released albums in the past but never attained popularity. The producer’s strategy hit the mark: The s

Actor Song Joong-ki is returning to the small screen as a lawyer and an Italian mafia consigliere in the tvN drama “Vincenzo” this Saturday. “Vincenzo” centers on the story of an antihero named Vincenzo Cassano, who fights against the villains of society with veteran lawyer Hong Cha-young, played by actress Jeon Yeo-been. Vincenzo takes on villains who have escaped the clutches of the law by being more evil than the criminals. “I don’t think I’m alone

“Bohemian Rhapsody” reached the highest viewership share of all movies shown on TV during the Seollal holidays, but terrestrial broadcaster SBS faced criticism for deleting the film’s homosexual scenes. With gatherings restricted due to COVID-19, the broadcasters paid special attention to their movie selections to capture viewers stuck at home. SBS aired “Bohemian Rhapsody” at 8:40 p.m. on Saturday and it worked -- the movie drew 3.4 percent of viewers aged 20-49