The Korea Creative Content Agency’s 2021 budget has been set at 484.2 billion won ($440 million), a 54.4 billion won increase from last year. KOCCA uploaded multiple videos on its YouTube channel on Monday, outlining the details of the budget distribution by sector. The broadcast sector will receive 49.6 billion won, games 61.5 billion won, culture technology 81.6 billion won, virtual interactive content 49 billion won, music 41.1 billion won and regional content 49.7 billion won, among

Over-the-top media giant Netflix stood out as the most popular OTT platform in South Korea last year, with over half of OTT users here subscribing to Netflix, according to data analyst Consumer Insight. In a survey of some 40,000 Koreans by Consumer Insight, 46 percent of respondents said they’d paid for OTT services last year with 24 percent subscribing to Netflix. The second-most-popular OTT service was YouTube Premium, with 15 percent of respondents subscribing. In December, Netfli

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi, a member of the National Assembly‘s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee announced Sunday that the Culture Ministry would conduct an investigation of all literary awards in Korea. The literary community was shocked earlier this month to find out Sohn Chang-hyun had won multiple literary awards with work that plagiarized author Kim Min-jung’s “Ppuri,” or root, the winner of the 2018 Baekma Culture Award. The Baekma Culture Award i

The five-star Mayfield Hotel Seoul, located in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, is offering the Wellness Forest package for those looking to refresh, relax and recover. The package, available until mid-December, offers a one-night stay in a superior room and a variety of programs to help guests heal both body and mind. Breakfast that includes rocket juice, eggs and croissant is offered as room service, as well as a dinner at one of the hotel’s restaurants, Bongraeheon or La Festa. Complimentary tea i

Popular tvN period comedy drama “Mr. Queen” will receive “administrative guidance” for controversial scenes in the drama, the subcommittee of Korea Communications Standards Commission announced Wednesday. “Mr. Queen,” which revolves around a present day playboy who enters the body of Queen Cheorin of Joseon, has been enjoying steady popularity since the airing of the first episode. It reached a 13.2 percent viewership rating for the most recent episode on S

Actors Jeon Do-yeon and Ryu Jun-yeol will star in the upcoming JTBC drama “Disqualified as a Human,” according to JTBC on Thursday. The two actors have not starred in television dramas in the last five years, focusing instead on films. Jeon’s last outing on the small screen was in tvN’s “The Good Wife” in 2016, while Ryu’s last TV drama role was in MBC’s “Lucky Romance” in 2016. Jeon will play the role of ghostwriter Bu-jung while Ry

InterContinental presents ‘Holiday To-Go’ for Lunar New Year Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Samseong-dong is offering pre-orders for their “Lunar New Year Special Grab & Go” lunchboxes and “Chef Special Premium Ceremonial Table for Ancestors,” that features holiday dishes prepared by Korean chefs. The single-serving lunchboxes will be available for pick-up via drive-thrus for 39,000 won for the week of Feb. 8-14, and can be pre-ordered on Naver

The Netflix original mystery entertainment series “Busted!” will return with its third and final season on Friday, with cast members from both the first and second seasons coming together. “Busted!” was the first Netflix original Korean entertainment show on the platform when it was first released in 2018. The show is a hybrid of a reality television show and a crime drama as celebrities who appear on the show are given certain acting roles while having to solve mysteri

Internet platform giant Naver announced its acquisition of web novel platform Wattpad on Wednesday, more than doubling the size of its social storytelling operations. Naver will acquire 100 percent of Wattpad shares for approximately $600 million in the first half of this year. Wattpad is an online platform that allows anyone to read and write stories. With over 90 million monthly users who spend a total of 23 billion minutes each month, Wattpad is the largest social storytelling platform in

As popular Chinese YouTubers create videos implying Korean foods such as kimchi and ssam are Chinese dishes, Koreans have decided to take a stand in the name of Korea’s food culture. A Chinese agency for popular mukbang, or “eating shows,” terminated its contract with Korean YouTuber Hamzy on Sunday after she said that kimchi and ssam were both Korean dishes. The controversy began when Hamzy uploaded a video of herself eating snail soybean stew with ssam, or a vegetable wrap

The first episode of JTBC romance drama “She Would Never Know,” based on a popular web novel of the same name, aired Monday, capturing viewers’ curiosity. A webtoon based on the same novel also launched on Naver this month. “The drama take place at a cosmetics company and the episodes are themed around lipstick, but it symbolizes something more than just makeup. The female protagonist wears lipstick when she meets her lover. The junior colleague tries to tell her not t

Books that have been shown on TV entertainment shows are sweeping bestselling charts, reaching bestsellers lists in travel, poetry and cooking categories in the second week of January, according to the country‘s largest bookstore chain Kyobo Book Center. “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, for example, became the bestselling travel book after screenwriter Kim Eun-hee introduced the book on KBS2’s “The Book U Love.” After the episode with a 2.3 percent vie

As the April 7 by-election for Seoul mayor draws closer, likely candidates took to TV entertainment shows to show a more personal side of themselves, away from the battle lines of politics. Na Kyung-won, the former floor leader of the conservative opposition, who announced her bid for Seoul Mayor on Wednesday, appeared on a Jan. 5 episode of TV Chosun’s entertainment show “Taste of Wife.” The episode received the highest viewership rating in the show’s history at 11.4

Multiple-award winning film “Minari” will be released in Korea in March, the film‘s distributor Pancinema announced Friday. The first official Korean poster for “Minari” was posted on social media with a hashtag confirming the March release. No specific has been announced, however. “Minari,” directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung, is a semiautobiographical film showing the life of first-generation immigrant Koreans pursuing the American dream. Th

The Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival has announced that this year will be its last, with no competition to be held this year, to the surprise of many preparing for the festival. “In the drastically changing movie industry because of COVID-19 that has continued since last year and changes to the theater and media environment, short films and the festival are contemplating what role they should play,” the MSFF executive committee said in a statement on social media on Wednesday. &l

All eyes are on the second match of League of Legends Champions Korea on Friday between Damwon Kia and T1 as the two powerhouse teams clash for the title of the strongest in the LCK. T1, undoubtedly the greatest team in LoL history, will face Damwon Kia, the current world champion, in a best-of-three series. The match will be Damwon’s first game of the season. The team showed that they are still one of the strongest teams in the world as they dominated the KeSPA Cup earlier this month,

Lounge at Park Hyatt Seoul presents strawberry afternoon tea set The Lounge, the 24th-floor Korean tea house at Park Hyatt Seoul, presents Strawberry Afternoon Tea, a creative celebration of the return of the strawberry season. Inspired menu highlights include strawberry chocolate cups, strawberry yogurt mousse and Mont Blanc desserts, while strawberry jewelry in an elegant jewelry case, a favorite item of 2020, returns to charm guests for another year. The afternoon tea features a selection

The creator of Baby Shark and Secretary-General of the UN Generation Equality Forum Delphine O, winners of awards for helping to promote Korea’s image to the world, have shed light on what direction Korea should take moving forward in a post-COVID-19 era. O and creator Lee Seung-gyu were presented with the awards at the 2021 Corea Image Communication Institute Awards Ceremony at InterContinental Seoul COEX on Thursday. Since 2005, CICI – a nonprofit organization -- has honored cul

When South Korea’s Damwon Gaming lifted the Summoner’s Cup in Shanghai in October, fans of League of Legends Champions Korea were filled with joy. For two years, LCK teams had failed to reach the finals, instead looking on as Chinese teams from the LoL Pro League won. As Damwon fulfilled the long-held wish of LCK fans for a win, fans also feared another exodus of Korean players to the LPL. After LCK team Samsung White won the World Championships in 2014, all the starting members of

Longtime fans following League of Legends Champions Korea, the 2021 LCK spring season will have many changes with the implementation of the franchise system. For those new to the LCK, it presents a good opportunity to get into LoL esports. With the opening match of the season between Gen.G Esports and KT Rolster set for Wednesday, here’s what you need to know. Ten teams have qualified for the LCK franchise system: Afreeca Freecs, DWG Kia, DRX, Fredit Brion, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, KT