When JTBC’s band audition program, “Super Band,” announced the opening of registration for the second season, the application requirements reignited the gender discrimination controversy the first season of the program faced. “Any male musician in fields such as practical music, K-pop, classical music, traditional Korean music, rock, EDM, hip-hop, musical, jazz, world music among others can apply regardless of age /nationality / academic background!” said the app

Popular Chinese Youtuber Li Ziqi, who has over 14 million subscribers, drew controversy in Korea after she uploaded a video of herself making what appears to be kimchi with the hashtag #ChineseCuisine and #ChineseFood. The 19-minute video “The last episode of the ‘Life Series’: The life of white radish!” shows Li going through every step of kimchi-making, from harvesting cabbage from the ground to pickling the cabbage in a large jar and later applying spicy seasoning to

K-pop boy band Seventeen made an appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” as the group prepares for their first concert of the new year. The 13 members of Seventeen became the fourth K-pop group to perform on the popular talk show following BTS, Blackpink and NCT. On Thursday, Seventeen performed their retro-swing title song “Home;Run” from their latest album “Semicolon.” The singers took the stage dressed up as the studio’s stagehands, p

For the gym rats and the casual gymgoers alike, last year was a frustrating one with fitness centers going back and forth between closing, reopening and operating for limited hours depending on the social distancing level in place. And this year might see more of the same. The latest gym closures, which went into effect Dec. 8 and is scheduled to continue until Jan. 17, has been the longest shutdown so far. In the meantime, people are finding alternative ways to exercise without hitting the g

InterContinental’s Strawberry Promotion returns as full table service The Lobby Lounge located on the ground floor of Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas presents the Strawberry Gourmet Boutique. Starting with a strawberry mojito and fresh strawberries as welcome items, the Lobby Lounge presents a three-course brunch. Following croque monsieur, fruit salad and onion cream soup with ravioli, lobster and tenderloin steak are served as the main dish. After that, fresh strawberries, seven st

The first season of megahit SBS drama “The Penthouse: War in Life” ended with a record-high viewership rating of 28.8 percent on Tuesday. The show also received an official warning from the Korea Communications Standards Commission and was asked to raise its rating from the current PG-15. The last episode of the first season earned a peak viewership rating of 31.3 percent, making it the first dramatic miniseries in five years to reach over 30 percent of viewers on a terrestrial cha

Lee Seung-u’s “Heart’s Buoyancy” won the 44th Yi Sang Literary Award, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Korea given by publishing company Munhaksasang, on Monday. “A novelist getting a prize for his work is like unfamiliar guests suddenly coming into the clerk’s office full of rules and repetition,” said Lee in receiving the award. “Why did the guests come find me? Instead of asking the guests the reason, I will once again continue t

When the foundation for esports in Korea was established in the early 2000 with the launch of a StarCraft league, esports remained far from being considered among “real sports.” Pro gamer as an occupation was a new concept, and player wages were not sufficient to make ends meet. In fact, pro gaming was not considered an actual career in the beginning, as players had to pay additional taxes because their earnings were considered unearned income. Perceptions about esports have changed

New tvN entertainment show “Youn’s Stay” plans to bring the warmth of hanok, or traditional Korean houses, to the small screen this winter. In the program from star director Na Young-seok, veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung runs a hanok guest house in Gurye, South Jeolla Province, for foreigners who have been in Korea for less than a year. Guests include those who came to Korea on business or for education, as the COVID-19 situation hinders tourist travel. While Youn’s previ

Coming in at 226 million, the number of theatergoers in Korea in 2019 was a record high. Five movies surpassed 10 million ticket sales and the main concern was the monopolization of screens by CJ and Disney (mainly Marvel) movies. A PwC report predicted in 2019 that the number of theatergoers would increase at an average of 4% per annum for the global movie market until 2023. That all changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2020 a year that the movie industry would rather forg

After three weeks of reorganization, SBS drama series “Delayed Justice,” starring veteran actor Kwon Sang-woo, will return with its 13th episode on New Year’s Day. Jung Woo-sung, who replaces actor Bae Seung-woo following a drunk driving incident, will join the TV drama starting from the 17th episode, adding more star power to the program.　 The decision to take a three-week break following its 12th episode on Dec. 12 was made after reports surfaced that Bae was caught drivin

With many webtoons being made into movies, TV dramas and games, the medium is enjoying new heights of popularity. Although COVID-19 has made the creation of webtoons more difficult, it could not stop the fast growth of the industry. At the same time, however, illegal websites that feature pirated webtoons have persisted with no signs of abating, despite governmental efforts. The Korea Creative Content Agency and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released its 2020 annual report on the

Singer and artist Kwon Ji-an, better known as Solbi, sought to stifle allegations that she had plagiarized artist Jeff Koons’ famous sculpture Play-Doh by uploading a video on Instagram of herself eating the cake at the center of the case. Kwon uploaded an almost 10-minute video on Monday that shows her opening a cake box and eating the cake in silence before ending the video with the phrase, “Just a cake, Seoul.” A previous post on Dec. 22, showing Kwon making the cake, spa

In 2020, YouTube was a land of opportunity -- a place where a nobody could rise to fame and riches. As many people were forced to spend more time indoors in the year of COVID-19, it became not too difficult to find an acquaintance or two starting a YouTube channel, hoping to become the next YouTube sensation. According to mobile data analytics firm IGAWorks, 83 percent of Koreans spend 29.5 hours on YouTube per month -- longer than Facebook and KakaoTalk combined. Sales of microphones and vid

League of Legends world champion Damwon Gaming continued its dominance, rolling over the other LoL Champions Korea teams in the Korea e-Sports Associations Cup held over the Christmas weekend. Damwon headed straight to the finals after sweeping the group stages 4-0 and dropping only one game to Hanwha Life Esports with Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-gyu in the semifinals on Saturday to go 3-1. The KeSPA Cup is an annual tournament hosted by KeSPA in the off

Just 10 minutes into watching Kakao TV’s latest drama, “Lovestruck in the City,” viewers realize it’s not your ordinary K-drama with a sequential plot. The Kakao TV original drama, with episodes also released on Netflix two hours after the Kakao TV release, targets the young generation with its fast-paced and unique storytelling, combining interviews of different characters and flashbacks to tell the love stories of young people in the city. The first episode of the 16

Winter holidays at Westin Chosun Seoul The Westin Chosun Hotel presents the Little Playcation package for families with children seeking for winter holiday getaways. The package deal offers coloring paper, crayons and fabric-cover sketchbook. After a cozy night, guests can have breakfast at the hotel’s all-day buffet restaurant Aria. For those who make reservations for Junior Suite or above, bath salt and a bath bomb from French kids cosmetics brand Nailmatic Kids will be provided, al

Star lecturer Seol Min-seok said he would take sole responsibility for the controversy surrounding misinformation during the second episode of popular tvN entertainment show “Seol Min-seok’s Naked World History.” The apology posted on YouTube on Tuesday followed the announcement the producers made on the program website the previous day, apologizing for the misinformation in the second episode on Saturday. Archaeologist Kwack Min-soo, one of the advisers for the program, poi

As the first season of webtoon-based drama “Sweet Home” premiered Friday, lead actor Song Kang gained fans throughout the world. Although Song earlier this year starred in another webtoon-based Netflix drama -- “Love Alarm,” as one of the lead actors -- the attention he is receiving with “Sweet Home” is unparalleled. The 10-episode Netflix original series with a budget over 30 billion won ($27 million) was the most popular drama series in over 10 countries

Producers of tvN‘s “Seol Min-seok’s Naked World History” apologized for inaccuracies after an archaeologist, who served as an adviser to the show, criticized the program for inaccuracies. “Naked World History” is hosted by popular lecturer Seol Min-seok, who approaches world history in an entertaining way. Seol gained fame as one of the first internet lecturers in the early 2000s, specializing in Korean history. Seol has remained silent on the criticism rai