Sol Kyung-gu and Im Si-wan talked about working together on the upcoming crime action drama film “The Merciless (Bulhandang)” which has been invited to the midnight screening at Cannes Film Festival this year. 　“I think with Im Si-wan, I went through love and jealousy (on screen),” said Sol jokingly at a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. “I think we had great chemistry,” said Im. 　Im Si-wan (left) and Sol Kyung-gu attend a press conference for the film “The Merciless” on Wednesday in Seoul

Following reports that the reality program “We Got Married” will be taken off the air in May, broadcaster MBC announced that the show will take a break to revamp for yet another season. 　“Season four of ‘We Got Married’ will end with the May 6 episode,” MBC announced Monday. 　However, MBC remarked that this will mark a “new beginning rather than an end.”Lee Guk-joo (left) and Sleepy star in “We Got Married.” (MBC)“Since the show has been going on for such a long time, we will take time to wrap u

Actress Kim Min-hee has been enjoying a year of unprecedented success, winning best actress at the Berlin film fest for “Alone on the Beach at Night” and with two other films she has starred in -- “Clair’s Camera” and “The Day After” -- set to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The common factor between the three films is director Hong Sang-soo, with whom she has openly admitted to having a romantic relationship. Strong creative bonds commonly exist between directors and actors, with the

The Fate of the Furious(US)Opened April 12Action, thriller. Directed by F. Gary GrayA team of criminals and racers led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has been enjoying their long-awaited lives of normalcy and peace when they uncover plans for a large-scale attack by a group of cyberterrorists, helmed by the criminal mastermind Cipher (Charlize Theron). Cipher soon forces Dominic to betray his crew of many years, who must come together to put a halt to their former boss and friend from causing w

Barely five minutes have elapsed in “The Fate of the Furious” before Michelle Rodriguez mutters, “It’s gonna be a bomb.” She is not talking about the movie (duh) but, rather, about a 1953 Chevy Fleetline whose hunkajunk engine Vin Diesel has cleverly souped up — though it might be more accurate to say he’s turned it into a dynamite stick on wheels — using little more than his wits, his muscles and the tab of a Coke can. You’ve got to admire that last part: it’s a plot point, a product placement

Talk about flipping the script! “Colossal” is a subversive, wildly ambitious groundbreaker among giant creature features. It ditches every classic trope and screenwriting rule from Asian kaiju films, telling the tale with a quirky voice all its own. It turns the monster movie genre into something darkly witty, weirdly modern, simultaneously sincere and screwball absurd.Don’t worry, traditionalists. There are dazzling sequences of a skyscraper-tall, roughly humanoid wild thing battling a massive

Tickets for 80 of the 229 films screening at the Jeonju International Film Festival have sold out in advance, according to JIFF organizers.Tickets for “On the Body and Soul” and “Survival Family,” the festival’s opening and closing films, respectively, sold out Tuesday, while tickets for 80 films sold out Wednesday, a representative from JIFF said. Last year saw tickets for 41 films sell out.  Still from the opening film “On the Body and Soul” by Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedi (JIFF)“We believ

The 70th Cannes Film Festival this year will offer up a feast of Korean cinema. A total of five films have been invited to the official selection, with two competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or award.Invited to the competition category are Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day After (Geu Hu),” filmed last February with Kim Min-hee, and Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja,” a fantasy story of a girl who sets out to save her giant animal friend starring Tilda Swinton. It is the second time two Korean films are competing a

The Gijisi Juldarigi Festival is a 500-year-old tradition that takes place annually in the city of Dangjin, located on the Asan Bay jetting out into the Yellow Sea, on the west coast.　The festival features a traditional tug-of-war game that has kept to the rules and methods from back when the game began during the reign of King Seonjo (1567-1608). The game was meant to promote unity in the community and pray for good fortune.　Today, youths and elders alike congregate around the gigantic rope use

South Korean directors Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" and Hong Sang-soo's "The Day After" will compete in this year's Cannes Film Festival set to open next month, the festival announced Thursday.They were among the 18 titles chosen for the main Competition lineup for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, announced by festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Fremaux.This marks the first time in seven years since 2010 that two Korean films were invited to Cannes' competition section. Lee Cha

Experts called for the creation of a government organization specializing in media, during a seminar on media credibility, held at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on Wednesday.“In the future, a media-related government body needs to form a policy frame aimed at strengthening the public function of news media such as newspapers, broadcast news and online outlets, and a support system to develop (media) into a competitive industry,” said Kim Dong-kyu, Dean of Konkuk University’s Graduate School of

Casting for “Psychokinesis” (unofficial translation), the latest film by “Train to Busan” director Yeon Sang-ho, has been completed and shooting will begin Monday, the film’s distributor Next World Entertainment said Thursday. Shim Eun-kyung (left), Ryu Seung-ryong (NEW)Ryu Seung-ryong will play an ordinary man who acquires supernatural powers and uses them to help his wife, daughter and neighbors. The actor starred in “The Sound of a Flower” (2015). Actress Shim Eun-kyung, who appeared in the o

Moon Chae-won will be taking legal action against an online commenter who falsely claimed to be the actress’ boyfriend, Moon’s agency Namoo Actors announced Wednesday. 　Actress Moon Chae-won (Namoo Actors)“We filed a complaint with the Gangnam Police Station on Tuesday afternoon,” said the agency in a statement. “We have in the past posted warnings against the overly rash actions of the online commenter posing as (Moon’s) boyfriend. But (the commenter) continued his postings. We have confirmed t

The protagonist of “Good Manager,” the latest office satire to win Korean viewers’ avid approval, is by no means the quintessential good guy. A sassy accountant who speaks his mind and devises increasingly creative insults for his bosses, Kim Sung-ryong is an accidental hero portrayed by Namgoong Min.　“He’s the kind of person who laughs when someone falls down,” the actor said in an interview at a cafe in Nonhyeon-dong on Tuesday. 　Unlike the fast-talking character whose face alternates between

Korean-American actor Lee Ki-hong said the opportunity to act alongside Choi Min-sik was one of his key reasons for joining the cast of upcoming political thriller “Special Citizen.”　“The fact that I could act in the same scene with him was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to participate (in the film),” he said Tuesday. “I also wanted to learn from many of Korea’s veteran actors.” 　Lee, who starred in the Hollywood sci-fi film “The Maze Runner” in 2014, is set to make his first Korean film ap

DANGJIN, South Chungcheong Province -- On Sunday, the sprawling yard behind the Gijisi Juldarigi Museum was packed with residents of the city of Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, all engaged in a joint effort to achieve one goal: to pull a gigantic 1-meter-wide, 200-meter-long, 40-metric ton rope into place for a game of tug-of-war.Bits of straw filled the air along with the shouts of festivalgoers, from children to the elderly, anticipating the 500-year-old event about to take place. The Gij

An independent candidate running in a regional by-election revealed a photo of what he claims is a centuries-old instruction book for Hangul, deemed missing since 2008.Bae Ik-gi is running for the National Assembly seat for Sangju, Gunwi, Uiseong and Cheongsong regions in Wednesday’s election.　Bae, a self-claimed scholar and collector of old books, released a photo of what he claims is the Sangju edition of the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, an instruction book on Hangul, the Korean alphabet, published

Hip-hop musician Junggigo, who has collaborated with K-pop’s trendiest artists, will be releasing his first solo LP on April 20. 　“Junggigo will kick off his official activities with a media showcase at the Hyundai Card Understage in Itaewon on April 20,” Starship Entertainment, Junggigo’s label, said Monday. Junggigo revealed the cover art for the album, titled “Across the Universe,” on Sunday.The 36-year-old singer-producer recently released “Let me Love You” with boy band EXO’s Chanyeol.Album

In a world where the notions of ethnicity, culture and identity are constantly evolving, Korea’s fashion world is taking those influences and turning them into creative expression.Fashion model Han Hyun-min presented a striking image on the Korean catwalk at the 2016 Seoul Fashion Week fall-winter collection in March 2016. Born to a Nigerian father and Korean mother, Han is Korea’s first model with African roots. 　“I’ve always been skinny and tall at 184 centimeters and 56 kilograms. Kids would

Dubu jorim (braised tofu) is a popular Korean side dish which is typically pan-fried and then braised in a spicy sauce. This braised tofu doesn’t require pan-frying and uses a lot more liquid. It resembles a stew (jjigae), but is actually not a jjigae as the term is used in Korean cuisine. This dish is totally fine just with the onion and scallion, but this recipe also uses mushrooms and a chili pepper. You can also add a little bit of thinly sliced Korean radish to the bottom of the pot before