Despite apologies by broadcaster SBS and the production companies involved over what viewers criticize as historical inaccuracies and distortions in the TV series “Joseon Exorcist” on Wednesday, public anger continues unabated. As of Thursday, over 156,500 people had signed a petition on the Blue House website asking for the cancellation of all future ”‘Joseon Exorcist” episodes. The period drama sparked controversy immediately after the first episode aired Monday

NEW ID, a digital platform business subsidiary of movie distributor Next Entertainment World, announced on Wednesday that it has launched seven additional channels on Samsung TV Plus for viewers in Korea. Samsung TV Plus is a free OTT platform pre-installed on Samsung’s Smart TV operating systems. The platform is available in 12 different countries, and this year Samsung aims to double the number of countries the service is available. Different from OTT platforms like Netflix that provi

Close to 3 out of 4 women in the movie industry said they have experienced sexual violence or harassment, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Gender Equality in Korean Film. Findings of the survey aimed at gauging the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in the Korean film industry were released during an online event held Monday marking the third anniversary of the center that was launched in March 2018 by the Korean Film Council and Women in Film Korea. The sur

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture and Youth will hold the online Korea-UAE Festival from March 31 to April 2. In November 2019, South Korea’s Culture Ministry and the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth held a special meeting during the UNESCO Forum of Ministers of Culture to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During this meeting, the two countries’ Culture Ministries a

Director Lee Joon-ik, a master of period films, chose to focus on the life of Joseon scholar Jeong Yak-jeon in his upcoming movie “Book of Fish.” “I think there is an error in looking into and defining certain periods only by historical events and wars,” Lee said during a press conference at the Megabox Coex theater in Samseong-dong, Seoul, Thursday. He added that audiences are simply used to this because many existing period films approach stories this way. “By

The Mauritanian (US) Opened March 17 Drama Directed by Kevin Macdonald Attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster ) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) decide to take on the case of Mohamedou Ould Salahi (Tahar Rahim), who has been held for years at Guantanamo Bay Prison Camp by the US Government without a single charge or the possibility of a trial. Nobody was willing to take his case because Slahi was captured on the suspicion that he was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist atta

On Monday night, Youn Yuh-jung became the first South Korean actor to be nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress. She is being recognized at the 93rd Academy Awards for her performance in the US film “Minari,” directed by Lee Isaac Chung. “I am actually honored just to be nominated,” Yoon said in a statement released through her management agency after the announcement on Monday. “I am not a big fan of competition. I cannot even watch TV programs that r

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on eco-friendly fashion highlighting new fabrics, manufacturing processes and trends that aim to improve environmental sustainability. - Ed.  Roanna Tan from Singapore found out about Korean vegan fashion brand Marhen J from an advertisement on social media Instagram and decided to make a purchase. The fact that it was made with vegan leather initially drew Tan’s interest but she was also happy with the design and quality. &ldq

Megabox, a South Korean multiplex operator, on Sunday announced that it would join hands with the Korea International Trade Association to hold a startup meet up event to find a partner with fresh ideas in May. “We joined hands to respond to the industrial ecosystem, which changed after COVID-19 broke out, as well as look for a new growth engine together,” Megabox official said in a statement. The Korean multiplex operator said it will mainly look for startups with new business i

Chairman of Bluebell Korea Daniel Mayran gives a presentation titled “Future of luxury: Post-covid retail trends” during a forum held by the Corea Image Communication Institute on Tuesday at the residence of the Kuwaiti Ambassador Bader Mohammad al-Awadi. Some 20 foreign envoys and opinion leaders, including French Ambassador Philippe Lefort, Egyptian Ambassador Hazem Fahmy, Moroccan Ambassador Chafik Rachadi, Smart Study co-founder Ryan Lee, L‘Oreal Korea President Christian M

Raya and the Last Dragon (US) Opened March 4 Animation Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, Donald Hall In the world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. As villainous monsters known as the Druun started attacking the land, magical dragons united their forces and sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Five hundred years later, the monsters have returned and it‘s now up to warrior Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) to save Kumandra. Minari (US) Opened March 3 Drama Directed by L

Kakao Entertainment and Spotify Technology on Thursday announced that it will make songs distributed by the Korean company available on the Swedish audio giant’s streaming platform across the globe, after a one-week suspension. The agreement will allow listeners overseas to resume enjoying songs by popular Korean artists, including IU and Zico, which were removed temporarily from the Spotify platform from the beginning of March. The platform operator at the time explained that the song

ASEAN Culture House, run by the Korea Foundation, will host the 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week, screening 15 films from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, both in theaters and via online platforms from Friday to March 25. This is the second year that the ASEAN Culture House, located in Busan, is holding the cinema week. The event aims to present new perspectives on Southeast Asian culture through the films. The films selected this year reflect diverse cultures and traditions fr

It is no secret that Korea, a country well-known for its grilled meat like samgyeopsal, or pork belly, has not been particularly vegetarian-friendly. Celebrities revealing their love for meat is seen as natural, whereas stars who reveal their vegetarian diets are often treated as out of the ordinary in the media.   However, recent years have seen a growing number of Korean stars going vegetarian and actively talking about it. Claudia Kim, also known as Kim Soo-hyun, who appeared in 201

The 22nd edition of the JEONJU International Film Festival will be held from April 29 to May 8, under the slogan “Film Goes On.” Last year, the 21st edition of the international film fest, which was initially scheduled to commence April 30, was pushed back once and then was forced to be held behind closed doors in May due to the spread of COVID-19. The organizer at the time held a hybrid event, going both online and offline, for 114 days. This year’s festival will also be a h

The Korea Foundation on Thursday said the University of Sheffield in the UK had started an online class using “Learn! Korean with BTS” as its textbook on Feb. 10. This is the first Korean e-lecture series using BTS textbooks launched in the UK. In August last year, the Korea Foundation, K-pop powerhouse Big Hit Entertainment’s education business unit Big Hit Edu and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies joined forces to develop and provide Korean-language learning programs. Th

Director Jero Yun, who directed the film “Beautiful Days” about a mysterious North Korean woman refugee in 2017, has returned with “Fighter,” about a female North Korean defector living in South Korea. “I came up with the story for ‘Fighter,’ along with ‘Beautiful Days,’ back in 2012 when I was part of Cannes Film Festival’s residence program,” Yun said during a press conference held Thursday at Lotte Cinema in Gwangjin-gu, Seou

Raya and the Last Dragon (US) Opened March 4 Animation Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, Donald Hall In the world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. As villainous monsters known as the Druun started attacking the land, magical dragons united their forces and sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Five hundred years later, the monsters have returned and it‘s now up to a warrior Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) to save Kumandra. Minari (US) Opened March 3 Drama Directed

Olympic Park K-Art hall in Songpa-gu, Seoul, will be turned into a venue for online K-pop concerts, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday. The new studio is scheduled to launch in October. “Contactless online concerts are not an alternative for face-to-face performances. It is a new kind of cultural content. How to create global and differentiated content by combining offline performance and advanced technology is crucial for the development of the future content in

A film about the first human clone “Seobok,” starring actors Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum, will be released simultaneously on Korean streaming platform Tving and in theaters on April 15. The upcoming film was initially set to be released in theaters last December but the film’s distributor CJ Entertainment had to delay the release due to COVID-19. “Seobok” depicts the story of Ki-hun (Gong Yoo), an ex-intelligence agent, who receives a mission from the director of t