The second episode of “Youn’s Stay” -- a spinoff from reality TV show “Youn’s Restaurant” -- marked a viewership rating of 10.2 percent, according to Nielsen Korea on Saturday. During the show that aired Friday night, the cast served traditional Korean drink makgeolli, as well as Korean foods they had learned to make in the previous episode, including bugak (seaweed chips), tteokgalbi (beef patties), jeon (savory pancakes) and vegan gungjung tteokbokki (roy

Over the Christmas holidays, seven Korean YouTubers gathered in a room to draw lots for a Secret Santa gift exchange. In another room, almost a hundred YouTubers posed together for a group picture. No one wore face masks. Or rather, their virtual, Lego-like avatars didn’t. Under South Korea’s strict social distancing guidelines because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the YouTube community took their gatherings online on Minecraft – the most popular video game of all time. Communiti

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Thursday announced that it plans to establish three funds worth a total of 298.5 billion won ($271.6 million) to support local content creators and sports and tourism businesses. The money will be injected through a fund-of-funds managed by Korea Venture Investment Corp., in line with the Culture Ministry’s practice since 2005 of investing indirectly in small and midsized cultural businesses through venture capital funds instead of choosing

Wonder Woman 1984 (US) Opened Dec. 23 Action Directed by Patty Jenkins In 1984, the title character Diana (Gal Gadot) works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington while performing heroic deeds. One day, Diana unknowingly uses a stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back to life. However, new enemies also emerge, preying on humanity’s desires. Diana is now the only hope of saving the world.　  In the Mood for Love　 (China) Reopened Dec. 24 Romance Directed

Kim Young-jin selected new head of KOFIC Kim Young-jin, former vice director of the Korean Film Council, has been selected as the new chairman of the state-funded film organization. Kim was chosen through a vote by the nine KOFIC committee members during the committee‘s first regular meeting Monday. His term of office runs through Jan. 3, 2022. “We will seek a practical support plan to overcome the difficult times of COVID-19, and also focus on presenting a blueprint for respon

Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung won three more best supporting actress trophies from US film critic circles -- the San Diego Film Critics Society, Music City Film Critics Association and the DiscussingFilm Critic Awards -- for her role in “Minari.” So far, Youn has won a total of 11 best supporting actress awards given by US film critics circles and festivals, including the Columbus Film Critics, Oklahoma Film Critics Circle and the North Carolina Film Critics. Drama film’s dire

South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in Myanmar held a ceremony on Monday to present four booklets on Korea’s mural conservation and management to Myanmar’s cultural authorities. Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar Aung Ko, the director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, South Korea’s ambassador to Myanmar Lee Sang-hwa and Head of the Bagan Office of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation Kim Dong-min attended the event at

  The number of moviegoers over the weekend dropped to a new record low last week, according to data from the Korean Film Council. A total of 80,735 people went to theaters from Friday to Sunday last week, a deep plunge from 149,000 a week earlier. Over the three days, “Wonder Woman 1984,” directed by Patty Jenkins, topped the local box office with attendance of just 26,000. The Hollywood superhero movie has been dominating the local box office, with the accumulated number

“Youn’s Stay” -- a spin-off of the popular Korean reality TV show “Youn’s Restaurant” -- got off to a good start Friday with a rating of 8.2 percent. The show features foreign guests staying at a hanok guesthouse in Korea run by a group of celebrities. It began with the production team expressing concerns about airing a program during the pandemic. It was noted that all celebrities and guests on the show had tested negative for the coronavirus. “Youn

Although a significant number of married couples decide to go their separate ways each year in Korea, divorce is not a topic that Koreans talk about casually, largely because it is still a taboo subject. The divorce rate in Korea has increased for two consecutive years since 2018, according to Statistics Korea. Although the divorce rate decreased by 4.3 percent year-on-year from January to October 2020, the number of couples that got divorced stands at 88,455. “I have a close friend fro

Korea’s top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify chalked up a total of 10.6 billion streams on the platform in 2020, the popular streaming service announced on Thursday in its yearly wrap up. 　 Boy band BTS was the most streamed Korean artist globally, followed by Blackpink, Twice, Stray Kids and Red Velvet, according to Spotify’s 2020 Wrapped data. BTS also took the top spot in the category of the most-streamed global group in 2020. 2020 Wrapped, which compiles data from Jan. 1 t

Wonder Woman 1984 (US) Opened Dec. 23 Action Directed by Patty Jenkins In 1984, title character Diana (Gal Gadot) works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington while performing heroic deeds. One day Diana unknowingly uses a stone to wish her deceased lover Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back to life. However, her enemies also appear, and they want to destroy humanity. Diana is now the only hope of saving the world. In the Mood for Love　 (China) Reopened Dec. 24 Romance Directed by Wong Kar-w

The first South Korean sci-fi film set in space, “Space Sweeper,” will be released exclusively on Netflix on Feb. 5. In announcing the release date Wednesday, the global movie provider said the 24 billion won ($21.5 million) film will be available to stream in 190 different countries. Set in 2092, the movie introduces four members of a space cleanup crew traveling in the space shuttle Victory. While doing their job they encounter a girl named Dorothy, only to discover that she&rs

CJ CGV, the country‘s largest cinema chain, is temporarily shutting down four theaters that were severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. A CGV theater in Andong, Gyeonggi Province, decided to close its facility indefinitely from Monday, while a theater located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, which halted operations at the beginning of the year, will remain closed until Feb. 28. CGV Chilgok in Daegu and CGV Haeundae in Busan also decided to halt operations from Jan. 1 to 31.

The COVID-19 pandemic last year caused many Korean movies to postpone their scheduled releases. Although the virus continues to spread, many highly anticipated Korean films by star directors are lined up for theatrical release as soon as opportunities open up to do so. Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” is one of them. Park started filming last October with Tang Wei and Park Hye-il playing the lead roles. It has been five years since he released his last feature “T

Imagine learning about Korean cultural heritage and history with K-pop stars while reading a webtoon or watching a short movie, instead of reading dry textbooks. The Cultural Heritage Administration is working to break the perception that learning about history and culture is boring, while also trying to appeal to young people. Last September, the CHA rolled out an eight-episode short documentary series starring boy band Monsta X on YouTube. The documentary videos, which broadcaster JTBC al

  South Korean production firm Studio Dragon on Thursday confirmed that it has cast actor Kim Go-eun as the protagonist in the upcoming webtoon-based drama “Yumi’s Cells.” Kim will play Kim Yumi, an ordinary woman in her 30s. “I think many people were able to enjoy happy and sad moments while reading about an ordinary woman character Yumi’s love life for such a long time because it is relatable. I am looking forward to starting on this journey,” Kim s

Applying for government assistance involved some unpleasant experiences, recalled a Seoul-based artist in his 40s. “I applied for several assistance programs in the past but I never made it. I did not apply for the COVID-19 relief fund (in 2020), because I didn’t think I would be selected,” said the artist who wished to be identified by his surname, Jung. Jung chose to focus on his artwork rather than applying for the government fund , skipping the time-consuming process. H

South Korean tourism businesses that are suffering due to the pandemic will be eligible for additional loans from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. A total of 594 billion won ($546.57 million) will be provided in the form of additional loans, while repayment may be deferred for 100 billion won worth of loans that are due next year. “We made changes by actively reflecting various feedback from the tourism industry, which is currently experiencing difficulties. We hope that th

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday disclosed the logo for its DMZ Peace Trail, a trail created to promote the site near the Demilitarized Zone as a tourism destination. The DMZ, which cuts across the middle of the peninsula, is a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It is roughly 250 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide. The DMZ Peace Trail includes a main 524-kilometer route that connects the county of Ganghwa, Incheon and Goseong in Gangwon Province, as well as 10