Oh Dal-su, who dropped out of acting in 2018 following allegations of sexual assault, is returning to the big screen in “Good Neighbor.” The sexual assault claims surfaced in February 2018 amid the spread of the #MeToo movement in Korea, and scenes featuring Oh were subsequently removed from tvN series “My Mister” and hit film “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” in the same year. Filming for “Good Neighbor” was likewise completed in February 2

Collectors (Korea) Opened Nov. 4 Crime, Comedy Directed by Park Jung-bae Kang Dong-goo (Lee Je-hoon) is a genius thief of ancient treasures and works with an expert in ancient tomb murals, Dr. Jones (Cho Woo-jin), and legendary shoveling expert Sabdari (Lim Won-hee). One day, Kang meets an ancient art expert, Ms. Yoon (Shin Hye-sun), and puts together a team for the dangerous job of stealing the Korean version of Excalibur in the royal tomb Seolleung in Seoul for Ms. Yoon’s boss. The No

Ha Seong-nan’s collection of five short stories translated into English, “Bluebeard’s First Wife,” was selected as one of the Publishers Weekly Top Ten Books of 2020. This is the second time that a South Korean literary work has made the list. The first was in 2016, when Publishers Weekly recognized the English translation of “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang. “Ha’s nitro-fueled collection captures the dark side of South Korean society in mischievou

The Culture Ministry is hosting a Hallyu festival, titled “On: Hallyu Festival,” Nov. 16-23. “This event will provide comfort to people around the world who are exhausted from COVID-19 while providing helpful opportunities to local businesses through the power of hallyu,” Culture Minister Park Yang-woo said in a statement. Most of this year’s events will take place online and the festival is organized jointly with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the K

YG Entertainment announced Saturday that it has decided not to release the latest episode of Blackpink’s online reality show, “Blackpink - ‘24/365 with Blackpink',” which features the K-pop girl band members meeting South Korea’s first panda cub. The video was scheduled to be posted on the girl band’s YouTube channel Saturday. The decision came after a trailer posted Wednesday caused an uproar in China because it appeared that the band members were handlin

Actor Kim Hye-soo said her upcoming film “The Day I Died” was like her destiny. “It is hard to explain but I felt a strong pull to take the role. I think it is because that was the time that I had a strong desire for some sort of comfort,” Kim said during a press conference at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on Wednesday. “At that time, I was broken down and had wounds. (Like Hyun-soo in the movie,) I got comfort from meeting actors at our filming site.” “The Da

The National Council of Churches in Korea on Tuesday apologized after a member set fire to Sujinsa Buddhist temple in Gyeonggi Province. “We deeply apologize for the damages done to Sujinsa Temple and all Buddhists,“ an NCCK official said in a statement. The NCCK also acknowledged that the fire at Sujinsa Temple could have done worse damage as the temple is located near a residential area. The apology was issued in response to a statement released by the Jogye Order of Korean Bud

Martin Eden (Italy, France) Opened Oct. 29 Drama, Romance Directed by Pietro Marcello Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli), a ship worker, falls in love at first sight when he meets Helena (Jessica Cressy), an upper-class woman. Hoping to gain a place among the literary elite to be with her, he decides to become a writer and embarks on a quest to educate himself. The movie is based on a 1909 novel by American author Jack London. Tesla (US) Opened Oct. 28 Drama Directed by Michael Almereyda Inventor

Jung Soo-jung, more widely known as Krystal of K-pop girl band f(x), plays a confident university student, Toe-il, who becomes pregnant at a young age, in her debut feature “More Than Family.” “At first, I was hesitant to play this role. But after reading the script I said I will take the role,” Jung said during a press conference at CGV Yongsan on Tuesday. “Toe-il is confident and she believes in herself. I think she is representative of women today. She is relat

Round 2020, a music festival held by Korea and 10 ASEAN countries, on Tuesday announced additional artists who will be performing at the Dec. 6 show. Four additional Korean solo artists -- Sunwoojunga, Bol4, George and Elaine-- were announced Tuesday. Nine-member folk-pop band Ben &Ben of the Philippines, which was recently nominated for the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards, will also join the virtual festival, as well as Cambodian band SmallWorld SmallBand and Brunei singer Dinshe. This yea

Local OTT platform Watcha is holding an online film festival Nov. 1-25 that will showcase the works of the Korean Academy of Film Arts’ graduating class. “Eye Contact,” co-hosted by the platform and the school, will consist of 24 short films created by the KAFA’s 36th batch of graduates. The movies will include “Doong-ji,” Jo Kyoung-won’s film about a teenage girl who wants to avoid bringing friends home to work on a school project; “Help Me!&rd

The English version of the “Baby Shark Dance” video became the most viewed video on YouTube, with more than 7.03 billion views as of 1:20 p.m. on Monday. The video overtook Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” on YouTube and is now the first children’s content ever to become the most viewed video on YouTube. Released in 2015, the song featured in the video is a remake of an American folk song. The video was recorded by Pinkfong, a content creator un

Highly anticipated local thriller “The Call” chose to follow the steps of crime thriller “Time to Hunt,” which skipped its theatrical release and went straight to Netflix in April. “Since many movie fans have been waiting for the release of ‘The Call,’ we considered many different options for quite a long time, and finally came up with the decision to release it on Netflix. We see that it is the best way to present our movie to a wide variety of audie

Lee Je-hoon is returning to the big screen as a witty tomb raider in the upcoming comedy-crime “Collectors.” “Looking back at how I have been selecting my characters, I tried to choose movies with social messages or ones with a unique genre. But we all have experiences of having a truly good time after watching a movie that is not thought-provoking, don’t’ we? I do too and I’ve been wishing to do that kind of movie,” Lee said during the press conference

Samjin Company English Class (Korea) Opened Oct. 21 Drama Directed by Lee Jong-pil 　 In 1995, three women -- Lee Ja-young (Ko Ah-sung), Jung Yoo-na (E Som) and Sim Bo-ram (Park Hye-soo) -- have been working at their company for eight years. Though they’re all good at their jobs, they lack college diplomas and are constantly passed over for promotions. Then the company announces the start of an English class, promising that employees who attain scores of 600 or higher will be offered promo

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Wednesday recognized cultural figures, groups and content that helped raise awareness about gender equality in South Korean society. Artist Jung Jung-yeob was honored for her works spotlighting the lives and labor of Korean women, which had long been overlooked in the arts. She is best known for her painting “The First Supper,” a response to Leonardo da Vinci’s 1490s painting “The Last Supper.” In her painting, the m

Actor Gong Yoo is returning to the big screen with Park Bo-gum in “Seobok,” a film about the first human clone, The upcoming film which is set to be released in December will draw the bromance between the two main characters played by Gong Yoo and Park. “The director told us to use Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’s relationship in ‘Rain Man’ as our reference. In the movie, Seo-bok is constantly curious, seeing the real world for the first time, and Ki-hun bec

A selection of French films began screening on local over-the-top platform Wavve on Tuesday, in conjunction with two French film festivals. The first French film festival, running from Tuesday to Nov. 4, is being held jointly with the Institut Francais in Seoul. Nine French movies recommended by Korean film director Ryoo Seung-wan, including comedy “Redoubtable,” written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, will be presented. Ryoo, who made his directorial debut in 2000, is known

Director of family drama “Minari,” which won top prizes at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, said US audiences have come to embrace Korean films since director Bong Joon-ho’s ”Parasite” won multiple Oscars. “It’s (‘Minari’ winning the awards is) surprising. I think it is less surprising after ‘Parasite,’” director Lee Isaac Chung said during a press conference held via Zoom on Friday as part of the Busan International Film

Voice of Silence (Korea) Opened Oct. 15 Crime, Drama Directed by Hong Eui-jeong Tae-in (Yoo Ah-in) has the unusual job of disposing of corpses and cleaning up crime scenes for an organized crime syndicate, along with Chang-bok (Yoo Jae-myung). One day, Tae-in and Chang-bok become responsible for taking care of a girl (Moon Seung-ah) when her kidnapper, a member of a criminal organization, suddenly dies. Unhinged (US) Opened Oct. 7 Thriller, Action Directed by Derrick Borte Rachel Hunter (C