Jungkook of K-pop sensation BTS will release his first solo album, "Golden," next month, the next step in his journey as a solo artist. BTS' agency Big Hit Music on Wednesday announced that the album will drop at 1 p.m. on Nov. 3. "'Golden' is an album inspired from solo artist Jungkook's golden moment," the firm said in its statement, adding, "Jungkook will manifest his identity and colors candidly through the album." The upcoming album will be an 11-track collecti

“Tiger is Coming” band Leenalchi will join more than 100 performers in Haebangchon this weekend as 10 venues in the area open for a cultural festival. Showcase music festival Block Party will return for a second year Saturday and Sunday with more stages and a wider variety of performances. Music will still be at the heart of the event, with alternative pop band Leenalchi being joined Saturday by the hard rock sounds of Galaxy Express and Drinking Boys and Girls Choir, as well as Ja

Director Nam Dae-jung who directed comedy flicks “The Last Ride" (2016) and “Homme Fatale” (2019), has returned with “30 Days,” a rom-com featuring a couple with amnesia going through a comical divorce. Nam said he watched the film hundreds of times while editing. “The film ended shooting in February this year. Since then until the opening of the film, I think I’ve watched the film more than 600 times while editing. This is because, for comedy films

Will Blackpink continue or will the group disband? Are the members moving to a different label or will they go independent? Rumors have been swirling as K-pop's biggest girl group and its agency, YG Entertainment, remain silent on the future, despite their seven-year contract having apparently reached the end of its term in August. On Tuesday, it was reported Jennie and Jisoo had established their own independent labels, though YG Entertainment denied to confirm the reports. "Nothing has be

A diverse lineup of music festivals and concerts are set to welcome the fall season. The Jarasum Jazz Festival, the country’s biggest jazz festival which marks its 20th anniversary this year, kicks off on Oct. 6 and runs for four days on Jara Island, Gyeonggi Province. The event invites 19 foreign artists and 22 Korean artists including Birell Lagrene and Ulf Wakenlus, Julian Lage, Shai Maestro Quartet, Youn Sun-nah, Ju Hyun-mi Jazz Project and the Pasquale Grasso Trio. The venue for the f

Semyon Bychkov, a Soviet-born conductor who denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is set to make his Korean debut in October, leading the Czech Philharmonic for an all-Dvorak program. The program -- Dvorak’s "Carnival Overture," Op.92, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op.33, and Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op.70 -- is more of a practical choice as it includes pieces that are being performed during their regular season in Prague, where they will perform Dvorak’s three symphoni

Jungkook of BTS topped iTunes’ Top Songs charts in 100 different regions with his second solo single “3D,” according to Big Hit Music. The single “3D” featuring Jack Harlow swept iTunes charts in numerous countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, and Italy, immediately upon its release on Friday. The instrumental and alternate versions of “3D” also reached No. 2 and No. 3 on iTunes’ Top Songs charts in various countries. The music video f

NCT Dream will be featured in the annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour which kicks off on Nov. 26. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour is a holiday concert presented by Capital One, with the year’s top artists performing their No. 1 hits. NCT Dream will take the stage in Boston on Dec. 10, Washington D.C., on Dec. 11 and Atlanta on Dec. 14. Other artists joining the star-studded lineup for the event include SZA, Nicki Minaj, OneRepublic, Flo Rida, and Sabrina Carpenter. NCT Dream has been expa

South Korean girl group NewJeans has hit the 1 billion streams mark on Spotify with its namesake debut album, the group's management agency said Friday. The accumulated streams generated by the album, "New Jeans," reached 1,000,760,129 on the streaming platform as of Thursday, 422 days after its release on Aug. 1, 2022, ADOR said. The agency said NewJeans is the first K-pop girl band that has achieved the feat with its debut album. It is particularly meaningful given the album has

Tving released Thursday footages of K-pop artists who participated in this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. MTV VMAs 2023, which was held at Prudential Center in New Jersey on Sept. 12, are one of the four major US music shows -- along with the Billboard Music Awards, Grammy Awards and American Music Awards, honoring the biggest music videos and artists. The show featured two of the popular K-pop boy groups Tomorrow X Together and Stray Kids’ live performances, singing their latest sin

Different styles of Korean action series are being released during the six-day Chuseok holiday this week. Disney+, the flagship streaming service of US media giant Walt Disney Co, showcased a new crime thriller “The Worst of Evil” on Wednesday. The 12-part series tells the story of the biggest drug ring in Northeast Asia and its boss, Jung Ki-cheol, played by “Squid Game” star Wi Ha-jun. Co-starring actor Ji Chang-wook takes the role of an undercover police officer, who i

If you've ever wanted to juggle, spin plates or soar through the air like a circus sensation, then the "Circus Playground" workshop was the place to be last weekend. As part of LG Arts Center Seoul's fall season education programs, the one-day workshop, co-organized by the circus education experts at "Jumpers," provided an exciting experience for beginners of all ages, including the young-at-heart adults. The morning session catered to adventure-seeking adults, whil

The performance video for Blackpink’s “How You Like That” has reached 1.5 billion views on YouTube, label YG Entertainment announced Wednesday. It is the group’s fourth video to hit the milestone, following the music videos for “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” “Kill This Love” and “Boombayah,” and the first dance video from a K-pop act to do so. The music video for “How You Like That” has 1.2 billion views. “How You Like That”

“Reborn Rich,” hit drama on local cable channel JTBC that aired in December last year has been nominated to the finalist of International Emmy Awards’ TV drama and series category. According to the production firm SLL, “Reborn Rich” will compete along France’s “Infiniti,” Mexico’s “Dive,” and UK’s “Life and Death in the Warehouse.” “Reborn Rich” revolves around Yoon Hyun-woo (Song Joong-ki), a loyal s

South Korean auteur Chung Ji-young returns for the first time in four years with the crime flick “The Boys,” another work based on a real-life high-profile case. The new film follows “Unbowed” (2011) and “Black Money” (2019), which dealt with the true stories of a professor who went against a corrupt Korean judicial system in 2007 and the 2012 sale of the Korean Exchange Bank to American equity firm Lone Star Funds, respectively. “The Boys” revolve

Seoul's streets are to become a festive outdoor venue for various street arts, circus performances, dance, multidisciplinary shows and art installations this weekend. The outdoor performing arts festival organized by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, known as the Seoul Street Arts Festival, kicks off Friday at Seoul Plaza, along with a Chuseok full moon viewing event. The opening performance, “Full Moon,” starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday, featuring artists from this year&rsqu

Japanese K-pop band XG returned to the music scene on Wednesday with its first EP "New DNA." The latest release by the seven-piece girl group comes nine months after the launch of the third single "Shooting Star" in January. "New DNA" is a six-track package expanding on XG's sonic scape, weaving through multiple new genres the likes of UK Drill and Jersey Club to the group's essential hip-hop and R&B sound. The album is led by the title song "Puppet Show&qu

K-pop girl group NewJeans will sing the anthem of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, “Gods,” according to Riot Games. The anthem will be released on Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. The game developer has worked with popular musical artists for the championship theme song for the past 10 years, such as Imagine Dragons, Zedd and Lil Nas X, but it is the first time it is collaborating with a K-pop artist. Sebastien Najand, the head music producer of Riot Games, and Mako who produced the or

Every Oneus album is a well-made package of music, story, artistry and performance. With its latest EP, "La Dolce Vita" released on Tuesday, the group once again takes listeners on an adventure of new wonders. In "La Dolce Vita," the quintet plunges into the depths of the ocean, like mermaids dancing with loved ones at night. The Latin pop texture of the album's title song "Baila Conmigo" was the first inspiration to the mermaid story, according to the members

Breaking away from the traditional portrayal of the iconic femme fatale, Carmen, Seoul Metropolitan Theatre's theatrical rendition of the classic character meets audiences with the haunting specter of dating violence. Seoul Metropolitan Theatre Artistic Director Koh Sun-woong undertook the adaptation of “Carmen” to reevaluate the character in a new light and to deliver a powerful message: Obsession is not love. Based on Prosper Merimee's 1845 novella and Bizet's opera