Listen to BLACKPINK’s Jennie cover Lee Hyo-ri’s ‘Miss Korea’

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Concrete Utopia,” the highly regarded drama-thriller that was South Korea’s Oscars contender and one of the biggest box office hits of 2023, has scored a streaming release in North America. Rakuten Viki, which specializes in Asian content, has licensed exclusive rights to the film in the U.S. and Canada and will begin streaming it to North American audiences from Friday.

NewJeans, BTS’ Jungkook, H1-KEY and more.Today (January 26), the annual Korean awards ceremony unveiled its full list of nominees on its official website. The ceremony honours mainstream and underground musicians across a variety of genres, and distributes awards based on the recommendations of its panel.The 21st Korean Music Awards ceremony will take place on February 29 at 8pm KST, and will be streamed live on the PRIZM app.K-pop girl group NewJeans, rapper Beenzino and indie rock band Silica Gel received five nominations each, including Musician of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year, as well as Best Song and Best Album nominations in their respective genre categories.NewJeans notably won both Best K-pop Song and Best K-pop Album at last year’s ceremony, as well as Rookie of the Year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin. The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will have its world premiere in the Berlin festival’s Berlinale Special section, with Lee expected to be in attendance, giving Lotte some additional momentum with the new title launch.

Apartment 404, starring BLACKPINK‘s Jennie. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming series.On December 20, 2023, tvN announced the cast of Apartment 404 in a video uploaded on its official YouTube channel.The series will notably star Jennie of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK.

Badland Hunters director Heo Myeong-haeng and lead actor Don Lee have opened up about working together on the upcoming movie.Next week, Netflix will premiere its new original Korean film, the post-apocalyptic Badland Hunters led by Don Lee (also known as Ma Dong-seok). In a press conference for the upcoming film, the actor shared that he was the one who had proposed working with director Heo Myeong-haeng.Heo had been the stunt coordinator behind the hit The Roundup movie franchise, which Lee also starred in.

NMIXX singer Bae recently covered songs by Hyukoh, 2NE1 and more during an appearance on Lee Mujin Service.NMIXX’s Bae made a guest appearance on the latest episode of music talk show, where she discussed the girl group’s new mini-album ‘Fe3O4: Break’. Opening the episode with a piano-led performance of their new single ‘Dash’, Bae went on to sing several covers.The idol performed covers of Bebe Rexha’s 2018 song ‘I’m a Mess’ and South Korean alt-rock band Hyukoh’s 2014 single ‘Wi Ing Wi Ing’.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “Rolling Along: Bill Bradley,” an oral autobiography of the life and career of former star New York Knicks player and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, has been acquired by Max and will begin streaming on the service Feb. 1.

K-pop boy band RIIZE recently performed covers of songs by SHINee and Lee Hyo-ri.RIIZE recently made an appearance on veteran singer Lee Hyo-ri’s music talk show The Seasons: Lee Hyo-ri’s Red Carpet. During their episode, the K-pop boyband serenaded Lee with a performance of fellow SM Entertainment group SHINee’s 2008 debut single ‘Replay’.“Noona, you’re so pretty (Looking at her I go) / Crazy (Ha, but she’s tired of me now) / Replay, replay, replay,” they sang during the chorus, with some of the members getting up to dance to the choreography.Elsewhere in the episode, members Anton and Sungchan also took a moment to pay homage to Lee with a cover of her debut single ‘10 Minutes’.

KISS OF LIFE singer Belle recently covered Ariana Grande’s ‘Honeymoon Avenue’, from the latter’s debut album ‘Yours Truly’.Belle’s cover of Ariana Grande’s fan-favourite 2013 track was released over the weekend on KISS OF LIFE’s official YouTube channel. Belle’s rendition of the mid-tempo ‘Yours Truly’ track remains largely true to the original, but omits the second verse and chorus.“I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic / I’m under pressure, ’cause I can’t have you the way that I want / Let’s just go back to the way it was / When we were on Honeymoon Avenue,” she sings in the chorus.‘Honeymoon Avenue’ is the second Grande song Belle has covered in recent months.

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and several South Korean creatives have called for a probe into the circumstances behind renowned actor Lee Sun-kyun’s death.Last month, the 48-year-old actor was found dead in an apparent suicide. At the time of his death, Lee had been undergoing a highly publicised investigation by South Korean police on suspicions of drug use.Earlier this week, the newly established Association of Solidarity of Cultural Artists released a statement calling for an investigation into Lee’s death, per The Korea Herald.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Parasite” director Boon Joon-ho led a press conference in Seoul on Friday, following the death by suicide of actor Lee Sun-kyun at the end of December. Lee had been investigated by police in Incheon for possible recreational use of drugs and was at the center of a maelstrom of media and social media commentary for the two months prior to his death.

Lee Sun-kyun died at age 48. Lee starred as the father of a wealthy family in “Parasite,” which was the first non-English-language movie to win best picture in the Oscars’ 92-year history.

South Korean arts and culture organizations, artists and filmmakers, including Bong Joon-ho, have joined together to call for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of actor Lee Sun-kyun. Lee, whose credits include Bong’s Oscar winning Parasite, died last month in an apparent suicide at the age of 48.

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract co-star Lee Se-young.Bae In-hyuk touched on the rumours with Lee Se-young during a recent interview that took place shortly after the finale of The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract, which aired on January 6. Notably, Bae and Lee play lovers in the K-drama series.“I thought it was hilarious,” the South Korean actor told The Korea Times, adding that he “didn’t know” about the rumours under he “got a text asking if it’s real”.“I feel the dating rumours mean that many people enjoyed [the series],” Bae added.

ITZY singer Chaeryeong recently covered songs by Sabrina Carpenter, Bae Suzy and more.ITZY’s Chaeryeong recently guest starred on a new episode of music talk show Lee Mujin Service, where she promoted ITZY’s new studio album ‘Born to Be’. Chaeryeong opened the episode with a stripped-down version of the group’s new single ‘Untouchable’, which was released earlier this week.Later on, the singer performed several songs, including Carpenter’s hit single ‘Nonsense’, from her 2022 album ‘Emails I Can’t Send’.

Jennifer Lawrence opts for a sleek black look at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday (January 7) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Jennie of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK has revealed why she started her own label.In December 2023, BLACKPINK’s Jennie announced that she had launched her own label, called Odd Atelier, to start her “solo journey in 2024”. Days later, YG Entertainment confirmed that Jennie, along with her fellow BLACKPINK bandmates, had not renewed their individual contracts with the agency.Earlier this week, Jennie appeared at the KBS Hall in Seoul, South Korea to record an episode for the fourth season of The Seasons, featuring new host Lee Hyo-ri.During her appearance, Jennie told Lee Hyo-ri that while BLACKPINK’s group activities will still be “managed by the same agency I’ve worked with for the past seven years”, she decided to launch her own company as she wanted “more freedom and ease for my solo activities”, per SBS Star.“My long-time crew joined me on this journey.

Korean historical action drama 12.12: The Day has grossed $90.5M and sailed past the 12 million admissions mark at the Korean box office over the Christmas holiday period to become the highest grossing film of 2023. 

Parasite and A Hard Day.The service took place today (December 29) and was attended by the late actor’s family, close friends and colleagues, with the Korean media shut out of the event. His family had appealed to the media to stop making “painful and abrupt” visits to Lee’s home and agency as well as the service following months of intrusion into his personal life while he was under investigation for drugs use.The media had also been criticised for publishing his alleged last note to his wife.Lee is said to have been found dead in a car located in the Jongno District of Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday with a “charcoal briquette” in the passenger seat in what is believed to have been a suicide.

Gogglebox star Lee has shared some glimpses of his Christmas with his rarely seen partner Steve, as fans of the show questioned co-star Jenny's whereabouts. Lee, who features alongside Jenny in his caravan in Hull, shared some sweet snaps with his partner Steve as they drank wine and enjoyed the festive period.The duo, who rarely share snaps together, looked happier than ever as they were seen grinning from ear to ear while sipping on some wine. Informing his followers that he has spent Christmas in Cyprus, Lee captioned the post: "What day is it haven’t a clue it’s between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve but loving been home in Cyprus with my man".