SM Entertainment Battle: Court Backs Lee Soo-Man, Blocks Kakao Share Purchase and Dilution of HYBE

Asian canteen, foodhall, bakery and supermarket Hello Oriental is bringing in a raft of new dishes and cocktails for its spring menu, one of them featuring a Manchester institution. The Vimto Sour will feature on its new cocktail list, blending vodka, lychee syrup, lemon and the iconic cordial.

TWICE member Chaeyoung has issued an apology after she posted a photo of herself wearing a shirt with a Swastika symbol.In the now-deleted Instagram post, the K-pop idol was seen posing while wearing a shirt that featured a graphic of Sex Pistols‘ Sid Vicious sporting a T-shirt with a Swastika. Since the 1920s, the symbol has become heavily associated with the German Nazi Party and was used on the the party’s flag, badge and armband.#TWICE’s Chaeyoung posted a photo wearing a Nazi swastika on her shirt.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Streaming platform Paramount+ has set a release date for Korean series “Yonder” that is one of the first titles flowing from Paramount Global’s alliance with CJ ENM. The show will premiere on April 11 in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France.  Set in 2032, “Yonder” is a science fiction-drama series about a man who receives a message from his deceased wife inviting him to a mysterious space. The space is designed for the dead to be able to live on by uploading memories of their lifetime from their brain. The show raises questions about life and death and what it means to have eternal happiness as humanity faces a world altered by advancements in science and technology.

Song Yuqi, a member of the K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE, has released her cover of Miley Cyrus’ chart-topping hit ‘Flowers’.For her cover of ‘Flowers’, Yuqi stays largely true to Cyrus’ original, albeit with a slightly more muted bassline. “I can buy myself flowers / Write my name in the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don’t understand,” she croons on the chorus.Yuqi’s dropped alongside a stylistic music video that follows her as she sings the song to herself while exploring Seoul on foot and by bus.

HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk has opened up about its battle against Kakao to acquire shares of K-pop agency SM Entertainment.Today (March 15), Bang delivered a keynote speech at the Gwanhun Forum, hosted by the Gwanhun Club, an association of senior journalists in Korea. Held at the Korean Press Center in Seoul, South Korea, the forum provided attendees the opportunity to gain insight into Bang and HYBE’s vision of the K-pop industry.During a Q&A session at the event, Bang opened up about HYBE’s recent attempt to acquire SM Entertainment, and its battle against South Korean internet giant Kakao over the K-pop agency.

Audiences were eager to wrap up Season 4 of Netflix‘s You. The second half of the season debuted on the streamer on March 9, catapulting the latest installment back to the top of the English-language TV charts for the week.

EXCLUSIVE: Korea’s CJ ENM is off to a strong start in the international arena in 2023, with its U.S. co-production Past Lives emerging as one of the biggest hits of Sundance and Berlin, and Vietnamese family comedy House Of No Man becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in its home territory. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean tech giant Kakao has gained the upper hand in the battle for control of K-pop agency SM Entertainment, after HYBE Corp., the firm behind music idols BTS, said Sunday that it had called off its takeover bid. SM is the second largest talent Korean music talent firm and is behind music acts including Super M, Aespa, BoA and Red Velvet, Girls’ Generation, H.O.T., EXO, Super Junior, SHINee and NCT Dream. HYBE said on Sunday that it will “discontinue the acquisition process […] after observing that the market has been showing signs of overheating due to competition with both Kakao and Kakao Entertainment,” something that it said could “damage shareholder value.”

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent Ishikawa Kei’s drama “A Man” took eight prizes at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony, held on Friday at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takawana in Tokyo. The film, premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival in the Horizons section, had been nominated for 13 awards in 12 categories. In addition to the best picture award, Ishikawa won best director, while the film’s writer Mukai Kosuke won best screenplay, and its star Tsumabuchi Satoshi won best actor. In “A Man,” Satoshi plays a Korean lawyer who goes on a search for the truth about a man, killed in an accident, who was living under false identity. Best supporting actor went to Kubota Masataka for his portrayal of the mystery man, while Ando Sakura took best supporting actress her performance as his wife. The film also won best sound recording and best editing honors.

Rosé of girl group BLACKPINK and Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-Jung are set to co-host an event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.Today (March 9), The Met announced that Rosé and Youn, along with Chinese actress Song Jia, will co-host an event for Korean beauty brand Sulwhasoo at the museum later this month on March 29. Notably, all three celebrities are global ambassadors of the beauty brand.In its press release, The Met revealed that it is partnering with Sulwhasoo in a year-long agreement that aims to boost programmes and activities at the Museum to help “celebrate global heritage”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Japanese film and TV studio Toei Company, from 5% to 6.03%, according to a report by the Reuters financial news agency. The move comes shortly after Toei published a ten-year plan for international expansion. Toei includes film and TV production operations, the T-Joy cinema chain and Toei Animation. Last month, it said that it had beaten its film revenue record, thanks to the success of titles including “The First Slam Dunk,” “The Legend of Butterfly” and “One Piece Film Red.” The stake increase also follows PIF’s February announcement that it had increased its stake in Japanese games and console maker Nintendo to 8.26% and that (along with the Singapore state fund GIC) was a buyer of a $966 million bond issue from Korean entertainment-tech firm Kakao Corp.

Starship Entertainment has bid goodbye to WJSN members Luda, Dawon, Xuanyi, Chengxiao and Meiqi following the expiration of their contracts.On March 3, Starship released a statement announcing the departure of WJSN members Luda and Dawon, as well as inactive Chinese members Xuanyi, Chengxiao and Meiqi from the agency.“Starship Entertainment recently renewed contracts with the eight members Exy, Seola, Bona, Soobin, Eunseo, Yeoreum, Dayoung and Yeonjung of our agency artist WJSN,” said the agency, per Soompi.“We carried out sincere and in-depth discussions with members Luda and Dawon for a long time, but unfortunately our exclusive contracts [with Luda and Dawon] will come to an end. We express deep gratitude for the great efforts and dedication shown by Luda and Dawon until now,” Starship added.The agency revealed that members Xuanyi, Chengxiao, and Meiqi, who joined WJSN through Starship’s partnership with Chinese entertainment agency Yuehua Entertainment, would also be leaving the group.

The K-Pop world is currently going through one of its biggest ever corporate dramas, with SM Entertainment, the label of BoA, Girls Generation, EXO and Super Junior, fighting off what its management is describing as a hostile takeover from its rival HYBE, home of BTS. 

NewJeans swept the K-pop categories at this year’s Korean Music Awards, beating out popular contemporaries such as (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM, IVE and more.The quintet took home the awards for both Best K-pop Album and Best K-pop Song, with their self-titled debut EP and the hit song ‘Attention’ respectively. In addition, the girl group also clinched the trophy for Rookie of the Year, besting fellow K-pop acts LE SSERAFIM and IVE, among others.Meanwhile, the biggest winner of the night was DJ and producer 250 – real name Lee Ho-hyung – who took home four awards: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Electronic Song, and Best Electronic Album.

BLACKPINK member Jisoo has finally announced a date for her long-awaited solo debut.At midnight KST today (March 6), the K-pop idol teased her upcoming solo debut on Instagram with an intriguing “Coming Soon” poster. The image confirms a release date of March 31, and features a bright red dress in the middle of a field.Jisoo’s post was accompanied by the caption “See you soon” in Korean.

YG Entertainment has revealed that its upcoming girl group BABYMONSTER might not debut with all seven previously revealed members.K-pop agency YG Entertainment spent the last month unveiling the seven members of its upcoming girl group BABYMONSTER. However, the company has now shared that the lineup for the new act is not yet set in stone.At midnight KST today (March 6), the entertainment agency released a new teaser titled ‘Last Evaluation’, in which founder and producer Yang Hyun-suk informs the seven trainees that BABYMONSTER “will never be a seven-member group”.“We want to unveil the very last evaluation to fans, which was held right before deciding the members of BABYMONSTER, and then finalise the best members as BABYMONSTER,” explained Yang.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HYBE Corp., the talent firm behind K-pop sensation BTS, has launched a campaign to woo the shareholders of SM Entertainment, the rival Korean talent empire in which it is poised become the largest single shareholder. In a letter and video package, issued Thursday, HYBE said that it was launching a campaign website detailing its business strategy and the ways in which it plans to prioritize SM shareholders. The documents directly criticized SM’s current management and also struck out at Korean entertainment-tech giant Kakao, with which SM has recently struck an alliance.

EXCLUSIVE: Ley Line Entertainment and FirstGen Content have set an all-star ensemble for its co-production of On Swift Horses as Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva and Sasha Calle are on board to star. Daniel Minahan is on to direct with Peter Spears producing alongside Mollye Asher, Tim Headington and Theresa Steele Page on behalf of Ley Line with Michael D’Alto producing on behalf of FirstGen Conent. Bryce Kass is adapting the script.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office. But the overall market continued to soften despite a slew of new release titles. Nationwide theatrical grosses totaled just $7.26 million. That made it the slowest box office weekend in over three months. “Quantumania” collected $2.0 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), and enjoyed a 27% market share. The second weekend increment lifted its 12-day total to $10.6 million. Long-running Japanese animation title, “The First Slam Dunk” earned $1.36 million in its eighth weekend on release. Since Jan. 4 it has accumulated $28.0 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HYBE, the South Korean talent management company behind BTS, said Wednesday that it has already paid for its purchase a 14.8% stake in rival SM Entertainment and expects to complete the deal by March 6, ahead of the previously announced schedule. The company announced earlier this month that it will buy most of the 18.5% stake in SM Entertainment owned by founder Lee Soo Man, making HYBE SM Entertainment’s largest shareholder. The deal is priced at $336 million (KRW423 billion), giving SM Entertainment an implied valuation of $2.27 billion. Lee retains an option to sell the remainder of his stake to HYBE at specific prices within a month. HYBE has also offered to buy a further 25% of the company from other shareholders.