Entertainment

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  Super rookie girl band NewJeans to mesmerize fans using Multiview live-streaming technology SEOUL -- Using Multiview technology, which enables fans to choose different angles of a concert stage in real-time, South Korea's top web portal service Naver will livestream a performance by NewJeans, a super rookie girl group regarded as one of the most loved K-pop rookie bands in 2022. Viewers can also zoom in on their favorite member while enjoying the concert. Naver said in a statement that the five-member band's performance will be live broadcast on the company's 2023-01-06
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  Pinkfong's venture capital firm creates $23.8 mln fund to provide tourism content using Baby Shark IP SEOUL -- Smart Study Ventures, a venture capital firm affiliated with Pinkfong, a South Korean educational entertainment company known for a catchy cartoon song called "Baby Shark," has created a 36 billion won ($28.3 million) fund to establish an offline tourism spot where visitors can enjoy Baby Shark's realistic content and goods. Busan, the southern port city known for its food and culture, invested about 5 billion won. Pinkfong said in a statement on January 5 t 2023-01-06
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  Thriller series 'The Glory' gains explosive popularity on Netflix SEOUL -- South Korean thriller TV series "The Glory" became the third most-watched content on Netflix's non-English chart. The series depicts a story of a woman who suffered from vicious school bullying at high school taking revenge on bullies after becoming an adult. The global streaming service giant said that the revenge series recorded some 25.4 million hours of viewing only three days after its release on December 30. The Glory was the third-most watched drama se 2023-01-04
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  NewJeans' new dance song OMG scores 6.9 mln views on YouTube in less than one day SEOUL -- OMG, a new dance song by K-pop rookie girl band NewJeans, scored more than 6.9 million views on YouTube in less than a day. The five-member band also topped major South Korean song charts with its songs OMG and Ditto, a calm melodic song released in December 2022. According to data released by iCharts, OMG entered the top 15 only three and a half hours after its release on January 2. As of 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) on January 3, Ditto was ranked first on Melon and Genie, the top t 2023-01-03
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  Super rookie girl group NewJeans to release single album OMG SEOUL -- NewJeans, a super rookie girl group formed by ADOR, a subsidiary label of the agency of K-pop superstar BTS, will release OMG, a single album that has surpassed 800,000 pre-orders. Through the album's title track with hip-hop and R&B features, the five-member band will express their cautious and distant feelings with their loved ones while portraying winter vibes. ADOR said in a statement that the new album will be released at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on January 2. OMG 2023-01-02
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  BLACKPINK's Jisoo to release solo album for first time SEOUL -- K-pop girl band BLACKPINK member Jisoo will release her very first solo album, the band's agency said in a statement without disclosing the release date. Previously, three other members of the four-member band have successfully released solo albums and Jisoo is the last member to go solo. BLACKPINK, which debuted in August 2016, is South Korea's most successful K-pop girl band with a total of some five million album sales worldwide. While BTS pulled the popularity 2023-01-02
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  Girl band Le Sserafim's dance song Antifragile garners explosive popularity on Spotify SEOUL -- Le Sserafim, a five-member girl group formed by Hybe's music label Source Music, is gaining explosive popularity on Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service, through "Antifragile," the title song of the band's second mini album. The dance song released on October 17 was streamed more than 100 million times. According to data released by Source Music, the title track was played more than 100 million times as of December 26. It was stre 2022-12-28
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  Web novel 'Dating My Best Friend's Sister' to be recreated into digital cartoon in S. Korea SEOUL -- "Dating My Best Friends Sister," a romance web novel written in English will be recreated into a web cartoon in Korean. The web novel that depicts a secret love story between a young lady named "Kaitlyn" and her boyfriend "Cole" has gained some 400,000 subscribers since it was released in 2019 on Radish Media, a United States-based web novel platform. Cole is a friend of Kaitlyn's brother in the novel. Kaitlyn had a crush on Cole during he 2022-12-22
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  Bebefinn series gains explosive popularity on Netflix in English-speaking countries SEOUL -- "Bebefinn," a three-dimensional video animation show featuring the five-member family of a 20-month-old baby named "Finn," has garnered popularity mainly in English-speaking countries on Netflix. The animation show created by South Korea's educational entertainment company Pinkfong ranked in the top 10 on the over-the-top (OTT) service's daily chart featuring popular children's content in nine countries. Finn is an animated child who loves t 2022-12-22
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  Bebefinn series to be released on Netflix in 190 countries thanks to fast-growing popularity SEOUL -- "Bebefinn," a three-dimensional video animation show featuring the five-member family of a 20-month-old baby named "Finn," will be streamed on Netflix in 190 countries with English, Spanish and Korean subtitles. The animation show created by South Korea's educational entertainment company Pinkfong went viral on YouTube as in its previous work, the "Baby Shark Dance" video. Finn is an animated child who loves to play with Baby Shark. He has 2022-12-15
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  BTS member Jin starts mandatory military service SEOUL -- While some dozens of fans waited outside a frontline army boot camp battling against the snow and gusts of wind, a black van carrying Jin, the eldest member of K-pop superstar BTS, silently drove past the gate without coming to a halt. Some fans expressed disappointment as they expected the 29-year-old artist to lower his tinted window to wave and say farewell before he started his mandatory military service. Before his enlistment, Jin had requested fans not to come 2022-12-13
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  Hybe's multinational boy band &TEAM to be recreated into werewolves in digital comic book SEOUL -- &TEAM, a nine-member multinational boy band created by the agency of BTS, will be reinterpreted as a pack of werewolves in a digital cartoon and web novel. The content that depicts the story of nine werewolves with different personalities overcoming various obstacles and stereotypes will be available in 10 languages including English, Chinese and Spanish. &TEAM was formed through a Japanese and South Korean audition program titled "&Audition – The Ho 2022-12-05
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  BTS stands fifth in Spotify's list of most-streamed global artists in 2022 SEOUL -- K-pop superstar BTS stood fifth in the list of most-streamed global artists in 2022, Spotify, the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service, said in its annual Wrapped campaign that has unveiled data on how fans worldwide listened. The top place went to Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, followed by Taylor Swift, Drake, and The Weeknd. The list of most-streamed tracks was topped by "As It Was" included in Harry Styles' album, followed by Glas 2022-12-01
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  CJ ENM's K-culture cluster project put on right track in Goyang SEOUL -- The construction of a major K-culture cluster proposed by CJ ENM, a South Korean entertainment group that produced the Oscar-winning 2020 film "Parasite," was finally put on the right track after a bumpy start that caused a change of design. A more specific commitment came from Anschutz Entertainment Group, a sports and live entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and CJ LiveCity, a cultural content production and real est 2022-12-01
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  Shinsegae's online fashion platform opens pop-up store in trendy fashion district Seongsu SEOUL -- W Concept, the online fashion platform wing of South Korea's retail giant Shinsegae, has opened a pop-up store where customers can purchase various fashion items after trying them on in a showroom. A pop-up store is an experimental shop that only opens for a short period. The store is located in Seongsu, Seoul's vibrant fashion district with many colorful fashion stores that attract many young shoppers who like to express themselves through special apparel items. S 2022-11-28
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  Virtual influencer 'WAI' to make debut with ballad song SEOUL -- WAI, a virtual influencer created by the operator of South Korea's famous video streaming service AfreecaTV, will make its debut with a ballad song titled "Want to Be a Star." The virtual influencer created using a full three-dimensional model will also root for South Korea's national football team participating in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The music video and the video showing the virtual model's support for the South Korean international foot 2022-11-25
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  ​Naver releases 'BTS Travel Book' for English and Japanese travelers in S. Korea SEOUL -- Naver Snow, a web service platform operator affiliated with South Korea's internet portal giant Naver, has released a travel guidebook featuring the intellectual property of K-pop sensation BTS. The guidebook targets English and Japanese speakers visiting South Korea. South Korea, which had virtually closed its border to individual travelers at the height of a coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, opened its gates in early 2022, started issuing short-term visas in May 2022-11-25
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  BTS Jin urges fans to avoid flocking for farewell gathering near army boot camp SEOUL -- Jin, the eldest member of K-pop superstar BTS, urged fans to avoid flocking for a farewell gathering on December 13 when he joins the boot camp of a front-line infantry division, which guards the inter-Korean border, to fulfill his compulsory military service. The 29-year-old will receive five weeks of training for his service at the infantry division known for tough training and military service as well as freezing weather in winter. The boot camp is located in Yeoncheon 2022-11-24
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  S. Korean music experts to showcase soundtrack of silent film created with AI composers SEOUL -- Soundtracks of a silent film created in a joint project between artificial intelligence composers and humans will be demonstrated at a cinematheque in Seoul. Soundtracks were created based on scenes from a silent comedy, which was titled "There is No Poverty at the End of Labor" and released during Japan's colonial rule. According to the Korea Film Archive, the live music event will be held on November 28 at Cinematheque Seoul Art Cinema, a non-profit cinemat 2022-11-23
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  NewJeans' debut song 'Attention' streamed more than 100 mln times on Spotify SEOUL -- NewJeans, a super rookie girl group formed by a subsidiary label of the agency of K-pop superstar BTS, is gaining explosive popularity on Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service, through its debut song, "Attention." The R&B song released on August 1 was streamed more than 100 million times. The debut song entered Billboard's global chart just nine days after its release and the weekly top song USA chart on Spotify less than 50 days 2022-11-21