Entertainment

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  Virtual model Lucy to promote fashion items through live commerce show SEOUL -- Lucy, a 29-year-old virtual model created by the home shopping channel of South Korea's conglomerate Lotte, will appear in online shopping shows for bags and accessories designed by Vivienne Westwood, a global fashion brand based in London. The virtual influencer with more than 105,000 followers will interact with viewers through a monthly live commerce show on YouTube. Live commerce is a home shopping-like online service that enables two-way communication between shopp 2023-01-26
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  Girl band Le Sserafim's dance song 'Antifragile' played more than 200 million times on Spotify SEOUL -- "Antifragile," the tile song of K-pop girl group Le Sserafim, has been streamed more than 200 million times for 96 days after its release on Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service. The five-member band formed by Hybe's music label showcased young girls' firm stance to overcome various difficulties in life with a strong mentality through the dance song. According to Source Music, the title track was played more than 200 million times 2023-01-24
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  S. Koreans are mixed about debut of virtual K-pop girl band MAVE: SEOUL -- South Koreans are showing mixed views about the debut of MAVE:, a four-member girl band created by Metaverse Entertainment, a virtual reality content developer affiliated with South Korea's leading game publisher Netmarble. While some fans are excited to watch the rookie girl group's music video, others are skeptical as they are repulsed by the virtual humans' debut. MAVE:, whose brand concept contains the meaning of "making new waves" in the K-pop in 2023-01-20
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  Pinkfong to recreate Hong Kong's main theme park using Baby Shark IP SEOUL -- Targeting the Chinese market, Pinkfong, the creator of a catchy cartoon song called "Baby Shark," has teamed up with the operator of Hong Kong's main theme park called "Ocean Park Hong Kong" to set up the theme park using Baby Shark characters. Visitors can wear sailor costumes and enjoy the Baby Shark-themed sea view. Ocean Park Hong Kong is one of the largest theme parks in Hong Kong along with Hong Kong Disneyland. The theme park was visited by m 2023-01-19
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  BTS member Jimin appointed as global ambassador for luxury fashion brand Dior SEOUL -- Jimin, a member of BTS, was selected as the global ambassador of Christian Dior, a France-based high-end luxury fashion brand known as Dior, to promote various fashion items and campaigns. The 27-year-old has aroused fans' curiosity regarding his enlistment as his agency earlier announced that all BTS members would fulfill their mandatory military service. After Dior's announcement on January 17, the artist expressed his excitement through his Instagram post, writi 2023-01-18
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  Super rookie girl band NewJeans debuts on Billboard's Hot100 chart with 'Ditto' SEOUL -- Just after about six months of the band's debut, K-pop super rookie NewJeans entered Billboard's top 100 popular song chart with "Ditto," a dance song released on December 19, 2022. The five-member band stepped into the spotlight as soon as it debuted on July 2022 and won various awards including the "Rookie Artist Award" and "Best Digital Song" at the "2023 Golden Disk Awards," an annual Asian music awards event hosted by So 2023-01-18
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  K-pop album exports hit record high in 2022 SEOUL -- Exports of South Korean K-pop albums in 2022 reached $233 million, up 5.6 percent on-year, state data showed. For the first time, more than 80 million copies were sold. Data released by the state-run tax organization Korea Customs Service showed that Japan was the largest importer of K-pop albums with $85.74 million, followed by China with 51.33 million and the United States with $38.88 million. Other top 10 importers include Taiwan, Thailand, Germany and France. In 2 2023-01-17
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  Pinkfong selects former Disney short-form content creator David Levy to lead studio in US branch SEOUL -- David Levy, a veteran short-form content creator who directed various Disney animated videos, has been picked to lead a studio in the American branch of Pinkfong, a South Korean educational entertainment company known for a catchy cartoon song called "Baby Shark." The former Disney animation director will lead the intellectual property business and work with global studios. Short-form videos that are normally 15 to 60 seconds long are gaining popularity in the co 2023-01-12
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  Minari actress Youn Yuh-jung signs with American agency Creative Artists Agency SEOUL -- Youn Yuh-jung, a veteran actress who won the 2021 Academy Award for her role in the 2021 American film Minari, signed with Creative Artists Agency, a major entertainment agency based in Los Angeles. The American agency works with many famous actors including Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and Ryan Gosling. According to an exclusive report released by US entertainment news media Deadline, the 75-year-old signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency (CAA). The agency has signed wit 2023-01-11
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  ​BLACKPINK becomes first K-pop band to headline US music festival Coachella SEOUL -- K-pop girl band BLACKPINK will interact with global fans at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a popular American music event, as its headliner. The four-member band is the first K-pop group to take part in the annual event known for showcasing popular artists in indie rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music. Coachella said in an Instagram post that the group will perform at the music festival on April 14 and on April 21. The headliner role is usually given to 2023-01-11
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  Ateez ranks seventh on Billboard's top 200 popular albums chart with 'SPIN OFF : FROM THE WITNESS' SEOUL -- K-pop boy band Ateez is garnering explosive popularity through its first single album titled "SPIN OFF : FROM THE WITNESS" The album was ranked seventh on Billboard's top 200 popular album chart. The album released on December 30 ranked seventh on January 9, according to KQ Entertainment, the eight-member band's agency. More than 40,000 copies of the album were sold. The music video of the album's title song "Halazia" gained more than 2023-01-10
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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