Entertainment

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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
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  Baby Shark song becomes Britain's eighth most-streamed track SEOUL -- "Baby Shark," a catchy cartoon song created by South Korea's educational entertainment company Pinkfong, became the eighth most-streamed song in Britain, beating Despacito, a popular song released by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring rapper Daddy Yankee in 2017. Britain's "Official Chart" is known as one of the world's top song charts along with the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Pinkfong Company said in a statement on November 17 that Baby 2022-11-17
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  Korea Seven creates metaverse store to host music festivals and events SEOUL -- The South Korean operator of global convenience store franchise 7-Eleven launched a virtual store where visitors can enjoy entertainment performances and events on a metaverse platform created by SK Telecom, a top mobile carrier. Food products such as ramen noodles and beer were recreated into chairs so that visitors can sit and consume various content. Ifland has showcased the performances of many indie bands and musicians, using volumetric capture technology that uses ma 2022-11-11
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  Horror web cartoon 'Island' to be recreated into TV Drama SEOUL -- "Island," a popular horror web cartoon that portrays the story of exorcists coping with unidentified demons, will be recreated into a TV drama. Anyone can consume the content with English subtitles on "Amazon Prime Video," a global over-the-top streaming platform. In the horror cartoon that covers various social issues such as bullying and candid shooting, exorcists use their spiritual power to cast out devils in South Korea's southern resort island 2022-11-09
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  BTS agency posts 7.6 percent drop in Q3 operating profit despite brisk sales SEOUL -- Hybe posted a 7.6 percent drop in operating profit in the third quarter of 2022 amid predictions that next year's earnings rate will be worse due to the enlistment of BTS members who accounted for up to 65 percent of sales. The multi-label agency anticipates better earnings in 2024 thanks to the good performance of rookies and other artists. Hybe's consolidated third-quarter sales were estimated at 445.5 billion won ($313.9 million), up 30.6 percent from a year ago, 2022-11-03
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  Speculation over game developer Com2uS' acquisition of 4.2% stake in SM Entertainment SEOUL -- Com2uS, a game development and publishing company in South Korea, has secured a 4.2 percent stake in SM, an entertainment powerhouse that has been under pressure from minority shareholders to enhance transparency in governance and accounting. The move comes amid growing attention among market watchers to SM's next shareholders' meeting. Com2uS said that its investment was based on the judgment that SM has been relatively undervalued and has a high value for futur 2022-11-01
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  BTS Jin releases first single album ahead of enlistment in collaboration with Coldplay SEOUL -- Jin, the eldest member of BTS, rolled out "The Astronaut," a first solo single co-written by British rock band Coldplay, ahead of his conscription for South Korea's mandatory military service. The pop-rock song will be performed at Coldplay's concert in Buenos Aires. "The song captures the ears of listeners and the hearts of BTS' fan ARMY as Jin participated in writing the lyrics expressing his fondness for fans," Jin's agency, Big Hit M 2022-10-28
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  EBS science TV talk show brings up topic of how to handle problems in future world SEOUL -- Using new technologies such as extended reality, an experimental science TV talk show created by a public educational broadcaster in South Korea brings up the conversation topic of how to handle various social problems faced by humans living in a future world where technology is extremely developed. The program titled "The Dreamers" produced by the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) looks into future science technologies and shocking crimes from the stage 2022-10-28
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  Spotify releases personalized playlist service capable of blending users' musical preferences with BLACKPINK's SEOUL -- Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service, launched a service that enables users to create playlists that combine their musical tastes with that of K-pop girl band BLACKPINK. Users can find out how much their listening preferences are similar to the four-member band. Blend, Spotify's service launched in September 2021, reflects the musical tastes of up to 10 listeners to create a playlist. Users can share their taste match scores that show how s 2022-10-24
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  Coldplay collaborates with BTS member Jin for single album ahead of enlistment SEOUL -- British rock band Coldplay has collaborated with Jin, the eldest BTS member, for a solo single titled "The Astronaut" ahead of his conscription for South Korea's mandatory military service. The five-member British band has previously released a collaboration single called "My Universe" with BTS in both Korean and English. Jin's agency, Big Hit Music, posted a poster on Facebook that the new single would be released on October 28. The music video 2022-10-20