Entertainment

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  Girl band Le Sserafim's Kim Ga-ram suspended over school bullying SEOUL -- Le Sserafim, a six-member girl group formed by Hybe's music label, hit a snag, just 18 days after its proudly debut as a sister band of BTS, with a 16-year-old member succumbing to a scandal over her alleged school bullying. The band will perform as a five-member group for a while until Kim Ga-ram recovers from trauma. "Through discussion, Kim Ga-ram decided to stop her activity for a while and focus on healing her injured mind," Source Music said on Twitter o 2022-05-20
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  Scanline pledges $100 million investment in S. Korea's special effects film production facility SEOUL -- Scanline VFX, a prominent visual effects and animation company acquired by Neflix, will invest some $100 million in South Korea's special effects film production facility using virtual reality production technology. The investment will be made over six years until 2027. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun and Scanline President Stephan Trojansky were to attend an investment signing ceremony in Seoul on May 20. Scanline has wo 2022-05-20
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  Kakao Enetertainment merges two American subsidiaries to compete with domestic rival SEOUL -- The content and entertainment wing of South Korea's web service giant Kakao expanded an unyielding turf war with its domestic archrival from Asia to North America by merging two American webtoon and web novel platform subsidiaries into a new entity to create synergy and become a leading player in the storytelling industry. Tapas Media, an American snack culture content provider known as "YouTube of Comics," and Radish Media, a U.S.-based web novel platform, wi 2022-05-19
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  BTS grabs three trophies at Billboard Music Awards SEOUL -- BTS won three awards at the Billboard Music Awards. The seven-member band has grabbed trophies for six consecutive years at the prestigious American annual music awards event since 2017 when the band won the "Top Social Artist Award." The group won in "Top Duo/Group," "Top Song Sales Artist" and "Top Selling Song," Billboard said ahead of its award ceremony through its website on May 15. "Butter," the band's full Englis 2022-05-16
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  Mask-free outdoor arts festival attracts thousands of visitors on Children's Day SEOUL -- A rare scene involving thousands of people roaming freely inside a city square to enjoy summer festivities just like the pre-pandemic times was unfolded in Ansan southwest of Seoul on May 5's Children's Day. Couples, friends, and families applauded and burst into happy laughter while watching a variety of performances and participating in events and games. W 2022-05-13
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  CJ ENM partners with France's Criteo to introduce TV Audience Extension technology SEOUL -- CJ ENM, a top media company in South Korea, partnered with Criteo, a Paris-based commerce media platform, to introduce "TV Audience Extension," a full-funnel marketing feature that combines TV broadcast advertisements and audience-first display advertisements. TV Audience Extension matches target users and discovers potential consumers with Criteo's Shopper Graph which is the world's largest commerce data, combined with Criteo's superior machine lear 2022-05-13
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  CJ ENM to open new drama production studio in Japan with Naver's webtoon service wing SEOUL -- CJ ENM, a media company that created the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," will open a new drama production studio in Japan through cooperation with the webtoon service wing of South Korea's web service giant Naver, as part of efforts to establish a multi-studio system and strengthen global content competitiveness. The new studio tentatively named "Studio Dragon Japan" will be set up by the end of June 2022 with a capital injection of 30 billion won ( 2022-05-12
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  K-pop singer AleXa wins NBC's music program 'American Song Contest' SEOUL -- Alexaundra Christine, an American singer and dancer better known by her stage name AleXa in South Korea, became the winner of an American TV channel NBC's music competition show called "American Song Contest." The 25-year-old K-pop singer who competed with 55 American artists including veteran singers Michael Bolton and Macy Gray will showcase her performance at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. "I am beyond words…Thank you so, so, much for 2022-05-11
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  CJ Group makes strategic investment in global fandom business startup SEOUL -- Two CJ Group units made a strategic investment in bemyfriends, a global fandom business startup in South Korea, to strengthen global direct-to-consumer marketing through non-fungible tokens and artificial intelligence technology. They will work together to maximize synergy and strengthen their leadership of the creator economy. bemyfriends said that it has attracted 22.4 billion won ($17.6 million) from CJ, the holding company of CJ Group, and CJ OliveNetworks, an IT serv 2022-05-10
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  CJ ENM acquires stake in U.S. metaverse studio Hyperreal SEOUL -- Through a strategic investment aimed at strengthening content production capabilities, CJ ENM has acquired a stake in Hyperreal, a U.S. metaverse studio and entertainment producer that creates digital humans in visual effects studios. The South Korean media company that created the Oscar-winning film "Parasite" anticipates synergy when Hyperreal's technology is applied to its content library. The size of CJ ENM's investment was not disclosed. CJ ENM gaine 2022-05-02
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  Bebefinn creators anticipate great success with fast-growing popularity like Baby Shark SEOUL -- Creators of "Bebefinn," a three-dimension video animation show featuring the five-member family of a 20-month-old baby, anticipate a great success as in their previous work, the "Baby Shark Dance" video that made a phenomenal hit worldwide. Bebefinn, created by South Korea's Pinkfong Company, is an animated child who loves to play with Baby Shark. He has four family members -- mother, father, brother and sister. Through a three-minute video, Bebefinn 2022-04-26
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  Virtual human YuA to debut as singer through dance song 'I Like That' SEOUL -- YuA, a virtual artist created by South Korean game publisher "Smilegate" and a visual effects company, will make her debut with a dance song titled "I Like That." Hundreds of voice data were synthesized using artificial intelligence technology to create the 20-year-old's voice. Smilegate said in a statement that YuA's debut song will be released through music websites at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on April 12. The new single portrays an AI human expres 2022-04-12
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  Bithumb Meta becomes 2nd-largest shareholder of Kim Hyeong-seok's entertainment company SEOUL -- The metaverse subsidiary of Bithumb, a major cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, made an unspecified amount of strategic investment in an entertainment company established by Kim Hyeong-seok, a prominent composer and producer, for content partnerships in the metaverse-based digital content market. Bithumb Meta would work with Nonuni Raiders Entertainment to create an ecosystem in which participants who create and utilize digital content on a metaverse platform can devel 2022-04-11
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  CJ ENM creates new studio to strengthen global content competitiveness SEOUL -- CJ ENM, a South Korean media company that created the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," has created a new studio to establish a multi-studio system, underscoring efforts to strengthen global content competitiveness. The new entity named CJ ENM Studios will focus on planning, developing and producing multi-genre content for over-the-top (OTT) platforms. CJ ENM Studios, set up with a capital of 70 billion won ($57.8 million), will recruit excellent creators and acqu 2022-04-05
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  BIGBANG sings about ups and downs of life in comeback song 'Still Life' SEOUL -- Unlike previous albums showing strong hip-hop rhythms, BIGBANG members sing about the ups and downs of life in their comeback song titled "Still Life" as if they ruminate on the glory and shame they have experienced since their debut in 2006. Fans understand and interact with feelings, pushing the song up to the top of South Korean music charts. "Still Life" topped Melon's top 100 charts, almost nine hours after the song was released at midnight on 2022-04-05
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  Kakao joins Seoul city project to build world's largest K-pop concert complex SEOUL -- South Korea's web service giant Kakao joined a project to build the world's largest K-pop concert complex to be built in a northern residential district of Seoul as the main investor who will be in charge of operation and maintenance for 30 years. Construction is to begin in June 2022 for completion in 2025. With an injection of 312 billion won ($256 million), the complex called "Seoul Arena" will be built on a 50,000-square-meter site provided by the Se 2022-04-04
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  Fictional couple Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin from 'Crash Landing on You' tie knot in real life SEOUL -- Popular actor Hyun Bin and actress Son Ye-jin who turned hopeless romance into a beautiful love story in a cable TV drama tied the knot in reality. Through a 2019 drama called "Crash Landing on You," the couple depicted a forbidden love story in North Korea to fascinate global fans including drama lovers in South Korea, China, Japan and Vietnam. The wedding ceremony of Hyun, 39, and Son, 40, was held at a hotel in eastern Seoul on March 30. The event gained atten 2022-04-01
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  BTS member Jungkook tests positive for COVID-19 in Las Vegas SEOUL -- BTS member Jungkook tested positive for COVID-19 while he was staying in Las Vegas to prepare for a Grammy Awards performance. The seven-member band is scheduled to participate in the world's most prestigious music awards event as a nominee but it is unsure whether the 24-year-old will participate in the group performance. Jungkook was confirmed with COVID-19 on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, Big Hit said through Weverse, an official fan community platform. He 2022-03-29
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  Game developer Com2uS acquires controlling stake in K-pop platform MyMusicTaste SEOUL -- Com2uS, a game development and publishing company in South Korea, strengthened business capabilities in the global entertainment market through the acquisition of a controlling 58.5 percent stake in MyMusicTaste, a one-stop K-Pop platform that provides concert organization services and allows fans to interact with artists Financial terms will be disclosed later. Com2uS said it would combine its global network with MyMusicTaste's platform power to showcase more sophistic 2022-03-28
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  American rapper Cardi B to guest star in Baby Shark's Big Show episode SEOUL -- Cardi B, an American rapper and songwriter, will guest star in an episode of Baby Shark’s Big Show!, an animated children's television series based on Pinkfong's "Baby Shark" brand, that will be released on April 15. The show has been broadcast in the United States, Britain, Italy and Australia. The internet celebrity will voice the role of a new character "Sharki B" in the show co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, an American anima 2022-03-25