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Why Park Jeong-min is going viral as Korea's most down-to-earth star

At last week's Blue Dragon Film Awards, Park Jeong-min walked away empty-handed despite dual nominations for best actor and best supporting actor. It was a disappointing outcome, as many had expected him to take home at least one trophy after delivering standout work as both father and son in Yeon Sang-ho's experimental thriller "The Ugly" and as freedom fighter Woo Deok-sun in the period epic "Harbin." Rather than sulking, Park bounded onto the stage to join singer Hwasa for a performance of "G

Tributes pour in for Lee Soon-jae, including from Yoo Yeon-seok, Taeyeon

Tributes poured in from across the theater and entertainment industry following the news of veteran actor Lee Soon-jae’s death on Tuesday. Nah Yung-suk, the star producer behind the travel reality series "Grandpas Over Flowers" (2013-2018), in which Lee appeared, expressed his sorrow at a press event for a new program. “I hadn’t seen him in the past year due to his health," said Nah. "During our travels and in private, the thing he most often told us was that he wanted to stay on stage until the

Obituary: Beloved ‘grandpa’ Lee Soon-jae’s life on stage, screen

Actor Lee Soon-jae, a towering figure in Korean entertainment and one of the nation’s longest-working performers, died Tuesday. He was 91. According to his family, Lee died early on Tuesday morning. Even in advanced age, Lee had continued to work across television, film and theater, remaining active until late 2024, when health problems forced him to withdraw midway through the run of the play “Waiting for Waiting for Godot.” His final screen appearance came in the KBS series “Dog Knows Everythi

'Squid Game' star Heo Sung-tae used to sell TVs for LG. And it shows.

If you followed the original "Squid Game" phenomenon a few years back, there's no way you could forget Jang Deok-su, Player No. 101, the hulking gangster who terrorized fellow contestants with sociopathic calculation — a man who would orchestrate a riot just to thin the herd, who would ditch allies the moment they stopped being useful. The role made Heo Sung-tae the face of villainy, one that seemed to emerge fully formed from some primal casting instinct. But there is something curious about th

Japanese animation 'Demon Slayer' becomes No. 1 movie in S. Korea in 2025

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -- The Movie: Infinity Castle," the latest feature in the hit Japanese animation franchise, has become the top-grossing film in South Korea so far this year, according to its distributor Saturday. According to Animax Broadcasting Korea, the film has drawn a cumulative 5.638 million moviegoers as of Friday, topping the country's previous No. 1 film, "Zombie Daughter," which recorded 5.637 million admissions. It marked the first time an animated title has topped Sout

Movies in theaters this week

"Wicked: For Good" (US) Opened Nov. 19 Musical/Fantasy Directed by Jon M. Chu The second part of the Broadway musical adaptation follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) as they take opposite sides in Oz's political upheaval. "Kokuho" (Japan) Opened Nov. 19 Drama Directed by Lee Sang-il A son of a yakuza boss (Soya Kurokawa, later Ryo Yoshizawa) becomes apprentice to a famous kabuki master and rises through the world of traditional theater, battling his outsider status over dec

Moments to remember at Blue Dragon Film Awards

The 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards at KBS Hall on Wednesday night delivered more than just trophies. Between Park Chan-wook's "No Other Choice" sweeping seven categories, the ceremony produced a string of spontaneous detours from the official program that had social media lighting up long after the broadcast ended. Call it the power-couple moment that rewrote Blue Dragon history. The night's most talked-about milestone came when Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin became the first married couple to sweep both

'No Other Choice' claims top honors at Blue Dragon Film Awards

Park Chan-wook's "No Other Choice" claimed best picture at the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards on Wednesday night, leading the ceremony with seven wins -- including best director and best actress honors -- at South Korea's premier film awards held at KBS Hall in Yeouido. The Venice-premiered satirical thriller, starring Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, dominated major categories after entering with a field-leading 12 nominations. Park secured his fourth best director trophy -- making him the only film

Kim Hyang-gi returns to painful ground

The year Kim Hyang-gi turned 12, she chose to take a break. Her parents had been saying it for years: You can quit acting anytime you want. She had been working since before kindergarten — a bakery commercial at 3 alongside Jung Woo-sung, her feature film debut at 6, steady work after that. By fifth grade, the decision seemed overdue; it was time to be a normal kid. "I loved hanging out with my friends," she tells reporters at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, on Tuesday, putting herself back in

Nine years on, Judy and Nick team up again

"I know that I cannot put a jigsaw puzzle together if all of my pieces are the same shape," Ginnifer Goodwin said Tuesday in a virtual press conference. The actor, returning as bunny cop Judy Hopps in "Zootopia 2," was explaining what the film is really getting at beneath all the slapstick chase scenes and talking-animal jokes. "You need all of the pieces to be all different shapes in order to make a beautiful puzzle." Nine years after the original film topped $1 billion worldwide and drew 4.6 m

'Kokuho' director Lee Sang-il wants you to stop making it about identity

"Don't take it so seriously," Lee Sang-il says, waving off questions about what it means for a Zainichi Korean director to have made Japan's biggest film of the year. The numbers tell one story: "Kokuho" has pulled in over 12 million viewers since June, earning 17 billion yen ($110 million) and becoming 2025's singular phenomenon in Japanese cinema. The film is all but certain to dethrone "Bayside Shakedown 2" (2003) in the coming weeks to become the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film of

'Hallan' takes Jeju's largely forgotten massacre to the screen

Jeju Island draws millions of tourists each year. They come for the cherry blossoms and volcanic beaches, the UNESCO-designated heritage sites and swanky honeymoon resorts. What most visitors don't know is that the island's soil holds the remains of over 30,000 people killed between 1947 and 1954 — by some estimates, roughly 10 percent of the island's population at the time. The Jeju 4.3 Incident — the term used to describe this period of violence — started as an uprising against plans to hold s

The splendor and emptiness of 'Kokuho'

Stories about artists willing to give up everything for their work— family, fortune, their very selves — have a peculiar hold on us. From "A Star is Born" (1937) and "The Red Shoes" (1948) to "Whiplash" (2014) and "The Brutalist" (2024), these tales keep drawing audiences back, perhaps because there's something inherently mesmerizing about watching people burn themselves out to shine their brightest. "Kokuho" — which translates to "national treasure," the title bestowed by the Japanese governmen

Movies in theaters this week

"Now You See Me: Now You Don't" (US) Opened Nov. 12 Crime/Thriller Directed by Ruben Fleischer The Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher) reunite to recruit three young illusionists for a high-stakes diamond theft from a crime syndicate, in this latest installment of the magician-heist franchise. "Predator: Badlands" (US) Opened Nov. 5 Sci-fi/Action Directed by Dan Trachtenberg An undersized Yautja warrior (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) crash-lands on a dea

Romance classic 'A Werewolf Boy' gets Philippine remake

The 2012 Korean melodrama "A Werewolf Boy" is getting a Philippine remake, with production now underway through a joint partnership between Viva Films, Studio Viva, and CJ ENM. Filipino actors Rabin Angeles and Angela Muji will head the film in their first lead roles on the big screen. Angeles will play the feral boy originally played by Song Joong-ki, while Muji will step into Park Bo-young's role as Sun-yi. Veteran actress Lorna Tolentino will round out the cast. Director Crisanto B. Aquino, k