BTS performed its new track “Fake Love” at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, US time. The six-member boy band delivered an energetic performance, showing off powerful dance moves alongside emotion-filled vocals. International fans in the audience were spotted cheering and singing along to the song, with some appearing teary-eyed.The song is from BTS’ latest album “Love Yourself: Tear.” BTS won the top social artist award at the awards for the second consecutive year. By Rumy Doo (doo@he

Performance May 21, 2018

Figure skating champion Kim Yu-na made her first appearance in an ice show in four years on Sunday. She performed a special gala program at the “All That Skate 2018” ice show held at Seoul’s Mokdong Ice Rink. The world-class athlete performed to Jonny Greenwood’s “House of Woodcock,” part of the original soundtrack for the 2017 film “Phantom Thread.”No jumps were carried out but Kim mesmerized the audience during the three-minute show. Skating in a flowing white dress dotted with dainty flowers,

More Sports May 21, 2018

Director Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” garnered a record high score in the Cannes Film Festival’s daily newsletter upon its jury screening. With a 3.8 average, the film has nabbed the highest score in the history of Screen’s Cannes jury grid, surpassing the previous record of 3.7 set by Maren Ade’s “Tony Erdmann” in 2016.All but two critics awarded the film the full four stars, with two giving three stars. Screen’s review described the film as “quietly devastating…a film of wondrous complexity and

Film May 18, 2018

Rains continued to pour down Thursday night and into Friday morning, leading to flooding in various parts of Korea.The lower-level of the Jamsu Bridge, connecting Seoul’s central Yongsan-gu and southern Seocho-gu, was temporarily closed Friday morning as the Han River’s water levels rose 6.32 meters. Korea has been witnessing prolonged rainfall since Wednesday. Seoul clocked in some 133.5 millimeters of precipitation in three days. Gangwon Province was hit by torrential downpours early Friday mo

Social Affairs May 18, 2018

K-pop star Seungri has become a model for the online dating app Tinder in Korea, YG Entertainment announced Thursday. In one of the ads, Seungri is dressed in a suit and holds a champagne glass. In another, he is dressed casually with a smartphone in his hand.  (Tinder)“Friends of many nationalities that I meet through tours abroad and business use Tinder a lot,” said Seungri in a press release. “It’s a good fit for me, as I enjoy meeting new people,” he said on modeling for the app. Larger vers

Performance May 17, 2018

Heavy rains hammered Seoul and nearby areas on Wednesday afternoon. Rain, along with thunder and strong winds, fell as clouds gathered above the Ganghwado area northwest of Seoul. The capital’s skies dimmed to a dull grey as clouds shrouded the atmosphere at noon. Seoul saw some 43 millimeters of rainfall as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. Incheon saw 26.5 millimeters, while Paju and Dongducheon witnessed 50. 2 millimeters and 36.5 millimeters of rain, respectively. Some 27.4 millimeters of rain fell in Su

Social Affairs May 16, 2018

YouTube was the app used for the longest periods of time by South Korean users of all ages last month, data showed Tuesday.According to Wise App’s data on the app usage of Koreans in different age groups during the month of April, Korean teens spent some 7.6 billion minutes on the video platform during the cited period.Those in their 20s spent 5.3 billion minutes on the platform. The figures for people in their 30s and 40s were 4.2 billion minutes and 3.8 billion minutes, respectively. In total,

Technology May 15, 2018

Amid an ongoing series of diplomatic moves, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to be lifting the veil that has surrounded him and the North Korean regime long before he took over as the country’s leader in 2012. South Koreans’ responses to media exposure of Kim, in particular the historic April 27 inter-Korean summit held in the border village of Panmunjeom, ranged from skepticism to amusement and surprise. During the daylong summit, South Koreans were able to witness, via live broadcast, s

North Korea May 14, 2018

For Park Hyun-ah, 30, life was always meant to follow a certain trajectory. After graduating from high school, she went on to a prestigious university, after which she was certain she would pass the bar exam or land a high-paying, stable job. Fierce competition obstructed both options, and Park entered graduate school. Having at least tackled the hurdles of education, the next rite of passage was employment. But after a year of job seeking, Lee remained jobless. Last month, she nabbed a contract

Social Affairs May 10, 2018

Interest in North Korea has heightened following the inter-Korean summit that took place last Friday. In subsequent days, tourists have been flocking to a replica set of Panmunjeom, the border village where the talks took place and which received international media exposure for the entire day, located in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Though the original Panmunjeom and the surrounding Joint Security Area, located in Paju, have long been the target of global attention, access to the area is large

North Korea May 2, 2018

The wisecracking mercenary superhero Deadpool is not too different from Ryan Reynolds, said the actor who plays the character at a press conference in Seoul Wednesday.The actor visited Korea to promote “Deadpool 2,” the sequel to the Marvel superhero film “Deadpool” released in 2016. The second installment is set for a world premiere in Korean theaters on May 16. “I would say we‘re a pretty close match,” Reynolds told reporters of his character at a hotel in central Seoul. “The only difference,

Film May 2, 2018

Amid an amicable summit between the two Korean leaders at Panmunjeom on Friday, a herd of stoic North Korean men clad in suits grabbed the attention of viewers watching on television. As Kim Jong-un strode toward the border between the two Koreas, a flock of security guards surrounded the North Korean leader in a V-shaped formation. The fourteen tall, suited men scattered when Kim approached South Korean President Moon Jae-in, waiting at the demarcation line. A few hours later, when the morning

North Korea April 28, 2018

Following the historic meeting between the two Koreas’ leaders on Friday morning at Panmunjeom, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un said something to South Korean President Moon Jae-in that caught the ears of many Koreans watching the conversation via television.The two heads of state met and exchanged handshakes charged with historical significance at the Military Demarcation Line at 9:30 a.m. After a welcoming ceremony and walk to the meeting venue, the Peace House, the two leaders sat down for the summ

Culture April 27, 2018

President Moon Jae-in greeted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as he crossed the border into South Korea at 9:30 a.m. for their day-long summit talks at Panmunjeom. This is the first time a North Korean leader has set foot south of the border since the end of the Korean War.The two leaders were all smiles as they shared a historic handshake, engaged in brief conversation and walked together toward the Peace House, where the summit is to take place. (Cheong Wa Dae) (Cheong Wa Dae) (Cheong Wa Dae)

North Korea April 27, 2018

People living in Korea remain at once skeptical and hopeful of the historical inter-Korean summit set to take place Friday in Panmunjeom, on the border of the two Koreas. North Korean denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the peninsula are among the key items to be discussed at the table between Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In recent months, roughly since the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, the North has shown unprecedented overtures in favor of

North Korea April 26, 2018