The Korea Times

Superpowered 'Item' debuts with eye-pleasing visual effects

Actor Ju Ji-hoon, second from left, speaks during a press conference for MBC's new sci-fi fantasy drama “Item” at the network's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of MBCBy Park Jin-hai What if ordinary people discover special items like a bracelet that gives them psychokinetic powers or a future-seeing Polaroid camera? What would they try to do with them? MBC's sci-fi blockbuster “Item” starring Ju Ji-hoon starts with these questions. The webcomic-based fantasy drama tells the story of a prosecutor and criminal profiler duo who track down a conspiracy revolving around items that enable ordinary people to gain “superpowers.”The much-anticipated Monday-Tuesday drama premiered Feb. 11 with a good start, debuting with 4.9 percent viewership. The first episode started with a strange dream of Kang Gon, played by Ju, of panicked passengers trapped in a runaway train. Kang wearing a mysterious bracelet with a blue aura jumps down onto the train tracks, wields enormous power and stops the disaster. Also in his dream, he sees a woman jumping from a bu

Feb 12, 2019By Park Jin-hai

Superpowered 'Item' debuts with eye-pleasing visual effects

Shows & Dramas

INTERVIEW Yum Jung-ah depicts twisted maternal love

Actress Yum Jung-ah poses prior to the interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in southern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of Artist CompanyBy Park Jin-hai In the recently ended JTBC drama “SKY Castle” that made history as a cable TV series with record ratings, actress Yum Jung-ah played a “tough mom.” Her character Han Seo-jin, was enough to be called an evil parent who would do anything for her own sake. Han, born as Gwak Mi-hyang from a family who sells meat products including intestines, forged a fake identity as a banker's daughter. Getting married to a doctor under the false identity, she always listened to her own desires, looking to be at the top of the social class, ignoring others she may hurt along the way. But viewers responded more fervently to the plotting mother Han than the philanthropic, good-hearted mother Lee Soo-im. “With this drama, I've been receiving the most attention from people in my entire 28-year acting career,” said the 46-year-old actress, who played the elite mother living in the affluent SKY Castle residential complex,

Feb 8, 2019By Park Jin-hai

[INTERVIEW] Yum Jung-ah depicts twisted maternal love

Films

'Extreme Job' takes over box office by storm

A scene from the film “Extreme Job” / Courtesy of CJ EntertainmentBy Park Jin-haiDirector Lee Byeong-heon's new comedy film has taken over the local box office. The low budget film continues to surprise the film market, renewing daily ticket sales.Lee said he tried not to feel pressure thinking about reviews and “just made it, thinking it is an entertainment show.” It has topped the box office for nine straight days since its Jan. 23 release. The film, starring Ryu Seung-young and Lee Ha-nee, tells the story of a team of vice detectives who go undercover inside a fried chicken eatery to crack down on an organized crime ring. But things take an unexpected turn when the detectives' chicken shop earns sudden fame as the hottest eatery in town. It sold over 5 million as of Friday. Previously, it broke the daily admission record with the sales of 1 million tickets on the opening weekend, surpassing that of box office-hit “Along With The Gods” with some 916,000, set Jan. 1 2018. It only took eight days for the film to reach the 4 million admissions mark,

Feb 1, 2019By Park Jin-hai

'Extreme Job' takes over box office by storm

Shows & Dramas

TV show unveils truth about 'faith healer' pastor

A scene captured from MBC's “PD Notebook”By Park Jin-haiA local investigative TV show has revisited the case surrounding megachurch pastor Lee Jae-rock, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison last November for raping and sexually harassing at least eight female congregants. MBC's PD Notebook, aired a segment Tuesday which reported that the 75-year-old pastor of Manmin Central Church saw himself as equal to God and looked into allegations raised repeatedly against the pastor involving sexual abuse. This included grooming young victims and forcing them to have sex with him. In 1999, the same show previously attempted to report the allegations but the Seoul Central District Court accepted the church's filing for an injunction and ruled that MBC should delete parts related to the sexual abuse allegations. During the broadcast, the MBC building was besieged by thousands of Lee's followers, some of whom stormed the TV station and cut off the power. Tuesday's show aired the deleted 15-minute clip along with other allegations. The show garnered a 5.4 percent viewership, its high

Jan 30, 2019By Park Jin-hai

TV show unveils truth about 'faith healer' pastor

Shows & Dramas

INTERVIEW Kim Seo-hyung steals show

Kim Seo-hyung / Courtesy of Fly Up EntertainmentActress talks about role of villain in hit drama SKY Castle By Park Jin-hai Neatly combed-back haired and dressed in all-black, when actress Kim Seo-hyung appears in the popular JTBC drama “SKY Castle,” she steals the show with her domineering charisma and eerie, mysterious aura. The 45-year-old veteran actress plays cold-hearted personal counselor Kim Ju-young in the drama, who is hired by super-rich parents, who want to give their children easy tickets to the most coveted university to pass on their wealth and social status. “Hearing just that the drama revolves around mothers obsessed with their children's education, I was worried that it could end up being the same old soap opera with helicopter moms. But the first two episodes changed all that,” the actress said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in southern Seoul, Tuesday. “Each episode felt like a film with great cinematography and great directing. So to some extent, I forecast that it would garner good rankings. I thought it might ri

Jan 30, 2019By Park Jin-hai

K-pop

BTS becomes cultural phenomenon

Superstar K-pop band covered in films, books, webtoons, games By Park Jin-haiOn Saturday, the CGV theater in Seoul's southwestern Yeongdeungpo-gu discrict, was turned into a concert hall. Fans waited in long lines to enter the theater for the special two-night screening event called “ARMY Bomb Screening,” where BTS fans could sing along to songs and wave light sticks called “BTS Bomb” while watching live BTS concert tour footage on the big screen. Like the real concert, fans chant each member's names, passionately waving color-changing sticks as guided by Bit Hit staff members. "Love Yourself in Seoul," a documentary released on Saturday that recorded BTS' "Love Yourself" concert series in the city, attracted over 180,000 moviegoers in two days during the opening weekend. It became the second-most-seen film at the local box office. It is BTS' second film in just two and a half months ― its first, "Burn the Stage: The Movie," garnered an audience of 2 million in some 70 countries and regions following its release in November 2018. Their second documentary film

Jan 28, 2019By Park Jin-hai

Films

Occult thriller starring Lee Jung-jae to hit theaters

Lee Jung-jae seen in his upcoming thriller “Svaha” / Courtesy of CJ EntertainmentBy Park Jin-haiVeteran actor Lee Jung-jae will star in a mystery thriller featuring a fictional covert Buddhist cult.“Svaha,” a Sanskrit word used in Buddhism equivalent to the Christian “amen,” tells the story of a pastor, played by Lee, who runs a research center on religion and is involved in a mysterious murder case involving twin sisters. Lee investigates the mysterious Buddhist cult behind it called the “Deer Farm.” The film is directed by Jang Jae-hyun, who received critical acclaim for triggering an Occult genre boom in the local cinema scene with his 2015 box office hit “The Priests” about Catholic exorcism. In the wake of his film's commercial success that attracted nearly 5.5 million, many films and dramas have explored similar topics. Na Hong-jin's mystery thriller “The Wailing” (2016) and dramas “The Guest” and “Priest” that hit the airwaves last year are some examples that emulated “The Pri

Jan 27, 2019By Park Jin-hai

Occult thriller starring Lee Jung-jae to hit theaters

Travel & Food

'Tea is essential part of Buddhist culture'

A bloomed flower lies in an empty tea cup on the rock at Geumdun Temple in South Jeolla Province, Jan. 22. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukVenerable Jiheo speaks of life with tea By Park Jin-haiVenerable Jiheo, 77, who has devoted his life to growing green tea plants since he became a monk at the age of 15, says the essence of Buddhist culture lies in tea. “A famous ancient book praising green tea says if one drinks seven cups of tea, that person can become a Buddha. With each cup of tea, one's thirst, loneliness and complaints gradually go away. When the person reaches the seventh cup, he can feel the clear breeze blowing underarm with no wind at all,” said the former chief monk of Seonam Temple. He now runs a small temple Geumdun, just 14 kilometers south of Seonamsa (sa is Korean for temple), with some wild tea fields over 700 years old. “In practicing seon (zen), focusing on the single thought of hwadu, one's body caves in to sleep and distracting thoughts. Teas help eliminate waste matter from the body, clear one's mind and focus on the single subject of hwadu

Jan 24, 2019By Park Jin-hai

'Tea is essential part of Buddhist culture'

VIDEO Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism

Travel & Food

VIDEO Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism

A fish-shaped wind chime hangs from the exterior corner of Seonam Temple in South Jeolla Province. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Park Jin-haiSUNCHEON ― In Seonam Temple located in the foothills of Mount Jogye in South Jeolla Province, every small thing seems to form a bigger picture that Mother Nature has created, from rolling small cobbles on the unpaved road to a little stream, a tree trunk scorched by lightning strike and walls revealing clay and straw that has been standing for over a thousand years. Unlike bigger temples that overwhelm visitors, Seonam Temple, the head temple of the Taego Order, boasts of modest and time-honored beauty. The historic temple, constructed by Doseon in 875, has no vivid decorations or majestic Four Heavenly Kings statues guarding devotees. Instead Seungseongyo, a rainbow-shaped stone bridge designated Treasure No. 400, greets visitors. When crossing the bridge, one is believed to become a Daoist hermit and erase the contamination of the secular world. Seungseongyo at Seonam Temple in South Jeolla Province. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-

Jan 24, 2019By Park Jin-hai

[VIDEO] Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism

'Tea is essential part of Buddhist culture'

K-pop

Wanna One's Ong Seong-wu debuts as actor

By Park Jin-haiOng Seong-wu / Courtesy of FantagioOng Seong-wu, a member of disbanded project K-pop boy band Wanna One, will begin his acting career in the JTBC upcoming drama “Moments of 18.” The 23-year-old, who debuted as a singer through TV audition show “Produce 101” in 2017, went solo after the popular 11-member boy band was disbanded as scheduled at the end of last year. Ong is cast as the drama's male lead, 18-year-old quiet and solitary new student Choi Jun-wu in the coming-of-age drama which tells the story of high school students and their precarious lives. “Ahead of my new beginning, my feelings are mixed. I am nervous but excited at the same time. It's just like when I was preparing for my debut as a singer,” Ong said. “I'm taking this career with all my heart since it is something I've long dreamed of.” The singer is also planning to release a solo album, the date of which has yet to be decided. Ong and the rest of the Wanna One members are scheduled to perform in four concerts at Gocheok Sky Dome between Thursday and Sund

Jan 22, 2019By Park Jin-hai

Park Jin-hai

Read more

Superpowered 'Item' debuts with eye-pleasing visual effects

INTERVIEW Yum Jung-ah depicts twisted maternal love

'Extreme Job' takes over box office by storm

TV show unveils truth about 'faith healer' pastor

INTERVIEW Kim Seo-hyung steals show

BTS becomes cultural phenomenon

Occult thriller starring Lee Jung-jae to hit theaters

'Tea is essential part of Buddhist culture'

VIDEO Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism

Wanna One's Ong Seong-wu debuts as actor

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