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Kwak Yeon-soo

Korea Times Digital Content Reporter

Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.

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Entertainment

Trot singer Song Ga-in appointed 2022 honorary hanbok ambassador

Trot singer Song Ga-in / Courtesy of PocketDol Studio By Kwak Yeon-sooTrot singer Song Ga-in has been named the honorary hanbok ambassador of 2022, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday. The culture ministry, together with the Korea Craft & Design Foundation, has appointed an honorary ambassador each year since 2014 to promote traditional Korean attire. Last year's ambassador was singer-actor Jun Hyo-seong.Song will wear traditional Korean clothing at public events, promoting hanbok at home and abroad. She has demonstrated her love for hanbok as she has often performed wearing hanbok-inspired stage costumes. “I'm well aware of the fact that the culture ministry has been developing hanbok-inspired school and work uniform designs so that more people can enjoy hanbok. The government has been carrying out diverse projects with fashion schools and cultural centers overseas to promote hanbok,” Song said.“As an honorary hanbok ambassador, I will try my be

Mar 21, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Trot singer Song Ga-in appointed 2022 honorary hanbok ambassador
Trends

Russia demands early return of 75 loaned paintings amid war in Ukraine

Visitors take a look at art works on display in the “Kandinsky, Malevich & Russian Avant-Garde” exhibition at the Sejong Museum of Art in the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Seoul, Jan. 2. Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki By Kwak Yeon-sooRussia has called for the early return of art works that are currently on display as part of the “Kandinsky, Malevich & Russian Avant-Garde” exhibition in Seoul, as escalating tensions created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have spilled over into the art world. Co-hosted by The Korea Times and its sister paper, the Hankook Ilbo, the exhibition is to be held until April 17 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. The exhibition offers a rare view into an influential wave of early modern art through 75 paintings of 49 major Russian and Soviet artists, including Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko and Natalia Goncharova. The art works were loaned by four Russian museums ― the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fin

Mar 18, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Russia demands early return of 75 loaned paintings amid war in Ukraine
Films

Full of neo-noir film cliches, 'Hot Blooded' fails to impress

A scene from the film “Hot Blooded” / Courtesy of Kidari Studio By Kwak Yeon-sooCheon Myoung-kwan's directorial debut, “Hot Blooded” is full of neo-noir film cliches that are rather forgettable, in the big scheme of things. The film is a two-hour tale in which the audience is tasked with solving a riddle that ties the past with the present, featuring a vengeful anti-hero who uncovers a tangled web of betrayal, fights villains and seeks power.Set in a shabby town near the port city of Busan, the film tells the story of a third-rate gangster, Hee-su (Jung Woo), who unwittingly becomes involved in a gang war and faces the brutal fate of having to kill his boss in order to take control.The film falls into self-indulgence territory as it tries to adapt a 600-page book by novelist Kim Un-su into only a few hours. Even though the film cut out many parts of the original story, it is too slow and goes off into unnecessary tangents for its supporting characters with little to

Mar 18, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Full of neo-noir film cliches, 'Hot Blooded' fails to impress
Films

Hilarious chase movie 'Stellar' brings back 1980s' nostalgia

From left, actors Heo Sung-tae, Son Ho-jun and Lee Kyoo-hyung pose during a press conference for the film, “Stellar” in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of CJ CGVBy Kwak Yeon-soo“Stellar” is a funny, heartwarming chase movie that features plenty of nostalgic details from the 1980s and reminds audiences that the road connects more than just places; it connects people.Directed by Kwon Soo-kyung, “Stellar” is about a man who gradually comes to understand his late father while on the run in his father's beat-up old car. The script was written by Bae Se-young, responsible for the hilarious one-liners in “Extreme Job” (2019). Young-bae (Son Ho-jun), the protagonist of the film, works at a mortgage company that offers auto loans, and gets in trouble when his friend Dong-sik (Lee Kyoo-hyung) disappears with a supercar which belongs to his boss (Heo Sung-tae). Young-bae is given three hours to find his friend and bring back the missing car.The true hero in the film is Stellar, an old mid-sized sedan that was released nearly 40 years ago. The car is bot

Mar 17, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hilarious chase movie 'Stellar' brings back 1980s' nostalgia
Trends

Popularity of K-content drives boom in Korean language learning

A scene from the “K-Wave Korean” series for learning Korean / Courtesy of the King Sejong Institute FoundationBy Kwak Yeon-sooThe rising global popularity of Korean content ― K-pop, K-dramas and films ― is fueling a boom in learning the Korean language, and government agencies, as well as institutions abroad, are taking advantage of the trend to develop and expand Korean language education programs.Korean is the 14th-most widely used language in the world and is the second-fastest growing language in the world after Hindi, according to language learning app Duolingo. A study by the University Council of Modern Languages showed that between 2012 and 2018, the number of U.K. university students taking Korean language courses more than tripled. The growing interest in studying Korean can be attributed to the growing popularity of hallyu, or the Korean Wave. A report by the Korea Foundation showed that the number of global hallyu fans has increased 17 times in the last decade to 156.6 million as of last December.Another indicator of the global rise of interest in Korean is th

Mar 16, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Popularity of K-content drives boom in Korean language learning
Arts & Theater

Best Play Festival to begin in April

By Kwak Yeon-sooA poster for the ninth edition of “The Best Play” festival / Courtesy of The Best PlaysThe Best Play Festival will kick off in April and present four performances that reflect on the beauty and fragility of life, according to the festival organizers, Tuesday.The ninth edition will be held in various theaters around Seoul from April 14 to Feb. 26, 2023. The theater festival, which runs biannually, began in 2004 to promote local theaters and culture.The opening piece, “The Nature of Forgetting,” will be performed at Wooran Art Scape 2 from April 14 to 30. It tells the story of 55-year-old Tom, who has early-onset dementia and is cared for by his daughter Sophie. The play, which incorporates music, movement and theater, depicts one's journey to find love, friendship and the meaning of life in the process of losing memory. Korean actors and staff will collaborate with the original production team to deliver the essence of the play while adding new values. For the festival's second performance, “The Invisible Hand” will be performed at t

Mar 15, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Best Play Festival to begin in April
Shows & Dramas

Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun to star in period action series 'Song of the Bandits'

Actors Kim Nam-gil, left, and Seohyun / Courtesy of GILSTORYENT, Namoo Actors By Kwak Yeon-sooActor Kim Nam-gil and Seohyun of Girls' Generation will unite for Netflix's original series “Song of the Bandits.” Set in the 1920s, the period action drama revolves around the Koreans who gathered in Gando, today part of northeastern China, for their own reasons and band together to protect their homes during 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule.Kim will play Lee Yoon, a former Japanese soldier who leaves to become a righteous outlaw protecting the Koreans against the Japanese military in Gando. Seohyun will play Nam Hee-shin, an employee at Chosun Railway Bureau. The cast also includes Yoo Jae-myung who will play the role of Korean landowner in Gando who once led an independence army unit engaged in resistance activities; Lee Hyun-wook, who will be seen as a Japanese military officer; and Lee Ho-jung, who will portray a gunman in pursuit of Kim's character.“Song of the Bandits”

Mar 14, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun to star in period action series 'Song of the Bandits'
Films

Film production companies adapt to pandemic by flocking to TV series

A scene from Netflix series “Suriname” / Courtesy of Netflix By Kwak Yeon-sooA growing number of film production companies are expanding their specialties from just making films to creating drama series as a way to adapt to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.The aggregated revenues of the local film markets, which include domestic sales of movie tickets as well as online releases and exports, reached 1.02 trillion won ($822 million) last year, down 60 percent from the 2.5 trillion won during the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to data from the Korean Film Council. Aside from very big releases like “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” most films underperformed at the box office. As the film industry reeled from the impact of the pandemic, filmmakers crossed over to the small screen as a way of adjusting to changes in the market and in the ways audiences consume content.Local film production company Siren Pictures paved the way for success

Mar 14, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Film production companies adapt to pandemic by flocking to TV series
Shows & Dramas

Bae Suzy in talks to join new Netflix series

Singer-actress Bae Suzy / Courtesy of Kakao MBy Kwak Yeon-sooSinger-actress Bae Suzy is in talks to star in Netflix's upcoming series “The Girl Downstairs” (working title).Responding to local reports, Bae's agency Management Soop confirmed she “is currently reviewing the offer to star in the Netflix series, 'The Girl Downstairs.'”Based on the webtoon of the same title, the romantic comedy follows the story of ex-celebrity Duna who comes to live in shared house with a college freshman named Joon. It will be directed by Lee Jung-hyo of “Romance Is a Bonus Book” (2019) and “Crash Landing on You” (2019-2020).Bae is also set to play a lead role in local streaming platform Coupang Play's new original series “Anna,” which will be unveiled in the first half of this year. In February, she released a new digital single “Satellite” after a four-year musical hiatus.Bae debuted as a member of four-pieced K-pop girl group Miss A with the song “Bad Girl Good Girl” in 2010. The group instantly rose to stardom as JYP

Mar 13, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Bae Suzy in talks to join new Netflix series
Shows & Dramas

Homegrown OTT service providers eye global expansion

gettyimagesbank By Kwak Yeon-sooHomegrown over-the-top (OTT) service providers are making strong inroads internationally to achieve subscriber growth and bring more original content to audiences around the globe.CJ ENM has partnered with Viacom CBS to expand the global reach of its streaming platform, Tving. The two will co-produce original series and films as well as cultivate partnerships on content licensing and distribution across streaming services. It also acquired a controlling stake in U.S. production company Endeavor Content and secured a $7 million investment from Paramount in Tving as part of a global strategic partnership with the company.Tving plans to launch direct services in Japan and Taiwan this year and in the U.S. next year to meet the rising demand for Korean content across the world. The company's service will be available in about 10 countries in North America and Europe in the near future.“This investment is an acknowledgement of Tvin's high g

Mar 13, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Homegrown OTT service providers eye global expansion
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