'Squid Game' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk returns home after Emmy victory Actor Park Hae-soo, left, director Hwang Dong-hyuk, center, and actress Jung Ho-yeon of the Netflix Korean series, “Squid Game,” greet reporters at Incheon International Airport, Sept. 15, after participating in the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Yonhap"Squid Game" creator Hwang Dong-hyuk received a warm welcome upon his return to South Korea on Thursday after winning the country's first prize at the Emmy Awards.He arrived at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, along with "Squid Game" actors Jung Ho-yeon and Park Hae-soo, with about 100 fans and journalists gathered to celebrate the historic honor."Thank you everyone for supporting us," he told reporters upon arrival. "The Emmy Awards was the final race for the first season. It's fortunate that we wrapped up the season with meaningful prizes.""Squid Game," written and directed by Hwang, made history at the 74th edition of the Primetime Emmy Awards held Monday. The Emmys recognize outstanding TV programming for the year in the United States.The nine-part Netflix original aboutSep 15, 2022
Metaverse hits TV biz: shows featuring avatars, virtual reality on rise MBN's music show “Avatar Singer” invites artists to perform anonymously through avatars. Courtesy of MBNMusic, dating shows incorporate metaverse technologyBy Lee Gyu-leeMetaverse, a term referring to a fictional, immersive world facilitated by virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) technologies, has been considered to be the next big tech trend over the past couple of years, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic opening up the contactless era.Many industries, ranging from gaming and social media to banking and retail, have been on their toes to implement the technologies and incorporate metaverse technology into their business. Expanding its presence, metaverse is now hitting the TV business, with networks running series that feature related technologies like virtual avatars and VR or AR.Local network MBN debuted a big-budget project, “Avatar Singer,” which began airing on Aug. 26.The new program, which prides itself as the first metaverse music show in Korea, invites recognized musicians to perform and compete with each other.But there is one twist: the musiSep 15, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' tops Netflix chart for 7th straight week This image provided by Netflix highlights that "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" placed No. 1 on Netflix's weekly top 10 chart for non-English TV shows for the week of Sept. 5-11. YonhapThe Korean legal drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" has extended its hot streak to seven consecutive weeks on Netflix's latest weekly viewership chart of non-English TV shows, the global video streaming service said Wednesday.The TV sensation, which aired every Wednesday and Thursday on the local cable channel ENA from June 29 to Aug. 18, marked 31.6 million hours of viewing for the week of Sept. 5-11 to lead Netflix's official top 10 list for non-English TV programs available on the service, according to the company.It is the 16-part Korean show's ninth No. 1 finish since the drama rose to the top in the second week of its release. It has since stayed atop the list except for its fourth week (July 18-24), when it placed second after the Spanish show "Alba.""Woo" revolves around a lawyer named Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), who is brilliant with an outstanding memory but lacks social skills and empathy due Sep 14, 2022
'Squid Game' heralds new era in global entertainment industry Actor Lee Jung-jae, left, and director Hwang Dong-hyuk pose with the awards for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, respectively, for the Netflix series, "Squid Game," during the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, Monday (local time). AFP-YonhapActor Lee Jung-jae, director Hwang Dong-hyuk score historic wins at Emmy AwardsBy Lee Gyu-lee Everything “Squid Game” has achieved at the Emmy Awards is a first: the first Korean, the first Asian and the first non-English performing actor, director and series to be nominated and clinch awards. The Netflix original series has set records in the Korean and global entertainment industries, winning a total of six awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series. Actor Lee Jung-jae was named best lead actor at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards held in Los Angeles on Monday (local time), becoming the first Korean, the first person of an Asian nationality and the first non-English performer ever to nab the trophy in the cateSep 13, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'Squid Game' cast to attend Emmys Actor O Yeong-su of "Squid Game" who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for the megahit Netflix series at the Golden Globe Awards, Jan 9 / NewsisThe main cast members of the global TV sensation "Squid Game" will individually depart for the United States this week to attend this year's Emmy Awards, their star agencies said Wednesday.Korean actors Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo and O Yeong-su will leave Seoul on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively, while actress Jung Ho-yeon will fly directly to the U.S. from a foreign country where she is now staying for work, according to the agencies.The nine-part Netflix series has been nominated in six categories ― best drama series, best director, best screenplay, best actor for its lead Lee, best supporting actor for O and Park, and best supporting actress for Jung ― in the 74th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Monday (U.S. time).For the 77-year-old actor, who played the sick elderly contestant Oh Il-nam in the hit series, this will mark his first attendance in an overseas awards ceremony in Sep 8, 2022
Netflix series 'Narco-Saints' to tell real-life story of Korean drug lord From left, actors Yoo Yeon-seok and Park Hae-soo, Director Yoon Jong-bin, actors Hwang Jung-min, Ha Jung-woo and Jo Woo-jin pose during a press conference for the new Netflix series, “Narco-Saints,” at Josun Palace in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of NetflixBy Lee Gyu-leeNetflix is set to release another blockbuster Korean original series, “Narco-Saints,” scheduled to hit the platform on Friday, in time for the Chuseok holiday long weekend. Based on a true story, the thriller crime series revolves around entrepreneur Kang In-gu (Ha Jung-woo), who travels to Suriname, a small country in South America, to start a fish trading business to make ends meet for his family back in Korea. One day he comes across a Korean priest, Jeon Yo-hwan (Hwang Jung-min), who helps him out during a dispute with the local Chinese mafia.When he is accused of smuggling drugs, In-gu finds out Yo-hwan is actually the country's Korean drug lord who uses his fish business to export drugs. He then joins a secret government mission to take him down with agent Choi Chang-ho (Park HaSep 8, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' tops Netflix chart for 6th straight week This image provided by Netflix highlights that "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" placed No. 1 on Netflix's weekly top 10 chart for non-English TV shows for the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4. YonhapThe Korean legal drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" has retained the top position on Netflix's latest weekly viewership chart of non-English TV shows for the sixth consecutive week even though it finished airing in the country, the global video streaming service said Wednesday.The TV sensation, which aired every Wednesday and Thursday on local cable channel ENA from June 29 to Aug. 18, marked 48.82 million hours of viewing for the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4 to lead Netflix's official top 10 list for non-English TV programs available on the service, according to the company.It is the 16-part series' eighth No. 1 finish since the drama rose to the top in the second week of its release. It has since stayed atop the list except for its fourth week (July 18-24), when it placed second after the Spanish show "Alba.""Woo" revolves around a lawyer named Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin), who is brilliant with an outstSep 7, 2022
'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' studio receives remake offers from US, Japan This image shows a scene from the legal drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" / Courtesy of ENAThe Korean production studio behind the popular legal drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" said Tuesday it has received proposals for remakes from multiple countries, including the United States, Japan, Turkey and Germany.Such offers were made during the 2022 Broadcast Worldwide convention, a broadcasting content market held in Seoul last week, according to Astory.The company said it is discussing details on local versions of the 16-part series, requiring local productions maintain the show's main themes, including Woo Young-woo's warm heart toward the underprivileged and the significance of the whale."I think the favorable and hopeful message in 'Woo' will resonate with people all around the world," Lee Sang-baek, CEO of Astory, said. "I will participate in the production process of local adaptations in a bid to communicate the feeling and idea that 'Woo' has to people across the world.""Woo" is about autistic lawyer Woo Young-woo (Park Eun-bin) and was aired in Korea on the Korean cable channeSep 6, 2022
Joy takes lead in feel-good rom-com 'Once Upon a Small Town' From left, actor Chu Young-woo, director Kwon Seog-jang, actors Park Soo-young and Baek Sung-chul pose during an online press conference for the KakaoTV series “Once Upon a Small Town,” Monday. Courtesy of KakaoTVNew KakaoTV series is romantic comedy between policewoman, vet By Lee Gyu-leeSinger and actor Park Soo-young, who is also known as Joy of K-pop girl group Red Velvet, is having a busy year juggling both singing and acting. Following the group's mini-album release, “The ReVe Festival 2022 ― Feel My Rhythm,” the singer-cum-actor has taken the lead in the new KakaoTV original series “Once Upon a Small Town.”“I'm proud to say that I've dedicated the whole summer of my 27th year to making such a beautiful piece like this, together with the staff, cast members and director,” Park said during an online press conference for the series, Monday. Based on the web novel of the same name, the romantic comedy series follows the country life of policewoman Ja-yeong (Park) and veterinarian Ji-yul (Chu Young-woo) in a small town called Huidong.Sep 6, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Kwang-soo to reunite in Disney+ reality show 'The Zone: Survival Mission' From left, TV personalities Yoo Jae-suk, Kwon Yu-ri, and Lee Kwang-soo pose during a press conference for the new Disney+ original show "The Zone: Survival Mission," Sept. 6. YonhapKorea's star entertainers Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Kwang-soo will reunite in the upcoming reality game show "The Zone: Survival Mission," following the popular variety show "Running Man."In the Disney+ original show, three cast members of Yoo, Lee and Kwon Yu-ri of Girls' Generation are given missions to survive eight different situations in themed spaces, such as being chased around by zombies, in a limited amount of time.It is the first project in which the Yoo-Lee duo appear together since the latter stepped away from the long-running, popular TV show "Running Man" last year, citing health issues. The two had collaborated since the first episode of "Running Man" in 2010."We've worked together for a long time. We know each other very well, both on and off the set," Yoo said Tuesday in a press conference in Seoul. "I know Kwang-soo understands the unscripted shows very well and knows how to react."Lee, nicknamSep 6, 2022
