EXO's D.O., Lee Se-hee to co-star in new series Actors Do Kyung-soo, left, and Lee Se-hee will star in KBS' upcoming series, “Prosecutor Jin's Victory” (literal translation). Courtesy of SM Entertainment, Family EntertainmentBy Lee Gyu-leeActors Do Kyung-soo, who is also known as D.O. of K-pop boy group EXO, and Lee Se-hee, will be taking the lead in KBS' upcoming series, “Prosecutor Jin's Victory” (literal translation from Korean). The new series, set to go on the air in the latter half of this year, will revolve around bad-mannered, rowdy prosecutor Jin Jung (Do) using unorthodox and illegitimate ways to put corrupted powers to justice. It will be led by director Kim Sung-ho, who directed Netflix's heartfelt series, “Move To Heaven” (2021), and will be scripted by Im Young-bin, who co-scripted JTBC's action series, “Sketch” (2018).Lee will play the character of a prosecutor, Shin Ah-ra, who is cool-headed and has a strong reputation for being professional. Although Ah-ra is completely the opposite of Jung, she takes great care and looks out for him. This series will be Do's first TApr 14, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
Park Min-young says 'Forecasting Love and Weather' was like hard assignment Actress Park Min-young played the role of meteorologist Jin Ha-kyung in the rom-com series “Forecasting Love and Weather.” Courtesy of Hook Entertainment By Lee Gyu-leeActress Park Min-young has referred to her recent romantic comedy series “Forecasting Love and Weather” as overcoming a difficult homework.“I wasn't in my best place mentally and physically before I took part in this work. So 'Forecasting Love and Weather' felt like a major assignment,” Park said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “Although I'm not completely satisfied with my acting (in this series), this project has taught me a good lesson.”Led by “When the Camellia Blooms” director Cha Young-hoon, the rom-com series revolves around meteorologist Jin Ha-kyung (Park) who is in charge of one of the forecast divisions at the national weather service. She promises herself never to commit to a workplace romance after a bitter breakup with her 10-year fiancee. But when she welcomes newcomer LApr 13, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
INTERVIEW Kim Se-jeong portrays different aspects of character in 'Business Proposal' Kim Se-jeong played the role of Shin Ha-ri in the SBS' rom-com series “Business Proposal.” Courtesy of Jellyfish EntertainmentSinger-turned-actress takes stab at rom-com genreBy Lee Gyu-leeKim Se-jeong, who rose to stardom as a member of K-pop girl group I.O.I after competing in Mnet's hit audition show “Produce 101,” has taken her first step in a romantic comedy with the recent SBS series “Business Proposal.”“My emotions toward the series' wrapping up is 'relief.' We went through a lot, from the pre-production to its production … with the coronavirus and such,” she said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “Going through plenty of issues, we finally came to an end on a pleasant note.”Based on the popular webcomic, “The Office Blind Date,” the rom-com series follows a woman named Shin Ha-ri (Kim) who goes on a blind date on behalf of her best friend and meets her CEO Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop). Faced with the unexpected encounter, she juggles the dates with her boss while trying to hide the facApr 13, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'My Liberation Notes' depicts three siblings' search for happiness From left, actors Lee El, Lee Min-ki and Kim Ji-won pose during a press conference for JTBC's drama “My Liberation Notes” in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of JTBC By Kwak Yeon-soo“My Liberation Notes” revolves around family bonds, friendships and romantic relationships that are sure to strike a chord with viewers. The new JTBC drama is about three siblings who are completely different from each other but commute together to work from their home on the outskirts of Seoul.Director Kim Suk-yoon, who was behind JTBC's “Dazzling” (2019) and “Law School” (2021), said the upcoming series follows various trials and tribulations of the three siblings as they navigate life and search for happiness. “I think liberation carries a broader meaning in our drama. This drama looks at how adults achieve personal growth because we never stop learning until we die. It will offer plenty of cathartic moments,” he said during an online press conference for “My Liberation Notes,” Friday. On colApr 10, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Netflix-led media environment changes benefit K-content's popularity: scholars A poster for Netflix's smash-hit series, “Squid Game” / Courtesy of Netflix By Lee Gyu-leeGlobal streaming platforms, Netflix in particular, have sparked a new hallyu trend, appealing to a broader range of audience members, as evidenced by its smash-hit series, “Squid Game” and “All of Us Are Dead.” Park So-jeong, an assistant research professor of communication at Seoul National University, said the new media environment, led by Netflix, has reshaped the viewing experience of Korean content across the world.“The development of hallyu is closely related to the transformation of the media environment. And Netflix is signaling a new transformation: not only does it provide a new environment in terms of industry, but it also creates new consumption behavior,” she said in an academic conference titled, “Is Netflix Riding the Korean Wave or Vice Versa?” that held online, Friday.The two-day conference through Saturday was organized by the Center for Hallyu Studies at SNU Apr 8, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
INTERVIEW 'Twenty Five Twenty One' taught Kim Tae-ri new aspects of acting Actress Kim Tae-ri played the character of Na Hee-do in tvN's romantic comedy series, “Twenty Five Twenty One.” Courtesy of Management mmmBy Lee Gyu-leeActress Kim Tae-ri, who got her breakthrough in director Park Chan-wook's “The Handmaiden,” has proven herself as a versatile actor by playing roles such as a determined independence activist in the period series, “Mr. Sunshine,” to the charismatic leader of a space crew in the sci-fi film, “Space Sweepers.”About four years after she starred in the hit series, “Mr. Sunshine,” the actress has returned to the small screen to play a lovely, aspiring fencer in the tvN series, “Twenty Five Twenty One,” taking her first stab at the romantic comedy genre. “This series has given me a lot of takeaways. I've learned to be appreciative. I'm thankful that I had a chance to do such great work during these tough times and I'm grateful that I get to take part,” Kim said during an interview with The Korea Times, last week. “(The series) taught me what it is likeApr 7, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
Star TV director Kim Tae-ho returns with new reality show on local streaming platform A director-producer Kim Tae-ho / Courtesy of MBCKim Tae-ho, a star director-producer best known for the hit MBC TV show "Infinite Challenge," said Wednesday that he left the public broadcaster because he wanted to take part in the ongoing seismic change in the entertainment industry.Kim began working for MBC in 2001 and rose to fame as he produced the popular variety show "Infinite Challenge" from 2005 to 2018. His subsequent show, "Hangout with Yoo," was also successful.He worked with streaming platforms such as Netflix in December last year to produce "The Hungry and The Hairy" a month before he officially left MBC."While working in one company for two decades, I occasionally felt the content industry and audiences were changing rapidly," the director said in an online press conference. "Over the past two years, however, I thought the change was so huge that I would have regretted it if I hadn't gotten into it."Early this year, he joined Tving and released a one-off program, titled "Seoul Check-In," following singer Lee Hyo-ri, currently residing on the southern island of Jeju, meeApr 6, 2022
'Business Proposal' stays atop Netflix non-English TV show chart for 3rd week A scene from the series “Business Proposal” / Courtesy of SBS The Korean romantic comedy "Business Proposal" retained its No. 1 position on Netflix's latest weekly viewership chart of non-English TV shows for the third consecutive week, the global video streaming service said Wednesday.The TV series, which has aired every Monday and Tuesday on SBS from Feb. 28, marked 32.5 million hours of viewing for the week of March 28 to April 3 to lead Netflix's official top 10 list for non-English TV programs available on the service, according to the company.The 12-part show, based on the popular web comic "The Office Blind Date," debuted at No. 6 on the chart in the week of March 7 to 13 and rose to the highest position the following week.It became the first Korean-made TV series that is simultaneously shown on a local TV channel and Netflix to rank No. 1 on the official viewership chart. Former Korean-language chart-toppers "Squid Game" and "Hellbound" are all Netflix origiApr 6, 2022
Webcomics-based boys' love genre dramas on rise A scene from Watcha's original series, “Semantic Error” / Courtesy of Watcha By Lee Gyu-leeThe genre of “Boys' love,” known in Korea as BL, which once was considered a minor subculture, has come into the spotlight with a number of BL webcomics and web novels adopted into series.BL is the genre that is loosely rooted in the Japanese manga genre, Yaoi, which features male characters' homoerotic relationships. Unlike most queer genres, BL eliminates realistic factors like struggles and prejudices that same-sex couples might encounter in real life, instead, putting the emphasis on sweet romantic plots.Local streaming platform Watcha's original series, “Semantic Error,” has been a huge hit since being released on Feb. 16, becoming the talk of the town. Based on the web novel of the same name, which was also made into webcomics in 2020, the series revolves around a rule-abiding computer science major, Chu Sang-woo (Jaechan), and an extroverted visual arts major, Park Seo-Apr 5, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
'Our Blues' writer brings together unseen sides of individual actors in omnibus drama A teaser image for tvN's new drama series, “Our Blues” / Courtesy of tvN By Kwak Yeon-soo Drama writer Noh Hee-kyung / Courtesy of tvN Star writer Noh Hee-kyung, who penned the 2014 romance series, “It's Okay, That's Love,” and the 2016 series, “Dear My Friends,” revealed that she has watched over 100 documentaries to craft her story's setting and characters for her upcoming drama, “Our Blues.”“I lived in Jeju for a couple of years and fell in love with the island ― not just with the beautiful landscape but with its unique culture that encourages communal life,” she said in a recent written interview with The Korea Times. Noh also spoke about bringing together several individual stories to her latest drama. “I don't remember when exactly, but at some point, writing a story with two lead characters no longer interested me. We are the heroes of our ownApr 5, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
