North Korea: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSuperstar Korean actor and producer Gang Dong-won has signed up with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation outside Korea.Gang joins a string of Korean on-screen talent securing international representation as the country’s creative sector is propelled to the fore by films such as “Parasite” and “Peninsula” and by TV shows such as “Squid Game.”He continues to be represented in Korea and Japan by Lee Gi Wook at YG Entertainment. Gang, who has a mechanical engineering degree and was initially scouted as a model, transitioned to acting in 2004 with “Too Beautiful to Lie” and “Temptation of Wolves,” the latter of which earned him the best new actor award at the 24th Korean Association Critics Choice Awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Seayoung Yim, a playwright and educator from Seattle, has won the 2022 Yale Drama Series Prize for her new play Jar of Fat, a work selected from more than 1,500 entries.

Producers Guild of America Awards panel over the weekend, the 75-year-old applauded the streaming service for awarding “unknown actors” the opportunity to helm projects.“A long time ago, it was domestic stars that brought the audience into movies,” Spielberg said. “Today, it’s interesting, unknown people can star entire miniseries, can be in movies.”“Squid Game” is a 2021 South Korean production that shocked viewers and brought in very high ratings for the streamer.“’Squid Game’ comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us,” the “West Side Story” filmmaker added before directing his attention to Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

MONSTA X are reportedly gearing up to release new music.Earlier today (March 23), South Korean outlet Sports Donga reported that the six-member boyband are currently preparing for an April comeback. MONSTA X’s label, Starship Entertainment, has since confirmed the news through a separate press statement.“Our agency’s artist MONSTA X is preparing for an album with the goal of making a comeback this upcoming April,” a representative from the management company said, as translated by Soompi.

Nominations are in for the Virgin Media Must See Moment prize which will be handed out at the BAFTA TV Awards on May 8 in London. The field of six nominees includes moments from 2021 installments of Squid Game, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

A Business Proposal has topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 list of the most-watched non-English shows.According to data from the streaming service, A Business Proposal logged 23.4million hours viewed for the week of March 14 to 20, a noted increase from the 15.9million hours from the week prior. In addition, the show is also the seventh most-watched series for the week across all categories.This week’s list of the most-watched non-English shows also features five other K-drama series, including Zombie apocalypse series All Of Us Are Dead, which is currently the third most popular non-English Netflix original ever.

Squid Game “unknown people”.The legendary Hollywood director made an appearance at a PGA Awards panel on Saturday (March 19), where he spoke about the game-changing impact the hit K-drama has had on the entertainment industry and praised Netflix for its decision to cast actors that are supposedly lesser known in the West.“Squid Game comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us,” Spielberg said while gesturing towards Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, who was in the audience, according to Deadline. “Thank you, Ted [Sarandos].”Spielberg’s statement came while the panel were discussing whether it was important to cast well-known actors in lead roles for projects to succeed, during which the director also credited the streaming platform for supposedly opening the doors for lesser-known actors to star in shows.“A long time ago it was domestic stars that brought the audience into movies,” Spielberg added.

Kid Rock is opening up about his friendship with Donald Trump — and it’s just as stupid as you would expect!

Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on March 21, Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes lamented how little she's getting paid for leading Hollywood's big night this upcoming weekend. "I was real excited about [the gig], but then I realized, out of all the jobs that I have, this one is actually gonna cost me money," said the comedian, who will share the stage with Regina Hall and Amy Schumer on March 27.The paltry pay wasn't exactly news to the late night host, as he's hosted the Oscars solo twice, in 2017 and 2018. After asking Wanda how much she was making, she replied, "I don't even know it's, like, scale probably." "Scale" is a term used by the union, SAG-AFTRA.

her "Off the Vine" podcast.  "I saw at the end of the ['Bachelor' Season 26] finale that Jesse was announcing the two 'Bachelorettes,' and he said he was going to be by their side for that. So I guess, spoiler alert: I'm not coming back."Kaitlyn, a former "Bachelorette" lead, co-hosted back-to-back seasons of the reality TV show with fellow former franchise lead Tayshia Adams.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIndependent distributor Film Movement has picked up all North American rights to award-winning folk horror film “Seire.” The Korean chiller will be released theatrically in 2022, followed by launches on home entertainment and digital platforms.The film takes as its central premise the Korean superstition that nobody in the family of a baby less than three weeks old – the ‘seire’ period – should attend a wake. And that failure to take precautions risks misfortune.The story, penned by writer and first-time feature director Park Kang, sees the father of a newborn attend the funeral of an ex-girlfriend.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £3.3 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz now has a total of £32.6 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSouth Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM has struck a deal to invest in KT (formerly Korea Telecom). The first step in the new arrangement sees CJ invest KRW100 billion ($82 million) in buying a stake in KT’s Studio Genie. “Studio Genie investment is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of CJ ENM channels such as tvN and OCN and OTT content from TVing,” CJ ENM officials explained.

Pachinko affected him.Based on the novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, Pachinko follows the lives of a Korean immigrant family in Japan over four generations. Lee stars in the upcoming series as Lee Han-su, a Korean fish broker who crosses paths with a young Sun-ja (Kim Min-ha), the series’ central character, setting in motion her eventual move to Japan.In a recent interview with The Korea Times, the 34-year-old actor reflected on what he had learned about Korean-Japanese history while working on the series and how it affected him.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian producer Roberto Sessa (“The Sea Outside”) has snapped up rights to bestselling spy thriller “Supernotes” about a CIA-trained Italian intelligence officer who winds up in a Cambodian prison after investigating a sensitive scheme to print counterfeit $100 bills in North Korea.Picomedia chief Roberto Sessa plans to turn the book – which had previously been optioned by Alexandra Milchan’s Los Angeles-based Emjag Productions — into a high-end TV series that he is pitching to prospective partners during France’s Series Mania festival.“Supernotes,” which has been published in more than 30 countries, including the U.S., U.K. and France, is the purportedly true story of an Italian secret agent known as Agent Kasper who while on a mission during the mid-90s to investigate perfectly counterfeited $100 bills that were flooding Southeast Asia stumbles into an explosive secret behind them involving the CIA.

Kwon Eun-bi is set to make her much-anticipated return with her upcoming second mini-album, ‘Color’.Today (March 21), the singer announced her forthcoming return with a series of artistic teaser images and a new video that’s dubbed a “palette film”. The dreamy visual captures the star submerged underwater in a white dress and flower crown as she slowly lets go of a bouquet of white flowers.Kwon Eun-bi’s second mini-album, titled ‘Color’, is set to drop on April 4 at 6pm KST.‘Color’ will mark the former IZ*ONE member’s first official comeback since her debut mini-album ‘OPEN’ and its title track ‘Door’ arrived last August.“I feel good overall, but I have a lot of weight on my shoulders about needing to show my own colours,” Kwon shared shortly after her solo debut.

Taecyeon, from the boyband 2PM, has revealed that his parents still manage his income.In a recent interview with Star1, the 33-year-old celebrity revealed that his parents still help him handle his finances. Taecyeon first made his debut back in 2008 at the age of 19 as part of 2PM, and had previously shared in the past that he had put his parents in charge of his finances.“My parents control and handle all my finances,” Taecyeon confirmed to Star1, as translated by Soompi.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRoland Emmerich’s space action film “Moonfall” landed in South Korea at the top of the box office chart. But the country’s continuing COVID problems mean that “Moonfall” and all other titles operated at a desperately low orbit.As the biggest new release of the week Moonfall pushed aside Korean-made “In Our Prime,” the previous weekend’s winner.

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has teased that he’s “brainstorming and collecting the ideas” for the smash-hit Netflix thriller’s second season, hinting in the process that breakout star Jung Ho-yeon could return for a new role.Appearing on the red carpet at this year’s PGA Awards, Hwang told Deadline that Squid Game fans should temper their hopes that season two might see an imminent release, as the new episodes are yet to begin production.Asked what fans can expect from the South Korean show’s return, Hwang said: “There will be more great games, that’s all I can say. I’m just still brainstorming and collecting the ideas for season two.

Steven Spielberg cited the hit Netflix Korean drama Squid Game as a game changer for the industry. Spielberg was among the nominated producers for the PGA Awards Zanuck Award speaking on a panel Saturday Morning at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles.

“Best Supporting Actress” for “Minari” in 2021) for acting stars in the Apple TV+ adaptation of the generation-spanning 2017 novel “Pachinko.” “This role was suitable for my age – she’s 74,” Yuh-jung, 74, told The Post. “I read the script first.