North Korea: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean film “A Wild Roomer” and India’s “Shivamma” have been announced as the joint winners of the New Currents competition, the prestige discovery section of the Busan International Film Festival. “We were particularly sensitive to the lightness and subtlety of the director’s view of his characters. Through his innovative cinematography, he creates original circulations between the characters within a house, and builds a very contemporary universe,” the competition jury said of the Lee Jeon-hong-directed “A Wild Roomer.” “We appreciated the originality and intensity with which the director was able to tell this very contemporary story. Here documentary and fiction meet in an organic and spirited way of making cinema. The generosity of the actors and the scenes create a closeness with this universal story that takes place in an Indian village,” the jury said of the Jaishankar Aryar-directed “Shivamma.”

The English,” starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. All six episodes of the limited series will premiere on November 11 exclusively in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Nordics on Prime Video, following its November 10 UK premiere on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The series is created by Hugo Blick, who also serves as an executive producer, director and writer. The series follows aristocratic Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke, played by Blunt, and a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout named Eli Whipp, played by Spencer. They come together in 1890 middle America to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood.

EXCLUSIVE: Barry writer-producer Jason Kim has signed a multi-year overall deal with 20th Television and Onyx Collective, under which he will develop television projects exclusively for both.

BLACKPINK have become the first K-pop act to receive a nomination for Best Video at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards.The MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) announced its list of nominations for its 2022 edition on October 12, which included a nomination for BLACKPINK in the Best Video category for their ‘Pink Venom’ music video. This makes them the first-ever K-pop act to receive a nomination in this category.Aside from their Best Video nomination, BLACKPINK have also been nominated in three other categories at the awards: Biggest Fans, Best Metaverse Performance (for their PUBG Mobile in-game concert ‘The Virtual’) as well as Best K-pop.

Netflix is currently in talks to stream upcoming Korean blockbuster The Match exclusively on its platform.South Korean news outlet The Korea Herald reported on October 12 that The Match – which stars Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun and Hellbound’s Yoo Ah-in as its leading stars – is currently considering forgoing a theatrical release in favour of a Netflix premiere.The producers of The Match had reportedly previously sorted out a release date for its theatrical premiere, but are now in talks to change tactics considering local movie theatre attendance has yet to improve since the ease of COVID-19 restrictions in South Korea. However, representatives of Netflix told The Korea Herald that “nothing has been decided yet”.Based on true events, The Match follows the tale of two notable Go (a traditional Chinese board game) players set in the ’80s and ’90s.

Rebecca Souw Achieving a balance between artistic creativity and commercial appeal has been a key component of the success of the Korean film and TV industries, said senior executives at the Asin Contents & Film Market, held this week as part of the Busan International Film Festival. Leading U.S. producer Ted Hope said that “Being audience focused but ambitiously creating authored work,” is significant and that Korean filmmakers are able to tap into a wide range of emotions. Yang Yoomin, a Korean producer who has worked with hit filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, explained why such a discussion was important. She gave the examples of the Hong Kong and Japanese film industries which have both at times enjoyed international success, but which have recently been eclipsed. Hope said that Hong Kong films and Japanese animation are at opposite ends of the spectrum stretching from commerce and art films, but said that Korean stories demonstrate a balance between authorship and audience-focused approaches.

A diverse bipartisan coalition of Californians is leading the charge against a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, including some pro-choice voters who find the proposed amendment "too extreme." "Our diverse coalition and the coalition itself does not take a stance when it comes to the morality of abortion," said Catherine Hadro, a spokesperson for California Together, No on Proposition 1, which held a press conference last Thursday at the California state Capitol in Sacramento. "Proposition 1 is extreme, it is expensive, and it is unnecessary," Hadro said, adding that the measure would mean the state constitution would effectively guarantee "late-term abortion up until the moment of birth, even if both mother and child are perfectly healthy." Hadro maintained that the text of Proposition 1 is more vaguely worded than existing state law.

Big Hit Music has issued a new statement addressing the “unauthorised use” of BTS‘ trademark ahead of the band’s forthcoming ‘Yet To Come’ concert in Busan, where the label says it will crack down on “counterfeit” merchandise.The statement, written in both Korean and English, was shared on Big Hit Music’s official social media channels yesterday (October 11). The label revealed that it has been taking “strict measures against companies that have been repeatedly producing, selling and distributing products that infringe on BTS’ portrait and trademark rights (‘rights violating products’)”.The label also announced plans to “conduct on-site inspection[s] and investigation[s] of counterfeit products” at and around the venue of BTS’ forthcoming ‘Yet To Come’ concert in Busan, slated to take place this weekend on October 15 at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium.

NCT 127 made their first-ever appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show with a performance of ‘2 Baddies’, making them the first K-pop act to do so.The boyband appeared on the October 11 broadcast of the American talk show, hosted by singer-actress Jennifer Hudson. NCT 127 performed their latest single ‘2 Baddies’, which first dropped in September as the title track for their fourth full-length album of the same name. Their appearance and performance on The Jennifer Hudson Show mark the first time a Korean pop act has guest-starred on the show.The nine-piece are currently in the US for ‘Neo City – The Link’ concerts in Los Angeles and New Jersey, the latter of which will take place tomorrow (October 13).Their appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show also comes hot on the heels of their Good Morning America performance of the same song, which was broadcast just a day prior.

HYBE’s request to trademark V from BTS‘ popular ‘Borahae’ phrase.The phrase, now synonymous with BTS, was first coined by V during a BTS fanmeet event in 2016. The term, a portmanteau of the Korean words saranghae (I love you) and borasaek (purple), was created with the following message in mind to be used between BTS and their fanbase, per Soompi: “Just as purple is the last colour of the rainbow, I will trust and love you until the very end.”A report from Sports Kyunghangclaims that the South Korean entertainment giant’s request to trademark the ‘Borahae’ phrase was rejected as it went against the “principles of good faith”, as translated by Soompi.KIPO noted in their statement that the term was first coined by V – referred to in the report by his birth name, Kim Tae-hyung – during a BTS fanmeet on November 13, 2016, and that the entity entitled to the trademark is V himself.

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Crush has denied allegations of racism following a recent fan interaction at a music festival.On October 9, the singer performed at the ‘2022 SOMEDAY PLEROMA’ festival held at Yonsei University, and began to high-five fans while performing ‘Don’t Forget’. Several videos were captured and posted of the singer apparently waving off two Black fans before continuing to high-five others at the concert.Twitter user @tulipyeo claimed they were one of the fans Crush appeared to dismiss, alleging that the singer had said “no” to them and their roommate.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Future Laobans,” a project directed by Maung Sun and produced by Maung Sun and Ma Aeint, claimed the Busan Prize, the top award at the Asian Project Market, on Tuesday. The awards were made at an event held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan’s Haeundae district at the end of three days of quick-fire meetings between producers and directors and an array of potential co-producers, financiers and distributors. Organizers said that they put together 705 such one-on-one meetings. The CJ ENM Award went to Indonesia’ “Gaspar,” to be directed by Yosep Anggi Noen and produced by Yulia Evina Bhara and Cristian Imanueli.

Rebecca Souw Korean film and TV story-telling has expanded and adapted under the influence of both COVID and streaming video. As a result, screenwriting today may be more in touch with audience needs, media executives in Busan heard. A panel discussion on Saturday, organized by the Busan Story Market, a new wing of the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) sought to define Korean story telling and analyze why it is currently so successful. One explanation offered by Hwang Hyejung, chief content officer at Korean streamer TVing, was that writers have broadened their outlook to include more current and realistic topics. Romantic comedies and melodramas are no longer the defining genres.

Naman Ramachandran An influential panel of buyers from Asia and Europe identified multiple problems in the current, depressed post-pandemic box office landscape for arthouse films and attempted to find solutions at a Platform Busan panel on Monday. The panel included Laure Parleani of Totem Films (France), Kim Heaok of Hark & Company (Japan), Beril Heral of Filmarti (Turkey) and June Lee from Korean streamer Watcha. The panel was moderated by Variety Asia editor Patrick Frater. Parleani mentioned that France has had its worst box office September in 42 years, with only Rebecca Zlotowski’s Venice title “Other People’s Children” and Alice Winocour’s Cannes title “Revoir Paris,” both starring Virginie Efira, bringing some cheer amongst local fare.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Comedy action film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” claimed its fifth successive weekend victory at the South Korean box office as only U.S. horror film “Smile” was able to break into the top five.The CJ Entertainment-distributed “Confidential Assignment 2” managed $1.64 million over the Friday to Sunday period, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). That represented a 27% share of the market. “Confidential Assignment 2” recorded a 27% weekend on weekend decline. That pushed its cumulative total to $47 million, earned form $6.52 million ticket sales since release on Set. 7, 2022.

Rebecca Souw TITLE: Behind The Scenes For Singapore-Korea Co-Production “Ajoomma” And Its Journey Ahead Post-Busan The past few weeks have gone by in a blur for Singapore-Korean co-produced comedy film “Ajoomma.” In a short span, it had a world premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival, earned four Golden Horse nominations including best actress, best new director, best original screenplay and best supporting actor. And Singapore has selected the film as itOscars contender. But it took seven years to get his far. At a Busan workshop on Saturday, first-time director He Shuming, co-founder of Giraffe Pictures and the film’s executive producer Anthony Chen and co-producer Lee Joon-han discussed the how the film came to life. “Ajoomma: The Curious Case Study of a Singaporean-Korean Co-production” was presented by mylab at the Asian Contents & Film Market.

Korean series Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Squid Game were the big winners at Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Contents Awards (ACAs), which featured a star-studded red carpet and welcomed back international guests for the first time since the event’s inaugural edition in 2019. Extraordinary Attorney Woo took the Best Content Award, the top prize of the ceremony, as well as Best Actress for Park Eun Bin, who heads the show in the role of a young female lawyer with autism. The series was broadcast in Korea on the ENA cable channel where it set the record for the highest ratings in the channel’s history. Netflix also started streaming the show in select territories from June, after which it topped the streamer’s non-English language weekly rankings for two months straight. Netflix’s Squid Game won the Technical Achievement Award and Best Supporting Actor for Park Haesoo, who plays the childhood friend of Lee Jung-jae’s main character in the Emmy award-winning series. Best Actor was presented to Suzuki Ryohei, star of Japanese series Mobile Emergency Room, which was broadcast on Japanese channel TBS and Disney+, while Best Supporting Actress went to Sora Ma of Singaporean series This Land Is Mine. Best Newcomer went to actress Bao Shang En for Chinese show Love Behind The Melody and actor Yokohama Ryusei for Japan’s The Journalist. China’s Wang Xiaoshuai (So Long, My Son) and Yang Yishu were awarded Best Writer for Wang’s first foray into drama series, The Pavilion, produced by Chinese streamer iQiyi. Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was awarded the ACA Excellence Award.

Rebecca Souw Still riding high on the success of “The Roundup,” Korean indie film producer and seller K-Movie Entertainment, is showcasing a slate of 16 movies at the Asian and Contents Film Market, part of the Busan International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean indie production house, IMTV is developing and will produce a drama series based on the New York Times best-selling novel, “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See.  The story is set largely on the remote Korean island of Jeju, among the community of ‘haenyo,’ women who earn a living by free diving for mollusks, seaweed and other sea life from the depths of the ocean. Representatives of a rare semi matriarchal society, the women work while the menfolk typically stay at home, though property is passed down along male lines. Celebrated activist and Nobel Prize-winner Malala recently boarded a documentary project about the haenyo of Jeju that is set up at the A24 U.S. indie studio.

North Korea has fired two short range missiles toward its eastern coast hours after the U.S. military concluded military training exercises with South Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement they detected the two missiles launched between 1:48 a.m.