Joongang Daily: Last News

HYBE shares were stolen from BTS‘ Jungkook by an unidentified hacker.Yonhap News Agency reported on March 22 that the hacker had opened an unauthorised account under Jungkook’s name in January 2024, which was notably just a month after the K-pop idol had enlisted for mandatory military service.They then transferred 33,000 HYBE shares from the K-pop star’s account to the newly opened account, before selling 500 more shares to a third-party investor. At the time, the shares stolen held a total value of about ₩8.4billion (US$5.7million).Jungkook’s label and HYBE subsidiary, Big Hit Music, told press that immediate action was taken following the hack: “As soon as the company and the artist became aware of the criminal activity, we took measures such as suspending payments to the account and restoring the original value to prevent substantial damage.”On top of this, Jungkook also filed a lawsuit for the return of the 500 shares sold.

The Whirlwind, over 20 years after his last role in a series.Last week, Netflix released the political K-drama The Whirlwind, starring Queenmaker actress Kim Hee-ae and movie star Sul Kyung-gu. For the latter, the new series is his first TV role in over 20 years, following a number of supporting roles in the ’90s.Speaking to Korea JoongAng Daily, the actor revealed that he believe he “built my own wall [about appearing on TV shows] without noticing” over the years.

K-pop singer Chuu has returned with her second mini-album and its title track ‘Strawberry Rush’.In the new visual, Chuu enters the world of a video game, where she runs on walls and shoots her way through hordes of colourful enemies as she chases down a golden trophy. Her pursuit takes her into space, where she races along a rainbow road and eventually back to earth to claim her prize.“Can’t get enough, that strawberry rush / I’ll rush over to you and keep you safe / In lightning speed, crushin’ ya, crushin’ ya, crushin’ ya / Find your bravery, woo,” she sings in the upbeat chorus.

Korea JoongAng Daily, the music executive said that she “was not expecting” the audit of ADOR launched by HYBE on Monday (April 22), claiming that she had initially made an “internal report [about the similarities between NewJeans and Belift Lab group ILLIT]” in hopes of it being “addressed formally by the company”.“My goal has always been to [do] my work in a clean, confident way. That’s been my focus and it’s been difficult for me to talk about the things that interfered with my work,” Min added, while refuting HYBE’s claims that she tried to “hijack control” of ADOR.

Single’s Inferno is reportedly “still under discussion”, according to its producers.On Tuesday (January 9), Netflix premiered the final two episodes for season three of the Korean reality dating show. The series’ inaugural season first premiered in December 2021.In a new interview with Korea JoongAng Daily, Single’s Inferno producers Kim Jae-won and Kim Jung-hyun revealed that season four of the show is not set in stone and is “still under discussion”.While the duo did not give specific details of what aspects of the fourth season are still under discussion, they hinted that if the reality dating series does return, it would “change drastically from the third season”.“There are so many dating reality shows out there these days, but I think that Single’s Inferno has made a mark on the genre, and it could continue for many more seasons if we keep on striving to differentiate it and attempt new themes and tones,” Kim Jung-hyun said.“What the next season would look like would be decided if and once it’s greenlit,” she added.

NCT Dream may face charges in South Korea for allegedly pushing and injuring a fan.According to South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the incident occurred on February 20 at Incheon International Airport. At the time, NCT Dream were returning from an overseas event and fans had reportedly crowded their airport to see the boyband.On that day, the bodyguard, an unnamed man in his 30s, allegedly pushed a fan and caused them to “hit a wall and break her rib”.

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga have been invited to perform for US president Joe Biden and South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol at an upcoming state dinner.According to a report by South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the pop stars have been invited to perform at an upcoming US state dinner between US president Biden and South Korean president Yoon.Yoon is set to make a state visit to the US on April 26, which will feature a joint cultural event at a state dinner with the US president. The dinner will reportedly begin with an opening ceremony, at which BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga have been invited to perform at.YG Entertainment has since confirmed that the girl group have received an invitation.

Studio&New reported that Jung had been cast as one of the leads in Tell Me That You Love Me (literal title), a K-drama based on the award-winning 1995 Japanese drama of the same name.According to a report by Korea JoongAng Daily, Jung will be playing Cha Jin-woo, a hearing-impaired artist who expresses his emotions through drawings. He will be joined by Shin Hyun-been (Hospital Playlist), who will be portraying Jung Mo-eun, Cha Jin-woo’s main love interest.Tell Me That You Love Me marks Jung’s return to acting in television series in over a decade.

Broker lead actor Song Kang-ho has shared his thoughts on his recent Best Actor win at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.In a recent interview with South Korean outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the South Korean actor, who plays Sang-hyun in the film, shared his sentiments on “finally” taking home an award at the Cannes Film Festival after previously starring in six films that have all debuted at the festival prior.Song is the second Korean to win Best Actor, after Jeon Do-yeon for 2007’s Secret Sunshine. “Of course, winning an award from such a prestigious festival as Cannes is a great and happy moment, an unforgettable turning point of my life,” Song said, before adding that awards are not as significant as they might seem.“I don’t think the action [of receiving an award] itself holds much significance,” he explained.

BTS member Jimin’s self-designed merchandise line has sold out almost immediately after being released earlier this week.Earlier this month, HYBE launched their Artist-Made Collection by BTS, a merchandise collection featuring designs created by each member of the group. Jimin is the fifth member to launch his self-designed items, on January 18, following his bandmates Jin, RM, V and Suga.According to Korea JoongAng Daily, Jimin’s Artist-Made Collection, which was released at 11am KST, also caused the server of HYBE’s Weverse Shop to crash almost instantly after a massive volume of users around the world attempted to access the site.