Lee Soo: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: Well Go USA Entertainment has expanded its slate of Korean films, acquiring North American rights to titles including Alienoid, Hansan: Rising Dragon, Gangnam Zombie, The Ghost Station and The Assassin. While the international and indie distributor has set theatrical releases in place for Alienoid and Hansan, plans for the other three films have not yet been finalized. 

aespa have unveiled the second episode of their ongoing SM Culture Universe (SMCU) series on YouTube.In the new episode, titled Next Level, a strange ‘SYNK OUT’ phenomenon has occurred, causing ‘æ’s, or virtual counterparts to humans, to disappear from the Real World, forced to return to the FLAT — the virtual plane from which they originate.From the FLAT, aespa’s æ-counterparts are able to contact the members with the help of nævis, the AI system that allows virtual beings to appear in the Real World. Projecting their consciousness into their æ’s, the members enter the virtual plane, where nævis tasks them with venturing into KWANGYA, a “ruleless, formless” space that exists beyond the FLAT to find out what is causing the disconnect between the FLAT and Real World.In the rest of the episode, the girl group venture deeper into KWANGYA where they encounter the series’ villain, Black Mamba, for the first time, causing them to experience vivid hallucinations. The series first launched with the release of its first episode, Black Mamba, last year, with the aim to establish and expand the background of SM Entertainment’s company-wide lore, centred in and around KWANGYA.

Grid, has described the upcoming K-drama as a tale about protecting the Earth.During an online press conference held yesterday (February 16), Lee shared his vision for the series and what his intentions were for it regarding the show’s overarching message. The director also touched on why he signed up for the series, despite being unsure when initially approached.“It wasn’t easy to make up my mind to lead this series,” he said, per The Korea Times. “What struck me was the series’ theme, which is ‘we should protect our planet Earth.’ Until now, I have actually been questioning why there are no series or films in Korea that talk about saving Earth.

All Of Us Are Dead has helped South Korea set a new record on Netflix in the US.Based on the webtoon Now At Our School by Joo Dong-geun, the series follows a group of high school students who find themselves trapped on campus as a zombie apocalypse spreads like wildfire.After previously topping the charts on Netflix in over 25 countries by January 31, All Of Us Are Dead has now reached the summit of the daily Top 10 list on US Netflix (February 4). As the second non-English-language series to reach that position, the K-drama has helped set a new record for South Korea.Thanks to the success of Squid Game and All Of Us Are Dead, Korea is now the first country to place multiple series not in the English language at the top of the streaming service’s charts, according to Deadline.

Grid.The new teaser opens at a crime scene, with Kim Sae-ha (Seo Kang-joon of Are You Human?), detective Jang Sae-byuk (Kim Ah-joong of 200 Pounds Beauty) and a police squad chasing after what appears to be a Ghost.The trailer ends with Kim telling the supernatural entity (played by Lee Si-young), “You don’t know how I came all the way here”, as translated by Soompi. The Ghost, in turn, responds with: “Don’t get in the way.”In addition to the new teaser, Disney+ has also released a series of posters for the show.

Grid.Starring Seo Kang-joon (Are You Human?), Kim Ah-joong, Kim Mu-yul (Space Sweepers), Lee Si-young (Sweet Home) and more, Grid revolves around the police investigation of a supernatural entity (played by Lee) that surfaced in 1997 to save humankind. The entity re-emerges 24 years later, only to help a serial killer (Kim Sung-kyun) escape.“We are not looking for it, we’re making it come looking for us,” says Seo, who plays police officer Kim Sae-ha at the beginning of the clip.

SM Entertainment, has been named in the Pandora Papers.The Pandora Papers are a leak of almost 12million documents of financial data from around the world, published by the International Consortium Of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on 3 October, 2021. South Korean news organisation Newstapa, which was part of the ICIJ investigation, has since published claims that Lee has set up paper companies in Hong Kong to hide his wealth.This is according to reports by The Korea Herald and The Korea Times, both of which cite the original Korean-language Newstapa story.

Rebecca Souw A few months back Lee Soo-man appeared on stage at the 2021 World Cultural Industry Forum and boasted of his formative role in the Korean pop industry. “K-pop started with SM Entertainment,” he declared.

SM Entertainment.According to a report by The Korea Economic Daily, CJ Group has proposed a price of ₩300billion (approximately £188million) for a 18.75 per cent controlling stake in SM Entertainment, home to popular K-pop acts such as Red Velvet, NCT, EXO, Girls’ Generation and more.CJ Group’s bid for the shares of SM Entertainment puts them in a race with some of South Korea’s biggest corporations, including Kakao Corp, which had previously proposed a premium of over 70 per cent for the stake.HYBE, home to K-pop megastars BTS, had also taken an interest in the controlling stake and reportedly offered a higher price than Kakao’s proposal.