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Korea Times

Korea Times

News and features from the Korea Times, South Korea's oldest English-language newspaper.

last updated:

28 August, 2024

The Cheongsapo bridge observatory in Busan is just one of the snake-themed destinations you can visit in South Korea in the Year of the Snake, or any time. Photo: courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

4 snake-themed Korean travel spots to visit in the Year of the Snake

From a Seoul park to nature spots, these serpentine sites make for great Lunar New Year travel ideas. They aren’t known for real snakes.

13 Jan 2025 - 12:57PM

TV shows and streaming video

‘I feel much more loved,’ Lee Byung-hun says after Squid Game success

10 Jan 2025 - 7:15PMvideocam

Books and literature

New Korean books in English to look forward to in 2025

8 Jan 2025 - 5:15PM

Squid Game accused of whitewashing South Korea’s Vietnam war ‘atrocities’

Vietnamese authorities are reviewing whether the second season of the Netflix smash-hit series violates the law amid calls for a boycott.

7 Jan 2025 - 9:02AM

Masked characters appear in a scene from the South Korean Netflix hit show “Squid Game”. Photo: Netflix/TNS

Food and Drinks

Premium kimchi from luxury hotels trends among Koreans

Created with recipes from hotel chefs and made with top-notch ingredients, premium kimchi in Korea can cost almost US$20 per kilogram.

30 Dec 2024 - 6:14PM

‘So exhausting I feel like crying’: shock for Filipino carers in Korea

Filipino carers in Seoul are grappling with high living costs that mean they can’t save money, and with having to perform unexpected tasks.

29 Dec 2024 - 7:45AM

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Actress Lee Min-jung shares update on her son with Lee Byung-hun

Korean actress, who is set for return to screens after long break, posts photo of son Joon-hoo captioned ‘How dependable. Merry Christmas!’.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:20PM

Korean actress Lee Ming-jun and her husband Lee Byung-hun, currently starring in Squid Game season 2 as Front Man, and their son Joon-hoo (right). Photo: Instagram/salamkorea

Drunk surfing – yes, it’s a thing – to be outlawed in Korea in 2025

Under the coming Korean law, offenders can be fined up to US$676 for using water craft while drunk or refusing a blood-alcohol test.

27 Dec 2024 - 5:56PM

Asian cinema: Korean films

Song Joong-ki opens up on Bogota struggles and why he supports Hyun Bin

Song, whose new film Bogota: City of the Lost was heavily delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, says he is driven by a sense of challenge.

27 Dec 2024 - 3:04PMvideocam

Suspended jail term for actress Han So-hee’s mother over illegal gambling

Identified only as A, Han’s mother was given a suspended prison sentence for running illegal gambling dens. Prosecutors lodged an appeal.

27 Dec 2024 - 3:01PM

Korean actress Han So-hee attends the Christian Dior Haute Couture spring/summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week in January 2024. Her mother received a suspended prison sentence for running illegal gambling dens. Photo: Getty Images

Asian cinema: Korean films

‘I’m second,’ says South Korean star Hyun Bin on life now he’s a dad

Hyun Bin says his son and his wife, Crash Landing on You co-star Son Ye-jin, are his priorities, and reveals the pressures of making Harbin.

27 Dec 2024 - 3:03PMvideocam

Korean actor Hyun Bin with his wife Son Ye-jin. The couple married in March 2022 and had their son in November the same year. Photo: Instagram/hyunbinactor

Lee Min-ho makes return to TV in Netflix space romcom When the Stars Gossip

The new series, set aboard a space station, boasts a production budget of US$34.5 million and aims to set a new standard for K-dramas.

23 Dec 2024 - 11:15AMvideocam

Nearly two-thirds of Korean women OK with being childless, survey finds

South Korea has world’s lowest fertility rate, and 65 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men say they could accept a life without children.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:27PMvideocam

Actor Ju Ji-hoon on the message of Disney+ K-drama Light Shop

Ju runs a light shop to which other characters are drawn. He recalls the ‘emotion I was experiencing for the first time’ shooting the series.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:28PM

Ju Ji-hoon in a still from Disney+ Korean drama series Light Shop. The actor says he experienced an emotion he’d never felt before in acting during one scene. Photo: Disney+.

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

Are Winner’s Song Min-ho and Korean actress Park Ju-hyun dating?

‘Impossible to verify’ report the K-pop star is dating actress, his agency says. ‘Difficult to confirm’ a relationship, her agency says.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:32PM

Song Min-ho of K-pop group Winner and actress Park Ju-hyun, who are reported to be in a relationship. Photo: Instagram/korea_fans_panama

Asian cinema: Korean films

Will these films draw Koreans back to cinema after protests over Yoon?

Cinema-going fell in South Korea amid mass protests after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration. Distributors hope for a rebound.

16 Dec 2024 - 2:15PMvideocam

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

What impact will K-pop have on humanity and music? A professor ponders

An Oxford University professor is teaming with a pioneering K-pop songwriter to look into the enduring effects of the Korean music genre.

15 Dec 2024 - 6:15PM

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Squid Game’s Gong Yoo on Netflix series The Trunk and co-star Seo Hyun-jin

Gong Yoo talks about why he loved working with Seo Hyun-jin on new Netflix Korean drama The Trunk and how he’s not averse to ageing.

11 Dec 2024 - 9:45AM

Gong Yoo in a still from the new Netflix K-drama The Trunk. Photo: Netflix

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

K-pop boy group GOT7 to make 2025 comeback, release new album

GOT7’s leader Jay B announces the 7-member K-pop group will reunite in January 2025 and issue an album, says ‘we’re working hard’.

11 Dec 2024 - 5:45AM

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

Illit become top K-pop rookie act of 2024, sweeping multiple awards

Despite ongoing controversy, with NewJeans’ ex-producer alleging plagiarism, Illit have claimed the title of 2024’s top K-pop rookie act.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:50PM

This Korean grandma is 77 and has just launched her own beauty brand

‘Do you know how young and beautiful you are right now?’ Reii Reii founder Park Mak-rye on her beauty brand, learning to love herself.

14 Jan 2025 - 1:55PM

Food and Drinks

Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars seeks contestants for season 2

Reality cooking competition series that was a global hit with its passionate chefs and intense battles invites applications to join season 2.

4 Dec 2024 - 10:20AM

A still from Culinary Class Wars sesaon one. Photo: Sangwoo Kim/Netflix

Controversial webtoon Get Schooled to become K-drama series

Depictions of racism and misogyny prompted webtoon’s removal from the US version of Naver. Despite this, the comic is still being adapted.

3 Dec 2024 - 10:18AM

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

K-pop group (G)I-DLE to renew contracts, Aespa’s rise continues

(G)I-DLE get over their 7-year itch, and win record of the year at MMAs, where girl group Aespa take 7 prizes and TWS win rookie of the year.

14 Jan 2025 - 2:01PM

Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born role’s special meaning for Moon So-ri

Korean actress was driven to appear in drama by thought of her late musical drama teacher, and practised a year to play lead character’s mum.

14 Jan 2025 - 2:02PMvideocam

Moon So-ri as Seo Yong-rye in a still from K-drama Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born. The Korean actress reveals what a late teacher had to do with her accepting the role, and her closeness with her co-stars. Photo: X/imbcenews

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

If K-pop’s Seventeen are ‘textbook’ excellent, why aren’t they dominating?

Seventeen balance charm and edge, are excellent ‘across the board’ – but critics say they are not unique and lack a universally beloved song.

2 Dec 2024 - 2:28PMvideocam

Seventeen on stage during the 8th Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards in 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. While the K-pop group are popular in South Korea, they are not as famous as BTS and Stray Kids in the US. Photo: Getty Images

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

Lookalike contest for BTS’ Jungkook keeps viral trend going

Look like a star? Enter a lookalike contest. After a Timothée Chalamet one went viral, it was the turn of BTS’ Jungkook. Up next: NCT’s Mark.

30 Nov 2024 - 4:54AM

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

How does APT by Rosé and Bruno Mars rewrite the K-pop playbook?

Less synchronised choreography and storytelling, more casual dancing and playful visuals – ‘APT’ blends K-pop and Western pop conventions.

27 Nov 2024 - 9:45AM

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