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Korea Times

Korea Times

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

Korean director Han Jun-hee has built his signature style through hit drama series such as D.P. and Weak Hero. Photo: Netflix

How Weak Hero and D.P.’s Han Jun-hee masterfully draws modern audiences

The director and screenwriter’s storylines ask deep questions about power and accountability that appeal to both Korean and global viewers.

14 May 2025 - 4:52PMvideocam

Food and Drinks

What is Ex-Boyfriend Toast? Dish has its roots in a viral break-up story

13 May 2025 - 11:46AM

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

British boy band dearAlice’s journey from K-pop novices to idols

13 May 2025 - 4:15AMvideocam

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

As famous as BTS? Meet Plave, virtual K-pop boy band made up of 2D avatars

Plave, a record-breaking virtual group blending human motion-capture with two-dimensional avatars, are aiming for global fame like BTS.

6 May 2025 - 11:15AM

An image of K-pop virtual boy band Plave posted to Instagram in March to mark their second anniversary. Plave are aiming for global fame like BTS. Photo: Instagram/plave_official

Sex and relationships

Opinion | ‘Think of your husband as a dog.’ A Korean monk’s wise marriage tip

Your husband ignores your complaint? Does a dog answer your questions? Zen Buddhist asks. He’s calling for us to manage our expectations.

5 May 2025 - 8:24AMvideocam

Seoul’s plastic surgery clinics see surge in foreign medical tourists

Influenced by K-pop and social media, Chinese and Indonesians join Japanese, Americans, Russians seeking facelifts, skin tightening in Korea.

2 May 2025 - 7:15AM

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K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

Is IU dropping new music? New photo teases possible comeback

Fans are buzzing over IU’s potential music comeback after she posted a series of selfies to Instagram, one in what may be a recording studio.

1 May 2025 - 9:46AM

One of a series of selfies shared by Korean singer and actress IU on Instagram. Photo: Instagram/dlwlrma

Weak Hero Class 2’s Park Ji-hoon on finding comfort in Netflix school drama

The K-pop idol turned actor talks about making his character more complex in new season of the school drama and why he cried when it wrapped.

30 Apr 2025 - 6:15PMvideocam

Books and literature

A peek inside Nobel Prize winner Han Kang’s new book, Light and Thread

Consisting of 12 essays and poems, Light and Thread is Han’s first book since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2024.

30 Apr 2025 - 5:15PM

Fame and celebrity

Why Korean actress ‘broke down sobbing’ during egg freezing procedure

Go Joon-hee, 39, took to YouTube, with her mother to reflect on the toll the Korean entertainment industry had taken on her body.

30 Apr 2025 - 7:50AMvideocam

Song Sae-byeok (left) and Go Joon-hee in a still from K-drama Possessed. The Korean actress, 39, recently took to YouTube to talk about her egg freezing procedure. Photo: JINstudio

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

What Just B’s Bain coming out as gay shows about Korea’s progress on LGBTQ

With Bain the first active member of a K-pop boy group to publicly come out as gay, is Korean society beginning to shift towards acceptance?

29 Apr 2025 - 7:15AM

Bain of Just B attends the release showcase event for the K-pop boy group’s first single album, Just Beat, at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul, South Korea, on October 27, 2021. Photo: Imazins via Getty Images

Asian cinema: Korean films

Holy Night: Demon Hunters star Ma Dong-seok on film’s dark-hero energy

Korean actor-producer talks about drawing on dark-hero Marvel comics and manga for new film, and bringing variation to the roles he plays.

28 Apr 2025 - 6:21PMvideocam

Food and Drinks

The best souvenir from Korea? It’s rice for some Japanese visitors

Amid a rice shortage in Japan that has seen prices rise 92 per cent in a year, Japanese visitors to Korea are buying the grain to take home.

27 Apr 2025 - 9:47AM

Selling comfort: ‘loneliness economy’ emerges as more South Koreans live alone

Loneliness-driven businesses capitalise on people’s feelings of isolation and social disconnection to make profits.

19 Apr 2025 - 1:35PMvideocam

People walk across a road in Seoul on April 7. According to the latest Statistics Korea data, the number of single-person households reached 7.82 million in 2023. Photo: AFP

Food and Drinks

A guide to Korean strawberries, from varieties to what makes them different

Why are South Korea’s strawberries now so popular in Southeast Asian locations like Hong Kong and Singapore? Here’s all you need to know.

19 Apr 2025 - 12:15PM

Strawberry Closeup, Strawberry Farm in Korea Shutterstock

South Korea’s new visa to resolve labour shortage faces backlash

A popular petition to abolish a region-specific skilled worker visa reflects rising worries among citizens about competing with non-citizens.

17 Apr 2025 - 5:19PMvideocam

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

K-pop songs with a ‘French touch’? Korean precision meets French flair

Korean and French music professionals collaborated in Seoul’s first Atelier K-pop songwriting camp, creating K-pop tracks with a French vibe.

15 Apr 2025 - 4:15PM

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Park Hae-soo says he’s never played such an ‘extreme’ character as in Karma

Squid Game actor Park Hae-soo says it was strange but also exciting to play the mysterious ‘Eyewitness’ in Netflix’s new Korean drama Karma.

14 Apr 2025 - 7:15AMvideocam

Park Hae-soo as “Eyewitness” in a still from the new Netflix Korean drama Karma. Photo: Jihyeong Seo/Netflix

Food and Drinks

There’s no Jollibee in Korea but this fried chicken joint is very close

Members of Seoul’s Filipino community are lauding FRYb’s chicken dishes for giving them a taste of Jollibee nostaglia. We paid it a visit.

9 Apr 2025 - 6:15PM

Fame and celebrity

Korean actress Kim Min-hee gives birth to boy; film director the father

Actress, 43, who has been in relationship with filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, 65, for about a decade, gave birth at hospital in Hanam, South Korea.

9 Apr 2025 - 5:42PM

Church in Netflix hit When Life Gives You Tangerines draws K-drama fans

Gasil Cathedral, a historic Korean church, is the subject of renewed interest thanks to a scene with IU in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

8 Apr 2025 - 4:15PM

A still from the wedding scene in When Life Gives You Tangerines. Photo: Netflix

Korean golden seal smashes presale estimate, sells for US$13.9 million

Record-setting price paid for seal given by China’s Jin dynasty to a nobleman of Korea’s Goguryeo kingdom in China Guardian’s Hong Kong sale.

7 Apr 2025 - 6:15PM

A golden seal from Korea’s Goguryeo era which sold for HK$10.8 million (US$1.39 million), more than nine times its lower pre-sale estimate, at a China Guardian Hong Kong auction. Photo: courtesy of China Guardian

For Park Ji-hoon, new fights and friends in Netflix’s Weak Hero Class 2

Trailer for the Korean teenage action drama debuting April 25 show main character Si-eun battling unresolved trauma and more school violence.

5 Apr 2025 - 6:31PMvideocam

What did IU learn from Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines?

Singer-actress IU talks about playing Ae-sun and Geum-myeong and what the K-drama taught her about living a successful and fulfilling life.

4 Apr 2025 - 12:45PM

How When Life Gives You Tangerines made actor a better husband

Park Hae-joon says playing a devoted husband in the Netflix drama was ‘a turning point’ that inspired him to ‘change and grow’ in real life.

6 Apr 2025 - 9:05AM

Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon in a still from When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Is that Park Eun-bin in Hyper Knife? Actress barely recognisable

Actress’ sociopathic doctor character in Hyper Knife is miles away from her roles in K-dramas Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Castaway Diva.

2 Apr 2025 - 5:15PM

Park Eun-bin in a still from Hyper Knife. Her sociopathic doctor role is miles away from her characters in K-drama series Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Castaway Diva.

Ancient grain farro a superfood trending in Asia. Why it’s so healthy

Singer-actress Uhm Jung-hwa is among Korean celebrities to have embraced a grain 2,000-plus years old, as farro recipes flood social media.

2 Apr 2025 - 3:15PMvideocam

K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

How J-pop acts are seeking new fans in South Korea and beyond

Japanese superstar Kenshi Yonezu’s sold-out event in Incheon is a prime example of J-pop’s rising popularity in South Korea.

1 Apr 2025 - 1:22PM

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