Author: Denise Coley
Won Soju, the first alcoholic beverage launched by singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Jay Park, was introduced last month on Feb. 25 at the brand’s pop-up store at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. Visitors to the department store will be able to try the Won Million, a cocktail made by mixing soju with sparkling water and topping it with lime slices, and the Won Toddy, a mix of hot water, apple, cinnamon syrup and the company’s soju. After the one-week promotion at The Hyundai Seoul, Won Soju will be available via the company’s website from the end of March. Although…
The 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN, Festival Director Shin Chul) is recruiting participants for its Fantastic Film School program until midnight May 1 (KST). Applications can be submitted at BIFAN’s online entry site (http://entry.bifan.kr/en). Both active and aspiring genre filmmakers are welcome to apply. Even if you are not selected to take part in the program as a student, you may still be selected to audit the classes and attend all the lectures online. The final list of participants will be posted on the BIFAN website on May 30, and each participant will be contacted individually. More…
Korean actors Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon have won for best male actor and female actor in the TV drama category at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for their roles in the Netflix drama “Squid Game.” At the ceremony held at Santa Monica, California, Lee Jung-jae was honored as the winner of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, over Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong of “Succession,” and Billy Crudup of “The Morning Show.” Jung Ho-yeon received the prize of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series over Jennifer Aniston and…
JYP Entertainment’s newly launched girl group “NMIXX” recorded the highest debut album sales by a girl group ever in K-pop history. NMIXX sold 227,399 copies of its debut album “Ad Mare” since its release one week prior, on February 22 – which definitely made a statement that the group is definitely the “it” girl group to look out for this year. “Ad Mare,” means “from sea to sea” in Latin. The much-talked-about music video for the EP’s title track “O.O” also marked over 20 million views on Youtube since the first day of release, and went on to gain…
After ten years, Nu’est have announced their disbandment set for March 14, 2022. On February 28, 2022, Pledis Entertainment announced on HYBE’s Weverse* page that Aron, Ren, and JR will not renew their contracts with the agency, setting the stage for Nu’est’s disbandment. Baekho and Minhyun opted to renew their contracts according to Pledis’ announcement. Hello. This is PLEDIS Entertainment. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the fans who have shown boundless and unwavering support for NU’EST over the past ten years. The exclusive artist contract with NU’EST will conclude as of March 14.…
The treasure technique of glass blowing is said to have originate from Syria back in the 1st century. The technique quickly found its way in the Asian peninsula thanks to the legendary silk road glass trade in South east Asia and China. Since then, glass blowing has evolved into a specialty with the products used for luxury and commercial purposes among others. In the modern day, glass blowing is seen as an artistic work given its highly intricate prerequisites, especially the know-how on various aspects such as designs and color theory among others. Various Asian countries have embraced the…
SKY-HI has released his first single of 2022, a collaboration with production unit 3RACHA. The track, ‘JUST BREATHE feat. 3RACHA of Stray Kids’, was released on February 21. Download and streaming links: https://sky-hi.lnk.to/JUSTBREATHE 3RACHA is a production unit made up of Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN; they are a sub-unit of ultra-hot Korean boyband Stray Kids. ‘JUST BREATHE feat. 3RACHA of Stray Kids’ is an experimental, dramatic track produced by UTA, who has worked with artists from Japan and abroad such as Daichi Miura, BTS, AI and TWICE. SKY-HI, Bang Chan, Changbin and HAN worked together…
2012 was arguably one of K-Pop’s most influential years! It’s hard to believe a decade has passed since the releases of “Gangnam Style” and “Fantastic Baby,” perhaps two of the most prominent hits of the year that had non-K-Pop having fun with the viral crazes both songs launched. 2012 also gifted us the debuts of Ailee, B.A.P, EXO, EXID, Fiestar, SPICA, BtoB, Nu’est, AOA, VIXX, and Crayon Pop. The year also featured the disbandments of Big Mama and Loveholics. There are many fans that consider 2012 the year that got them into K-Pop. Here is a look back at the…
HID&GEM (힏엔젬, stylized HDnG) consists of four members: Roars, Airson, GoldenAge and X. HDnG’s main concept is to have the members’ identities concealed until the group reaches 1 million views. The four-member group made its debut on 25 December 2021, with 4SHADOWS. We’d like to thank the members of HID&GEM for this interview, and we wish them all the best in all their ventures! Would you introduce yourselves to our readers, please? Roars: Hello, dear KCRUSH readers, we are HDnG! Thank you for liking a small group. HDnG has a lore concept and a shadow concept. We…
HYBE Corporation peaked at its all-time high in its revenue, as the first K-pop management agency to surpass $838 million in its annual sales. The South Korean entertainment company which houses acts like BTS, TXT, NU’EST, ENHYPEN, and ZICO, stated that its operating profits increased to a whopping 30.8% in 2021. HYBE revealed that the annual sales for 2021 was 1.25 trillion KRW, up 58 percent compared to the year prior. Its operating profit leaped to 30.8 percent on-year to 190.3 billion KRW with a net profit at around 141 billion KRW, an increase of 62 percent. This marks…
K-pop superband BTS are delighting US-based ARMY by announcing a four-night residency ‘BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LAS VEGAS’ on April 8, 9, 15 and 16 at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. These are the latest dates the Bangtan Boys have added to their Permission to Dance world tour to headline the nearly 65,000-capacity stadium in Las Vegas. Registration for tickets are currently available and open until Saturday, February 26th at 5pm PT on HYBE website. Those who can’t get tickets for the in-person shows have an option of attending watch parties at…
A line-up of musicians performing at the 2022’s SXSW (South by Southwest) yearly event is out and Asian artists, including K-pop idols, are representing their peninsula in this global happening. Over the years, the SXSW festival and concert has seen an increasing representation of diversity through a fusion of the entertainment industry’s artists and professionals from all walks of life. This year’s event; taking place online, in-person and remotely amid the Covid-19 pandemic, takes it a notch higher by giving the enthusiasts of Asian music an occasion to anticipate. In addition to South Korea’s AOMG artists; including Coogie and…
The 2022 SXSW festival and conference is here! What does it mean to K-Drama enthusiasts and the Hallyu wave? The SXSW festival and conference is an annual multi-media event which started back in 1987 and entails the convergence of artists, professionals and enthusiasts from the entertainment industry. The event creates a platform for global connections even as legendary and fresh talent of diverse backgrounds and cultures congregate and deliver live performances. This year’s SXSW festival and conference is set to commence on 11th to 20th of March. Despite the global pandemic status, this international event is still kicking off…
Vegetable carving is concurred to originate from Asia with the dispute being the exact country amongst China, Thailand and Japan. Some of the world’s most eminent vegetable carvings include Mukimono from Japan and Thaeng.yuak from Thailand. Since the mid-20th century, the art of vegetable carving has proliferated in Asia and consumed the cuisine industry given the increased celebration of cooking as an art. Garnishing is another novel technique of an embellishing or decorating aspect used to finish up dishes before serving. Other than adding a decorative hue, garnishing can be used to add flavor–where in such a case, the…
Rating: 5 stars For over a decade, this institute has produced a substancial number of Korean speaking students. Currently affiliated with Kenyatta University, the institute offers free Korean classes to the university’s student fraternity and the community at large. The director, who initiated and also teaches at this institute, is a Korean and so is his beautiful wife. One of the two main teachers is a Kenyan who has studied in Korea for over 7 years making her perfect for the job. The institute also endorses a student as an assistant thus promoting leadership qualities. The institute also…
Upon leaving B.A.P boy band and his former agency, Bang Yong-Guk proved his worthiness and resilience in the music industry through the 2019’s self-titled Bang Yong-Guk album. The B.A.P’s former leader/vocalist; famously referred to under the “baby” fandom name, is back after a two-years hiatus period which also gave him room to undertake his mandatory military service. The legend graced his comeback through a teaser of his freshest hit, “Race”, on various music sites. On a more surprising note which solidified Yong Guk’s determination to reign in the music industry, his comeback was accompanied by the establishment of his CONSENT…
Sony Music Labels Inc. TK from Ling tosite sigure announces striking new singles with guest vocalist Koshi Inaba （B’z）! It will be featured in the advertisement for “Magic: The Gathering” the trading card game that holds Guinness World Records! ◀①TK (Ling tosite sigure) ◀②Koshi Inaba (B’z) TK from Ling tosite sigure announced two new songs with guest vocalist Koshi Inaba (B’z), which will be released as a double A-side single “As long as I love / Scratch (with Koshi Inaba)” on March 16. “As long as I love (with Koshi Inaba)” is a rock number with lyrics…
-the original songwriter responded to MCND’s creative cover video, ‘Man On The Moon’. – A Fresh attempt of MCND, combination of POP and K-Performance! The high-quality creative performance video drew attention. Alan Walker, Famous Producer and DJ responded to K-pop boyband MCND’s creative cover video. The MCND’s video, [PLAY MUSIC GROUND] ‘Man On The Moon’ (Alan Walker x Benjamin Ingrosso), which was released on February 17th through the official YouTube channel, was pleasantly answered by original songwriter Alan Walker. [PLAY MUSIC GROUND] #MCND Alan Walker x Benjamin Ingrosso – Man On The MoonㅣCOVER – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOR3K72QoKQ …
K-pop supergroup BTS is back this March with PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – SEOUL. On February 16, Big Hit Music released the news that there will be “BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – SEOUL” concerts next month in March. The three-day concerts will be held with audiences on March 10, 11, 12, and the March 10 and 13 dates will be streamed live online for fans who are unable to attend, while the performance on March 12 will be broadcast in cinemas across the world for live viewing events. The BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE concerts…
The most recent report from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE) stated that the most popular Korean stars in the world right now are K-pop superband BTS and actor Lee Min-ho. The 2022 Overseas Hallyu (Korean Wave) Report’s survey was conducted on 8,500 respondents aged from 15 to 59 in 18 different countries – the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, France, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, South Africa, and Russia. As a result, BTS has been voted as the…