SEOUL, Jun. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – As Naver Webtoon prepares for its Nasdaq listing, the company has set its initial public offering (IPO) price, catapulting its valuation to around 3.7 trillion won. This development marks a significant milestone for the digital comics industry, challenging the long-held notion that “webtoons can’t make money.” Webtoon Entertainment, the North [...]
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite sweltering temperatures Thursday, the area around the Seoul Sports Complex in southern Seoul transformed into a vibrant sea of purple, as fans gathered to celebrate the 11th anniversary of K-pop megastar BTS. Hours before the 2024 Festa — an annual event hosted by BTS’ agency, BigHit Music — [...]
SEOUL & LONDON, Jun. 6 (Korea Bizwire) –Korean literature is stepping into the global literary scene as Oxford University launches an annual festival to celebrate the works of prominent Korean authors and introduce them to European audiences. The Korean Literature Festival, organized by Cho Ji-eun, a professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford, [...]
PARIS/SEOUL, May 28 (Korea Bizwire) – The K-pop singer and actress Yoona, who attended the Cannes Film Festival this month, has become embroiled in allegations of discriminatory behavior by a female security guard monitoring the red carpet. On May 19, Yoona, formerly of the hugely popular K-pop group Girls’ Generation, drew the spotlight at the 77th [...]
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) – As a court decision looms that could determine the fate of Min Hee-jin, the founder of the ADOR record label and the former manager of NewJeans, a fierce legal battle is unfolding between Min and her critics at Hybe, the K-pop juggernaut. According to K-pop industry insiders, 10,000 members of [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) – A young American girl’s emotional unboxing of a birthday gift containing Samyang Foods’ wildly popular Buldak Carbonara Ramen went viral last month, amassing over 100 million views across social media platforms like TikTok. After momentarily losing her words upon revealing the pink packaging of the spicy South Korean instant noodles, [...]
SEOUL, May 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Visitors to the British Museum’s Korean galleries can now hear a decidedly contemporary soundtrack as they view ancient treasures: audio explanations by the members of NewJeans, one of South Korea’s biggest K-pop girl group. The group’s agency, ADOR, said on May 14 that the quintet had volunteered to record descriptions, [...]
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) –Fans of the K-pop superstars BTS are inundating social media with outrage over an ongoing government investigation into allegations of illegal music streaming manipulation involving the group. On May 5, the hashtag “SOUTH KOREA APOLOGIZE TO BTS” trended in the K-pop category on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, [...]
SEOUL/TOKYO, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Photos showing boxes of discarded albums by the popular K-pop group Seventeen strewn across a street in Japan have reignited criticism from a prominent music executive over controversial marketing practices in the industry. The images, posted recently on social media by a user in Japan, showed dozens of Seventeen [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – As the conflict between Hybe and Ador Entertainment, the company behind the rising K-pop girl group NewJeans, escalates, attention is turning to the potential impact on the members’ comebacks and activities. In the K-pop industry, the prevailing view is that major disruptions are unlikely in the near term, as Hybe [...]