Director Hong Sang-soo and production director Kim Min-hee‘s new film officially invited to the competition section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival

Director Hong Sang-soo‘s 33rd feature-length film, ‘What Does Nature Say To You?’, has been officially invited to the competition section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, which will be held on February 13th, drawing attention. According to overseas distributor Finecut, on January 21 (local time), the Berlin International Film Festival Executive Committee announced at a press conference that director Hong Sang-soo’s new film ‘What Does Nature Say To You?’ has been officially invited to the feature-length competition section. This is the 6th consecutive year that director Hong has been invited, following his previous works ‘The Woman Who Ran’, ‘Introduction’, ‘A Novelist‘s Film’, ‘In Water’, and ‘A Traveler’s Needs’. Director Hong Sang-soo has won the 67th Silver Bear for Best Actress for ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’, the 70th Silver Bear for Best Director for ‘The Woman Who Ran’, the 71st Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for ‘Introduction’, the 72nd Silver Bear for the Ju

‘Earthquake’ Wonji, marriage announcement... “Groom-to-be, a person who makes me comfortable” [Full text]

YouTuber Wonji (Lee Wonji) announced her marriage. On the afternoon of the 21st, Wonji started off by saying through her YouTube channel community, “Hello, everyone. I have some news that might surprise you (a lot).” She continued, “I‘m... getting married! The wedding will be very simple, unobtrusive, with only my family.” Wonji said of her future groom, “During that process, I happened to meet someone who made me more free and comfortable. In my life with many unpredictable ups and downs, I became convinced that I could go further and have more fun with this person.” Wonji then said, “While I’m on YouTube, I‘m always grateful that so many people take an interest in my small daily life and support me, but on the other hand, I was cautious about telling you this news. So, I ask for your understanding for telling you late,” she said, explaining the reason for belatedly announcing the news of her marriage. Meanwhile, Wonji posted on her YouTube channel, ‘Wonji’s Day’

Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee‘s New Film ‘What Does Nature Say to You?’ Enters Competition at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival

The film ‘What is that nature saying to you?’, a collaboration between director Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee, who recently announced their pregnancy, has advanced to the competition section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. This is the ninth time that director Hong has been invited to the Berlin International Film Festival, and attention is focused on whether he will be able to win his sixth award with this film. On the afternoon of the 21st (Korean time), the Berlin International Film Festival announced the films to be screened at the festival, which opens on the 13th of next month, and director Hong Sang-soo‘s new film ‘What is that nature saying to you?’, a film about a young woman who takes her boyfriend to his family and

Park Bo-young, bleached hair ‘drastic transformation’… What‘s going on [DA★]

Actress Park Bo-young‘s drastic transformation is drawing attention. On the 21st, Park Bo-young posted several photos on her SNS without any special comments. In the released photos, Park Bo-young catches the eye with her airport fashion. Park Bo-young matched a long coat with a black hat and scarf. The most eye-catching part is Park Bo-young’s hair transformation. The bleached hair visible through the hat is a transformation that we have never seen before, drawing even more attention. Meanwhile, Park Bo-young will be appearing in Netflix‘s ‘Melo Movie’. ‘Melo Movie’ is a romance that depicts a movie-like time in which ambiguous youths who want to love and achieve their dreams find each other, become inspirations for each other, and overcome their own traumas. Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com

(G)I-dle Minnie Solo Debut… ‘HER’ Showing Off Hexagonal Abilities (Comprehensive) [DA: New Song]

(G)I-dle Minnie makes solo debut… Shows off her hexagonal abilities with ‘HER’ (Comprehensive) [DA: New song] (G)I-dle Minnie has made a leap forward as a solo artist after 7 years of debut. She showed off her extraordinary hexagonal abilities through her new album ‘HER’, which she wrote, composed, and even showed off her acting skills. On the 21st at 6 PM, Minnie‘s solo album [HER] and the music video for the title song of the same name were released through various music sites. Minnie’s solo album [HER], which was released after a 7-year wait, contained the confident message of ‘I am my own muse’. It is an album enough to feel the musicality and new charm of Minnie as a solo artist, not just (G)I-dle‘s Minnie. Minnie directly participated in the writing and composing of all the songs, incorporating her own color into the music. BIG Naughty (Seo Dong-hyun) participated in the lyrics for the title song ‘HER’. Minnie expressed her honest inner self through various images of ‘Minnie’, su

Kim Hee-jung, walking the streets in a bikini… Powerful and sexy [DA★]

Kim Hee-jung struts the streets in a bikini… Powerful and sexy [DA★] Actress Kim Hee-jung showed off her exceptionally healthy beauty. On the 20th, Kim Hee-jung revealed photos from her trip to Krabi, Thailand on her Instagram. In the photos, she struts down the streets in a purple bikini with a see-through skirt, showing off a bold style. She also shared photos taken while enjoying water sports in the ocean and a swimming pool. She showed off her sexy charm by revealing her slim body line and firm abs. Meanwhile, Kim Hee-jung met audiences last year with the movies ‘La Bang’ and ‘The Glory of the Family: Returns’, and was active in the SBS women‘s soccer variety show ‘Goal-scoring Girls’. Reporter Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com shine2562@donga.com

Oh Hyun-woo, first solo concert success “Warm winter memories with fans”

Singer Oh Hyun-woo‘s first solo concert has come to a successful conclusion. The solo concert ‘Today, Our Time Now’, held at Space Brick in Hongdae, Seoul on the 18th, was more meaningful as Oh Hyun-woo directly communicated with fans for the first time since his debut, and his sincerity and music became one. It was an especially special and precious time for Oh Hyun-woo, who gained public recognition through his appearance on MBN’s ‘Voice King’, as it was his first time meeting with fans with whom he has built musical intimacy over the years. He captivated the audience with music for about 2 hours, performing a total of 18 songs, including the winter ballad ‘Lean on My Shoulder’, which was released last November. Oh Hyun-woo, who opened the concert with the song ‘I Will Always Protect You’, presented a deep resonance with his sweet husky voice and restrained singing. He continued to share meaningful moments with fans by conveying warm messages with his diverse repertoire on the follow

Kickflip, JYP‘s ‘Three Letter Magic’ Works Again

JYP‘s ‘Three Letter Magic’ worked this time too. Kickflip made their surprise debut on the 20th. With the near-miraculous ‘Debut album pre-orders surpassing 300,000 copies’, both inside and outside of K-pop, the so-called ‘Male Idol Genealogy’ of JYP Entertainment (JYP), their agency, has become a hot topic once again. The JYP male group genealogy, also called the three-letter magic, continues with g.o.d, 2PM, GOT7, and the common expression ‘Skids’, an abbreviation for the top group Stray Kids. JYP’s newcomer Kickflip released their first mini-album ‘Flip’ on the 20th at 6PM.

Oh Sang-wook, missed the fish but caught the laughter… Monthly entertainment 1st place (Thank goodness) [TV Comprehensive]

‘It‘s fortunate that you get a good rest’ Olympic gold medalist Oh Sang-wook proved his ‘clumsy hands’ on a deserted island. Episode 32 of the MBC entertainment program ‘It’s fortunate that you get a good rest’ (directed by Kim Myung-jin, Shin Hyun-bin, Lee Jun-beom, Kim Ki-ho / written by Kwon Jeong-hee / hereinafter ‘Pookdahaeng’), which aired on the 20th, depicted the second day of the operation of a 0.5-star deserted island with 2024 Paris Olympics fencing gold medalist Oh Sang-wook, South Korea‘s star short track speed skating athlete Kwak Yoon-ki, Merguri Association President Kim Dae-ho, veteran Merguri Park Jun-hyung, and chef Jeong Ho-young. According to Nielsen Korea, a viewership rating research agency, on January 21, the broadcast that day recorded a viewership rating of 5.3% nationwide, ranking first among entertainment programs in the same time slot and first among all entertainment programs aired on Mondays. The 2049 viewership rating also took first place in the Monday

‘Black Nuns’ Jeon Yeo-bin “I thought the lights were only on around Kang Dong-won”[Interview]

Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-bin are passionately ‘solidarity’ through the movie ‘The Nuns in Black’, which will be released on the 22nd. In the recent film industry where it is difficult to find female-led movies, they have taken aim at the Lunar New Year box office during the peak season by taking on the ‘top two female leads’. ‘The Nuns in Black’ is a spin-off of ‘The Priests’, which was released in 2015 and attracted 5.44 million viewers, and tells the story of two nuns struggling to save a boy possessed by a powerful evil spirit. Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-bin, who play the roles of Sister Junia and Sister Michaela, respectively, who perform an exorcism, met at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 21st and said, “We had each other.

Song Hye-kyo “I‘m in my 40s now... I’m past the age where I can compete on looks”[Interview]

Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-bin are passionately ‘solidarity’ through the movie ‘The Nuns in Black’, which will be released on the 22nd. In the recent film industry where it is difficult to find female-led movies, they have taken aim at the Lunar New Year box office during the peak season by taking on the ‘top two female leads’. ‘The Nuns in Black’ is a spin-off of ‘The Priests’, which was released in 2015 and attracted 5.44 million viewers, and tells the story of two nuns struggling to save a boy possessed by a powerful evil spirit. Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-bin, who play the roles of Sister Junia and Sister Michaela, respectively, who perform an exorcism, met at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 21st and said, “We had each other.

‘JYP‘s youngest son’ Kickflip debuts... 300,000 pre-orders → 1st place on Hunter-Circle Chart

‘JYP‘s youngest son’ KickFlip debuts... 300,000 pre-orders → #1 on Hanteo and Circle Charts JYP Entertainment’s (hereafter JYP) next-generation boy group KickFlip has made a powerful debut. KickFlip threw their hat into the music ring with their first mini-album ‘Flip it, Kick it!’ and the title song ‘Mama Said (What are you trying to become?)’ on the 20th at 6PM. Their first album, ‘Flip it, Kick it!’, surpassed 300,000 pre-orders on the 15th and ranked first on the real-time album charts of album aggregation sites Hanteo Chart and Circle Chart as of 10 p.m. on the 20th, proving the hot attention JYP‘s new artists are receiving. On the day of their debut, at 7 p.m., the global debut show ‘KickFlip On Board’ was simultaneously broadcast on Mnet and M2 YouTube channels. In this debut show, the seven members, Gye-hoon, Amaru, Dong-hwa, Joo-wang, Min-je, K-ju, and Dong-hyun, performed the title song ‘Mama Said (What are you trying to be?)’ as well as ‘Yeah Yeah’, ‘Knock Knock’.

Ive ‘Holcee’ X IU ‘Eleven’… Color Switch was such a great content (Palette)

Ive ‘Holcsi’ X IU ‘Eleven’… Color Switch was such great content (Palette) Group Ive and singer IU have met. On the 20th, a new episode of ‘IU‘s Palette’ titled ‘’I’Shoot Up with the Family (With IVE) Ep. 31’ was released on the YouTube channel ‘Igeum’. On this day, Ive appeared as a guest on ‘IU’s Palette’ and showed off various talks and his musical abilities that have grown even more. Ive, who successfully completed his world tour last year, mentioned that he and IU, who were on a similar world tour around the same time, had overlapping concert venues a few weeks apart, saying, “Didn‘t you perform in Korea? We also had a performance, so we really wanted to go then, but the timing didn’t work out,” she said, expressing her regret. IU also said, “We really wanted to invite Ive as a guest, but his performance schedule overlapped with that. I thought, ‘Oh, Ive has a performance too. We’re going to do it without a guest,‘ so it was the first time since our debut that we performed without

Stray Kids, Running World Tour Again This Year! Powerful ‘Start’ in Hong Kong

Stray Kids to go on world tour again this year! A powerful ‘Start’ in Hong Kong Stray Kids have resumed their world tour with their first solo concert in 2025 in Hong Kong. Stray Kids held a solo concert as part of their world tour ‘Stray Kids World Tour’ (〈Dominate〉) at the Asia World Arena in Hong Kong on January 18th and 19th (local time). This was their first solo concert held in Hong Kong since their debut, and local fans responded enthusiastically, and all tickets for all shows were sold out. Stray Kids said on this day, “This is our first Hong Kong concert in 8 years. I can‘t even imagine how long you’ve been waiting for this moment. Thank you for waiting, and we really missed the Hong Kong STAY (fandom name: STAY)”. The group then performed vivid live performances and splendid performances of their representative hit songs, including ‘Sorikkun’, ‘Back Door’, ‘Chk Chk Boom’, ‘God‘s Menu’, and ‘Special’. They also ranked 6th on the US Billboard ‘Billboard 200’.

From a 17-year-old Thai girl to a ‘K-pop queen’… (G)I-dle Minnie‘s story of challenges [Interview]

Ten years ago, in 2015, a 17-year-old Thai girl set foot on the unfamiliar land of Korea alone. There was only one reason she came to this place, where she had no one to lean on and no one to know. It was her burning passion for K-pop. This is the story of Minnie, a member of the group (G)I-dle, who is now the undisputed ‘K-pop queen’. Ten years ago, she passed an audition at a dance academy where she had been attending because she loved K-pop, and her life changed “beyond imagination” when she debuted as a member of (G)I-dle in 2018. She won the grand prize at the Melon Music Awards (MMA) last November, and reached the top as a K-pop star that she had always dreamed of.

In these times, ‘Drama’… Joo Ji-hoon and Choo Young-woo‘s frontal breakthrough of ‘Severe Trauma Center’

As the medical community continues to be in chaos due to the strike of residents, Netflix‘s new drama ‘Trauma Center’ will boldly throw its hat into the ring on the 24th. Despite the fact that other medical dramas have taken special measures such as postponing broadcasts due to the chaos, Netflix has chosen ‘Trauma Center’ as its first drama of the new year, drawing attention from both inside and outside the broadcasting industry. ‘Trauma Center’, starring a full lineup of home theater stars including Joo Ji-hoon, Choo Young-woo, Ha-young, Yoon Kyung-ho, and Jung Jae-kwang, tells the story of Baek Kang-hyeok (Joo Ji-hoon), a genius surgeon who has been on the battlefield, who is assigned to a post to revive a severe trauma team that is ineffective. Joo Ji-hoon

MONSTA X SHOWNU “I can‘t believe it’s the 10th anniversary... I‘m looking forward to the full group activities” [Photoshoot]

MONSTA X Shownu, “I can‘t believe it’s our 10th anniversary... Looking forward to full group promotions” [Photoshoot] MONSTA X Shownu showed off his unique visuals as befitting the ‘pic shoot master’. Shownu, who decorated the cover of the February issue of @star1, showed off his diverse charms, from a mannish mood to unique visuals. While MONSTA X is celebrating their 10th debut anniversary this year, half of the members are currently on a hiatus due to their military service. Jooheon is scheduled to be discharged on the 23rd, while Kihyun and Hyungwon are scheduled to be discharged on February 21st and May 13th, respectively. Shownu did not hide his anticipation for full group promotions with the members. He said, “I talk to the members on the phone a lot,” and “I meet Minhyuk and Changkyun often, and Kihyun and I have small talk in the group chat.” He shared personal stories with Jooheon and Hyungwon, saying, “When we talk amongst ourselves, there are times when I think, ‘Is this re

Jeong Seong-ho‘s Return... Second Child Soo-ae, 15kg Weight Loss ‘Transformation’ (Shudol)

In ‘The Return of Superman’, Jeong Seong-ho and the five siblings Su-ah, Su-ae, Su-hyeon, Jae-beom, and Ha-neul return after a year, and the sight of the five siblings growing up with more charm captures attention. Since its first broadcast in 2013, ‘The Return of Superman’ (hereafter referred to as ‘The Return of Superman’), which has been loved by the nation for 12 years, is the only parenting program in Korea where parents who are unfamiliar with parenting learn happiness through their children, shed new light on various family structures, and shine a light on the valuable meaning of parenting. The 558th episode of ‘The Return of Superman’, which will air on Wednesday, January 22, is the ‘Thank You for Coming to Me’ episode, and the three MCs Park Soo-hong, Choi Ji-woo, Ahn Young-mi, and Superman Jung Sung-ho will be together. Comedian Jung Sung-ho and the five siblings ‘Soo-Ae-Soo-Hyun-Jae-Ha-Neul’ are returning after a year to herald the true face of ‘Dadung House’, which has beco

Park Jin-young - Are you really a high school student? Just admiring the visuals in the school uniform (Witch)

Aren‘t Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui real high school students? Admiring their school uniform visuals (Witch) Channel A’s ‘Witch’ has released school uniform photos of the main characters Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui. Channel A‘s new Saturday-Sunday drama ‘Witch’ (directed by Kim Tae-gyun, written by Jo Yoo-jin, planned by Channel A, produced by Showbox, Mr. Romance) is a mystery romance about ‘Dong-jin’, a man who tries to break the law of misfortune surrounding a woman called a witch, and ‘Mi-jeong’, a woman who has become the seed of tragedy and has cut herself off from the world, and who end up saving each other in the end of their unyielding journey. Actors Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui play the roles of Dong-jin and Mi-jeong, respectively, and have already received enthusiastic responses from fans of the original work for their high character synchronization, and expectations are growing even higher with the release of their school uniform looks. The still cuts released on

Audition Manipulation → School Violence Perpetrator Theory… Ryeoun, Finally Holds Press Conference (Namib)

Ryeoun clears up all suspicions at the center of controversy. In episode 10 of the Genie TV original drama ‘Namib’ (written by Eom Sung-min, directed by Han Sang-jae, Kang Min-goo, planned by KT Studio Genie, produced by SLL, and Studio Woo Young-soo) to be aired today (the 21st), Yoo Jin-woo (played by Ryeoun) takes his first difficult step toward revealing the truth by attending a press conference. Yoo Jin-woo, who had previously signed a contract with TA Entertainment and made it to the debut team, was embroiled in various controversies ahead of his debut, which ultimately led to a mental breakdown. The suspicion that he was a trainee involved in the audition rigging controversy was further fueled by the scheme of Pandora Entertainment CEO Jang Hyun-chul (played by Lee Seung-jun), the mastermind behind the manipulation. When Jang Hyun-chul found out that Yoo Jin-woo had been working at a club with Chris (played by Lee Ki-taek), he swayed the media and public opinion by covering up t