🇰🇷 100,000 Lanterns Illuminating The Sky Of Seoul 🏮

K-Pop

🌹 Korean Media Dubs The Rose As The “BTS Of K-Rock”

YuJun 🍎According to The Korea Times, Korean rock band The Rose is being called the “BTS of K-Rock” after gaining love and popularity from fans all over the world following their outstanding Coachella performance. While this is meant with the intention of BTS being synonymous with premier excellence, such comparison may potentially take away from both artists’ merit. So, let’s call The Rose the #1 K-Rock band taking over the world and BTS the biggest Korean musical act in the world, shall we?

💿 SEVENTEEN Break Sales Records With Their Compilation Album “17 Is Right Here”

Dyllan 🐼SEVENTEEN are a world-renowned K-Pop act with numerous accolades and accomplishments. They’ve broken many records throughout their career and continue to do so today. Even with a compilation album, the idol group managed to sell more than 333,000 physical copies between the week of April 29th and May 5th, breaking an Oricon weekly sales chart record — and they are the only musical act to do so. SEVENTEEN’s upward trajectory doesn’t stop and neither will we in following them.

🌌 Casetify Teams Up With NCT Dream For A Dream-Like Collaboration

Dyllan 🐼The world of phone cases and K-Pop meet once again in this collaboration between NCT Dream and Casetify. Together, they’re gearing up for the “Dream Night Chit Chat” where they will release a limited collection inspired by the idol group. Set to officially release on May 16th, fans can choose to sign up for a waiting list registration from May 9th. If you’re in Korea before then, you can also look to attend a special pop-up event to see the items before anyone else! Aside from the marvelous phone cases, another highlight of the collection is the NCT Dream Collector Edition Earbud case.

🥳 “GoSe Is Back”, SEVENTEEN Says They Are ‘Right Here’

Laure 🌼On May 8th, SEVENTEEN dropped the opening title sequence of “GOING SEVENTEEN” to announce the beginning of new content uploads for the group’s YouTube show. It’s widely known that “GoSe” is so entertaining that the show’s viewers have their own fandom, CUBIC. The news quickly spread among fans and non-fans, who are eagerly anticipating the upcoming content. Are you also looking forward to it?

K-Drama & K-Movie

⌚ “Lovely Runner” Syndrome Going Strong – Filming Site Draws Visitors

Ishani 🎀The “Lovely Runner” fever is at an all-time high, and fans all over the world are obsessed with the adorable love story of Im Sol (Kim HyeYoon) and Ryu SunJae (Byeon WooSeok) spanning decades. In keeping with the craze around “Lovely Runner”, the filming site of Im Sol and SunJae’s houses has become a hot new tourist attraction. The location of Im Sol’s house is Mongted, a pretty little dessert cafe in Suwon. If you want to visit Im Sol’s house and relive your memories from “Lovely Runner”, here is the address: 14 Hwaseomun-ro 48beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do.

💖 Lee DoHyun And Lim JiYeon’s Heartwarming Affection At The 60th Baeksang Arts Awards

Ishani 🎀The 60th Baeksang Arts Awards, one of the most prestigious TV & Film award shows in Korea, was held on May 7. Much to fans’ joy, Lee DoHyun, who is currently serving in the military, was able to attend the event and even took home the “Best New Actor” award for “Exhuma”. Fans cheered as the actor thanked Lim JiYeon, his girlfriend, during his speech. The two were also spotted being affectionate and supportive towards each other, which prompted fans to adore their relationship even more. Netizens are looking upon this couple warmly.

🍞 Song KangHo Set To Make His K-Drama Debut After 35 Years As An Actor With “Uncle Samsik”

Ishani 🎀Did you know that award-winning “Parasite” actor Song KangHo is going to make his K-Drama debut? In his 35-year glorious career, this is the first time Song KangHo is acting in a K-Drama, and this K-Drama is the Disney Plus original “Uncle Samsik”. “Uncle Samsik” also stars Byun YoHan, Jin KiJoo, Lee KyuHyung, Seo HyunWoo, Yoo JaeMyung, Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany, and several other outstanding actors. “Uncle Samsik” premieres on May 15, with the release of the first 5 episodes.

📺 JTBC Romantic Comedy “Frankly Speaking” Enters Netflix Top 10 TV Shows (Non-English)

Dyllan 🐼2024 is already ripe with amazing K-Content waiting for the world to enjoy. Now, “Frankly Speaking” has made its premiere and joins the ever-growing catalogue of series featured on Netflix. After all the data had been collected, Netflix revealed that the romantic comedy broke into the Netflix Top 10 TV Shows (Non-English), reaching 8th place with 1.2M views. Led by shining stars of Go KyungPyo, Kang HanNa, and Joo JongHyuk, its strong start has brought audiences’ expectations higher than ever, excited to watch the upcoming episodes.

K-Fashion

✨ The Oscars Of The Fashion World Dominated By K-Pop

Ishani 🎀One of the biggest nights in fashion, the 2024 Met Gala, happened on May 6, and Stray Kids made history as the first-ever K-Pop group to be invited to the event. The group was dressed by Tommy Hilfiger for the big night and looked as royal as princes on the carpet. Later on, X revealed that Stray Kids had the most mentions on the day of the Met Gala and was the only Korean act in the top 5. BLACKPINK’s Jennie also attended the 2024 Met Gala, looking ethereal in custom Alaïa. Needless to say, it was a major slay and Jennie proved her influence in the fashion world once more.

K-Beauty

🐼 Korea’s Love For Adorable Pandas Seeps Into K-Beauty

Kay 🥑Remember when all of Korea was collectively sad over bidding farewell to panda Fu Bao before she was moved to China? While upsetting, this departure reignited Koreans’ love for pandas even more, and now, this craze has made its way over to K-Beauty! K-Beauty giant Laneige has collaborated with Everland’s ‘Bao Family’ to release the ‘Laneige X Bao Family Neo Cushion’. Laneige has also announced that a portion of the campaign’s proceeds will be contributed to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This product will be available in Olive Young’s online and offline stores starting from May. A pop-up store in celebration of the release is also being hosted at Amore Seongsu until May 12.

K-Travel

🏮 100,000 Lanterns Illuminating The Sky Of Seoul With Lotus Lantern Festival’s Highlight

Laure 🌼As Buddha’s Birthday (May 15) approaches, the capital city is covered with lanterns illuminating the roads. But it doesn’t stop there; there are also beautiful lantern exhibits in various locations, including the most famous temples. The most awaited moment of the festival was last weekend, featuring a Buddhist Cheer Rally and Lantern Parade with around 100,000 lanterns and cultural ambassadors from 23 countries. If you are sad to have missed it, make sure to come to Seoul next year.

🍌 Banana Farm Experience Launched This Spring In Famous Hotel

Laure 🌼Shilla Hotel in Jeju Island launched a new experience for their guests. After the tangerine farm this winter and the Strawberry farm this spring, they started a new program! This time, it’s all about bananas, from late spring to early summer. Visitors can see the growing, harvesting, and tasting process. Would you be interested in going for 2 and half hours?

K-Food

🍨 It’s Bingsu Season! (Only If You’re Okay With The Price Hikes)

Kay 🥑Bingsu is a milk-based Korean shaved ice dessert enjoyed with a variety of toppings. It is something Koreans look forward to indulging in as summer arrives. However, as prices for main ingredients like Korean red beans and milk as well as premium toppings like fresh mango, pudding, and glutinous rice cake rise, bingsu prices are also skyrocketing. Popular places like A Twosome Place and Angelinus have already raised their prices. Still, if you’d like to treat yourself in Korea to a delectable bowl of bingsu, our recommendation is the apple mango bingsu!

🍦 First Time Zero Sugar Korean Ice Cream Is Selling A Lot

Laure 🌼Looks like Koreans are loving the first-ever zero-sugar Korean ice cream on the market! “Jaws Bar 0 ㎉” and “Screw Bar 0 ㎉” hit shelves last month and have been a hit ever since, earning good reviews. Lotte Well Food even sold twice as much as they initially planned. Now, they’re busy planning more tasty products without sugar.

K-Society

💐 The Rise Of Practical Gifts Causes Carnation Sales To Drop

Dyllan 🐼With both Parents’ Day and Teachers’ Day landing in May, it has been common practice in Korea to gift carnations as a token of love and appreciation. However, trends have been changing as consumers start to favor practical gifts like health supplements, massage devices, or cash/gift vouchers. The imbalance of falling wholesale balance compared to the ever-constant retail price has also contributed as a factor to the trend of practical gifts.

👓 Korean Subs for K-Drama? MBC & SBS Offer Service

Laure 🌼After MBC, it’s now SBS’s turn to display Korean subtitles for their K-Dramas on TV. In the past, terrestrial broadcasters like KBS, MBC, and SBS used to provide subtitles for the hearing impaired through dedicated devices. Now, the subtitles are integrated into live broadcasts and can’t be removed. The new standard for watching dramas and the older demographic of viewers on these channels are the primary reasons behind these changes.

K-Webtoon

📱 Korean Webtoon (Manhwa) Is The Most Steadily Rising Industry In K-Content; BL & GL Dominate

Ishani 🎀According to Google Trends, between K-Pop, K-Drama, manhwa, Korean movies, and Korean literature, manhwa has shown the most constant upward curve in global interest in the last 5 years. As the world of Hallyu is expanding and deepening, fans are looking beyond just K-Pop and K-Drama. So, manhwa, which was once a niche, is gaining tremendous popularity. In particular, BL and GL manhwa are exploding in popularity. For instance, the BL manhwa “Jinx” by Mingwa and GL manhwa “Lily Of The Valley” by Rangrarii are two of the most highly searched manhwa right now.