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  Actor Song Il-gook Says Son Mingu “Scoffed” at His ‘Immortal Songs’ Appearance Actor Song Il-gook shared an update on his triplets. Song appeared on KBS2’s “Immortal Songs — 2026 Entertainment Industry King of Kings Special, Part 2,” airing on Friday afternoon. Song said it was his first time singing on a broadcast. He added that his wife is president of a court band club and that his son Mingu is preparing to study composition. Song said that when he told Mingu he would be appearing on “Immortal Songs,” his son responded, “What? Dad?” and then scoffed, drawing April 4, 2026
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  Ryu I-seo Says IVF Hormone Shots Led to Weight Gain as She Prepares for Pregnancy Shinhwa member Jun Jin’s wife, Ryu I-seo, has shared details of her pregnancy preparations, including plans for in vitro fertilization. A video titled “First look at Jun Jin and Ryu I-seo’s love house, packed with must-haves from 1,000 won to 2 million won” was posted Thursday on the YouTube channel “Nae Sarang Ryu I-seo.” Asked by the production team about a pill case, Ryu said she carries supplements in it and that she and her husband take “at least 10 kinds a day.” When the team me April 4, 2026
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  BTS’ ‘ARIRANG’ Tops Spotify Weekly Global Charts for Second Straight Week BTS’ new release, “ARIRANG,” held the top spot on Spotify for a second consecutive week. Spotify’s latest weekly charts covering March 27 to April 2 showed BTS again leading the global rankings for Weekly Top Albums, Weekly Top Songs and Weekly Top Artists. The group also ranked No. 1 for 14 straight days, from March 20 through April 2, on the Daily Top Artists Global and Daily Top Songs Global charts. According to the group’s agency, the title track “SWIM” also topped YouTube Music’s we April 4, 2026
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  Macron Visits Pompidou Center Hanwha in Seoul, Calls It a Bridge Between France and Korea Hanwha Foundation said Friday that French President Emmanuel Macron visited Pompidou Center Hanwha in Seoul’s Yeouido district on Thursday during his state visit to South Korea. The visit was arranged to highlight cultural cooperation between the two countries ahead of the museum’s planned opening in June, marking the 140th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and France. Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, toured major areas of the museum with Catherine Pégard, France’s April 4, 2026
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  Mortgage Rates Hit 7% in South Korea, Raising Repayment Pressure for Borrowers After moving in step with expectations of U.S. rate cuts, the broader downtrend in interest rates has been jolted by the unexpected shock of the Iran war. With hopes fading for policy-rate cuts by central banks at home and abroad, and market rates — a key benchmark for lending — rising quickly, borrowers are facing tougher choices. As of Thursday, five-year fixed-rate mortgage loans at South Korea’s five major commercial banks — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup — were quot April 4, 2026
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  Flautist Han Ji-hee to Release Debut Reinecke Album With Lang Lang, Royal Philharmonic Universal Music said Thursday that flutist Han Ji-hee will release her debut album, “Carl Reinecke: Works for Flute,” on April 24. The album features three works by Carl Reinecke. Han recorded the “Flute Concerto in D major” and the “Ballade in D minor for Flute and Orchestra” with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko. She also recorded the flute-and-piano sonata “Undine” with pianist Lang Lang. The album will be released on the Deutsche Grammophon label, and the April 3, 2026
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  Review: Kim Young-ha’s ‘What Happened to the Man Stuck in the Elevator?’ ‘Even now, I still wonder. What on earth happened to him.’ Twenty-seven years after it was published, no one knows what became of him — the man who, in 1999, got stuck in an apartment elevator in Kim Young-ha’s short story, ‘What Happened to the Man Stuck in the Elevator?’ Though I read it more than 20 years ago, several scenes remain vivid, like a film: the man wedged at the fifth floor with his upper body caught between the doors, his feet dangling outside. The narrator, a resident April 3, 2026
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  Shinhan Bank Sells $600 Million in Global Bonds After Drawing $7 Billion in Orders Shinhan Bank said it issued $600 million (about 9.05 trillion won) in global senior foreign-currency bonds on April 1. The deal marked the first overseas foreign-currency bond sale by a major South Korean commercial bank since tensions in the Middle East rose following the war between the United States and Iran. Investor demand totaled about $7 billion (about 10.563 trillion won), the bank said. The bonds were issued as development finance notes, aimed at creating social an April 3, 2026
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  National Dance Company Premieres 'Gwi-hyang,' a Dance Drama on a Mother's Love Mother, I’m back/After passing dark, damp cliffs/I ran through the long night/As wind returns to the wind’s home to rest/I ran with only one heart. (From Kim Seong-ok’s poem “Gwi-hyang”) The National Dance Company of Korea will present “Gwi-hyang” as its first new production of the year. The dance drama blends the lyricism of Korean dance with a theatrical narrative, drawing on Kim Seong-ok’s poem “Gwi-hyang” to stage the inner memories and emotions between a mother and her son. Artist April 3, 2026
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  Go Woori of Rainbow Announces Pregnancy, Due in October Go Woori of the group Rainbow is expecting her first child. On April 2, Go posted a video titled “Go Woori is pregnant! A tearful pregnancy announcement” on her YouTube channel, “Go Woori” (Go Woori). In the video, she said she is 10 weeks pregnant and has largely stayed home for three to four weeks because of morning sickness. She said she invited the production crew to her home for that reason. “I had both constant hunger and physical fatigue,” she said, describing it as fee April 3, 2026