BTS Comeback D-52: Jimin's 'Who' earns double platinum in Canada SEOUL, January 28 (AJP)-BTS member Jimin’s solo single “Who” received a Double Platinum Single certification on January 19, according to a music chart in Canada. Music Canada, formerly known as the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), grants certifications based on combined figures from digital downloads, streaming and physical single sales. For singles, Music Canada awards Gold certification at 40,000 units, Platinum at 80,000 units and Double Platinum at 160,000 units. Released on July 19, 2024, “Who” surpassed 80,000 units within approximately six months, earning Platinum certification in January. The track has since exceeded 160,000 units in Canada, qualifying it for Double Platinum status. On the same day, “Set Me Free Pt.2,” a pre-release track from Jimin’s first solo album FACE, received Gold certification. Earlier, on January. 16, “Filter” was certified Platinum, while “Lie” earned Gold certification, further highlighting Jimin’s strength as a solo artist in the Canadian market. Jimin had previously made a history with “Like Crazy,” the title track of his first solo album, "FACE," which became the first Korean-language solo track to receive Platinum certification in Canada since PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” With “Who” also reaching Platinum-level certification, Jimin is the first and only Korean artist to earn multiple Music Canada Platinum certifications with non-collaboration solo tracks. 2026-01-28 10:28:34

Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice' fails to make BAFTA final nominees SEOUL, January 28 (AJP) - Director Park Chan-wook's film No Other Choice failed to make the final list of five nominees competing for next month's British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. Among the five final nominees, announced on Tuesday about a month ahead of the annual awards, were Iran's "It Was Just an Accident," Brazilian historical thriller "The Secret Agent," Norway's "Sentimental Value," Spanish-French co-production "Sirât," and Tunisian-French co-production "The Voice of Hind Rajab." Earlier last month, expectations had been building after Park's 139-minute thriller was longlisted, along with nine other films, for the award recognizing the "Best Film Not in the English Language." Previously, "No Other Choice" did not win any awards at the U.S. Golden Globes earlier this month despite earning three nominations, and it also missed out on the final nominees for the prestigious Academy Awards, scheduled to be held in March. But "Bugonia," a remake of director Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 film "Save the Green Planet!" is vying for awards after earning five nominations. The 79th BAFTA ceremony will be held in London on Feb. 22. 2026-01-28 10:17:14

BTS world tour triggers global travel surge, boosting Korea tourism SEOUL, January 27 (AJP) - Global excitement is building ahead of BTS’s first full-group world tour in more than four years. Fans are moving quickly to secure flights and accommodation to Korea, helping turn “tour tourism” into a major growth driver for the local travel industry. According to global travel platform Hotels.com on January 21, searches for inbound travel to Korea surged in the 48 hours following the announcement of BTS’s new world tour, BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’, on January 13. The spike reflects how global fans’ desire to see the group’s comeback in person quickly turned into travel plans. The surge in interest was also seen in ticket sales, with all BTS shows in North America and Europe selling out. Stadium venues in each region saw seats snapped up shortly after ticket sales opened. The world tour will begin on April 9 at Goyang Sports Complex. All presale dates were sold out. The tour will then move to the Tokyo Dome on April 17. The North American tour will start at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on April 25, 26 and 28, before moving on to cities including El Paso, Mexico City, Stanford and Las Vegas. In total, BTS will perform 31 shows across 12 cities. BTS will perform 31 shows in 12 cities, with extra dates added in Tampa, Stanford and Las Vegas due to strong demand. The Europe tour will begin at Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 26 and 27. BTS will then perform in cities such as Brussels, London, Munich and Paris, with 10 shows in five cities. The North American tour will be another milestone, with BTS becoming the first Korean artist to hold solo concerts at major U.S. stadiums such as Sun Bowl Stadium, Stanford Stadium, Gillette Stadium, M&T Bank Stadium and AT&T Stadium. The world tour will include 82 shows across 34 cities, marking a record for a single K-pop tour. With more regions yet to open ticket sales and additional dates planned in Japan and the Middle East, the scale of the tour is expected to expand further. Meanwhile, BTS will release their fifth full-length album, ARIRANG, on March 20 at 1 p.m. The 14-track record captures “BTS today,” weaving together themes of identity, love and longing — and marking the start of their long-awaited return. The group's first comeback stage is set for an open urban space at Gwanghwamun in downtown Seoul on March 21, although the details including the time are still being negotiated due to safety issues. 2026-01-27 09:03:33

Pinkfong signs deal with US entertainment firm to develop family stage shows SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - The Pinkfong Company said on Tuesday it has signed a partnership with U.S.-based live entertainment and touring firm Terrapin Station Entertainment to jointly develop new stage productions for family audiences. Terrapin Station Entertainment has produced and toured live shows based on family-oriented intellectual property, including Disney Junior, Peppa Pig and Gabby’s Magic House, and has operated large-scale tours across North America. Under the agreement, the two companies will plan and develop a K-pop concert-style family show featuring the Pinkfong Company’s intellectual property, including Pinkfong, Baby Shark and Bebefinn. The Pinkfong Company said it has staged performances in more than 200 cities across 16 countries, attracting a cumulative audience of over 1.5 million. It said the partnership is designed to move beyond one-off events toward repeatable, large-scale touring formats and to expand global revenue streams. The new production will target families and adopt a K-pop concert format built around the concept of “a child’s first concert.” The companies said the show will combine music, dance and visual effects with audience-participation segments to recreate the energy of a K-pop performance. Pinkfong and Baby Shark will headline the show, alongside Bebefinn. Jeong Yeon-bin, head of the Pinkfong Company’s U.S. operations, said the partnership provides a “new springboard” for expanding the company’s live entertainment business globally. “We will continue to broaden our engagement with fans worldwide through high-quality performance experiences,” Jeong said in a press release. * This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP. 2026-01-20 10:14:48

INTERVIEW: Park Seo-joon: confident "Waiting for Gyeongo" will linger despite low ratings SEOUL, January 19 (AJP) - For Park Seo-joon, returning to the romance genre after seven years with, "Waiting for Gyeong-do" was a project that demanded full embracement of character’s life. Following the timeline of protagonist "Lee Gyeong-do," who continues to live with the same feelings even after two relationships at the ages of twenty and twenty-eight, the narrative goes beyond a simple reunion melodrama. Instead, it asks how the emotion of love is endured, accumulated, and carried over time. “Being able to portray Gyeong-do was, a very rewarding experience. I believed that 'Waiting for Gyeong-do' relies heavily on the shared narrative between two protagonists, and the real question was how deeply we could convey the narrative. More over, It was a project that encourages you to think a bit more deeply about the idea of love.” For Park Seo-joon, "Waiting for Gyeong-do" was a project where the process mattered more than the result. Instead of dramatic moments, the focus was on emotional nuance, building meaning through small, gradual changes — a process that demanded great nuance from an actor's standpoint. “I feel like it ended well. This was a project where emotional expression was incredibly important, therefore, I tried to approach it as delicately as possible, and in that process, I think I was able to give it my all. I have no regrets. I feel like this is a work I poured everything I could into.” Waiting for Gyeong-do also marked Park Seo-joon’s return to the romance genre after seven years. Actor addressed, what drew him to the project was not the milestone itself, but the story. The narrative, which spans a long passage of time, offered a fresh creative stimulus for him as an actor. “To be honest, I didn’t really think about how many years it had been since I last participated in a romance project. There are so many different kinds of romance. What grasped my attention the most, was that the story depicts a long period of time. I felt there was something meaningful about the way the narrative lays out the protagonist's life over those years.” After completing the shoot, Park Seo-joon realized the emotional density woven into the project while looking aback at the project. “After watching all 12 episodes, I realized there was far more in it than I had expected,” adding "scenes that you might simply pass over if you look only at the events all had meaning when viewed through the characters’ emotions. In that sense, it was a project that made me think a lot as an actor.” Although Park Seo-joon mentioned, he did not want to speak in terms of numbers, "Waiting for Gyeong-do" opened with a 2.7 percent viewership rating and ended at 4.7 percent. For Park Seo-joon, who sparked a phenomenon with "Itaewon Class," the ratings were admittedly disappointing. Given the high expectations surrounding his first romance drama in seven years, a sense of bitterness was unavoidable. “From the standpoint of those who worked on it, you want more people to watch it. It’s certainly a story that deserves higher viewing. Since there haven’t been many projects recently that deal with such a lengthy narrative, I think it ultimately comes down to viewers taste. If I may carefully wish for something, i personally believe 'Waiting for Gyeong-do' has a lot of potential to be brought up often by people. I don’t think the plot of 'Waiting for Gyeong-do' would be forgotten that easily.” By portraying Lee Gyeong-do, Park Seo-joon took on the challenge of embodying a single character across his twenties and thirties. In a story that moves back and forth in time, the decision for one actor to play different stages of protagonist's life risked appearing contrived. Actor addressed that he decided early on that he would portray both young and old version of the characters himself. “I felt it was important that I portray those differences myself,” adding “Because the timeline moves back and forth, I suggested that I should be the one acting in two different era and the director shared the same view. I was grateful for the opportunity, and I felt confident because those were years I’ve actually lived. While I did wonder whether I could convincingly convey my twenties externally, the difference between who I was then and who I am now is clear. I wanted to express that difference to show the passage of time, while preserving one consistent core in Gyeong-do.” Moving between the character’s twenties and thirties, Park Seo-joon focused consistency instead of changes. Actor explained that he wanted to convey the passage of time through emotion and attitude, rather than through physical transformation. “I felt it was important not to make drastic changes to my appearance, even down to details like hairstyles,” adding “Consistency also comes through externally. At his core, Gyeong-do is a character whose love for Ji-woo never changes, and that emotional stance was what mattered most. For the role I prepared physically and mentally, however the most important factor was to keep the emotion steady. .” Having spent years watching reporters up close, Park Seo-joon said the role of the deputy editor of entertainment division felt unfamiliar, however not entirely foreign. He added that the sense conveyed by the office environment itself played an important role in the project. “Even down to details like the computer, I thought about what felt appropriate for the role,” adding “It was my first time acting in an office setting, although I haven’t spent much time in offices myself, I felt the atmosphere of the space was important. The moment I sat down, I had a clear sense of being a reporter. There’s a brief scene where I watch a drama on a monitor, and I imagined that reporters might do something like that while working on articles. Through the interview process, the role didn’t feel far removed from my own experience. I’ve attended many production presentations, and early in my career I even visited newspaper companies directly for interviews, so approaching the role didn’t feel particularly difficult.” When asked about whether his perspective on reporters had changed, Park Seo-joon responded with a smile, candidly reflecting that what had once been curiosity had now turned into understanding. “I used to be very curious, I wondered how the same words could be presented so differently. But now, I understand it. I think it’s something that can happen, and I don’t have any bad feelings about it at all anymore." When asked about how he chooses his projects and his future direction, Park Seo-joon responded with “Instead of expanding the field I tend to focus on stories that I can portray now.” Rather than aiming to broaden his spectrum, he appeared more focused on prioritizing stories that align with his current age and emotional state. “Saying ‘expanding my spectrum’ sounds a bit grand to me. What mattered most was what I could do at this point in my life. After finishing this project, I found myself wanting to tell another story. Instead of planning things too far ahead, I want to go with whatever genuinely interests me at the moment. Spending about two years on 'Gyeongseong Creature' also made me naturally gravitate toward stories that feel more grounded in reality than that kind of genre.” When asked whether there was a role or moment he is waiting for, Park Seo-joon offered a candid reflection on age, revealing a clear sense of expectation about his forties. “My forties,” adding “People often say men truly begin at 40, but for now, it still feels like I’m preparing. Personally, I think that feeling will come somewhere between 40 and 43. One reason I haven’t gravitated toward noir is that I felt I looked too young for it — that it wouldn’t suit me. But at that age, I think it might. The range of choices could change: the projects I can challenge and the stories I can appear in may be different from now. And romance at that stage will likely be completely different as well.” 2026-01-19 17:01:32

Japanese teenage actor to visit Seoul next month as film becomes sleeper hit SEOUL, January 19 (AJP) - Japanese actor Soya Kurokawa will visit Seoul next month as his latest film "National Treasure," also known as "Kokuho became a sleeper hit in South Korea, the film’s distributer said on Monday. Directed by Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter of Zainichi Korean descent Lee Sang-il, the film has attracted over 200,000 moviegoers in about eight weeks since its release in mid-November last year, an impressive feat for an indie film here. Kurokawa is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Feb. 1 and meet fans at a theater in Yongsan and other venues. This is not his first visit, as the teenager previously came to Seoul in 2023 to promote his hit film "Monster" and also attended the Busan International Film Festival last fall. The lengthy film running 175 minutes, an adaptation of a novel by Shuichi Yoshida that chronicles the passionate lives of men devoted to art over half a century, was an instant hit in Japan, remaining at the top of the box office for 31 consecutive weeks since its release in June last year. 2026-01-19 15:20:41

EXO set to drop first full-length album in over two years SEOUL, January 19 (AJP) - K-pop boy band EXO are returning with their eighth full-length album on Monday. "REVERXE," set for release at 6 p.m. on major music-streaming sites, is the group's first full-length album in about two years and six months. The album contains nine songs including its title track "Crown," a hard-dance track about protecting a loved one, symbolized as a crown. To promote the album, a showcase is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kyunghee University in Seoul later in the day and also livestreamed on YouTube and TikTok. 2026-01-19 10:27:09

Actor Lee Byung-hun appears on US late-night talk show SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - Actor Lee Byung-hun appeared on NBC's late-night talk show "Late Night with Seth Meyers" earlier this week, sharing behind-the-scenes stories from his latest films. After walking on stage to loud cheers at a studio in New York on Tuesday, Lee recounted a few episodes from the set of award-winning director Park Chan-wook's film "No Other Choice," drawing laughter with witty answers that garnered repeated applause from the audience. "I'm the type of person who asks a lot of questions. To portray my characters well, I often end up bugging directors about every tiny detail," Lee said. Recalling that most directors usually accepted only a few of his ideas, he said, "While working on No Other Choice, used almost nine out of ten," which made him "feel good but also more responsible." Lee's appearance on the primetime show comes amid his rising global recognition, having recently been named to The New York Times Magazine's list of "Great Performers," which honors outstanding actors. 2026-01-15 10:43:26

BLACKPINK to release new album next month SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - K-pop girl group BLACKPINK will release a new album next month. "Deadline," the quartet's third mini album, was teased by their management agency YG Entertainment on Thursday, ahead of its release slated for Feb. 27. "We'd like to thank fans who have waited for quite a long time," the agency said in a press release. The much-anticipated album is expected to reflect the memories and moments of their ongoing world tour, also called "Deadline." The tour kicked off in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province last July and has included more than 30 performances in about 16 cities around the world. BLACKPINK will hold a three-day concert in Tokyo from Friday, followed by the tour's final stop in Hong Kong a week later. 2026-01-15 09:13:23

BTS to tour 34 cities across world with over 70 gigs SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - K-pop boy band BTS will embark on a world tour in April, marking their first large-scale tour in about four years since their last one in Las Vegas in 2022. The group teased the tour on Wednesday at midnight with a poster on the global fan platform Weverse. The tour will begin in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, before heading to stops across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. With some 79 shows planned across 34 major cities across the world, the tour is expected to set a record for the most dates performed on a single tour by a K-pop act. Additional stops in Japan and the Middle East are also planned, likely extending the tour further. The tour is scheduled to kick off with three-day concerts on April 9, 11, and 12 on the outskirts of Seoul. BTS will then move to the southern port city of Busan to perform on June 12 and 13, with the June 13 show expected to coincide with their debut anniversary, allowing them to celebrate with fans. Starting with concerts on April 25 and 26 in Tampa, Florida, the septet's North American leg will include 28 shows across 12 cities. They will perform at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, becoming the first K-pop act to hold concerts of this scale in those cities. BTS will also take the stage at Stanford Stadium in California, following British band Coldplay as just the second artist to headline the venue. Additional U.S. dates include AT&T Stadium in Arlington and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, marking the first-ever performances by a South Korean artist at those venues. BTS will then tour Europe in June and July with 10 shows in five cities including London, Paris, Madrid, and Brussels. They will also visit five South American cities including São Paulo and Buenos Aires, and plan to hold concerts in the Middle East. According to their management agency, they will perform on 360-degree stages during the tour. Just ahead of the tour, BTS will release their fifth full-length album on March 20, featuring 14 tracks. The album marks their full-group reunion, nearly three years and nine months after they completed their respective mandatory military service. BTS said the album conveys their honest feelings and reflections on past moments, with the goal of presenting themselves "as they are now." 2026-01-14 09:58:33