Park Kyung Gu, Early Busker Busker Member and Eoljinity Musician, Dies at 38 Park Kyung Gu of the band Eoljinity has died, his family said. He was 38. In a post on social media on Feb. 7, the family said, "It still doesn't feel real, but on behalf of our family we are sharing this obituary," adding, "We would appreciate it if you could be with us with warm hearts as he takes his final journey." The exact cause of death was not disclosed. Fans responded online with messages including, "Thank you for the good songs," "May he rest in peace" and "We will keep the music you left behind as memories." Park busked with Jang Beom June of Busker Busker and wrote and composed Jang's second solo album, "Between Hongdae and Konkuk University." On Feb. 9, Jang posted a tribute video titled "Park Kyung Gu Best Clip (Best Live Clip)" on his YouTube channel.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 07:00:00

Review: Ryoo Seung-wan’s ‘Humint’ hits a new peak of classic spy-action elegance “It’s romantic. The lighting, the temperature, the humidity …” a guest on a variety show once said. The point was that place, weather and how you feel combine to create an atmosphere. Movies work the same way: your mood and experience can become part of how you judge what you see. “ChoiCine Review” is a column that introduces films through the writer’s own perspective, in a more relaxed, everyday voice. Director Ryoo Seung-wan’s films arrive with a recognizable rhythm. If his earlier work moved like upbeat disco or punk, his new film, “Humint,” shifts into something closer to a full orchestra — heavier, colder and more controlled. The result is a polished new high point for Ryoo’s brand of action, refined even beyond “The Berlin File.” The story follows Jo, a National Intelligence Service black-ops agent known as Manager Jo (Zo In-sung), who is tracking an international crime case in Southeast Asia when he picks up a clue left by an informant killed during his earlier human-intelligence operation. He heads to Vladivostok, where he makes contact with Chae Seon-hwa (Shin Se-kyung), an employee at a North Korean restaurant, and selects her as a source for a new operation. Elsewhere, Park Geon (Park Jung-min), a State Security Department team leader sent to investigate disappearances near the border, senses that North Korea’s consul general, Hwang Chi-seong (Park Hae-joon), is involved. Using the pasts of Chae and Park as leverage, Hwang pressures them, and the players begin a dangerous balancing act. Rather than replaying power struggles head-on, Ryoo focuses on what is left unsaid — the gaps between records. The film keeps the poise of classic spy cinema while stripping away excess technique, making “Humint” one of the most tightly constructed espionage entries in his filmography. That control shows in the locations and staging. A Latvia shoot stands in for Vladivostok, bringing a chill texture to the screen. Buildings marked by Russia’s past create an unfamiliar mood, while heavy concrete surfaces help visualize the harsh reality surrounding the characters. The camera alternates between wide landscapes and tight close-ups at key moments, holding on faces to capture emotional shifts. The contrast between the weight of the setting and the instability in the characters’ expressions helps regulate tension scene by scene. The action is designed to match character and tempo, not just deliver thrills. Movements shaped through actual NIS training add professional detail, and the direction counts bullets in gunfights to give scenes a realistic weight. The texture of each fight reflects the characters’ circumstances and temperaments, pushing the story forward. Zo handles firearms with a composed, agentlike presence, using his physicality to give the action a measured style. Park Jung-min brings contained movement with bursts of energy, from his first appearance throwing darts to a car chase. Park Hae-joon tightens suspense with a coldness that turns everyday tools into weapons, while Shin anchors the film with a forceful performance built around decisive choices for survival. Together, the cast’s physical performances lock into an ensemble, building individual arcs within shared spaces and drawing a clear line between harsh reality and human conflict. “Humint” opens in theaters on the 11th. It runs 119 minutes and is rated for viewers 15 and older.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 06:03:00

18-year-old snowboarder Yoo Seung-eun wins women’s big air bronze at 2026 Milan Games * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 04:51:00

South Korea’s Lee Na Hyun places ninth in Olympic women’s 1,000 meters, targets 500 medal Lee Na Hyun of Korea National Sport University became the first South Korean to finish in the top 10 of the Olympic women’s 1,000 meters and said she will now focus on chasing a medal in her main event, the 500. After the race on Monday (Korea time), Lee said, “It wasn’t a perfect race, but I think I set a meaningful time,” adding, “If I prepare well, I think I can try for a medal in the 500.” Lee finished ninth in 1 minute, 15.76 seconds. The result surpassed the previous best South Korean finish in the women’s 1,000, 11th by Yoo Sun Hee at the 1992 Albertville Games. “I thought I could maybe get as high as seventh if things went well,” Lee said. “I didn’t reach my target place, but it’s still a meaningful result, so I’m satisfied.” Lee said she will use what she learned in the 1,000 to prepare for the women’s 500. “Looking at the times from competitions held here, the differences between skaters were big,” she said. “I thought a lot about what the ice would be like and how I should skate.” She added, “First I’ll go back into the athletes village, calm down, and watch today’s video to set a strategy” for the 500. Lee said watching her rivals also motivated her. “I learned a lot watching Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok,” she said. “It made me think I need to work harder, and my goal of standing on the podium became clearer.” In the race, Kok first took the lead with an Olympic record of 1:12.59, before Leerdam lowered it to 1:12.31 to win gold. Lee will compete in the women’s 500 on Feb. 16, aiming to contend for a medal.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 04:24:00

South Korea’s Jeong Hye-seon sits 24th after two runs in Olympic women’s luge South Korea’s Jeong Hye-seon (Gangwon Provincial Government) ranked 24th after the first two runs of the women’s singles luge at her first Olympics. Jeong posted a combined time of 1 minute, 49.587 seconds in runs 1 and 2 on Monday morning (Korea time) at the Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. She was 24th among 25 competitors. Jeong earned her Olympic berth on her third attempt after being selected to the national team in 2014. At 31, she is competing in her first Olympics and is the only South Korean athlete entered in luge at these Games. Starting 18th in the first run, Jeong built speed off the start but lost balance in an early corner and hit the wall. She finished in 55.118 seconds, placing 25th. In the second run, she cut her time to 54.469 seconds but moved up only one spot. Jeong will skate runs 3 and 4 on Feb. 11 to determine the final standings. 2026-02-10 03:57:00

Lee Na Hyun Places Ninth in Olympic Women’s 1,000 Meters, Best Ever for South Korea South Korea’s women’s speed skating reached the Olympic top 10 in the 1,000 meters for the first time. Lee Na Hyun of Korea National Sport University finished ninth in the women’s 1,000 on Monday at the Milan speed skating stadium in Italy, posting 1 minute, 15.76 seconds. Skating in the outside lane in the 13th pair against Great Britain’s Ellia Smeding, Lee accelerated quickly off the start. She passed 200 meters in 17.90 seconds, then reached 600 meters in 45.49 and held on to secure a top-10 finish. No South Korean skater had previously placed in the top 10 in the Olympic women’s 1,000. The country’s best result in the event had been 11th by Yoo Sun Hee at the 1992 Albertville Games. Kim Min Seon of Uijeongbu City Hall placed 18th in 1:16.24. Starting in the outside lane, she went through 200 meters in 17.83 and 600 meters in 45.33 but could not cut her time in the closing stretch. Lee and Kim will try again for a medal in their main event, the women’s 500, on Feb. 16. The gold medal went to the Netherlands’ Jutta Leerdam, who set an Olympic record with 1:12.31. Fellow Dutch skater Femke Kok took silver in 1:12.59, and Japan’s Miho Takagi won bronze in 1:13.95. 2026-02-10 03:03:00

Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen wins men’s team combined for first double gold at Milan-Cortina Games Swiss alpine skier Franjo von Allmen, the first gold medalist of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, won the men’s team combined on Sunday to become the first double champion of the Games. Von Allmen, 24, teamed with Tanguy Nef for “Switzerland 2” and won at the Stelvio Ski Center in Bormio, Italy, in a combined time of 2 minutes, 44.04 seconds. In the team combined, two skiers split the downhill and slalom, and their times are added to determine the standings. Von Allmen opened the medal events on Friday by winning the men’s downhill for the first gold of the Olympics. He followed with another gold in the team combined. He has also drawn attention for working as a carpenter at construction sites in the summer. Von Allmen skied the downhill leg in 1:52.22, fourth-fastest overall. Nef then posted the top slalom time of 51.82 seconds to put them in front on the combined clock. Two teams shared the silver medal at 2:45.03: Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller, and Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt and Loic Meillard. Odermatt, the men’s overall leader in the International Ski and Snowboard Federation World Cup this season, earned his first podium of the Olympics after finishing fourth in the downhill. He skied the slalom leg in 1:52.08, one of the faster times in that run.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-10 00:57:00

Defective Medals Reported at Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics as Ribbons Break, Awards Crack 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics medalists are reporting a rash of defective medals, with ribbons snapping and awards cracking after being dropped. On Feb. 8, U.S. alpine skier Breezy Johnson, the women’s downhill gold medalist, walked into a post-ceremony news conference wearing only the ribbon. Asked where the medal was, she pulled it from her pocket and said it was “broken,” adding, “I was so excited I was jumping up and down, and it suddenly just fell off.” According to USA TODAY and Germany’s Bild, Johnson’s case was not the first. German biathlete Justus Strelow said he noticed a crack after his mixed relay bronze medal separated from its ribbon and fell to the floor while he was celebrating at the team lodging. Sweden’s cross-country skier Ebba Andersson, a silver medalist, said, “The medal fell onto the snow and broke. I hope the organizing committee has a plan for broken medals.” Liu also highlighted the issue on social media after winning team event gold, posting a photo holding the medal and the ribbon separately and writing, “My medal doesn’t need a ribbon.” The medals were made by Italy’s state mint using recycled metal recovered from scrap, produced in a furnace powered by 100% renewable energy — described as the first such effort in Olympic history. With complaints growing, organizers said they are working on a response. Andrea Pracchi, the organizing committee’s chief operating officer, told a news conference on Feb. 9 that officials were aware of durability problems and had reviewed photos. “We are investigating the exact cause,” he said, adding that because it is “the most important issue for athletes,” organizers would “solve everything perfectly.” Similar concerns surfaced at the 2024 Paris Olympics, when hundreds of medals drew replacement requests. InsideTheGames reported in March last year that France’s mint, which oversaw production, received requests from 220 athletes to replace their medals — about 4% of the 5,084 medals awarded. The mint said replacement medals would receive a protective coating to improve durability. 2026-02-09 23:39:00

U.S. Figure Skater Amber Glenn Shuts Down Social Media After Online Threats at Milan Olympics U.S. women’s singles figure skater Amber Glenn, a prominent voice for LGBTQ+ rights, said she has closed her social media accounts after a wave of online abuse and threats. After the United States won gold in the figure skating team event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics at the Milan Ice Skating Arena, Glenn said she had recently received “frightening” threatening messages online. “I’ve just tried to live as myself and speak about basic human dignity and human rights, but it’s heartbreaking that so many people send messages of hate,” she said. Glenn added, “I will keep speaking the truth and standing up for the right to be free. I hope everyone keeps moving forward.” Glenn, who came out as bisexual in 2019, is widely seen as an LGBTQ+ icon in figure skating and has spoken out for greater rights and awareness on and off the ice. She wore an LGBTQ+ pin on the U.S. team jacket on Sunday. Ahead of the Olympics, Glenn criticized the Trump administration’s LGBTQ+ policies and drew attacks from some political groups and their supporters, including insults, mockery and threatening messages on social media. Glenn appeared unsettled in competition. In the women’s singles free skate, she made jump mistakes and placed third among five skaters. The U.S. still secured gold after Ilia Malinin, the final American skater, won the men’s singles free skate. Glenn said the cyberattacks had dampened some of her excitement about the Olympics, but added they did not affect her performance on Sunday. “I think I need to sleep well first,” she said. “I want to step away from all this chaos for a bit.”* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-09 22:27:00

South Korea women win first Asian Badminton Team Championships title, return home South Korea’s women’s national badminton team, led by world No. 1 An Se Young, returned home Sunday afternoon through Incheon International Airport after winning their first title at the 2026 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships. The South Korean men’s and women’s teams, coached by Park Joo Bong, swept host China 3-0 in the finals Saturday in Qingdao, China. It was the first time since the tournament began in 2016 that South Korea’s women finished on top. An anchored the run from the group stage through the final, playing first in singles and not dropping a single game. She also told the coach she wanted to keep playing to maintain momentum, helping drive the team’s “One Team Korea” unity. South Korea fielded a full-strength lineup that included An, Kim Ga Eun and the doubles pair Lee So Hee-Baek Ha Na. The team beat Singapore and Taiwan in group play, then defeated Malaysia in the quarterfinals and Indonesia in the semifinals before lifting the trophy. With the result, the women secured a spot in the finals of the BWF World Team Championships for women, the Uber Cup, to be held in Denmark in April. An said the achievement was special because it was earned together, and she pledged strong performances at future world events. The men’s team finished tied for third despite losing ace Seo Seung Jae to a shoulder injury. Led by Kim Won Ho, singles prospects helped the team clinch a berth in the men’s world team finals, the Thomas Cup. Park said he was pleased with the women’s historic first title and the men’s better-than-expected showing, and he praised the potential of the next generation.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-09 20:36:00