Webtoon Entertainment takes majority stake in RI Games SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Webtoon Entertainment is buying its way into the business of turning its own comics into games and films, ending years in which the company handed its biggest hits to outside studios and collected a fee while somebody else kept the franchise. The Nasdaq-listed operator of Naver Webtoon disclosed two deals on Monday alongside second quarter results. It agreed to buy a 60 percent stake in RI Games Holdings for about $100 million in cash, paid across two clos August 11, 2026

OTT killed the cinema. Korea's hottest summer revives it SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - South Korea’s longest summer heat wave has breathed new life into a pastime and industry nearly killed by streaming — moviegoing and theaters. For couples like Kim Soo-hyun, 29, the once-standard weekend date outdoors has become almost impossible. “It’s been really hard to go on dates on weekends because it’s so hot,” said Kim, an office worker living in southern Seoul’s Seocho district. “The car is cool August 10, 2026

Super Junior's Yesung adds Seoul show as tour sells out SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Yesung of K-pop boy band Super Junior has added a third Seoul concert to his 10th anniversary solo tour after the first two shows sold out, his agency SM Entertainment said on Monday. The additional show as part of the Seoul leg of his tour is scheduled for Oct. 16, just ahead of the two already sold-out gigs scheduled for the following days. Tickets for the show will be sold through Ticketlink. Domestic presales through Super Junior's official fan cl August 10, 2026

K-pop boy band NCT's duo sub-unit wrap up 1st Asian tour SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - K-pop boy band NCT's sub-unit JNJM, consisting of Jeno and Jaemin, wrapped up their first Asian tour with three sold-out concerts in Bangkok over the weekend, their agency SM Entertainment said on Monday. The concerts drew a total of 27,000 fans, bringing their tour to an end after 13 shows across six Asian cities including Bangkok, Jakarta, Kaohsiung, Macao, Seoul and Tokyo. The tour kicked off in Seoul in June. During the Bangkok finale, the two mem August 10, 2026

BTS 'ARIRANG' tour turns city stops into civic events SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) -K-pop megastars BTS are turning their "ARIRANG" world tour into more than a stadium run, with cities from Toronto to Mexico City and Paris rolling out civic honors and tourism campaigns to capitalize on the group's global drawing power. City councils, governors and even national leaders are treating BTS concert stops as public events, tourism opportunities and highly visible gestures of welcome. Toronto's city council recently reviewed August 10, 2026

Culture ministry, YouTube pledge closer ties on Korean creator content SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - Korea's culture ministry and YouTube agreed Monday to strengthen cooperation around Korean creators, signaling that short-form and creator-led video are being treated less as a side channel and more as a growing part of the country's content industry. Kim Young-soo, first vice minister of culture, sports and tourism, met with YouTube Vice President of Product Woojin Kim at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul to discuss ways August 10, 2026

BIGBANG to reunite solo colors on 20th-anniversary single 'BiiiG' SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - K-pop super group BIGBANG will release a new digital single, "BiiiG," on Aug. 19, marking the group's first new song in more than four years and tying the comeback directly to its 20th anniversary. YG Entertainment unveiled the release poster through its official channels Monday. The single will arrive two days before BIGBANG opens its 20th-anniversary world tour, "XX : COSMOS," with three concerts at Goyang Stadium from Aug. 21 to August 10, 2026

KickFlip's Donghyeon to release 'Breathe' with Britain's Etham SEOUL, August 10 (AJP) - K-pop artist Donghyeon of KickFlip is turning a fan moment into an official collaboration, teaming up with British singer-songwriter Etham for a new single, "Breathe," JYP Entertainment said Monday. The song will be released on major streaming platforms at 1 p.m. (0400 GMT) on Aug. 14. The pairing came together after Donghyeon posted a cover of Etham's "12:45 (Stripped)" on KickFlip's official Instagram account on Aug. 8. Eth August 10, 2026

Rookie boy band CORTIS' Instagram followers surpass 15 million SEOUL, August 9 (AJP) - Rookie boy group CORTIS have surpassed 15 million followers on Instagram, becoming the fastest K-pop group to reach the milestone among those that debuted over the past five years. According to their agency BigHit Music, their Instagram account passed the mark as of last Wednesday, about a year after they opened the account. The rising group's five members, who made their debut in August last year, have also built a strong following on other major plat August 9, 2026

Stray Kids hit 'mega IP' scale, but say risk still drives the music SEOUL, August 06 (AJP) - Stray Kids are now spoken of in the language of K-pop scale: record album debuts, sold-out tours and the kind of commercial weight that makes a group more than a performing act. But at a press event in Seoul ahead of the release of the group's new EP, "THIS & THAT," the eight members kept returning to a different idea — that the safest version of Stray Kids is not necessarily the one they want to repeat. The EP will be released August 6, 2026