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Kim Woo Bin, Kim Sung Kyun to Star in Netflix’s “Officer Black Belt”

South Korean actors Kim Woo Bin and Kim Sung Kyun are teaming up for the first time for the upcoming action-comedy film from Netflix titled Officer Black Belt. 

In a press release on Wednesday, July 26, Netflix shared that the film will follow the lives of a probation officer and a martial arts officer as they attempt to fight crimes together. 

Woo Bin, who is best known for his roles in Black Knight and The Heirs, will portray Lee Jung Do, an easygoing and ordinary man who is also a martial arts prodigy. His character has nine dans (or ranks) in taekwondo, kendo, and judo. 

Meanwhile,  Sung Kyun, who starred in D.P. and Reply 1998, will play probation officer Kim Seon Min. 

The story will kick off with Woo Bin’s character saving a martial arts officer from being attacked by a criminal. As a result of his heroic behavior, he was made to become a substitute martial arts officer for five weeks. 

The film will be helmed by Jason Kim, whose works also include Midnight Runners and Bloodhounds. 

Netflix has yet to announce a release date for Officer Black Belt. 

Meanwhile, aside from Officer Black Belt, Woo Bin is also confirmed to star in a new variety show from renowned PD Na Young Seok, alongside Lee Kwang Soo, EXO’s DO, and Kim Ki Bang. 

Featured image: Netflix Korea’s Twitter

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Song Hye Kyo Wins Daesang at the 2023 Blue Dragon Series Awards

South Korean actress Song Hye Kyo won the Grand Prize at the 2023 Blue Dragon Series Awards held at Incheon Paradise City on Wednesday, July 19. 

Song was recognized for her portrayal as Moon Dong-eun in the hit Netflix series The Glory. 

“I can’t believe I’d receive this award. I want to praise myself for the first time. Good job, Hye Kyo,” she said in her acceptance speech. 

 

This served as her third Daesang (Grand Prize) in her acting career. Her previous Daesang were from the 2013 series That Winter, The Wind Blows and the 2016 series Descendants of the Sun. 

Meanwhile, Ha Jung Woo of Narco-Saints and Anna’s Bae Suzy won the Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. 

The Disney+ series Big Bet won the Best Drama award, beating nominees The Glory, Narco-Saints, Weak Hero Class 1, and Bargain. 

The rest of the winners in the drama category are: 

  • Best Supporting Actor: Lee Dong Hwi, Big Bet 
  • Best Supporting Actress: Lim Ji Yeon, The Glory 
  • Best Rookie Actor: Park Ji Hoon, Weak Hero Class 1
  • Best Rookie Actress: Shin Ye Eun, Revenge of Others 
  • OST Popularity Award: Jaechan of DKZ, Our Season 
  • Why Not Award: Choi Hyun Wook, Weak Hero Class 1

For the variety category, Siren: Survive the Island took home the Best Variety Program award. 

Yoo Jae Suk was named Best Male Entertainer for his show PLAYou Level Up, while Joo Hyung Young of  SNL Korea was named Best Female Entertainer. 

The 2023 ceremony marked the second edition of the Blue Dragon Series Awards. This year, the award-giving body added new awards: a Daesang (grand prize), OST Popularity Award, and Why Not Award. 

Blue Dragon Series Awards honors the excellent individuals and projects produced by streaming services. 

Featured image: Song Hye Kyo’s Instagram

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‘Squid Game 2’ Issues Apology for Airport Filming Issue

Netflix reveals new cast members for 'Squid Game' season 2. Photo from Netflix's Twitter

Filming for the second season of the hit thriller series Squid Game has only started but it’s already met with controversy. 

On Tuesday, July 11, an anonymous user made a complaint on an online community about their encounter with a Squid Game 2 staff the previous day. 

The individual shared that during the show’s filming at the Incheon International Airport, a staff member had aggressively prevented bypassers from using the public escalator. They continued that the staff member was rude when instructing them to move to a different place, instead of giving them an explanation as to why they’re not allowed to use the elevator. 

In response to the post, the producers of Squid Game 2 issued a statement to apologize about the incident. 

The creators shared that they’re aware of the social media post wherein a person expressed their discomfort during the filming encounter, and while they attempted to inform the people present in the shooting area about the ongoing filming, they still apologize for making other people uncomfortable. 

“We sincerely thank the citizens who understood [our situation during] the shoot, and we will be even more careful during filming in the future,” they said, according to a Soompi report. 

Netflix first announced in January 2022 that Squid Game will be getting a second season, but it’s only in June when they announced the cast members for the sequel. 

Lee Jung Jae, Lee Byung Hun, Wi Ha Jun, and Gong Yoo are confirmed to reprise their roles, while Yim Siwan, Park Sung Hoon, Kang Ha Neul, and Yang Dong Geun will join the second season. 

Other new additions include Cho Seung Hyun (also known as BIGBANG’s T.O.P), Jo Yur, Park Gyu Young, Lee Jin Uk, Won Ji An, Roh Jae Won, Lee David, and Kang Ae Shim. 

However, T.O.P’s involvement was met with mixed reactions that Lee Jung Jae’s agency even had to clarify that he has no involvement in the idol-actor’s casting. “The casting of a project is the authority of the director and the production company,” Lee’s agency Artist Company said.  

Squid Game 2 is expected to air in 2024, but a final release date has yet to be announced. 

Featured image: Netflix’s Twitter

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Watch: Netflix Releases Teaser for Variety Series ‘Zombieverse’

Will you be able to survive a zombie apocalypse? Netflix’s upcoming survival variety series Zombieverse will put that to a test! 

On Monday, July 10, Netflix released a 40-second teaser, showing the cast running across the streets of Seoul, South Korea as they try to survive against a throng of zombies. 

Think of it as a mix of Netflix’s previous zombie-themed series such as Kingdom and All of Us Are Dead and reality survival shows Physical 100 and Siren: Survive the Island.

 

In the teaser, a voiceover is heard saying that “multiple patients” are coming down with an “unknown infection” and they are showing “unusual, violent symptoms.” 

The contestants will then try to work through a variety of challenges while trying to avoid being bitten by the undead attackers. 

The teaser also provided a first look at some of the contestants, which include comedian Park Na Rae, rapper DinDin, former baseball pitcher Yoo Hee Kwan, Kim Jin Young from Single’s Inferno 2, Tsuki of girl group Billie, television personalities Jonathan and Patricia Yiombi. 

Park Jin-kyung of My Little Television and Hey! First Time in Korea?’s Moon Sang-don are in charge of helming Zombieverse. 

“There will be new zombies, survivors and unique scenes, which have not been seen in the existing zombie-themed projects,” Park said about the project in a press release.

Zombieverse will have eight episodes and will premiere on August 8. 

Meanwhile, Netflix also recently confirmed that the second season for the hit survival thriller series Squid Game is in the works.

Featured image: Netflix News’ Facebook

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BIGBANG’s T.O.P, IZ*ONE’s Jo Yuri Join Squid Game Season 2

Netflix reveals new cast members for 'Squid Game' season 2. Photo from Netflix's Twitter

The stakes are higher as Netflix unveiled on Thursday, June 29 the additional actors joining the star-studded cast of the second season of Squid Game. 

Cho Seung-hyun, also known as T.O.P, and Jo Yuri are among the confirmed cast members. T.O.P was a former member of the K-pop boy group BIGBANG while Yuri was part of the Korean-Japanese temporary girl group IZ*ONE. 

The new additions also include Sweet Home stars Park Gyu-young and Lee Jin-uk, D.P. actress Won Ji-an, Roh Jae-won from Ditto, Itaewon Class actor Lee David, and Kang Ae-shim of Tell Me What You Saw. 

 

However, additional details about their characters have yet to be disclosed. 

They will be joining earlier announced cast members Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, and Yang Dong-guen. In the cast announcement video, the four actors were introduced as new players, but detailed descriptions of their roles are still undisclosed. 

Only Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo were the familiar faces from the first season who are confirmed to reprise their roles for the second installment. 

Byung-hun will be returning as The Frontman, Jung-jae as Gi-hun, and Ha-jun as the police detective Jun-ho. 

Following the announcement on the new cast members, Netflix also released photos of the actors during a table reading session for the dystopian-thriller series. 

 

The Emmy Award-winning show, which premiered in September 2021, follows hundreds of contestants compete for cash in various childhood games with deadly consequences. 

The second season of Squid Game is expected to premiere in 2024, but a final release date has yet to be announced.

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Squid Game Season 2 Adds ZE:A’s Siwan

Squid Game Season 2 has revealed the new cast members who are joining the games. A new teaser for the second season of the Netflix series confirms ZE:A member Im Siwan will join the show.

Squid Game Season 2 Announcement Video Reveals New Cast Members

The official cast announcement video was shared during TUDUM 2023, a global fan event for Netflix’s projects held in Brazil. The video confirms the return of Lee Jung Jae as Seong Gi-hun. Additionally, the second season will give Lee Byung-hun’s The Frontman an even bigger role to play.

There is an interesting surprise in the video as it confirms Wi Ha Joon will reprise his role as Hwang Junho. In the first season, the police officer was killed by his own brother who turned out to be the Frontman. However, it appears he survived and will continue to play a major role in the show.

The video also revealed four new actors who will be joining Squid Game next year. Yim Siwan is the first new cast member confirmed. The ZE:A member had previously appeared in the Netflix film Unlocked.

Park Sung-hoon (The Glory), Kang Ha-neul (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure), and Yang Dong-geun (Connect) will also join Squid Game Season 2. Their roles in the series are still undisclosed.

The teaser for the second season of Squid Game also confirmed that Gong Yoo will be back. In the first season, the Train to Busan actor played the recruiter who convinces Gi-hun to join the games.

One actor who will not return is Jung Ho-yeon who played Kang Sae-byeok in the first season. Sae-byeok was a fan favorite but was ultimately killed by Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo).

Squid Game Season 2 was not yet given an official release date. However, the second season of the series is already expected to premiere on Netflix in 2024. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

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SULLI Short Film ‘Persona 2’ To Be Released on Netflix

The story of the late SULLI is coming soon to a major streaming giant. Netflix has confirmed that the short film “Persona 2” which focused on the late idol will stream on the service.

SULLI’s Short Film ‘Persona 2’ Added To Netflix Brazil Catalogue

A recent social media post revealed that “Persona: Sulli”, also referred to as “Persona 2”, was added to Netflix Brazil’s catalogue. The short film is reportedly scheduled to premiere on June 16, 2023.

Since then, fans have expressed excitement about the film. The project is SULLI’s final work before her unexpected passing in 2019. Originally intended to be a five-part series, SULLI was only able to shoot the first two episodes before her death in October 2019.

So is it true that “Persona 2” will air on Netflix? The source from the streaming service issued a statement regarding the film.

“‘Persona: Sulli’ is a project produced by Mystic Story,” they said. “Currently, general discussion is underway including on whether to stream [the film] on Netflix along with the final release date.”

“Persona 2” is the sequel to the successful 2019 anthology series starring South Korean superstar and SULLI’s friend IU. The original series featured four different stories with Lee Ji-eun in the lead.

The sequel was intended to have five episodes. However, Mystic Story decided to suspend filming after SULLI’s passing. She was only able to film two episodes of the series by the time of her death.

SULLI made her debut as a child actress in the 2005 series “Ballad of Seodong”. After signing a record deal with SM Entertainment, she debuted in the girl group f(x) in 2009. Despite her success in film and music, Choi Jin-ri suffered from health issues leading to her departure from f(x) in 2015.

In June 2019, SULLI released her solo debut single “Goblin”. It would become her last musical project prior to her passing.

On October 14, 2019, SULLI’s brother found her dead in her house in Seongnam. The “Real” actress had reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself. She was 25 years old.

“Persona: Sulli” aka “Persona 2” has not yet been officially announced by Netflix. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

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Song Hye Kyo Channels Moon Dong Eun In Epic Baeksang Awards Acceptance Speech

Song Hye Kyo proved once again that she has the best sense of humor. The star of “The Glory” referenced her character Moon Dong Eun during her acceptance speech at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards.

Song Hye Kyo Wins Best Actress At 59th Baeksang Arts Awards

The revenge drama “The Glory” is nominated for numerous categories at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards. The Netflix series took home most of the awards including Best Drama and Best Supporting Actress for Lim Ji Yeon.

When Song Hye Kyo was announced Best Actress for her performance in the show, she gave a memorable acceptance speech. Instead of accepting as herself, Song channeled her character Moon Dong Eun and gave Lim Ji Yeon’s character a shoutout.

“I received an award, Yeon Jin,” Song said, making the audience explode in laughter. As they applauded, the “Encounter” actress added, “I am very excited right now.”

Although she opened her acceptance speech with a joke, Song Hye Kyo was moved by her victory.

“I wanted to say that one last time. I really wanted this award. Thank you for giving it to me,” she said. Song then proceeded to thank the entire production team and cast members who worked on the drama.

Song Hye Kyo isn’t the only star who gave an interesting acceptance speech at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards. Jinyoung, who was given the TikTok Popularity Award with IU, teased his future plans with his group GOT7 after completing military service.

“As I received such a huge award, I will come back healthily after the military service and will greet you again with great works, also with GOT7’s album and my solo album. Thank you,” Jinyoung said.

Park Jinyoung also won the Best New Actor award for his performance in “Christmas Carol”.

“The Glory” is still streaming on Netflix.

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