by Ra Hwak Jin / An Hayeon
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| ▲ This photo shows BTS' Jimin. (Yonhap) |
◇ BTS Jimin tested positive for COVID-19 and underwent surgery for appendicitis
Jimin, a member of K-pop superband BTS, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his management agency said Monday.
The singer also underwent surgery for appendicitis, according to Big Hit Music.
Jimin showed symptoms of a mild sore throat and a stomachache and was confirmed with the virus through a polymerase chain reaction test on Sunday, explained the agency.
The announcement came after three other members of the K-pop supergroup BTS -- RM, Jin, and Suga -- were confirmed to have fully recovered from COVID-19 and released from isolation.
Jimin was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after recovery.
"I'm sorry for making you worry. I'll recover quickly and come back," shared Jimin on Thursday in the fan community Weverse, while being hospitalized.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Pledis Entertainment, shows fromis_9’s Lee Seo-yeon. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
◇ Korea's entertainment industry is devastated by Omicron variant
With cases pouring out every day due to the Omicron variant, the South Korean entertainment industry is on alert as a series of infected cases follow one another.
Girl group fromis_9's Lee Seo-yeon tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
The agency Pledis Entertainment explained, "Lee visited a hospital on the evening of Feb. 3 after having symptoms of fatigue and itchy throat. She was confirmed with COVID-19 after conducting a PCR test."
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| ▲ This photo, provided by WAKEONE·Swing Entertainment, shows Kep1er. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Additionally, Kep1er’s members Choi Yu-jin and Kim Da-yeon were also confirmed with COVID-19 on Friday.
Until now two-thirds of Kep1er's all nine members were infected at least once.
Boy group CIX' Bae Jin-young also tested positive for COVID-19.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by JTBC, shows Jun Hyun-moo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Jun Hyun-moo, who stars in multiple entertainment shows, was confirmed with COVID-19, disrupting the production planning of programs.
MBC entertainment show "Point of Omniscient Interfere," where Jun performs as a host, put Seo Jang-hoon as a temporary MC for the shooting scheduled on Friday.
Besides "Point of Omniscient Interfere," Jun appears in 6 programs, including MBC "I Live Alone," MBN "National team if the national team(translated), tvN "Free 19," and JTBC "Talk Pa One 25 o'clock," so a significant impact is expected.
Kim Jae-hwan from Wanna One also tested positive for COVID-19 and canceled the Seongnam concert, which was scheduled to be held on Feb. 5 and 6.
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▲ This photo, provided by Netflix, shows the cast of "All of Us Are Dead." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
◇ New Korean Netflix show 'All of Us Are Dead' made strong debut
Netflix's latest South Korean drama, "All of Us Are Dead," has made a successful global debut while being hailed as a new "Squid Game."
Released on Friday last week, the coming-of-age zombie horror made the top 10 in the category in 91 countries over the one-week period and topped the list in 29 nations, including South Korea, France, and Germany, according to Netflix.
It became the fourth Korean-language series that has topped Netflix's weekly official chart for non-English TV series following "Squid Game," "Hellbound" and "The Silent Sea."
The show also marked the most first-week viewing hour for any Korean titles since Netflix began releasing its weekly viewership data last year.
Last year's phenomenon "Squid Game" had an all-time record of 1.65 billion hours for the first 28 weeks, but its first-week record was 63.2 million hours.
Based on a popular webcomic, "All Of Us Are Dead" is set at a high school where a zombie apocalypse breaks out and threatens the lives of students.
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| ▲ This image provided by Lotte Entertainment, shows a scene from "The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
◇'The Pirates' tops S. Korean box office over Lunar New Year holiday
"The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure" has topped the South Korean box office over the Lunar New Year holiday but its total admissions were lower than expected amid omicron owes, data showed Thursday.
The fantasy action blockbuster attracted a combined 649,000 moviegoers to bring its cumulative total to 881,000 during the five-day holiday that started Saturday, according to the data by the Korean Film Council.
The political drama "Kingmaker" drew 358,000 people over the cited period with a total of 484,000 admissions.
Marvel's superhero movie "Spider-Man: No Way Home" garnered 143,000 people and the musical animated film "Sing 2" had 86,000 tickets sold over the five-day period.
The movies had been expected to spur more people to return to theaters as it was the first time in two years that homegrown flicks went head-to-head ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday without a new Hollywood blockbuster.
A total of 1.36 million people went to theaters over the five-day holiday, up from 707,000 people during the four-day Lunar New Year holiday weekend in February 2021.
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