ktown konnection #17 | "Goodbye Earth" premieres, "Queen Of Tears" dominates

PREMIERES

• April 26 “Goodbye Earth” (Netflix)

• May 1 “Frankly Speaking” (JTBC) (Netflix)

“Goodbye Earth” premieres tomorrow; the bleak dystopian series starring Ahn Eun-jin (“The Good Bad Mother”) and Yoo Ah-in (“Hellbound”) gives me “Concrete Utopia” x “Time To Hunt” x “The Purge” vibes. Many scenes with Yoo were cut; the actor is undergoing legal proceedings for illegal drug use.

On the rom-com side, Go Kyung-pyo (“D.P. 2”) and Kang Han-na (“Bloody Heart”) can be seen in the lighthearted “Frankly Speaking.”

“Queen Of Tears” wraps this weekend, and has been dominating ratings - domestically and globally - for weeks.

Also: there are so, so many new shows in May, so stay tuned!

What I’m Watching “Blood Free” got a whole lot better with eps 4 and beyond, with more action-packed scenes and clingy cliffhangers; still waiting for deeper character development for Han Hyo-joo and Ju Ji-hoon’s roles.

Wednesday-Thursday Apr 24-25
“Blood Free” (Disney+)

Friday-Saturday Apr 26-27
“Escape of the 7: Resurrection” (SBS) (Viki)
“Chief Detective 1958” (MBC) (Disney+)
“Goodbye Earth” (Netflix)

Saturday-Sunday Apr 27-28
“Queen of Tears” (tvN) (Netflix)
“Beauty and Mr. Romantic” (KBS2) (Viki)
“Hide” (Coupang Play, JTBC) (Viki)
“Missing Crown Prince” (MBN) (Viki)

Monday-Tuesday Apr 29-30
“Lovely Runner” (tvN) (Viki)
“The Midnight Studio” (ENA) (Viki)
“Nothing Uncovered" (KBS2) (Viki)

(*Streaming platforms shown are for U.S. only; distributors vary by country.)

KDRAMA/FILM/TV

This week’s Top Global Titles 🌎  “Queen Of Tears,” “Parasyte: The Grey,” “Marry My Husband,” and on Viki: “Lovely Runner,” “Missing Crown Prince.” FlixPatrol

“Queen Of Tears” is tvN’s 2nd best drama, beating out “Goblin.” (“Crash Landing On You” is its highest rated series.) The Korea Times

Summer pairings “Single’s Inferno 4” is set to begin production this summer. TCD 

Korea’s watching “Chief Detective 1958,'‘ “Queen of Tears.” dramabeans

New thriller from “Unlocked” director The next feature from Kim Tae-joon, “Wall To Wall,” stars Kang Ha-neul (“When The Camellia Blooms”) Seo Hyun-woo (“A Shop For Killers”), Yeom Hye-ran (“The Uncanny Counter 2”). A release date is tba from Netflix. ContentAsia

In OTT: Netflix stops sharing subscriber data. Reuters

SOUTH KOREA NEWS 🇰🇷

(Grocery) sticker shock 🛒 Inflation is still at a high, with food inflation roughly at 7% for the month of February. The Korea Herald

HYBE’s internal turmoil An audit and allegations including copycat work and subsidiary mutiny are among details emerging surrounding the BTS label, one of its subsidiary CEOs, New Jeans, and investments at stake. A story navigating the noise was in Notes on K-pop this week.

Latest “Roundup” installment 🍿 Don Lee’s latest feature film takes the top spot upon its release Wednesday. Variety

Outsourced North Korean animation? Animation and design files found on a North Korean server are suspected to be evidence of unknowingly - and illegally - outsourced work by major U.S. studios like Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Prime Video. CNN

Cat killer sentenced A man was sent to prison for killing 76 (yes, 76) cats. SCMP

Pet rocks are (still) a thing 🪨 Emerging during the pandemic, having pet rocks is still trending, supposedly in the wake of adult loneliness. dazed

Stalking victims’ hotline sees 300% increase ☎️ in calls over the last three years. The Korea Herald

Teen gamblers 🎰 One-third of online gamblers caught were teens. (Sounds like a great kdrama premise, right?) KJD

More expats in Korea’s future 🌏  A new report from Statistics Korea projects that the number of non-Korean residents in Korea will rise to 7% over the next 20 years. Korea.net

Canada - Korea nonstop ✈️ WestJet’s new codeshare agreements include direct flights to Asia, including Seoul starting next month. Calgary Herald

From Oz, too 🦘 New nonstop flights from Melbourne to Seoul will be offered by Asiana Airlines in July. Timeout

“Turtle chips” in an aisle near you Crunchy “turtle chips” from Orion have been growing in popularity; the Korean snack is already distributed at American retailers like Five Below, Costco, and Sam’s Club. TCD

K-pop in…Nigeria 🇳🇬 Where else is Korean entertainment popular? In Nigeria - especially among women. There’s a strong K-drama following, with language enthusiasts-turned educators. OkayAfrica

Gaming partners 🎮  Theorycraft Games is partnering with NEXON and NetEast Games to bring its debut title, “Project Loki,” to players in Asia. Gamespress

A new RPG New teasers are out for ”Chaos Zero Nightmare,” a role-playing game from Smilegate set to release later this year. KED Global

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