Herald Interview In series
A series of in-depth interviews.
#Interview
# In-depth
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Herald Interview In series
A series of in-depth interviews.
Would you like to subscribe?
'KPop Demon Hunters' star on her next move: 'The Substance'-like K-pop horror film
Arden Cho, the voice behind fearless "KPop Demon Hunters" protagonist Rumi, is paving an unconventional course in Hollywood shaped by evolving conversations around representation and her own reinvention as an Asian American artist, after her runaway success with Netflix's animated feature. Following "KPop Demon Hunters," Cho's is firmly focused on her next chapter behind the camera, producing "Perfect Girl." The K-pop thriller marks quite the pivot from the family-friendly appeal of "KPop Demon
Feb. 3, 2026 - 16:48:51
Arden Cho on how she met Rumi
Arden Cho, the voice behind Rumi, the fearless protagonist at the center of Netflix’s global phenomenon "KPop Demon Hunters," is enjoying a career high. The animated feature has emerged as a full-fledged cultural juggernaut: its soundtrack single "Golden" became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy on Sunday, while the film itself cemented its place as Netflix’s most-watched movie ever, surpassing 500 million views by late 2025. The success, however, follows a far from linear journey. Born and r
Feb. 3, 2026 - 16:48:39
'Still difficult for Asian women in Hollywood,' says 'KPop Demon Hunters' star
Arden Cho, the voice behind Rumi, the fearless protagonist in Netflix's global phenomenon "KPop Demon Hunters," is paving an unconventional course in Hollywood, one shaped by the evolving conversation around representation and her own reinvention as an Asian American artist. Born in Texas, Cho began her career with varied roles across US television, including "CSI: NY" and "Pretty Little Liars." Her breakout came with MTV's supernatural hit "Teen Wolf" (2013-2016), where she established herself
Feb. 3, 2026 - 16:48:27
Arden Cho thought she was done — then 'KPop Demon Hunters' changed everything
Arden Cho, the voice behind Rumi, the fearless protagonist at the center of Netflix phenomenon "KPop Demon Hunters," is paving an unconventional course in Hollywood, one shaped by the evolving conversation around representation and her own reinvention as an Asian American artist. Born in Texas, Cho began her career with varied roles across US television, including "CSI: NY" and "Pretty Little Liars." Her breakout came in MTV's supernatural hit "Teen Wolf" (2013-2016), where she established herse
Feb. 3, 2026 - 14:30:27
Dark Asia with Megan: Sharing untold true-crime stories with the world
With more than 1.2 million subscribers and over 139 million views, Megan Lee has emerged as one of the few creators offering a fully English-language platform devoted to Asian true crime and cultural storytelling — a corner of global media that long went unfilled. When Lee launched Dark Asia with Megan in 2023, she wasn’t just opening a YouTube channel, she told The Korea Herald. She was carving out space for a genre she felt was missing entirely. “I wanted to claim an underserved territory in g
Jan. 28, 2026 - 23:19:26
Park Ji-hoon dropped 15 kilos to play Korea's saddest king
To the global fanbase that followed him through Wanna One's meteoric rise and subsequent solo career, Park Ji-hoon hardly needs an introduction. The same goes for viewers of "Weak Hero Class 1," where he played a scrawny high schooler who takes on bullies with whatever he can get his hands on. His role in the 2022 streaming hit earned him a best new actor prize at the Blue Dragon Series Awards. His second jaunt in the franchise, which dropped on Netflix last year, cemented him as something much
Jan. 28, 2026 - 18:05:55
Hyun Bin's shift from rom-com icon to moral gray zones in 'Made in Korea'
Hyun Bin stands as a rare case in an industry where visually driven K-drama stardom — exemplified in rom-coms "Crash Landing on You" and "Secret Garden" — seldom seasons into sustained cinematic authority. While many drama-bred leading men hesitate to risk uncertainty at the box office or actively avoid roles that might fracture carefully cultivated fan personas, the actor has built a parallel film career through award-winning projects, including "The Fatal Encounter" and "Harbin." That approach
Jan. 28, 2026 - 14:46:51
Korea's procurement chief bets on global markets for SME growth
South Korea will sharply expand support for domestic procurement firms seeking to break into overseas public procurement markets next year, as the government looks to help small and innovative companies find new growth engines beyond a saturated home market, the head of the Public Procurement Service said. “Our procurement companies must not remain confined to the domestic market,” Public Procurement Service Administrator Baek Seung-bo said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “We will c
Jan. 27, 2026 - 17:04:21
Go Youn-jung on stardom, anxiety and being cast for her looks
Go Youn-jung's character enters the new Netflix series "Can This Love Be Translated?" under circumstances few rom-com protagonists ever face. An actress who had long hovered on the margins of the industry, Mu-hee (Go) plunges into a six-month coma after an on-set accident. When she wakes, she discovers that the film she was shooting has become an unexpected blockbuster and that her prolonged absence has only amplified public fascination. Overnight, she finds herself at the top of the profession
Jan. 26, 2026 - 16:30:10
Kim Seon-ho's second act, rising from scandals
Kim Seon-ho holds an unusual position in today’s K-drama industry. His trajectory is a rare study in breakneck stardom, a front-page derailment and a subsequent resurgent commercial rebound. After a late-bloom television debut, Kim ascended the industry ranks with a wave of hits that sealed his status as a bankable leading man. However, that momentum was abruptly halted by a highly publicized personal controversy involving an ex-girlfriend. In a rare pivot for the South Korean industry — where s
Jan. 22, 2026 - 17:17:54
A storyteller in between two worlds: director Kim Seonjae bridges Broadway and Seoul
In 2025, cultural exchange between Broadway and Korea’s musical theater scenes reached a new peak, with homegrown Korean musical “Maybe Happy Ending” earning a Tony Award during its Broadway run and the Korean-led hit “The Great Gatsby” traveling to Seoul. Amid the heightened cross-Pacific flow, New York-based director Kim Seonjae made her Korean directorial debut with the heartfelt musical “Marli.” For Kim, this project offered a unique vantage point to navigate Korea’s distinct production envi
Jan. 21, 2026 - 15:07:02
EuBiologics raises ambitions with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s vaccines
EuBiologics, the world’s largest supplier of oral cholera vaccine, is looking to expand its pipeline by developing premium vaccines for central nervous system diseases as the Korean firm seeks to take the next step into the global market. “If we are going to do premium vaccines, we could go until the end or opt for license-out or co-development,” said Baik Yeong-ok, CEO and vice chair of EuBiologics, in an interview on the sidelines of the 44th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on
Jan. 21, 2026 - 11:34:45
How a YouTuber racked up 100 million subscribers without saying a word
After a decade spent directing live shows for in-person audiences, Kim Dong-jun moved his stage online — and ended up building the world's most-watched YouTube channel of 2025. Known to viewers as Kimpro, he leads a shorts-first channel that logged about 77.53 billion views last year, according to Playboard, a YouTube rankings analysis site. In a media landscape where just a couple of seconds decide whether a viewer keeps scrolling or stays, Kimpro's work aims to treat vertical video not as disp
Jan. 21, 2026 - 11:01:44
Han So-hee is done playing pretty
Han So-hee had a diary on the table. Not a planner or a notebook for jotting down schedules — an actual diary, complete with handwritten entries and decorations and the whole bit. Press junkets are typically sterile affairs, a parade of identical questions and rehearsed talking points cycling through the room. But here was Han, flipping through pages of her own private thoughts as a room full of journalists looked on. She balked when asked if she might share a bit of what was inside. "It's mostl
Jan. 19, 2026 - 19:16:45
A first journey beyond borders
Going on a world tour is a milestone for any artist. For Seok, a North Korean defector in rookie boy group 1Verse, it carries an added layer of meaning: It marks his first time traveling abroad. The world tour for 1Verse begins with 11 shows across the US and Canada in January and February, followed by more than 10 concerts in Europe in April. Seok said the top item on his traveling bucket list is a simple one: running along Virginia Beach. "I haven't been able to go to the US yet," Seok said in
Jan. 19, 2026 - 15:26:18
