When “눈동자” (Pupil), a modestly budgeted Korean thriller, opened in theaters on June 24, 2026, it shared its release date with one of Hollywood’s bigger summer bets: Warner Bros.’ “Supergirl.” …
Daniel Yoon
Daniel Yoon
Covers K-dramas, movies, and variety shows for KoreaUpClose. INTP. Reads the credits, checks the runtime, explains why it matters.
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Movies
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Variety & Reality Shows
Na Young-seok’s New Farm Show Just Won Its Timeslot for Two Weeks Straight. For Korean Variety, That’s Either Reassuring or a Little Concerning.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel YoonNa Young-seok doesn’t make television so much as he makes a guarantee. His newest show, a farm-life unscripted format that drops three A-list stars into days of actual agricultural labor, …
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Dramas
Park Shin-hye’s Demon-Judge Hit Just Got a Season 2 — Confirmed Before She’s Even Had the Baby That’s Delaying It. That’s How Confident Korean TV Has Gotten About Sequels.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel YoonOn June 1, at SBS’s “NEXT EPISODE” drama media day in Seoul, the network confirmed that “The Judge from Hell” — the demon-possessed-judge drama that hit a peak rating of …
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Korean Animation
Solo Leveling Just Won Two Awards for the Second Year Running. Its Publisher Already Confirmed a Third Season.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel Yoon“Solo Leveling” just had its best two weeks of the year, and neither headline is about the show currently airing. Season 2 of the Korean webtoon-turned-anime juggernaut took home two …
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K-Drama & Screen
Netflix Just Won Best Drama at Korea’s Most Prestigious Awards Show, Beating Four Network and Cable Dramas. Is That a Streaming Verdict, or Just a Verdict on This Show?
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel YoonOn May 8, at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards in Seoul, Netflix’s “Eun-jung and Sang-yeon” won the night’s top television honor — Best Drama — beating four other nominees from …
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Korean Animation
A French Studio Just Greenlit an Anime Series Based on One of Korea’s Biggest Action Webtoons
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel YoonParis-based animation house Passion Pictures and European streamer ADN have officially greenlit an animated TV series adaptation of “Hero Killer” — one of Naver Webtoon’s most successful action titles — …
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Movies
A Korean Zombie Movie Just Had a Month-Long Reign at the Top of the Box Office. It Took Woody and Buzz to Knock It Off.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel Yoon“Colony,” Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie-outbreak thriller, held the No. 1 spot at the South Korean box office for roughly a month after its mid-May launch — and it took “Toy Story …
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Variety & Reality Shows
Netflix’s Biggest Korean Cooking Show Is Filming Its Next Season. It Still Won’t Say Whether Its Two Most Famous Judges Are In It.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel Yoon“Culinary Class Wars” is South Korea’s biggest unscripted export of the past two years, and as it heads into a third season, Netflix is being conspicuously quiet about a question …
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Dramas
A Rom-Com About a Fake Royal Family Just Became Disney+’s Most-Watched Korean Show Ever. Critics Still Weren’t Sold.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel Yoon“Perfect Crown” wrapped its run on May 16, 2026 with a 13.8% nationwide rating — its personal best, hit on the finale — and by then it had already become …
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K-Drama & Screen
A Netflix Drama Just Became an Actual Korean Education Policy Proposal. Whether That’s Encouraging or Alarming Depends Entirely on Who You Ask.
by Daniel Yoonby Daniel YoonIt’s a strange thing when a TV show stops being a TV show. On June 15, 2026, Gyeonggi Provincial Education Superintendent Ahn Min-seok publicly called for a debate on creating …
