Cultural Insight

[Anchor Lead]

On today's cultural news, we bring you the story of Girlgroup Twice, once again proving its popularity not just within the country, but overseas as well. Take a look.

[Pkg]

Korean girl group Twice has topped Japan's Tower Records annual charts for 2018 in the Kpop category. Tower Records, Japan's number one music label, announces its Best Sellers rankings at the end of the year based on album sales. According to Twice's management agency, the girl band's first regular album released in Japan in September ranked first on the 2018 Best Sellers list for Kpop album. Their third single "Wake Me Up" also topped the Kpop Japan singles category. Twice was also awarded recently for this song at the Japan Record Awards hosted by the Japan Composer's Association. Twice debuted in Japan in June last year and their album sales in the country have reached nearly two million copies. They are considered the most successful Kpop girl band in Japan since Girls' Generation. A leading film featuring the late actor Shin Sung-il who died last month is now available in Blu-ray disc format. The Korean Film Archive says it has released Blu-ray versions for Shin's 1968 film "Day Off" as well as for the 1980 film "Good Windy Day" starring actor Ahn Sung-ki so that viewers can own these films in more convenient fashion. "Day Off" was banned from screening when it was first made due to censorship. The original film roll was belatedly discovered in 2005 and the movie came to be known 37 years after it was produced. It's regarded a representative piece of Korean modernism for the sophisticated depiction of Korean society in the latter 1960s centered on the story of a young couple. The Korean Film Archive said that all the films newly released in Blu-ray are ranked among the top 100 best Korean movies, and that audiences will be able to cherish the value of classical Korean cinema.