BYOB (JohnMaat)
Bae Jiahn: The title of the show BYOB may be short for “bring your own booze,” but don’t worry if alcohol isn’t your thing—host Joon Park prefers Coke to alcohol anyway! BYOB is a talk show hosted in English by first-generation K-pop icons Joon Park and Brian and featuring guests spanning every generation of the genre—everyone from J.Y. Park to Tiffany Young, Nichkhun, BamBam, and JAKE. In the inaugural episode, Tiffany Young discusses the power of music to take on new shades of meaning and emotion over time, and specifically talks about how songs by god and FLY TO THE SKY—groups the hosts were a part of—“hit different” now that she’s in her 30s. For ENHYPEN member JAKE, his guest spot on BYOB marks his first time on a variety show without the rest of his group by his side. As the hosts are both Korean American and former K-pop stars themselves, they ask JAKE—who grew up moving back and forth between Korea and Australia and debuted after a relatively short period of training—what concerns he might have and how he copes when things get tough. JAKE tells them, “I don’t really feel sad,” to which Joon Park responds with his own experience (“I was exactly like him when I was a kid because of the situations I was in”) and advises the young idol that trying to control your emotions can cause them all to explode out of you someday down the line. Even without any drinks to loosen them up, and despite the different generations and cultures, this kind of candid talk flows naturally on the show because, in the end, they’re all walking the same road.

Secret: Untold Melody
Bae Dongmi (CINE21 reporter): Yu-jun (Doh Kyungsoo aka D.O. from EXO), a promising piano prodigy studying in Germany, collapses while playing in the Chopin Competition. Buckling under the pressure, his hands shake and it even takes a toll on his heart. Following the incident, Yu-jun returns to Korea and refuses to so much as touch the piano anymore. Yu-jun’s father seems to be inwardly pleased, though—laying eyes on his son for the first time in five years, he congratulates him on making it back home even after dropping out of the competition. He even subtly nudges the boy, who’s now an exchange student in his home country, to experience what it’s like to fall deeply in love, asking how he can expect to make art without ever having been in love. And then, just like that, Yu-jun is drawn into an old practice room in the music college building by the sound of a piano, where he meets Jung-a (Won Jina). Though a love between the two seems ready to blossom, Jung-a’s mysterious nature gradually complicates things. She frequently skips class, many times not bothering to show up on campus at all, and doesn’t even have a cell phone. It’s not easy for Yu-jun to contact or run into her, but he nevertheless finds his feelings for the girl growing stronger.

Secret: Untold Melody is a remake of the classic Taiwanese teen movie Secret. The original is famous for its scenes that focus on piano battling and the two leads playing together, and they make a reappearance in the remake, but this time around, they’re even more convincing. Whereas the performances begin abruptly in the original with explanation only following afterwards, the remake drops hints in advance and then builds naturally to the main event. There’s also a retro air all throughout the film in the way the characters spend their time and express their feelings for one another, with handwritten letters, phone numbers scribbled down on paper, and having to wait at agreed-upon spots to meet up with people creating a swell of will-they-won’t-they anticipation in the audience. And unlike in the original movie, where we’re meant to feel sympathy toward the apparently frail female lead because of her asthma, the new version puts a unique twist on things by shifting the emotional weight onto the male lead. Yu-jun is able to overcome the trauma from the competition thanks to Jung-a, and their time together helps him to grasp more emotional depth in the pieces he plays and to grow as a musician—a carefully woven subtext no doubt courtesy of director Seo Yoo-min, who has writing credits on films such as The Last Princess, Happiness, and April Snow.

Seeing Secret: Untold Melody in theaters is a rare opportunity to experience so many heartfelt gazes and endless yearning on the big screen. The warm glances exchanged by actors Doh Kyungsoo and Won Jina—when they first lock eyes, when they exchange smiles listening to the same music, when they ride the bus together and one softly cradle’s the other’s sleepy head—elevate this movie to the next level.

“The Yumistance” (Yumi Kang’s YouTube channel)
Baek Seolhee (writer, columnist): At some point, I developed a bedtime routine where I open YouTube and put on a sleep playlist. On the list are nine videos from Yumi Kang’s channel—ASMR videos with titles like “Lush worker ASMR role-play,” “Neighborhood hairdresser ASMR role-play,” “North Korean beauty salon ASMR role-play” … and, naturally, her breakout video, “cult ASMR role-play.” I can’t believe it’s already been four years since she introduced her iconic cult girl character to the world. Four years! But in those four years, Yumi Kang hasn’t let herself be boxed in by that creation of hers—she’s been continuously introducing new characters and exploring fresh storytelling angles.

Yumi Kang’s sharp observational skills and devilishly clever acting particularly shine in her ads. Could it be that the constraints inherent to working within a brand’s guidelines actual tap into, rather than dry out, her bottomless well of creativity? Take her collaboration with d’Alba in 2023, for instance, where Yumi Kang, herself recently divorced and open about the fact, made an ad for the beauty brand’s double serum and cream product in the style of a vlog where she’s single and ready to mingle. The playful blend of honesty into the sales pitch meant the ad struck a chord with viewers, drawing admiration from some and tears from others.

Her latest parody ad, “The Yumistance,” inspired by the movie The Substance, continues in the same vein. Surprisingly, the video, an ad for Korean Hanwoo beef, borrows the themes, key story beats, exaggerated close-ups, and even memorable wardrobes like the protagonist’s yellow coat from The Substance, but rather than make a straight copy, the ad reimagines the film to align with Korean sensibilities and the aims of the Hanwoo ad. It reminds me of her interview with OhmyNews last July, where she said, “It seems many people still can’t break free from the cycle of their self-defeating inner voice, just like I once couldn’t—especially young women.”

Now in her 40s and boasting over 1.3 million subscribers, Yumi Kang appears far freer and happier than when she hosted the “Go! Go! Into Art” segment on the KBS series Gag Concert in her 20s, or when she was performing on the tvN series SNL Korea and Comedy Big League throughout her 30s. And I’m happy to keep cheering her on. Please, god, let her wish in “The Yumistance” come true so that she may grow old in good health.