Around the Lunar New Year holiday, the film "King and the Man Living with the King", starring Park Ji-hoon (박지훈) and Yoo Hae-jin (유해진), joined the ranks of box-office hits. At the same time, "Humint", starring Jo In-sung (조인성) and Park Jung-min (박정민) and aimed at the holiday box office, faced controversy online. If Park drew audiences into cinemas, Shin Hye-sun (신혜선) gathered viewers in front of their televisions. Netflix's "Lady Dua" drew attention after ranking third in the non-English shows category, including 3.8 million views in three days of release, a figure calculated by dividing viewing hours by the show's total runtime.

In the music industry, news that former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin (민희진) won a put option dispute with HYBE worth about 26 billion won drew attention, as did a renewed controversy over past plagiarism allegations involving ILLIT and NewJeans ahead of the holiday. News also made waves that Cortis, described as BTS's younger brother group, unexpectedly unveiled a new song at the NBA Crossover Concert Series hosted by the U.S. National Basketball Association.

· 'Lady Dua' Shin Hye-sun takes over K-makeup! "I tried everything I would ever do in my lifetime"

Actor Shin Hye-sun took over K-makeup through "Lady Dua". At a production presentation earlier for Netflix's new original series "Lady Dua", she said of her role as Sara Kim, "I want to thank the costume team. They worked really hard." She added, "There was a clear concept depending on each character. Whether it was pure and innocent or plain and modest, we matched a lot of outfits."

She added, "I think I tried all the makeup I would ever do in my lifetime. I wore lenses and put on false eyelashes. I basically feel uncomfortable putting a lot on my face, but it was very challenging," drawing attention.

"Lady Dua" tells the story of Sara Kim, a woman who wants to become a luxury brand even if it is fake, and Detective Mu-gyeong, who tracks her desires. In the series, Shin transforms into the Asia branch head of 'Budoir', a luxury brand for the top 0.1%.

· [Movie CLIP] No. 1 opening for 'Humint', "What is with the rating sticker?" sparks debate · "Is the genre BL?"... 'Four Hands' Lee Jun-young·Song Kang eye contact draws attention

The film "Humint", starring Jo In-sung and Park Jung-min, topped the box office on its release day to kick off its run, but some praised it while others poured out harsh reviews calling it "incomprehensible", opening a debate.

"Humint" is a film about events that unfold when a National Intelligence Service agent, while tracking a North Korean drug distribution route, spots clues about a human trafficking connection involving a North Korean diplomat and the Russian mafia and activates a humint operation in Vladivostok, Russia. The film has dominated both audience ratings and word of mouth. It has built tight emotional arcs for its characters along with gunfights, barehanded combat and tense car chases that it describes as action thrills you can feel only in theaters, emerging as a must-watch holiday release, but some negative reviews are spreading.

(From here, the film content includes spoilers) In the latter part of the film, a so-called "glass coffin scene" appears. In it, women are locked in glass coffins and displayed like in a museum, with Russian mafias overseeing them. At that point, Chae Song-hwa is inside bulletproof glass, and Manager Jo and Park Geon appear and rescue her. Outside the glass coffins, rating stickers are attached depending on their appearance condition, and some film fans said those elements made them frown.

Some reactions included, "I don't know why they had to put living people in that glass," "Are they grading people?" and "What is with the rating sticker?"

A drama that drew attention for bringing together actors Song Kang (송강) and Lee Jun-young (이준영) is in the spotlight again. Recently, tvN released a video of its drama lineup for 2026. It included some scenes from "Four Hands", which had drawn a strong response from the casting stage, drawing fans' attention.

The video shows various two-shots in different settings, from Lee and Song in school uniforms sitting side by side and playing the piano to scenes of them standing together. The two actors' delicate gazes and unusual mood especially drew eyes.

■ What are the main K-snapp news items this week?

In a sluggish cinema market, a Korean film has created a box-office whirlwind by surpassing 4 million admissions in 15 days after its release.

According to the Korean Film Council's integrated computer network for cinema tickets, "King and the Man Living with the King", shortened to "Wangsanam", has exceeded a cumulative audience of 4 million. It is being described as setting another box-office record at a faster pace than last year's top-grossing film "Zombie Daughter". It is also drawing attention for being faster than "The King's Man", a historical film that drew 10 million admissions.

The film is set in Cheongryeongpo in 1457. It depicts a special journey between a village chief who chooses exile for himself to revive the village and a young former king exiled after being pushed from the throne.

· 'Wangsanam' tops 4 million, Yoo Hae-jin·Park Ji-hoon connect... historical-film box-office surge · One-on-one chats possible with Lee Hong-wi... 'King and the Man Living with the King' opens official AI chatbot · 'King and the Man Living with the King' Park Ji-hoon to appear on 'You Quiz'..."Watch live on the 25th"

News also drew attention that "King and the Man Living with the King", which continues its box-office run, has introduced an official IP-based AI chatbot.

Last weekend, Modaive, which operates the AI character chat platform 'moit', opened an AI character chatbot service based on the official IP of the film "King and the Man Living with the King".

Moit's AI chatbot service reflects audience reactions and offers narrative-style conversations based on the original screenplay, with endings that change depending on users' choices. It reflects each character's speaking style and personality, its world setting and character relationships, and is structured to lead to different endings depending on the user's selections. It is described as expanding existing "content to watch" into "content to relate to".

· [Issue PICK] "Plagiarism suspicion justified"... revisiting the NewJeans X ILLIT controversy

As former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin won a put option dispute with HYBE worth about 26 billion won, the court concluded that Min's raising of suspicions that ILLIT copied NewJeans was "justified", prompting strong reactions among fans.

The court's ruling brought back to the surface the NewJeans-ILLIT plagiarism suspicion controversy that had previously heated up social media and online communities.

At the time, the plagiarism points raised by internet users were similarities in choreography and in concept. ILLIT's "My World" includes a move in which both arms are swung counterclockwise. Some stressed that this resembled the hair-sweeping "chorus choreography" in NewJeans' "Attention". The basic concept itself was also not free from "plagiarism suspicions". Stories about oddly similar concept image composition and color tones, as well as outfits, became a hot topic online and a subject of debate. With the court concluding that Min's raising of suspicions that ILLIT copied NewJeans was justified, the issue appears to be returning to the fore.

Snapp It First. Feel It K. This article is an online piece published by K-snapp, which provides the fastest and most entertaining entertainment news.