Tag: South Korea

  • Explore Anupam, the man who brought life to Pakistani migrant Ali in ‘Squid Game’

    Explore Anupam, the man who brought life to Pakistani migrant Ali in ‘Squid Game’

    Netflix’s Squid Game is the talk of the town these days and there is one more thing about it which has grabbed the attention of people, especially Pakistanis and that is the Pakistani migrant Ali Abdul, originally played by Anupam Tripathi, based in South Korea is from Delhi, India.

    Tripathi was born in New Delhi on November 2, 1988, where he played a slave in a stage production of Spartacus. From 2006 to 2010, Anupam engaged himself doing theatre in New Delhi itself. He started his training in singing and acting in the year 2006.

    He actually wanted to join the National School of Drama in New Delhi. However, he then moved to South Korea in 2010 to be part of the Korea National University of Arts after he received the Arts Major Asian scholarship.

    Although initially, he had to face a few difficulties adjusting to the cultural and language differences of South Korea, over time he learned Korean and even became fluent in the language in a span of 2 years.

    The 32-year-old actor made his acting debut with the South Korean film Ode To My Father in 2014. And the movie happened to be the fourth highest-grossing film in the South Korean cinema ever.

    He was also seen in numerous Korean TV shows and films such as Descendants of the Sun, Hospital Playlist and the last one before Squid Game was the 2021 film Space Sweepers.

    The turning point in the career of Anupam Tripathi is certainly his appearance on Netflix’s biggest debut series.

    Anupam, who was overwhelmed with the name and fame he has been receiving after playing Ali in the Korean series, took to his Instagram handle recently and shared his gratitude.

    He wrote, “It feels like a dream “, No words to express my gratitude to the people all over the world, who all are loving and blessing Ali and Squidgame. Thank you to all. Keep watching and keep blessing.”

    His mother and brothers are proud of his success but but Tripathi could not share his success with his father, who passed away in 2017.

    Meanwhile, Tripathi will be completing his post graduation degree in acting at the Korea National University of Arts by 2021.

    Squid Game which was released on September 17 on Netflix and has become the biggest original debut series on Netflix. It has recently achieved the feat of topping the list of Netflix’s Top 10 shows in 94 countries worldwide.

  • BTS sing and dance their way through the UN headquarters

    BTS sing and dance their way through the UN headquarters

    South Korean band BTS performed at the 76th United Nations (UN) session on Monday, ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders.

    While promoting UN goals for 2030 including ending extreme poverty, preserving the planet and achieving gender equality. The band’s leader rap monster said, “Every choice we make is the beginning of change, not the end.” The artists took turns on stage during their seven-minute speech, reports AFP.

    The pop stars said that they had been vaccinated against Covid and urged the young people around the world to share perspectives on being the “Covid lost generation”.

    Apart from this, the seven-member boy band also unveiled a new music video ‘Permission to Dance’, which was filmed at the UN Headquarters in New York.

    Earlier, the pop group was appointed as special presidential envoys. They previously addressed the UN General Assembly in 2018.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the UN General Assembly on September 24 via video link.

  • South Korea says North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’

    South Korea says North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is ‘alive and well’

    Officials in South Korea are calling for caution amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has died after a botched heart surgery or may be severely ill, emphasising that they have detected no unusual movements across the border in the north.

    At a closed-door forum on Sunday, South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with the North, said the government has the intelligence capabilities to say with confidence that there was nothing unusual happening, Al Jazeera reported.

    Rumours and speculation over the North Korean leader’s health began after he did not appear at a key state holiday on April 15. He has not been seen in public since.

    READ: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un reportedly dead after botched heart surgery

    “Our government’s position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, a special adviser on national security to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong-un is alive and well.”

    The adviser said that Kim had been staying in Wonsan – a resort town on the country’s east coast – since 13 April, adding, “No suspicious movements have so far been detected.”

    “We have nothing to confirm and no special movement has been detected inside North Korea as of now,” the South’s presidential office said in a statement last week.

    Speculation about Kim grew after Daily NK, a Seoul-based online media outlet that employs North Korean defectors, claimed he was recovering after undergoing a “cardiovascular procedure” earlier this month.

    Citing a single unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim, who is believed to be 36, had required urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

    Soon afterwards, CNN reported that Washington was “monitoring intelligence” that Kim was in “grave danger” after undergoing surgery, quoting what it said was an anonymous US official.

    Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Kim has sent a message of gratitude to workers building a tourist resort in Wonsan.