Cover Story 1
Kwon Rak-hee
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Producer-director
“The Wonder Coach” sent shockwaves through both Korean entertainment and sports. It was the first program to break the established formula of sports variety shows, which had long relied on the pull of celebrities and sports stars. The premise was fresh and arresting: volleyball legend Kim Yeon Koung would take the helm as coach and build a professional volleyball team from players who had never managed to find the spotlight. The stakes were brutal—lose four of seven matches and the team disbands—and what burned itself into viewers’ hearts was the raw passion of people who had everything to prove, and a feeling that even those watching had somehow become part of the “we.” We sat down with Kwon Rak-hee, the producer-director (PD) of “The Wonder Coach.”
Park So-young
Twinkle Cheerleader
If there’s one person who can channel the energy of thousands of sports fans into a single force, it’s a cheerleader. Through dance and chants, through voice and crowd leadership, they bring the joy of cheering to spectators and a surge of energy to athletes. So what’s going through their minds when they take the field? Park So-young debuted in 2020 and now serves as cheer captain at Twinkle, a professional cheerleading agency. She takes her place in the cheer section today, as every day, with one thing on her mind: bringing happiness to every single person in the stands.
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Cover Story 3
Released last February, “The King’s Warden” has drawn more than 16.7 million viewers. The film tells the story of Danjong—the sixth king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), stripped of his throne and exiled to a remote village amid a bloody coup—and the villagers who take him in. Driven from a vicious court with his body and spirit broken, what brings him back to life is the wholehearted care of the people around him, carried in nothing more than a warm meal.
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Food on Screen
Local Escape
Heritage Abroad
In the heart of Paris—one of the world’s most beloved cities—the Guimet - National Museum of Asian Arts houses works that stop you in your tracks: Buddhist statues that glow with a quiet radiance, embodying both stillness and grandeur.
