21/07/2025

LYFE MONDAY | JULY 21, 2025

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A new K-pop boy band made its global debut last Friday with two members who defected from North Korea and an album that includes a song about the consequences of escaping one of the world’s most repressive states. 1Verse, pronounced “universe”, is made up of five men in their 20s from North Korea, Japan and the US, who go by their first names Hyuk, Seok, Aito, Nathan and Kenny. At midnight, the group performed a live-streamed showcase of its first EP The 1st Verse featuring three tracks, including the debut single Shattered . A video to accompany the song dropped on the same day. Recorded earlier this year, it shows the group sporting make-up and slick hairstyles, dancing against a stroboscopic background. Yu Hyuk, originally from the northeastern county of Kyongsong in North Korea, has been living in South Korea since 2013. As well as enjoying the freedom to show off his talent to the world, the 25-year-old also appreciates being able to eat three meals a day. In North Korea, he started work at the age of nine and said he was sometimes forced into desperate measures to get food, eating spoiled rice or worse, and resorting to theft. “After I was caught stealing, I was beaten hard until I was bleeding. I was really hungry and instinctively I was thinking about survival,” he said at the group’s studio in the South Korean capital. North Korea has stepped up control over people’s lives since the Covid-19 pandemic when all borders were sealed, and abuses such as executions, forced labour and

Hyuk records vocals for a new track.

Nathan (left) and Hyuk during a music video shoot.

Seok speaks during an interview.

Crossover appeal o North Korean defectors make debut in new K-pop boy band

defector in the group and also 25, used to live in a border town near China. He was exposed to K-pop by a friend who shared music videos on a portable media player, including Psy’s 2012 smash Gangnam Style . Seok escaped with his father and grandmother when he was 20 years old. Recent reports have suggested that Pyongyang is stepping up its crackdown on the consumption of South Korean culture, including a case where teenagers were sentenced to hard labour for watching K-pop, as well as suppressing South Korean speaking styles. Michelle Cho, producer and CEO of 1Verse’s label Singing Beetle, said she wanted to create a more

reports of starvation continue, a UN official investigating rights in the isolated state said last month. Hyuk escaped North Korea as a child – fleeing to China and then across other international borders with the help of a broker arranged by his mother, who was already in South Korea. While he is happy with his new life, he recalls that it was a wrench to leave his home. “I was hungry and tired, but I was happy surrounded by the people I like which made it tougher for me to want to come here at first,” he said. The song Shattered encapsulates his feelings when he learned about the death of his father in North Korea, he said. Kim Seok, the other North Korean

The group performing its new single on camera. – PICS FROM REUTERS

TWO British actors will play the lead roles in the hotly anticipated live-action film adaptation of the Legend of Zelda video game franchise, Japan’s Nintendo announced. The film’s release is set for May 2027, joining a stream of game adaptations from Super Mario to Sonic the Hedgehog that have stormed the box office in recent years. Bo Bragason will play Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will play Link – an elf warrior who swordfights his way through a monster-filled fantasy world – Nintendo said on social media platform X last week. “I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen,” said the post attributed to game designer and Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto, the co-producer of Super Mario , created the Zelda universe in 1986. Since then, the hugely popular series has sold more than 140 million games worldwide. Its latest instalment, 2024’s The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom , saw the titular character shed her role as a damsel in distress to be the heroine for the first time. Bragason has previously starred in the British TV series Three Girls and Renegade Nell , while Ainsworth was the voice of Pinocchio in a 2022 movie remake. Brit actors to lead in Zelda film authentic group in an industry often seen as picture-perfect. “Who does not love the story of someone from a humble background chasing their dreams, especially K pop?” she said. Despite their diverse backgrounds, the bandmates said they had plenty in common. “I mean is it not fun? Like our group is just a unique type of global,”

said Kenny, who is Chinese American. While the group has drawn attention for having North Korean defectors, Hyuk hopes they will be judged by the quality of their work. “I want to become an idol that brings energy and the message that cheers up many people, that they are not alone and there are even people like me.” – Reuters

Protesters in Mexico City call for the regulation of AI in the creative sector.

A demonstrator holds up placards calling for the regulation of AI. – PICS FROM AFP

Mexican voice actors demand regulation on AI voice cloning

tones, pay attention to nuances ... observe the real actors‘ expressions and try to emulate what is happening on screen,” she said. If no legislation is passed, she said voice dubbing done by humans “will disappear”, at the expense of millions of artists’ jobs. In March, Amazon’s streaming platform Prime Video announced tests of an AI-assisted dubbing system, a technology also promoted by YouTube. Last month, South Korea’s entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM – behind the Oscar-winning film Parasite – showcased an AI tool that combines visuals, audio and voice in one system while automatically generating consistent 3D characters. But human voice actors still have the edge, said Mario Heras, dubbing director for video games in Mexico. AI cannot make dialogue “sound funny, broken, off – or alive,” he said. The human factor, he added, “protects us in this rebellion against the machines.” – AFP

Before the announcement, online speculation had been rife that US trans actress Hunter Schafer, known for HBO hit show Euphoria , might be picked for the part of Zelda. The movie, directed by Wes Ball of the Maze Runner trilogy, is a big-screen first for Zelda, although the game was adapted for a 13-episode animated series in 1989. Movie adaptations of hit video games have become big business, with Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros Movie the second-highest grossing film of 2023. Among other titles being developed into films are Japan’s Elden Ring and US life-simulation game series The Sims . – AFP Link, a character in the Legend of Zelda who is tasked with saving Princess Zelda. – PIC FROM X @NINTENDO OF AMERICA

protected,” said Lili Barba, president of the Mexican Association of Commercial Announcements. The 52-year-old actress, known for voicing Disney’s Daisy Duck, referred to a video by the National Electoral Institute on TikTok. Released following the judicial elections on June 1, the video used the voice of the late actor Jose Lavat – famous for the Spanish dubbing of stars such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino – to thank citizens for voting. According to local media, Lavat’s voice was used without his family’s consent. “It is a major violation, and we cannot allow it,” said Barba. Actress Harumi Nishizawa, 35, said dubbing a character is “like embroidery”. “As an artist, you can create certain

MEXICAN actors protested the growing threat artificial intelligence (AI) poses to their industry, calling for better regulations to prevent voice cloning without consent. The rise of AI was a key issue in Hollywood’s 2023 actors and writers’ strikes, as creatives feared studios would use the technology to replace paid content. Last year, actor Scarlett Johansson accused tech firm OpenAI of imitating her voice for one of their chatbots. The company responded by modifying the tone. From the Monument to the Revolution in downtown Mexico City, dozens of audiovisual professionals held signs, including ones that read: “I do not want to be replaced by AI.” “We are requesting that the voice be considered a biometric so that it is