News Analysis India

Tag: Kingdom

  • Hunger was the starting point: ‘Kingdom’ writer, director on creating the hit zombie thriller series

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: As a fan of the zombie genre, “Kingdom” writer Kim Eun-hee says she was always intrigued by the hunger of the undead, the principal theme which runs through her internationally popular Netflix period thriller series as well as its upcoming prequel “Ashin of the North”.

    In an exclusive interview with PTI, the writer and director Kim Seong-hun spoke about the universe of “Kingdom” and what makes the Korean-language series, set in the medieval period of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), resonate with the audience across the world.

    “I’m a big fan of zombies. When I watched other zombie series, they’re all running around to have some food. I might sound a little perverted but I didn’t feel fear, I felt very sorry for the zombies because why would they run so hard to just eat that little bit of flesh? That’s why I landed on the theme of hunger,” Kim Eun-hee said in a Zoom interview from Seoul, South Korea.

    The writer, 49, also known for the popular time-travel investigative Korean drama “Signal”, said while the original drama with its story of a crown prince (played by Ju Ji-hoon) investigating a mysterious outbreak, has different themes at its heart, the concept of hunger stands out for her.

    “We have a lot of different themes like politics and thirst for power, but what I was attracted to the most was hunger and that was the starting point for me,” Kim Eun-hee, who adapted “Kingdom” from her webcomic series “The Kingdom of the Gods”, said through the help of an interpreter.

    “Kingdom” director Kim Seong-hun, who has also helmed the 92-minute special episode “Ashin of the North”, believes South Korean zombie stories have become globally famous as the writers and filmmakers focus on telling original stories to stand apart from their western counterparts, who have more money and technical know-how to invest.

    South Korea has made the genre its own by delivering highly original content with the 2016 blockbuster film “Train to Busan”, its sequel “Peninsula”, “#Alive”, “Rampant”, animated “Seoul Station” and “Kingdom” to name a few.

    Kim Seong-hun, 50, credits Korean creators for the popularity of the zombie stories from the country.

    “Usually, it’s Hollywood that does the best job because they have the money and the know-how. So, to differentiate from Hollywood, what the Korean creators do is to become more original and have more original stories moulded to the zombie genre, which makes them look great. I think that’s why so many people love the Korean style,” he added.

    The director said it is challenging to direct local actors as the flesh-eating creatures as “Korean zombies are full of stamina and they’re very fast”, which may lead to safety issues on the set.

    “The other challenge was that this is a zombie genre, but it’s also based in a historic time period so there were a lot of visual effects and martial arts. Even having just one of them in the story can make it difficult, but we had all three of them. So I think that was the most challenging part,” he added.

    While there is no clarity on the third season of “Kingdom”, fans will get to whet their appetite with “Ashin of the North”, a prequel story headlined by “My Love from the Star” actor Jun Ji-hyun and set to stream on Netflix from Friday.

    “Ashin of the North” will narrate the story of its titular warrior from the northern border town of Joseon, who has vowed to avenge the death of her loved ones.

    She clashes with Park Byung-eun’s Min Chi-rok, who made a lasting impression in “Kingdom” season two as the head of the Royal Commandery.

    It will also reveal the backstory of the resurrection plant, or “saengsacho” in Korean, responsible for the zombie epidemic.

    In a global press conference on Tuesday, Kim Seong-hun teased a scene involving zombies as the highlight of “Ashin of the North”, saying it is a scene that the entire prequel “is really running towards”.

    “It is truly a sad, tragic but immensely charming scene,” he added.

    Kim Eun-hee said she decided to set the spin-off at the northern border town of Joseon to tell the story of “marginalised people of that time”.

    In the press conference, the writer also spoke about feeling the pressure that comes with the expectation from a hit series.

  • Temporary suspension of flights to & from the United Kingdom till 7 January 2021: Hardeep Singh Puri

    A decision has been taken to extend the temporary suspension of flights to & from the United Kingdom till 7 January 2021, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

  • Foresee suspension of UK flights to be further extended: Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

    Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he foresees a “short extension” of the suspension of flights from the United Kingdom to contain the spread of the new variant of coronavirus that was first detected in that country.

    This comes a day after six people who had recently returned to India from the UK were found positive for the new mutant strain of the coronavirus.

    “I foresee a short extension on this temporary suspension. I do not see the extension to be long or indefinite,” Puri said while addressing media at an annual press conference on Civil Aviation.

    The government has imposed a ban on flights coming to India from the UK. All flights originating from the UK to India are suspended till December 31, 2020, with effect from December 22. Puri explained that the Ministry is monitoring developments in other countries too and will take further decisions accordingly.

    “We had imposed temporary suspensions when we had eight to nine flights daily from the UK. The passengers who came in from the time of the announcement to the next day were subjected to compulsory quarantine at the point of arrival. Even those who tested negative were required to go in mandatory quarantine. We went one step further and we did contact tracing and genome sequencing of passengers from the UK who have come to India since November 25,” he said.

  • Donald Trump Administration Says US Ready To Build Stronger Post-Brexit Ties With UK, EU

    The United States has congratulated Britain and the European Union for reaching a trade agreement before the end of the transition phase on December 31. The White House National Security Council congratulated both UK and EU for concluding the historic Brexit deal and said that it “stands ready” to work with all and build stronger transatlantic ties. Britain and the EU announced reaching a trade agreement on the eve of Christmas after months of negotiations between London and Brussels. 

    Both sides agreed on a Brexit trade deal on December 24, just a week before the United Kingdom was scheduled to leave the European Union fully. Britain had officially exited the 28-nation bloc on January 31, 2020, following which it moved into a transition phase to negotiate a trade agreement with the EU. Britain will become free from the liability of the bloc starting January 1, 2021, onwards, meaning it will no longer have to comply with EU rules.

  • What Is Included In UK-EU Trade Agreement As Britain Takes Control

    After nine months of tiresome negotiations, the UK and the European Union have finally signed the Brexit deal on December 24 just a weak before Britain finally leaves the 27-nation-bloc on December 31 with the end of the 11-month transition period. Since the Brexit talks about dominated the UK politics throughout the year amid the COVID-19, the ‘British exit’ from the EU 48 years after it joined the European Economic community is finally done and dusted. 

    Britain had officially left the European Union on January 31 at 11:00 PM (2300 GMT) after joining the bloc in 1973 with the flag of the United Kingdom – the Union Jack – was taken down from the European Council building Brussels. After which, it had entered into a transition period with the bloc until December 31, 2020, with an aim to strike an agreement defining the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU. While the negotiations suffered many blows including the pandemic and other deciding factors, a Brexit deal was finally secured at 1:44 GMT on Christmas Eve.

  • COVID-19 Vaccines Can Be Modified Within Minutes To Fight New Strain, Experts Assure

    Infectious disease experts are positive about authorized vaccines working against the new strain of COVID-19 virus identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa. According to The Washington Post, virologists have said that even if the new variants of COVID-19 evolve enough to beat the authorized vaccines, there should not be a problem because vaccines can be modified within minutes. The new variants of COVID-19 detected in the UK and South Africa have been termed more severe than all previous mutations since the outbreak began in 2019. 

    Drew Weissman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and one of the inventors of the messenger RNA technology that has been used by both Pfizer and Moderna for their vaccines, said that it is “very easy” to tweak the drugs to fight new strains of the virus. 

  • UK Reports Two Cases Of New South African COVID-19 Strain, Tightens Lockdown Restrictions

    The United Kingdom reported identifying two cases of another new strain of COVID-19 linked to South Africa on Wednesday, December 23. Like the UK variant identified earlier, the new South African variant of COVID-19 is also adding to the surge in cases of infection, with experts warning the country is probably facing a much larger second wave.

    “Both [cases of the new variant] are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks,” said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock while addressing a briefing from 10 Downing Street. “This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK,” he added.

  • India & UK Hold Bilateral Consultations On UNSC Issues; Focus On Strengthening Ties

    India and the UK held bilateral consultations on UNSC issues through the VTC mode on Friday. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release, both sides discussed in detail, the wide range of issues on the UN Security Council agenda. During the virtual bilateral consultations, the United Kingdom also briefed India on its priorities during its upcoming UNSC presidency including climate & security and also famine & hunger in conflict situations.

    The UK delegation led by Director of Multilateral Policy Department of Commonwealth and Foreign Office James Kariuki also included UK Foreign Ministry officials and representatives from their Missions in New York and New Delhi. The Indian side was led by MEA’s JS (UNP & Summits) Prakash Gupta along with External Ministry Officials, PMI New York and Indian High Commission in London. The release also said that the UK congratulated the Indian side for its elections to the UNSC. 

  • Coronavirus Vaccination Drive To Begin From Dec 27, Says Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that the country will start a coronavirus vaccination drive from December 27 onward as the first batch of Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine arrived in Tel Aviv. With a population of over 88 million people, Israel received the first of 80 million doses it had ordered from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and BioNTech. Netanyahu, while overseeing the unloading of the shipment from a cargo plane, said that the country’s health services are capable of vaccinating 60,000 people per day.

    Netanyahu added that a “much bigger” cargo is expected to arrive on Thursday, December 10. The Israeli Prime Minister urged every eligible person in the country to get vaccinated as he vowed to take the first shot himself in order to clear any doubts that people might be having regarding vaccines. The shipment arrived a day before the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which is a festival of lights. Netanyahu said that the arrival of the vaccine has brought great light to Israel. 

    Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine has already earned approval in the United Kingdom, which became the first Western country on Tuesday to start inoculating people outside a trial setting. Canada’s health regulators have approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The American and the German firm, who have developed the vaccine together, are seeking approval in the United States as well, where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to grant emergency use authorisation in the next couple of days. 

  • EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier Arrives In UK To Resume ‘physical Negotiations’

    The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier on November 27 said that the EU-UK post-Brexit “physical” negotiations can continue now. Taking to Twitter, Barnier informed that he is ‘no longer in quarantine’. A colleague had tested positive for COVID-19 last week following which Barnier had resorted to self-isolation. Ahead of travelling to the UK to resume face-to-face trade talks, the chief negotiator also said that “same significant divergences persist”. The deadline is nearing and many feel that the United Kingdom would have to exit the bloc without a deal.

    The UK-EU negotiators are striving to strike a deal to govern their trading relationship once the UK’s post-Brexit transition period ends in January 2021. Over the past week, talks have been continuing via video links, however, on Friday Barnier travelled to London after briefing EU ambassadors and members of the European Parliament on talks. Ahead of in-person talks, his UK counterpart David Frost also pledged to do his bit to ensure that he freezes the deal. 

    While taking to Twitter, Frost said that an EU-UK post-Brexit deal was “still possible”. Frost said that he would continue negotiating on behalf of Britain, adding he would stop if there is proof to the contrary. Further, he also added that for a deal to be possible, the EU must fully respect the UK’s sovereignty, including giving the country the freedom to decide on the subsidy control system and fishing rights.