Today in K-Pop

Nearly 900 public and temporary toilets will be installed near Gwanghwamun Square, as more than 260,000 visitors are expected to be in the area for the March 21 comeback concert of BTS, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday. The plan includes measures to secure additional women-only facilities, reflecting the high proportion of female ticket holders, which is reportedly twice that of male ticket holders. The city said it will deploy crowd control staff at major bottlenecks to manage stag

BTS

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- BLACKPINK, the biggest K-pop girl group, released its...

BLACKPINK

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- Tiffany Young, a Korean American member of K-pop band...

Girls' Generation (SNSD)

The National Museum of Korea (NMK) is designed to protect and showcase centuries of the nation's history. For nearly two weeks, its monumental “Path of History” lobby is doing something else entirely: pulsing to the beats of K-pop icon BLACKPINK's new release. Ahead of the girl group's third mini-album "DEADLINE," which drops Friday at 2 p.m., BLACKPINK partnered with the country's flagship museum for a special project running through March 8. The collaboration opened with a prerelease listening event held inside the museum's main ground floor atrium, Thursday, marking the first time the institution has allowed its symbolic central space to be used for a K-pop partnership. Beneath an eight-meter digital rendering of the Gwanggaeto Stele, a towering monument commemorating the Goruryeo era's (37 BCE-668 CE) King Gwanggaeto the Great, guests formed a loose but eager circle as the album's five new tracks filled the vast hall. From the viral prerelease single "JUMP" to its widely-anticipated title track "GO," the music reverberated against stone and glass surfaces more accustomed to the

BLACKPINK

Korea's content industry exports hit a record high in 2024, fueled by the global boom of Korean pop culture, known as "hallyu," the government said Friday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported that the industry's exports totaled $14.08 billion in 2024, up 5.5 percent from 2023. It marked the highest level since the ministry began tracking the data and the second consecutive record-breaking year. During the same period, imports came to $915.56 million, resulting in a trade surplus of $13.159 billion. The content industry is an umbrella term encompassing publishers, broadcasters, advertisers and firms producing music, computer games, animations, movies, musicals and other creative content. The game industry remained the dominant force, accounting for 60.4 percent of total content exports, or $8.5 billion. The music industry followed with $1.8 billion, while the broadcasting and video sector earned $1.26 billion. The content industry's total revenue also rose 2.1 percent to 157.4 trillion won ($107.2 billion) from a year earlier, buoyed by stronger exports. Broadcasting and v

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- K-pop girl group aespa will release a new single, "Ke...

Aespa

Lee Ju-young, 25, has visited the National Museum of Korea several times before. Friday, she returned with a specific purpose: to celebrate the comeback of Blackpink. "It's a place I visit often, but today it feels completely different," she said, with the museum's interior bathed in pink as part of a collaboration with the global girl group. "The collaboration between the museum and Blackpink feels symbolic. I really wanted to experience it in person." Lee was among hundreds of visitors who beg

BLACKPINK

Riize added more cinemas to broadcast live the last concert of its first international tour, label SM Entertainment said Friday. The boy band is will play three dates in Seoul from March 6-8, to finish off their tour “Riizing Loud.” The second day’s show will be available for live viewing in movie theaters in 10 countries, including Korea. Tickets for the chance to watch the six members hit the stage in real-time sold out fast and more venues are added in Taiwan, Indonesia and Korea. The shows o

RIIZE

Irene of Red Velvet will make a comeback as a solo singer in late March, according to a local media report Friday. She is preparing to roll out her first solo full-length album, more than a year after her first solo endeavor, “Like A Flower.” The eight-track album sold over 250,000 copies on the day of release and topped the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 21 regions. As a member of Red Velvet, she participated in label SM Entertainment’s all-star show, SM Town Live 2025-26, in Bangkok earlier this m

IreneRed Velvet

Aespa is dropping a single Friday for which it joined forces with US singer and songwriter Anderson Paak, said label SM Entertainment. Their collaboration “Keychain” is a hip-hop, R&B and funk tune mixing Paak’s soulful vibe with Aespa’s edgy sophistication. It will be part of the soundtrack of movie “K-Pops!” a comedy film directed and produced by Paak. The film will come to cinemas in North America on Friday and will be the directorial debut of the Grammy-winning musician. Separately, the quar

Aespa

Le Sserafim’s first English-language single “Perfect Night” earned double platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan, according to the organization Friday. The single generated 200 million streams as of January and became the group’s second song to do so, after “Antifragile,” the title track from the group's second EP. The quintet dropped the song in 2023 as a digital single and Heo Yunjin participated in writing the lyrics. Meanwhile, the group’s first single album

LE SSERAFIM

Blackpink is set to return as a full group with its third EP “Deadline” on Friday afternoon, marking its first all-member release in three years and five months since the LP “Born Pink.” Centered on what the group describes as its “irreversible best moments,” the new EP captures Blackpink at its current peak. Spanning five tracks, the project moves across diverse styles and genres, highlighting the quartet’s musical versatility. The main track, “Go,” delivers bold, confident energy, pairing powe

BLACKPINK

BLACKPINK, the biggest K-pop girl group, will release its third EP, "Deadline," on Friday, returning as a full group for the first time in more than three years amid strong anticipation from fans worldwide. The record, led by the lead track "Go," marks the quartet's first group project since its 2022 full-length album "Born Pink," which topped both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the British Official Albums Chart Top 100. According to YG Entertainment, the group's agency, the five-track album due out at 2 p.m. explores themes of confidence, growth and unity, combining elements of EDM, hip-hop and pop. The lead single "Go" features powerful sound production and a chant-driven hook, complemented by the prerelease "Jump," the retro hip-hop track "Me and My," the anthemic "Champion," and "Fxxxboy," described as a more subtle and emotional track. Since launching album promotions on Feb. 15, BLACKPINK's YouTube channel has gained an average of 10,000 new subscribers per day, YG said. The group recently became the first artist to surpass 100 million subscribers on the global video sharing platform. "

BLACKPINK

K-pop girl group aespa will release a new single, "Keychain," on Friday in collaboration with Korean American pop artist Anderson .Paak, the group's agency SM Entertainment said. The track, set for release at 2 p.m., is part of the original soundtrack for "K-POPS!," a film produced, directed and starring Anderson .Paak. The song combines his signature hip-hop, R&B and funk sound with aespa's distinctive musical style. "K-POPS!," set to get theatrical release Friday, is a family comedy that portrays the experiences, culture and identity of the Korean American community in the United States. The film follows a Los Angeles musician who travels to South Korea to revive his career and discovers that his estranged son has become a K-pop superstar.

Aespa

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- BLACKPINK, the biggest K-pop girl group, will release...

BLACKPINK

Lee Chan-hyuk, the brother of the sibling duo AKMU, clinched three prizes, including Song of the Year, at this year's Korean Music Awards (KMA) held late Thursday, an event that prizes artistic achievement over commercial popularity. Lee emerged as the night's most decorated artist, taking home Song of the Year and Best Pop Song for "Endangered Love" and Best Pop Album for "Eros" during the ceremony broadcast live on the local music streaming platform Melon and YouTube, according to the KMA website. "Eros" is the first solo album from the singer in two years and nine months since his solo debut album, "Error," in October 2022. The new album was lauded by critics for its exploration of mortality and the emotional aftermath of loss. While not the album's lead single, "Endangered Love" saw a dramatic rise on domestic charts following a viral performance by Lee at the Blue Dragon Film Awards in November. BLACKPINK's Jennie also secured two trophies -- Best K-pop Album for her solo project "Ruby" and Best K-pop Song for its lead track "like Jennie." Rookie of the Year went to singer-songwriter

JennieAKMUBLACKPINK

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- Lee Chan-hyuk, the brother of the sibling duo AKMU, c...

JennieAKMU

More than 9 in 10 overseas BTS fans have studied Korean, with their love for the group cited as the main motivation, a recent survey shows. The Multicultural Convergence Research Institute surveyed fans from 69 countries and found that 93.4 percent had learned Korean, mostly at the beginner level. Only 7.8 percent attended in-person classes, with most using apps and online videos. Over half had studied for less than a year, with 54 percent aiming for TOPIK 4 level proficiency, which is high inte

BTS

SEOUL — The lights inside the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul had already gone out for the night Thursday, but the marble-floored lobby still buzzed with quiet excitement. Dozens of BLACKPINK fans, phones raised and faces lit by a soft pink light, walked toward the end of the main corridor where an exclusive prelistening of the girl group's new album was about to begin. The event, co-hosted by the K-pop quartet and the museum in partnership with Spotify, offered about 300 selected fans a rare preview of "Deadline," a day before the album's release. It marks the quartet's first album involving all members in four years since "Born Pink." In the corridor known as the "path of history," a giant carpet reading "BLACKPINK WILL MAKE YOU" led visitors to a seating zone surrounding the digitally restored Gwanggaeto the Great Stele. The memorial stele for the tomb of Gwanggaeto the Great, the 19th monarch of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (37 B.C.-A.D. 668), is an iconic national heritage of ancient Korean history. As the opening beats of last year's prerelease track "Jump" rev

BLACKPINK