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· Carl Samson
Amber Liu Reveals the Struggle of Being an Asian American Artist Despite Being a Former K-Pop Star
Amber Liu is ready to start a new career in the U.S. At the age of 16, the Los Angeles native found herself moving to Seoul to train with SM Entertainment — one of South Korea’s top entertainment companies — and eventually debut as part of the iconic girl group f(x).
· Carl Samson
Obsessive K-Pop Fangirl Makes Her Dad Cry on TV After Spending Over $10,000 on Merchandise
A Korean student who repeatedly skipped school and splurged thousands of bucks in her obsession with a K-Pop group has her father bawling on national TV. Yuna, a middle schooler, is a fan of SEVENTEEN, a 13-member boy group from Pledis Entertainment.
· Ryan General
South Korea to Debut First Indian K-Pop Idols in New ‘International Groups’
A South Korean entertainment company has launched the world’s first international “K-Pop group” with members chosen from different parts of Asia. Z-POP Dream, set up by Zenith Media Contents CEO Jun Kang, revealed its two project groups, Z-Girls and Z-Boys, on Thursday.
· Carl Samson
BLACKPINK K-Pop Star Criticized for Being Thai, Gets Over 13 Million Instagram Followers in Support
A K-Pop star of Thai-descent has become the target of racist attacks on social media, but after an outpouring of support from fans, has become one of the most followed idols on Instagram. After attending the 33rd Golden Disc Awards in Seoul, Lisa, the main dancer of BLACKPINK,…
· Jin Hyun
From Boba to K-Pop: Why ‘We Bare Bears’ is So Relatable to Asians
When it comes to entertainment, I believe we’re all subconsciously searching for characters or plot lines we can relate to — something you can watch and say to yourself, “that’s so me.” Whether I was explicitly aware of this or not at the time, I was craving this relatability…
· Ryan General
GOT7 K-Pop Star Gives Ice Cold Response to Fan Criticizing His Weight On Livestream
K-Pop superstar Choi Young-Jae has a pretty bold response to a fan who criticized him on his weight gain. Popularly known simply as Youngjae, the main vocal of the South Korean boy band Got7 was doing a live broadcast via social media platform Naver’s V Live on Tuesday when a…
· Bryan Ke
New K-Pop Star’s Actual Age is 15 and Fans Are SHOOK
Meet Kangmin, one of the members of VERIVERY, a new K-Pop group under JellyFish Entertainment. Many fans had already fallen in love with his mesmerizing boyish charm and heart-melting smile, according to All Kpop.
· Carl Samson
K-Pop Idol Kang Daniel Sets World Record for Gaining 1 Million Instagram Followers
K-pop idol Kang Daniel set the Guinness World Record for “Fastest Time to Gain 1 Million Followers on Instagram.” Kang, who recently concluded promotions with Wanna One, joined the social media platform on New Year’s Day.
· Kimberly Nguyen
BLACKPINK Makes History as First K-Pop Girl Group to Perform at Coachella
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify music video views of K-pop groups BLACKPINK and BTS. K-Pop girl group BLACKPINK is making their official US debut at one of the biggest stages in the music industry: Coachella.
· Ryan General
K-Pop Idol Hyolin Sparks Controversy Wearing This Outfit During Awards Performance
A South Korean K-Pop star’s attire during a recent award show performance has reportedly sparked controversy online. Solo artist Hyolin, the former lead singer of girl band “Sistar,” performed at the 2018 KBS Drama Awards in Seoul on Monday night wearing a tight silver one-piece…
· Khier Casino
Former Motorcycle Gangster Turns Life Around Thanks to K-Pop Group TWICE
A TWICE fan from Japan was a motorcycle gang member but found a light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the popular South Korean girl group. The fan, Twitter user @akmau010, used to be a bōsōzoku (a Japanese subculture associated with motorcycle clubs and gangs) but the…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Star HyunA Appears in Cover of Grazia Korea Without Makeup
K-pop idol HyunA has stuned fans after showing off her natural beauty on the cover of Grazia. The 26-year-old singer, dancer, and model, whose real name is Kim Hyun-ah, recently appeared as the cover girl for Grazia Korea, according to All Kpop. Instead of appearing in makeup as…
· Bryan Ke
EXO Becomes First K-Pop Group in 18 Years to Hit 10 Million Total Sales
South Korean K-pop group EXO has become the genre’s first artist of the past 18 years to hit 10 million sales in total. EXO is making history as the artist to have sold over 10 million albums in Korea with their five studio albums plus an assortment of other releases including…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Idol Junho Reunites with Ethiopian Child He’s Been Sponsoring for 8 Years at ‘6K for Water’
After years of overseas sponsorship, 2PM’s Junho, whose full name is Lee Jun-ho, has finally been reunited with Felmeta, the child he has been sponsoring from Ethiopia since 2010. The two were reunited unexpectedly during the “2018 Global 6K for Water” run at the Ttukseom Han…
· Ryan General
‘League of Legends’ Debuts a Virtual K-Pop Group, Goes Insanely Viral
A new K-pop group has already been amassing millions of fans and breaking records within just days of releasing their debut song on YouTube. K/DA is a fictional K-pop group composed of Kai’Sa, Akali, Evelynn, and Ahri — all female characters from popular online MOBA video game…
· Ryan General
K-Pop Group TWICE Finally Allowed to Date People After 3-Year Dating Ban
Members of K-pop girl group phenomenon TWICE are now allowed to date after their 3-year dating ban lapsed on Saturday. TWICE producer Park Jin Young revealed during an appearance on Section TV that the popular group has an existing dating ban that will be lifted three years from…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Group iKON Reveals They Enjoy Showering Naked Together
In a recent episode of MBC Every1’s “Video Star,” K-pop group iKON made a rather surprising revelation with regards to the extent of their brotherhood, stating that they don’t mind being naked around each other or taking showers together. During their guesting, which aired on…
· Bryan Ke
TV Presenter Tells K-Pop Star His ‘English is awesome,’ But He’s Canadian
A television presenter for “Good Day LA” on KTTV was ridiculed online for her controversial comment about one of the members of K-pop group NCT 127, Mark Lee, who is originally from Vancouver, Canada. “Your english is awesome , I love it”
· Khier Casino
British K-Pop Fan Spends $100,000 on Surgeries to Look Like BTS’ Jimin
A British man has forked over nearly $100,000 to look like one of the members of K-pop mega group BTS.
· Carl Samson
BTS Makes K-Pop History By Reportedly Earning $88 Million So Far in 2018
BTS is logging yet another record in K-pop history with monumental earnings. According to Korean news outlet Insight, a recent broadcast revealed that the seven-member group brought more than 100 billion won ($88 million) in profit so far into the year.
Answer
BTS connects to HYBE, Weverse, memberships, merch, and tickets.
People & Works
Open
Artist · K-pop
&TEAM
&TEAM is HYBE's first homegrown Japanese boy group -- a localization play that plants the HYBE system directly inside the world's second-biggest music market rather than exporting Korean acts into it.
Artist · K-pop
2PM
2PM invented the 'beast idol' -- JYP's masculine, acrobatic counter-brand that opened the Japanese arena market for K-pop boy groups and made Thai member Nichkhun one of the first non-Korean idols engineered as a pan-Asian sales asset.
Artist · K-pop
aespa
SM's flagship 4th-gen group turned streaming dominance into arena-scale global touring — the clearest sign K-pop's next tier can headline, not just chart.
Artist · K-pop
AKMU
AKMU are the sibling duo who won K-Pop Star and picked YG on their own terms -- 'The Nation's Siblings' whose songwriting-first model gave YG a rare non-idol prestige asset that outlasted a full 12-year label run.
Artist · K-pop
BABYMONSTER
YG built BABYMONSTER as its designated BLACKPINK successor, and the pressure is the point -- the label bet its next decade of revenue on a seven-member group that had to shatter rookie sales records just to justify the comparison.
Artist · K-pop
BIGBANG
BigBang were the original architects of K-pop as a global export business -- the first mainstream Korean hip-hop idols whose stadium tours and merch empire proved a Korean act could out-earn Western pop stars and became the template YG monetized for a decade.
Artist · K-pop
BLACKPINK
The genre's biggest girl group returned as a group after years of solo dominance — testing whether K-pop's Western peak was a moment or a plateau. 'GO' answered.
Artist · K-pop
BOYNEXTDOOR
BOYNEXTDOOR is rapper Zico's KOZ Entertainment absorbed into the HYBE machine -- an artist-founded label that HYBE bought and turned into a hit factory, showing how HYBE grows by acquiring creative shops, not just building them.
Artist · K-pop
BTS
BTS didn't just come back — they re-coronated K-pop's top tier. 'Arirang' fuses Korean folk roots with global pop, and the tour proved the machine HYBE built scales to stadiums worldwide.
Results
Culture · artist
BTS
BTS connects to HYBE, the company behind BTS, Weverse, albums, merch, memberships, tickets, and concerts.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:035760
CJ ENM
CJ ENM is behind TV, music, film, award shows, and major cultural exports that shape what people watch.
Company · Korea · KRX:352820
HYBE
One of the layers behind BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:035900
JYP Entertainment
JYP is tied to groups that drive albums, tours, subscriptions, merch, and international fan activity.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:041510
SM Entertainment
SM is tied to idol groups, tours, fan clubs, and the long-running system behind some of K-pop's most recognizable acts.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:122870
YG Entertainment
YG connects global K-pop attention to touring, brand deals, fan demand, and artist-centered entertainment revenue.
Company · Korea · KRX:251270
Netmarble
Netmarble is Korea's mobile-game powerhouse that turns pop-culture IP into games — from BTS titles to Marvel — and is one of HYBE's largest shareholders, linking K-pop and gamin...
HYBE · K-pop · KRX:352820
A BTS comeback is not just songs. It’s albums, merch, tickets, and Weverse.
A BTS comeback can start with one stream on your phone, then turn into a fan-club sign-up, merch order, livestream ticket, and more time spent inside Weverse.