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· Carl Samson
K-Pop Star Goo Hara Found Dead at 28
K-pop star Goo Hara has died. The 28-year-old idol, who rose to fame as a member of the girl group KARA, was found unconscious in her Seoul residence at 6:09 p.m. on Sunday, the Korea Times reported.
· Carl Samson
Rebel Wilson is Making a K-Pop Movie and Asian Twitter is Livid
Australian actress Rebel Wilson has written a K-pop movie in which she will also appear — and Asian Twitter has mixed feelings about it. “Seoul Girls,” to be released by Lionsgate, follows a Korean American high school girl and her friends who enter a worldwide talent…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Fans Are Outraged After BTS Gets Snubbed By Grammy Nominations
Fans of K-pop supergroup BTS have rallied online to express outrage after their favorite band was excluded from the Grammy nomination list for the Album of the Year award. 🎉 Congratulations 62nd #GRAMMYs Album Of The Year nominees: @boniver, @LanaDelRey, @billieeilish,…
· Carl Samson
Seoul Now Has AirBnB Experiences That Teach You How to Sing and Dance Like a K-Pop Idol
Those who have enmeshed themselves in the K-pop world long before BTS and BLACKPINK set milestones in the international music scene would by now be familiar with the rich diversity the genre has to offer. Over time, in ideal conditions, a K-pop act develops his/her/their own…
· Carl Samson
BLACKPINK Makes History as First K-Pop Group to Hit 1 BILLION Views on YouTube
K-pop quartet BLACKPINK officially joined YouTube’s “Billion Views Club” this week. As of Nov. 11, the YG Entertainment girl group composed of Lisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo surpassed 1 billion views for their single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” which came out at on June 15, 2018.
· Bryan Ke
American College Students Want to Learn Korean More Than Ever Because of K-Pop
The number of students learning Korean in universities throughout the United States has increased almost exponentially over the past 10 years, and it’s most likely due to the incredible popularity of K-pop. According to the U.S. Modern Language Association, the number of…
· Jin Hyun
K-Pop Idol Called a ‘Monster’ By Japanese Fans For Wearing Brand That Supports Comfort Women
Member of K-pop duo TVXQ, Yunho, is being criticized by Japanese social media users after being photographed sporting a cap from a Korean brand that openly supports Korean wartime sex slaves from the Japanese colonial period. Yunho was spotted wearing a Marymond hat at the…
· Carl Samson
K-Pop Group SuperM Becomes the First Korean Act to Debut at #1 on the Billboard 200
SuperM, known by some fans as the “Avengers of K-Pop,” became the first Korean act to land No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with their debut LP this week. The “supergroup” also re-entered the Billboard Artist 100 chart at No. 1, becoming the top musical act in the U.S.…
· Jin Hyun
K-Pop Idol Sulli Found Dead at Home in Suspected Suicide
Sulli, the 25-year-old K-pop singer and former member of f(x) was found dead in her home in Seongnam, South Korea on Monday afternoon. The pop idol, whose legal name is Choi Jin Ri, was discovered by her manager who last spoke to her on Sunday evening but went to check on her…
· Jin Hyun
Meet Alex Reid, the First Black K-Pop Idol
The world of K-pop is known for its vibrant colors, catchy tunes, and immense talent; however, racial diversity has never been a strong suit within the industry. For international fans of K-pop who aren’t East Asian, it can be difficult to find an idol they can deeply relate to,…
· Bryan Ke
The First All-Filipino K-Pop Boy Group is Crushing It Too Hard to Hear the Haters
The Philippines now has its first-ever all-Filipino male K-pop group with SB19. The group, comprised of members Sejun, Stell, Josh, Ken and Justin, are trained under ShowBT, a Korean entertainment agency that branched out in the Philippines, according to ABS-CBN.
· Ryan General
Brazilian Women Told They’d Be K-Pop Stars, Get Forced Into Prostitution in South Korea
A group of Brazilian women ended up getting sold into prostitution brothels after traveling to South Korea to become K-pop stars. The seven women, who are in their 20s and 30s, were reportedly lured by a man on social media to come to South Korea in early July. They were offered…
· Carl Samson
Chinese K-Pop Idol Lay Divides Twitter After Supporting Hong Kong Police
Chinese K-pop idol Zhang Yixing, also known as Lay, has drawn mixed reactions after expressing support for Hong Kong police amid ongoing protests in the city. Earlier this week, the 27-year-old artist terminated his contract with Samsung Electronics after determining that the…
· Carl Samson
New ‘Super M’ Group is Basically the ‘Avengers of K-Pop’ But Fans Are LIVID
A new K-Pop group composed of seven artists from current existing male groups under SM Entertainment will debut in the U.S. this October. Super M, dubbed the “Avengers of K-Pop,” consists of Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, and Lucas and…
· Ryan General
2 of K-pop’s Biggest Stars Are Now Dating Each Other
Former Wanna One member Kang Daniel and TWICE’s leader Park Jihyo are confirmed to be dating, according to the agencies representing the K-pop stars. JYP Entertainment and KONNECT Entertainment, Park and Kang’s agencies, respectively, confirmed the South Korean pop stars’…
· Jin Hyun
After a Freak Accident Destroyed His K-Pop Career, He’s Coming Back Stronger Than Ever
James Lee had his whole career ahead of him as the bassist for a popular Korean pop-rock band when a freak accident left him with a severed hand, making him unable to play the instrument he had dedicated his life to for over a decade. Four years later, the Korean-American…
· Ryan General
First Indian and Indonesian K-Pop Idols Revealed in New Pictures
Up-and-coming K-Pop idols Priyanka, Vanya, Blink and Perry are the latest Z-stars members to have their teaser images released. Z-Stars, the product of the ambitious Z-Pop Dream project, is the world’s first international “K-Pop group” with members chosen from different parts of…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Fan Allegedly Pulls Fire Alarm in London Hotel Just to See NCT127 Evacuating
An NCT127 fan – also known as Nctzen – took her obsession too far when she triggered the fire alarm at a London hotel, hoping to sneak a peak of the world-famous South Korean group evacuating out of their hotel room. The incident occurred on July 7 during NCT127’s stop in London…
· Carl Samson
Former K-Pop Idol Reveals She Used to Wear 11-POUND Sandbags on Each Leg While Training
A former K-pop idol has stepped out of the shadows to shed light on the dark side of the industry, joining others who claim that the lifestyle is not as glamorous as it seems. Way, 28, used to be part of Crayon Pop, a five-member girl group most K-pop fans would remember for…
· Carl Samson
K-Pop Gets Their First 100% Caucasian Solo Artist from Russia
K-Pop just got their first Russian solo artist. Lana, a long-time fan of Korean culture, debuted as a soloist under HICC Entertainment after two years of training.
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.