Hong Kong wushu athlete Lydia Sham won a gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, fulfilling a promise she had made to Kai, her favorite member of K-pop boy band Exo, at a fan-signing event. Sham posted about her victory on social media shortly after winning the women's changquan event, tagging Exo and Kai's official accounts. "I really won an Asian Games gold medal! I worked so hard to keep this promise!" she wrote. She also shared a video from a previous fan signing event sho

J.Y. Park was hardly a name associated with religion. For decades, he was better known as the boundary-pushing singer in transparent plastic pants who became one of the architects of modern K-pop, founding JYP Entertainment and producing generations of stars from Wonder Girls and GOT7 to Twice and Stray Kids. Today, however, Park can also be found standing at a lectern, teaching the Bible. On Saturday, First Fruits, the Christian community Park leads, uploaded a 72-minute YouTube video in which

Ask who the most influential producers in K-pop are today, and Teddy would likely be one of the first names to come up. The producer behind Blackpink's global hit "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" has helped shape the sound of modern K-pop and expanded his influence through The Black Label, home to artists such as Rose. But before Teddy became a producer, there was another figure behind YG Entertainment's sound: Perry. The American rapper and producer played a pivotal role i

Rose released a new single Friday to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 18 as part of an Apple collaboration. The music video for "New Trick" was filmed entirely on the iPhone 18 Pro for Apple's "Shot on iPhone" campaign, according to Rose's agency, The Black Label. The project puts Rose among artists who have previously participated in the campaign, including Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo and The Weeknd. "New Trick" is a garage punk-inspired track, blending the raw, stripped-down sound of garag

Comico, whose real name is Kim Byung-sun, believes the best way to learn a foreign language is not in a classroom. "The best language textbook is comedy," the Korean stand-up comedian told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Sept. 4. "To understand comedy, you have to know the culture, the society and the economy," he said. "It's all embedded in comedy. Comedy is making that fun. News is making it boring." He learned that distinction the hard way. When Comico moved to Mexico City in May

Soyeon, the rapper, leader and chief producer behind some of I-dle's biggest hits, has returned with her first solo album in more than five years, led by a song surprisingly removed from the high-impact K-pop that made her name. The main track "I'll Quit (Narr. Kian84)," from her first LP "The Baddest Life," released Sept. 7, trades forceful beats and elaborate concepts for an easygoing band sound and a subject familiar to millions of office workers: wanting to quit. The choice appears to be pay

When Rescene appeared on MBC's "Omniscient Interfering View" on Aug. 8, one exchange offered a clue to why the five-member group has struck such a chord with the Korean public. Member Woni recalled a time when becoming an idol had seemed financially out of reach. "I thought only rich people could become idols," she said, before explaining how encouragement from the head of her agency, The Muze Entertainment, gave her the confidence to pursue that dream. The company's chief, for his part, said he

Big Ocean, a K-pop trio whose members are all deaf or hard of hearing, kicked off its US tour with a sold-out show in New York on Sunday, the group's agency said Monday. The "Big Ocean US Fall Tour 2026" will take the trio — Chanyeon, PJ and Jiseok — to eight US cities through October. Following the New York opener, Big Ocean is scheduled to perform in Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday, Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 25, Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 26 and Chicago on Sept. 27. The tour will cont

JYP Entertainment is moving toward scrapping plans for a new headquarters in eastern Seoul after a zoning change opened the way for a high-rise building to be constructed just 20 meters from the planned complex, potentially allowing outsiders to look down into spaces designed to protect artists’ privacy. Architect Yoo Hyun-joon, a professor of architecture at Hongik University who designed the headquarters, said Thursday in an interview with a local media outlet that JYP Entertainment had inform

Former Big Bang member Seungri has denied an aggravated assault allegation after a man in his 30s filed a criminal complaint against him. He acknowledged that he held a liquor bottle during a dispute but insists he neither swung it nor threatened the man. According to local media reports Thursday, police received the complaint on Aug. 26, accusing Seungri of aggravated assault, and are looking into the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident. He has yet to be questioned. The former singer

Spotify House Seoul returned to Seongsu-dong on Thursday, with Grammy-winning DJ and producer Diplo leading the opening-day lineup of an event that puts some of the streaming platform's familiar features into a temporary physical space. Held for the second year at Anderson C, the four-day event combines live performances with rooms where visitors can try out Spotify features, interact with content from participating artists and explore music based on their own listening habits. On the third floo

걸그룹 리센느(RESCENE)가 오는 11월 컴백한다. 유튜브 콘텐츠를 타고 국내 인지도를 크게 끌어올린 데 이어 ‘Pretty Girl’로 데뷔 후 첫 음악방송 1위까지 거머쥔 만큼, 상승세를 이어갈 수 있을지 주목된다. 8일 가요계에 따르면 리센느는 오는 11월 중순 신곡 발표를 목표로 컴백을 준비하고 있다. 한 업계 관계자는 이날 코리아헤럴드에 “현재 11월 중순 컴백을 목표로 준비하고 있지만 정확한 날짜는 아직 확정되지 않았다”며 “컴백에 맞춘 팬 프로모션 일정 등을 조율하고 있어 날짜가 잠정적으로 정해진 뒤에도 변동될 가능성이 있다”고 밝혔다. 소속사 더뮤즈엔터테인먼트는 이날 리센느의 11월 컴백 일정과 관련해 “현재로서는 확인해 줄 수 없다”고 밝혔다. 예정대로 신곡을 발표하면 지난 7월 8일 스페셜 싱글 ‘Pretty Girl’을 내놓은 이후 약 4개월 만의 컴백이다. ‘Pretty Girl’은 카라가 2008년 발표한 동명의 히트곡을 리메이크한 곡이다. 리센느는 ‘Pr

A new Latin American music festival built around Stray Kids will kick off in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday, launching a three-city run that will also take the K-pop act to Argentina and Mexico, JYP Entertainment said Wednesday. The "Straycity" festival was created by JYP Entertainment and US concert promoter Live Nation with Stray Kids as its centerpiece. The inaugural festival opens in Bogota before heading to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for two shows on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Mexico Cit

Rescene, the rookie girl group enjoying domestic momentum after viral YouTube content propelled it into the mainstream, is set to return with new music in mid-November, an industry source told The Korea Herald on Tuesday. "Rescene is currently aiming for a comeback in mid-November, although the exact date has yet to be finalized," the source said on condition of anonymity. "Fan promotions surrounding the comeback are still being coordinated, so the schedule remains fluid and could change even af

Brazilian funk is gaining a stronger presence in K-pop, with some of the industry's leading acts turning to the hard-hitting rhythms born in South America. Ateez brought the genre to the forefront in June with "Bad," the lead track from its 14th EP, "Golden Hour: Part.5," while Enhypen followed in August with "Bloody Paradise," the Brazilian funk-driven lead single from its eighth EP, "The Sin: Bliss." Both albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. But Brazilian funk — sometimes introduced in K-pop