As K-pop veteran Shinee's final encore concert began Sunday at the Inspire Arena in Incheon, the giant LED screens showed video art of the boy band's silhouette. When the mid-section of the LED screens lowered, they revealed the main stage with Onew, Minho, Key and Taemin. The members kicked off the final performance of their three-day encore concert, "Perfect Illumination: Shinee’s Back," with their mega-hit singles “Clue” and "Sherlock." The enco

진행자: 홍유, Elise Youn Seoul rolls out W250b package in bid to lure foreign talent 기사요약: 서울시는 5년간 2천506억원을 투입해 외국인 인재와 기업을 유치하고 이들의 안정적인 정착을 돕는 외국인주민 정책 마스터플랜을 발표했다. [1] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday its plans to invest 250.6 billion won ($184.8 million) over five years to attract foreign talent and businesses and to help them adjust to the city. *adjust: 적응하다 (=adapt) [2] The plan, announced in a press briefing, comes amid an increase in the overall number of foreign n

Even as K-pop giant Hybe’s multilabel system is being tested by the ongoing feud with the CEO of one of its subsidiaries, Ador’s Min Hee-jin, the longest-standing K-pop agency, SM Entertainment is forging ahead with establishing its own multilabel system, dubbed “SM 3.0.” SM 3.0 focuses on broadening the spectrum of K-pop, according to Choi Jin-suk, global A&R executive of Kreation Music Rights (KMR), a music publishing subsidiary of SM Entertainment. “Within KM

진행자: 홍유, Elise Youn Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea 기사요약: 최근 고양이들이 신경질환 등 증상을 보이다 급사했다는 신고가 잇따랐지만 원인이 밝혀지지 않아 반려인들이 불안감을 호소하고 있다. [1] A wave of unexplained cat deaths has sparked a dispute between pet owners and authorities in South Korea, with owners unconvinced that the pet food thought to be at the center of the controversy was not to blame. *dispute: 분쟁, 분규; 논란, 논쟁 *controversy: 논란 [2] According to local animal activist groups Life and Myoeon, a total of 513

SM Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday to enhance its contribution to conserving urban biodiversity by expanding Kwangya Forest. Kwangya Forest was established on 400 square meters of land in Seoul Forest located at Seongdong-gu, Seoul in May 2023. This partnership involves SM’s financial support in expanding Kwangya Forest and its maintenance for the next five years, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s provision of

JYP Entertainment launched its first Japanese boy group, Nexz, Monday -- the agency's first boy group in six years. Nexz consists of six Japanese nationals and one South Korean national born and raised in Japan, selected through the K-pop agency’s “Nizi Project Season 2” audition program which aired on YouTube and Hulu Japan last year. The audition program is part of JYP Entertainment’s “Globalization by Localization” project aimed at localizing K-pop in

New releases by girl group Babymonster and boy group Treasure were among YG Entertainment's projects for the second half of the year announced by Yang Hyun-suk, YG founder and executive producer, in a three-minute video on YouTube Monday. Earlier this year, YG revealed that it had increased the number of music producers to 50 from 10 in an effort to introduce new projects more quickly. Babymonster will release its first regular studio album in October. “Ahead of the full album release

Veteran K-pop boy group Infinite is celebrating its 14th anniversary as a full unit with a fan meeting event on July 13 and 14. It will be the group's first meeting with fans in seven years. Infinite announced the event by posting its schedule for May, June and July on Friday. The band is also due to release a new digital single on June 9. The band will also hold a live-streaming event on the same day to celebrate its 14th anniversary with fans and talk about the latest release. Infinite es

K-pop boy group Stray Kids performed its new English digital single, “Lose My Breath,” on stage for the first time on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “We do have some good news. We are preparing a tour. It’s big news because it’s been so long since we’ve prepared for something so big,” group member Felix said during a talk session with local fans in the studio before the special performance. When asked by a fan about the creative process

Mark of the K-pop boy group NCT released his first solo single, “200,” on Thursday. The single “200” is a rock number with trendy, fast-tempo bass and drum sounds. Mark took part in writing the lyrics and composing the single, which is about a fateful meeting with someone that leads to a perfect relationship in which together the couple shines even brighter. Mark used cartoons and a vintage-style video filter to give the song's music video an early 2000s look. Mark a

K-pop boy group Treasure is releasing a new single on May 28, according to YG Entertainment. This comeback comes after nine months. Treasure unveiled a 14-second teaser clip on Wednesday that has “My love is like” written on a typewriter, hinting that the new single will be about love. Choi Hyun-suk and Yoshi of Treasure took part in writing the lyrics to the single, and renowned K-pop producers including Airplay, Jared Lee and Choice37 took part in composing. “The single bring

YG Entertainment will release digital collectibles using its girl group Blackpink's intellectual property. Blackpink’s first-ever digital collectibles will be released through VeVe, a New Zealand-based company specializing in licensed digital collectibles, from May 22-26, says the agency. A digital collectible is a unique or limited-edition copy of a virtual item. Blackpink’s digital collectibles are inspired by “Pink Venom,” the group’s hip-hop single released

K-pop rookies Zerobaseone wrapped up their “Youth” trilogy with a third EP, “You had me at HELLO,” released Monday. This album comes after the band’s two million-selling EPs: “Youth In The Shade,” which kicked off its “Youth” trilogy about how the hardships youth face make them shine even brighter, and “Melting Point,” about becoming a thorn to protect their fans who have made their dreams of becoming K-pop artists come true. Zero

NewJeans collaborated with American pop star Pharrell Williams for their Japanese debut single album. According to Ador, Pharrell Williams participated in composing and writing the lyrics to the K-pop girl group’s titular track of their first-ever Japanese single album, “Supernatural.” The lead track, “Supernatural,” is composed with a melody that brings back memories from the past and harmonizes well with the group’s mellow vocals, says the agency. “Pro

BTS’ digital single “Dynamite” has reached a new milestone in the US. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the digital single released in August 2020 was certified with "5X Platinum" for recording more than 5 million units of download sales. This is BTS' first 5X platinum certification from RIAA. The K-pop sensation currently has a total of nine platinum certifications from RIAA for its singles including “Idol,” “Bo

TripleS, the K-pop girl group with the most members in history, released their first studio album, “Assemble 24,” with all 24 members for the first time since their debut in May 2022. “It took us two years to complete our group of 24. It feels surreal to finally announce a new beginning of TripleS as a group of 24 with this album that some of our members took part in bringing about,” said Seo Da-hyun, the 10th member to join tripleS, during a press conference in Seoul on

Enjoy art, beaches in Busan For those who plan to visit Busan this weekend and also happen to love art, Busan's largest art fair is not to be missed. The four-day art fair has returned, bringing together 129 galleries from 20 countries at Bexco. Special exhibitions such as “Herstory,” which highlights pioneering female contemporary artists in Asia and beyond are being held alongside the art fair. The participating galleries are offering works at a wide range of prices, introduc

With its total assets reaching over 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) last year, K-pop giant Hybe, which launched as Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, is looking to claim “large-firm” status. In 2019, Hybe acquired its first subsidiary label, Source Music, aspiring to become a global multi-label entertainment company. Today, Hybe has 11 subsidiaries under its label division, including Big Hit Music, housing the global K-pop sensation BTS; Pledis Entertainment, housing the globally renowned

Ateez will be the first-ever K-pop act to headline the Moroccan international music festival, Mawazine, according to KQ Entertainment. Mawazine returns to Rabat, Morocco on June 21-29 after a three-year break prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight-member boy group will perform on the main stage, OLM Souissi, on June 23. Previous headliners of the annual festival launched in 2001 include global music icons such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and The Weeknd. Other artists in the lineup for

Suho of EXO is returning to the K-pop scene with his third mini album “1 to 3.” According to SM Entertainment, the new album will be released on online streaming platforms May 31 with the physical album release slated for June 3. Suho’s third EP will carry seven tracks led by two title tracks “1 to 3” and “Cheese.” Wendy of Red Velvet features the track “Cheese.” This solo comeback comes after the release of “Grey Suit” in April 2