Sales of K-pop albums have once again reached an all-time-high in the first half of this year, a local market tracker said. 　According to Kim Jin-woo, head researcher of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, combined sales of the nation‘s top 400 physical albums have risen to 34.9 million copies in the first half of 2022, up 34.6 percent from a year ago. It was the highest first-half sales figure of all time. 　First-half sales of physical albums have risen from 10.

A decade into career, group Ulala Session hits refresh

A homegrown historical film about a famous naval battle by Adm. Yi Sun-sin against an invading Japanese fleet in the 16th century has topped the South Korean box office on the first day of its release, data showed Thursday. "Hansan: Rising Dragon" pushed down "Minions 2" to No. 2 to debut atop the daily chart with 386,000 admissions Wednesday, according the box office tally from the Korean Film Council. The figure accounts for nearly 60 percent of the total number of tickets

Fans create their own fandom on social media through dancing, says author of new book “K-pop Dance”

IST Entertainment’s new boy band ATBO has embarked on their journey with debut album “The Beginning.” Formed through the TV survival show “The Origin - A, B, Or What?,” the seven-member group finally entered the K-pop scene and conducted a debut showcase a few hours ahead of the album drop on Wednesday. Making their first appearance in front of the media, the band’s leader Oh Junseok said, “Our long-held dream of debuting is finally here. It didn&rsquo

The music video for Blackpink’s “Lovesick Girls” reached 600 million views on YouTube, according to label YG Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 The video was fully unveiled in October 2020, and became the group’s 12th video to reach the milestone. The music video for “Ddu-du Ddu-du” is in the lead with over 1.9 billion views, followed by those for “Kill This Love” (1.6 billion) and “Boombayah” (1.4 billion).  　 “Lovesick Girl

New K-pop girl group CSR made its debut on Wednesday with its first EP, “Sequence: 7272” under the label Pop Music. The seven-piece act – with members Sua, Geumhee, Sihyeon, Seoyeon, Yuna, Duna and Yeham -- is comprised of 17-year-old girls under the Korean age system. CSR is an abbreviation of “cheotsarang,” the group’s Korean name, which means “first love.” CSR held its debut media showcase in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, Wednesday,

With half of its series released as of July 21, television channel ENA’s legal drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” a story about a gifted, autistic attorney, has been writing history. It topped global streaming platform Netflix’s weekly viewership chart of non-English TV shows at the second week of July. It made ENA the most-watched channel during Wednesday-Thursday’s prime time with viewership rating of 13.1 percent, the highest number in the channel’s his

Boy group CIX will return next month with its fifth EP, “‘OK’ Episode 1: OK Not.” CIX‘s label, C9 Entertainment, on Wednesday announced the date and details of its August return by unveiling an image showing the band’s schedule via its official social media. The upcoming album marks the group‘s first release since its debut album “’OK‘ Prologue: Be OK,” released in August last year. Prior to the release on Aug. 22, CIX will unv

South Korean superband BTS has won four nominations at this year's MTV Video Music Awards, the US TV station said Tuesday (US time). The septet was nominated in the categories of Best K-pop, Best Choreography, Best Metaverse Performance and Best Visual Effects. The band has been awarded at the MTV awards ceremony for the past three years. It won two titles in 2019 and took home four prizes in 2020. Last year, it won three trophies, including Group of the Year. For the Best K-pop category, B

In the face of disaster, different types of people cope differently. "Emergency Declaration," a new aviation disaster film released next month, tells a story that everyone living through the pandemic can relate to. The film follows a detective, played by Cannes-winning actor Song Kang-ho, who investigates a suspected terrorist only to find out that he has already boarded a plane. While passengers are trapped inside, those on the ground struggle to find a way to land the plane. "

Blackpink’s upcoming music video is made with the largest budget ever, according to label YG Entertainment on Tuesday. 　 The quartet started shooting the video for the focus track from its forthcoming album on the day. It has been almost two years since its first studio album “The Album.” 　 The album ranked No. 2 on both Billboard 200 and UK’s Official Albums Chart Top 100. The LP sold 690,000 copies in the first week of sales, a record for a K-pop girl group at the ti

As the days are getting long in summer and the weather is getting hotter outside, Nicole, a former bandmate of the now-disbanded girl group Kara, returned with a new digital single, “You.F.O“ to put music listeners in a sunny mood. This marks the singer-turned-soloist’s return to the music charts in nearly eight years since she last dropped her first EP, “First Romance,” in 2014. “It’s been eight years, and I took the time to look back on myself,&rd

Experts believe K-pop’s long-standing custom of excessive referencing led to recent plagiarism controversy

A group of star dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, including Korean dancer Park Sae-eun, will take the stage on Thursday and Friday at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, reviving the historic company’s classic and modern repertoires in a gala show. 　 The occasion will mark Park’s first performance in Korea as an étoile, or star, of the Paris Opera Ballet. The 33-year-old ballerina was named étoile last year, becoming the first Asian to hold the coveted title in the 353-y