‘I would like to make my own Paganini’

JYJ’s Xia Junsu, 31, was discharged from his alternative military duty in the conscripted police force on Monday. Junsu had enlisted in February 2017 on the same day as Big Bang’s T.O.P. The latter’s discharge date was pushed back to June 2019 after he failed a drug test while also serving with the conscripted police.Prior to his momentous day, Junsu spoke with a wire service about his experience with candor and detail. Yonhap News Agency on Sunday quoted Junsu as saying, “(The military is) a pl

BTS ranks 19th, SHINee 31st and EXO 35th in concert attendance in Japan 　

Big Bang bandmate T.O.P’s fans from South Korea, China, Japan and Thailand collaborated to donate 11 million won ($9,900) to the Yongsan Public Welfare Foundation to help those less fortunate, marking the K-pop star’s birthday Sunday. T.O.P is currently serving his alternative military duty at the Yongsan Crafts Museum in Itaewon, central Seoul, after he was pulled from his previous position with the conscripted police force for failing a drug test. T.O.P was originally to be discharged from dut

Korean cellists Lee Sang-eun and Lee Jeong-hyoun won first prize at Isang Yun Competition 2018, Tongyeong International Music Foundation announced Saturday. Third prize went to Russian cellist Lev Sivkov, and Chun Yeh-jin won the Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize. There was no winner of the Isang Yun Special Prize this year, as participants who were to perform Yun’s cello concertos all failed to proceed to the final round. The special prize is given to an artist who wins a prize with a Yun composit

K-pop girl group Red Velvet will have concerts in five US cities starting next February, their Seoul-based agency confirmed on Saturday. According to SM Entertainment, Red Velvet will start their US tour in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2019, and will go to Dallas two days later. They will also perform in Miami on Feb. 13, followed by Chicago on Feb. 15 and Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 17.  (Yonhap)This will be the first time that the five-member group has given concerts in the United States as the sole

Han Seo-hee, the controversial K-pop trainee who came to public attention in 2017 after being found that she had smoked marijuana with Big Bang’s T.O.P at his apartment, uploaded a lengthy Instagram post Wednesday night, implying she had undisclosed dirt on T.O.P and YG Entertainment.T.O.P, who had been serving as a conscripted policeman when he failed a drug test, has since been removed to serve alternative duty at a cultural center in Itaewon, Seoul. (Han Seo-hee's Instagram)Meanwhile, Han was

Global sensation EXO has beaten its own record for album preorders with “Don’t Mess Up My Tempo.”According to the group’s agency, S.M. Entertainment, the LP, which is slated for release Nov. 2, recorded 1,104,617 preorders as of Monday, surpassing the band’s previous record of 1.1 million. (S.M. Entertainment)This makes EXO a quintuple-million seller, as all five of the LPs the band has released since its debut have hit the milestone of a million albums sold.“Don’t Mess Up My Tempo” marks a much

K-pop superstars BTS' "Love Yourself: Answer" has stayed on the Billboard main albums chart for the ninth consecutive week, the chart showed Wednesday.The repackaged album came in 50th on the Billboard 200 chart this week, down from last week's 27th. It debuted atop the list in September. (Instagram)The septet also remained on top of the Social 50 chart for the 68th week in a row.Also this week, "mono.," a new solo album by BTS leader RM, landed in the 26th spot of the Billboard 200 albums chart

BTOB released a teaser image of special album “Hour Moment” through its official social media account on Oct. 30. The image contains a date and the album name with a photo of BTOB walking down a wide path. (Cube Entertainment)The new album has raised expectations, including a track that BTOB leader Seo Eun-kwang participated in before his enlistment for mandatory military service. According to the group’s agency Cube Entertainment, BTOB plans to promote the album as a six-piece unit -- excluding

K-pop sensation Black Pink’s dance practice video for “As If It’s Your Last” surpassed 100 million views on YouTube on Tuesday.Yang Hyun-suk, the head of the group’s agency, YG Entertainment, posted a poster on social media celebrating the milestone.  (Instagram)This achievement means Black Pink now has two dance practice videos to have earned 100 million views on YouTube. All its music videos have been viewed at least as often.  (Instagram)On Oct. 24, Black Pink became the first K-pop group wit

K-pop group Girl’s Day’s Hyeri, famous for her lead female role in “Reply 1988,” wrote a letter to fans to raise awareness for children without birth registration certificates around the world.“Across the world, there are around 230 million children under the age of 5 who have not had their birth registered,” Hyeri wrote on a fundraising site.“This lack of documentation prevents these children from enrolling in schools or receiving state-sponsored medical care.” (Happy Bean)Girl’s Day, as the am

The new 12-member Korean-Japanese girl band Iz One, also stylized as IZ*ONE, debuted on the K-pop scene with their first EP, "Color*Iz," on Monday.The group's nine Korean and three Japanese members were the final winners of the Korean reality talent recruitment show "Produce 48," broadcast by the Mnet cable channel from June to August.They were selected by live audience voting out of the total 96 Korean and Japanese young women who competed in the show. Iz One is the latest music band formed thr

The growing number of K-pop fans in Korea and elsewhere is generating a stronger cultural and commercial impact than ever before, as the boom led by high-profile groups such as BTS expands to a wider range of market segments. In recent years, it is not only high school students embracing K-pop music. People in their 20s and older -- those with more purchasing power -- are fueling the exponential growth of K-pop and its associated merchandise market.The Korea Herald met two passionate K-pop fans

EBay Korea’s online Korean goods shopping site Gmarket Global store will run a sale on K-pop goods from Nov. 1 through Nov. 11. The store will pair the sale with a verification campaign to boost its reliability as the place to go for genuine goods. (Gmarket)The aim of this campaign is to protect K-pop artists’ rights to their official goods against copycat products, according to Gmarket.Shoppers can check the authenticity of their purchases using the QR code printed on the card that comes with t