Jungkook of K-pop supergroup BTS has topped iTunes Top Song charts of 96 countries with "Never Let Go," a digital single dedicated to the band's fans, his agency said Saturday. BigHit Music said the song, released the previous day, ranked No. 1 on iTunes Top Songs charts in the United States, Italy and 94 other countries as of 9 a.m. The song expresses Jungkook's gratitude toward the boundless love he receives from ARMY, the name of the BTS fandom. It was released as part of

Doyoung of NCT expanded his solo Asia tour as per the requests of his fans, announced label SM Entertainment on Friday. The news came with a poster for tour “Dear Youth,” which showed that he will visit Taipei on Aug. 16 and will hit the stage once more in Bangkok on Aug. 25. He kicked off the tour in Seoul with a three-day concert, his first solo live show May 25-27 to a sold-out crowd. The second day’s gig was broadcast live for fans across the world. The solo tour will resum

Stray Kids won the prestigious Global Spotlight Award with their self-produced "SKZFLIX" at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2024 in Japan. The prestigious international short film festival is one of Asia's largest such festivals and is officially recognized by the Academy Awards. The festival, which began in 1999, held its awards ceremony Tuesday in Shibuya, Japan. From over 4,936 entries submitted from 114 regions worldwide, 270 works were selected based on this year�

Dream Concert, which has been held annually for 30 years, will meet with K-pop fans in Japan this August. Since its inception in South Korea in 1995, Dream Concert has been a significant event in the K-pop calendar, showcasing countless musical artists over the years. Under the theme “With Music We Got a Friend,” concerts will be held over two days, Aug. 10-11, at the Belluna Dome in Saitama, Japan. This will be the second overseas edition of the Dream Concert, with the first taking

NewJeans, a highly sought-after K-pop girl group in the current music scene, may be affected by the recent dispute between their label CEO Min Hee-jin of Ador and Hybe, the parent company of Ador. According to the Hanteo Chart, a local market tracker, NewJeans’ latest two-lead single album “How Sweet” released on May 24, sold 884,717 copies in the first week and 1.03 million in total as of June 5. The figures are nearly half that of the girl band’s second mini-album &ld

K-pop mogul Lee Soo-man, the SM Entertainment founder who left the company last year, may be returning to the K-pop scene. Lee’s environmental, social and corporate governance management consulting company, Blooming Grace, filed a trademark application for A20 Entertainment on May 3, according to Korean Intellectual Property Office records. The trademark for A20 Entertainment falls under the category including businesses for entertainment, video game devices, advertising and more. The trad

Deaf trio refuses to be defined by disability

After tickets for aespa’s upcoming international tour sold out, the group added five concert dates, according to label SM Entertainment on Wednesday. Tour “Synk: Parallel Line” will now have 16 concerts in total. It will begin in Seoul where the group will go live twice on June 29-30 and the second day’s concert will be livestreamed as well. The four members will visit four cities in Japan and Singapore next month before heading to Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Jakarta and Sy

SM Entertainment denied rumors that its artists bought sex and used drugs at an adult entertainment establishment in Japan. “Currently, groundless rumors about Johnny and Haechan of NCT regarding prostitution, drugs and other disturbing content are being spread and reproduced indiscriminately online. These rumors are completely false and spreading these rumors are criminal acts that severely defame our artists,” wrote SM Entertainment on Kwangya 119, its website established for repor

K-pop singer G-Dragon of Big Bang was named a visiting professor of the department of mechanical engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), on Wednesday. The singer‘s appointment is aimed at expanding the global competitiveness of Korean culture by incorporating the latest science and technology developed at KAIST into K-content, according to KAIST. “I am honored to be a visiting professor at KAIST, a school that produces many scientific geniuses

BTS member J-Hope, who is currently serving in the military, won the top prize in an Army presentation contest with his honest speech about his experience as a soldier. J-Hope, whose real name is Jung Ho-seok, participated in the competition held under the theme “2024 Strong Warrior, Army” at the War Memorial of Korea, Wednesday. About 170 soldiers and civilian workers attended the event that commemorates the month of patriots and veterans in Korea. J-Hope delivered a speech about

K-pop powerhouses such as Hybe and SM Entertainment have recently shown increasing interest in the music market of the Middle East. Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk last week met with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss possible cooperation in K-pop ventures, upon his request. SM Entertainment, led by its founder and former chief producer Lee Soo-man, got its feet in the door early, signing a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture to

Le Sserafim was named artist of the month by MTV’s Push campaign, a first for a K-pop girl group, according to agency Source Music on Tuesday. The campaign for “breakthrough” artists shed a spotlight on the quintet by uploading an interview clip as well as performance videos of “Easy” and “Smart” from its third EP, also named “Easy.” The mini album was released in February and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 8 while the titular track debuted

SM Entertainment’s China-based K-pop boy group WayV released its fifth EP, “Give Me That,” on Monday. The new EP includes six tracks led by the titular track “Give Me That” released in Chinese and Korean. This is the first time WayV has included a Korean song in their album. “We are glad to introduce a Korean song because it means that we now have more fans in Korea. We hope to meet with our fans from all around the world by making it to global music charts wi

Kep1er held a media conference Monday in Seoul to introduce its first full-length album “Kep1going On.” The 10-track album comes nine months after the group's fifth EP “Magic Hour.” “Since we are coming back after a long while, we wanted to show a more mature side of us,” said Hikaru. Every song counts and “the album celebrates the time we have been together with fans,” added Choi Yujin. The album will be a “turning point” for the