The Korea Herald

Hong Yoo

안녕하세요 Hong Yoo 기자입니다.

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Articles by Hong Yoo

Tomorrow X Together to headline at Lollapalooza

K-popMar 22, 2023

Tomorrow X Together (TXT) will be among the lead acts at at one of the America's largest music festivals this year. Lollapalooza announced Wednesday the lineup of performers to take part in the festival in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 3 to 6. This will be the second year in a row TXT has performed at the festival and they are the only K-pop group to do so. Also, they are the second Korean musician to take the main stage at the Lollapalooza after J-Hope of BTS. TXT made its US festival
Nmixx’s new album 'expergo' tackles connection, change

K-popMar 21, 2023

JYP Entertainment’s latest K-pop girl group Nmixx launched its first mini album “expergo” on Monday. “The storyline of this album is a sequel to our previous album as we tried to connect the dots to portray our worldview,” said Haewon, the leader of the group during a media showcase in Seoul. “If you see the music video of our titular track ‘Love Me Like This,’ we deliver wisdom, love and courage to people. In the process, we connect with them and
Le Sserafim holds first-ever fan meet

K-popMar 20, 2023

For the first time since their debut, Le Sserafim hosted a fan meet during the weekend at the Olympic Hall in Seoul. The fan meet, called “Fearnada 2023 S/S,” featured special performances by the five-member K-pop girl group for their fandom Fearnot. Le Sserafim kicked off the event with a performance of “No Celestial,” a side track of their second mini album, and “Antifragile,” the titular track of the same album. “Through this moment, Fearnot and we wi
[Herald Interview] Hybe training and development leader Shin Seon-jeong behind K-pop stars' success

K-popMar 20, 2023

Unlike other entertainment agencies with separate training and development teams for each label, Hybe has only one T&D department in charge of educating and nurturing the trainees of all its labels. That’s the key to Hybe’s differentiated competitiveness in the K-pop scene, according to the leader of the T&D department at Hybe, Shin Seon-jeong. “We are in charge of educating and nurturing trainees in a way that fits the color of each different label to create the best s
BTS members continue to thrive in their solo journey

K-popMar 16, 2023

It’s been 10 months since BTS began its hiatus from group activities as the members needed to take some time off to fulfill their mandatory military service. Jin, the oldest in the group, was the first member to enlist in the Army in December last year. Since then, Jin has been sharing his moments in the Army with fans by posting pictures on social media. Last week, Jin posted a picture of himself in his military uniform with other BTS members J-Hope and Jimin, who had come to pay him a vi
[Herald Interview] Trendz targets takeoff with 2nd single album ‘Blue Set Chapter: New Dayz’

K-popMar 15, 2023

A “stepping stone” is what K-pop boy band Trendz hopes for with their second single album, “Blue Set Chapter: New Dayz.” “We are now in the second year of our career as Trendz. Last year was a blessing for us because we could do a lot of performances and appearances. But we have this mindset that, just like the title track of this album ,'New Dayz,' we will start anew," said Havit of Trendz during the group’s interview with The Korea Herald on T
EXO’s Kai releases 3rd mini album ‘Rover’

K-popMar 13, 2023

Kai of EXO returned to the K-pop scene with his third mini album, “Rover,” Monday. The solo effort comes a year and four months since his second mini album, “Peaches," which was released in November 2021. The album consists of six tracks led by the eponymous jam, along with “Black Mirror,” “Slidin’,” “Bomba,” “Say You Love Me” and “Sinner.” Different from his previous albums that were centered on groovy R&am
Aespa the 1st K-pop band to perform at Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival

K-popMar 8, 2023

K-pop girl group aespa is taking part in the American outdoor music festival Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival, the first K-pop band to do so. The festival consists of around 90 different performances on six different stages to be held on Aug. 11 to 13 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The festival also hosts diverse events and booths with foods representing different regions in America. More than 220,000 people flock to the annual festival which, this year, will feature Kendrick Lamar
Ravi's arrest warrant refused after he admits draft dodging

K-popMar 7, 2023

The application for an arrest warrant for rapper Ravi charged with trying to dodge mandatory military service by faking epilepsy was dismissed on Monday. According to Seoul Southern District Court, the arrest warrant was rejected as the judge who held an investigation to determine the warrant’s validity decided that the accused is unlikely to run away or seek destruction of evidence. The court saw that there was no need to hold him in custody for investigation as Ravi has pleaded guilty to
[Herald Review] Onew of SHINee marks spring at 1st-ever solo concert with mellow, warm voice

K-popMar 6, 2023

Onew of SHINee welcomed the beginning of spring with his first-ever solo concert, “O-New Note,” filling the space with different fragrances while his mellow voice warmed things up. The concert, which was held for three days starting Friday at Olympic Hall in Seoul, was lit with the aqua-colored fan lights of SHINee’s fan community, Shawol. As soon as the concert began with the main stage opening up, everyone in the hall stood up ready to enjoy the gig to the fullest. Onew, dres
[Photo News] Pianist Cho Seong-jin and Maetro Chung Myung-whun's performance

CultureMar 4, 2023

Young Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin and Maestro Chung Myung-whun hug after a passionate accompanied performance with the German orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden on Friday at the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul. Around 2,000 attendees rose to their feet and broke into applause when the concert was adorned with the finale Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1. (Yonhap)
K-pop artists to celebrate coming of spring

K-popMar 2, 2023

The K-pop scene welcomes back some familiar faces in March that have been missed, just as spring begins. First on the list of much-celebrated returns is Onew of SHINee, with his first solo full-length album “Circle” coming on Monday. "Circle" will be released some 11 months after the artist's second mini album “Dice.” The album comprises 10 tracks across diverse genres, with the lead track “O.” The main track is an R&B song in which the soun
J-Hope to release single before military service

K-popFeb 27, 2023

J-Hope of BTS is set to release a solo single before heading off to serve his mandatory military duty. The K-pop superstar announced Monday that he will unveil the single “On the Street” on March 3. “On the Street" is a lo-fi hip-hop song with a downtempo vibe that combines elements of hip-hop and chill-out music. J-Hope took part in composing and writing the lyrics to the single giving the track a personal touch, interlaced with messages of hope and warmth. It was the con
SM allots right to distribute albums and tracks exclusively to Kakao Entertainment

K-popFeb 23, 2023

SM Entertainment is allotting the right to distribute its albums and music exclusively to Kakao Entertainment, the subsidiary of the IT giant Kakao, with whom it has recently formed a strategic partnership to foster its new business project SM 3.0. The K-pop powerhouse revealed the details of the business partnership formed early this month on Wednesday via its official YouTube channel. Under the deal, Kakao is to acquire a 9.05 percent stake in SM through a paid-in capital increase of 217.2 bil
Minnie of (G)I-dle and Anne-Marie to release collab track ‘Expectations’

K-popFeb 23, 2023

The collaboration between the K-pop star Minnie of (G)I-dle and the global pop star Annie-Marie is official. The two vocalists dropped the cover image of their collaboration track “Expectations” Wednesday on their respective social media feeds. The collaboration, to be unveiled on March 9 at 6 p.m., was produced with Warner Music Korea. Warner Music Korea has continuously served as a bridge between K-pop and foreign artists. Previous collaborations it has forged are Crush and Pink Sw