JYP to establish Latin America subsidiary, create global girl group

JYP Entertainment announced Thursday that it will establish a local subsidiary in Latin America and launch an audition program under the title "L2K" to create a new Latin girl group, marking its first major foray into the Latin American music market.

JYP Entertainment said it plans to launch its subsidiary within the current quarter, expanding its artists' tour regions and new business ventures, while also building communication channels with local fans.

JYP Entertainment also unveiled “L2K” -- short for "Latin America to Korea" -- with the vision to introduce a Latin girl group based on the K-pop system. JYP is pursuing a strategic partnership with Universal Music Latino, under Universal Music Group, in the "L2K" project.

"Through 'L2K,' we plan to create the world's only global Latin girl group that has undergone the JYP training system, while maintaining the authentic essence of Latin music under a strategic partnership with Universal Music Latino," the entertainment company said.

In 2022, JYP established JYP USA, expanding overseas tour regions for artists like Twice, Stray Kids and Itzy, while also developing new business models and strategic collaborations in North America.

In 2023, JYP launched “A2K,” referring to "America to Korea," an audition program in collaboration with Republic Records, a leading label under Universal, aimed at creating a K-pop-based North American girl group.

"A2K," with JYP head producer Park Jin-young serving as a judge, began with tryouts in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles.

The program highlighted the growth of North American contestants through an intensive boot camp in Los Angeles, culminating with the final stages held in Korea. The show garnered approximately 65.75 million cumulative views, with an average of 2.98 million views per episode.

The program's success resulted in the debut of Vcha, a girl group of six bandmates: Lexi, Camila, Kendall, Savanna, KG and Kaylee.