K-pop acts, including Stray Kids and Seventeen, dominated global album sales last year, taking seven of the top 10 spots on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) Global Album Sales Chart, data showed Friday (U.S. time). Stray Kids' "Karma" came in second on the 2025 ranking, followed by Seventeen's "Happy Burstday" in third place and Enhypen's "Desire: Unleash" in fourth. Global pop star Taylor Swift topped the list with "The Life of a Showgirl." Other K-pop albums in the top 10 included Tomorrow X Together's "The Name Chapter: Together" at No. 6, Zerobaseone's "Never Say Never" at No. 7, Ive's "Ive Empathy" at No. 9, and G-Dragon's "Ubermensch" at No. 10. The IFPI chart, which reflects combined physical album and paid digital download sales, also featured several other Korean releases within the top 20, such as NCT Wish's "Color" (11th), &Team's "Back to Life" (13th), Riize's "Odyssey" (15th), aespa's "Rich Man" (16th), and Boynextdoor's "No Genre" (18th). In IFPI's separate Global Album Chart, which includes streaming data, the original soundtrack of Netfli

With just a month to go until BTS takes the stage at Gwanghwamun Square, anticipation is building across Seoul. The performance — marking the group’s return to full-group activities after over three years — is drawing fans from around the world to the capital. Beyond the square itself, the city is dotted with places tied to BTS’ journey. From historic landmarks to meaningful fan spaces, here are seven stops that add an extra layer of meaning to any concert trip. Gyeongbokgung Jongno-gu, central

K-pop acts, including Stray Kids and Seventeen, dominated global album sales last year, taking seven of the top 10 spots on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's Global Album Sales Chart, data showed Friday. Stray Kids' "Karma" came in second on the 2025 ranking, followed by Seventeen's "Happy Burstday" in third place and Enhypen's "Desire: Unleash" in fourth. Global pop star Taylor Swift topped the list with "The Life of a Showgirl." Other K-pop albums in the top 10 includ

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- K-pop acts, including Stray Kids and Seventeen, domin...

BTS member V has expressed discomfort after his private messages with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin were cited as evidence in a court ruling tied to her ongoing legal dispute with HYBE, with the company saying the singer never intended to support any of her claims. On Feb. 20, V posted a screenshot of a news report on his personal social media account, addressing the disclosure of his KakaoTalk conversation with Min. He stressed that the exchange was part of a personal conversation between acquaintances and should not be interpreted as him taking sides. "It was part of a private, everyday conversation shared in empathy because she was an acquaintance," V said. "I had absolutely no intention of siding with either party. I am also very taken aback that this conversation was submitted as evidence without my consent." HYBE echoed the sentiment, cautioning against overinterpretation. "Because it was a private exchange with an acquaintance, he was simply responding in an empathetic way. It has been confirmed that he did not agree with any specific claims made by the other party," a HYBE officia

Annie of rookie K-pop group AllDay Project — also known as a granddaughter of South Korean retail conglomerate Shinsegae Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee — has addressed fans who felt intimidated after watching her high-achieving daily life content, saying the videos show only the “cool and pretty” parts of her routine. The singer, who recently returned to Columbia University, shared a vlog-style video on her personal social media showing a packed schedule of classes, workouts, and self-care. The clip quickly drew admiration online, with fans commenting that her “god-tier productivity” and discipline were inspiring — but also difficult to match. Responding on a fan communication platform, Annie expressed concern that younger followers might compare themselves negatively. "I wanted to say something," she said. "If you only watch the videos I post or what I share on DayOff, it can look like I’m always doing something fun, exercising, and living diligently every day." "It’s great if DayOnes, especially younger fans, feel motivated," she said. "But I hope you don’t compare yourse

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- K-pop girl group BLACKPINK has hit 100 million subscr...

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has released a le...

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK hit 100 million subscribers on YouTube, making it the first official artist channel to hit the milestone, the video sharing platform said Saturday. To celebrate such an achievement, YouTube said it presented BLACKPINK with a custom Red Diamond Creator Award. "The dynamic female powerhouse that is BLACKPINK has earned international acclaim on YouTube with their mega hit songs and fierce performances," YouTube said on its official blog. "The group has continuously raised the bar on YouTube, pioneering new ways to connect with their fans," it added.

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK hit 100 million subscribers on YouTube, making it the first official artist channel to hit the milestone, the video sharing platform said Saturday. To celebrate such an achievement, YouTube said it presented BLACKPINK with a custom Red Diamond Creator Award. "The dynamic female powerhouse that is BLACKPINK has earned international acclaim on YouTube with their mega hit songs and fierce performances," YouTube said on its official blog. "The group has continuously raised the bar on YouTube, pioneering new ways to connect with their fans," it added.

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- K-pop girl group BLACKPINK hit 100 million subscriber...

An update on BTS’ upcoming show “BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang” in central Seoul next month: Access to designated viewing areas for the concert will be limited to fans with advance tickets, organizers said, and the show will run for about one hour. Seoul police are preparing extensive crowd control measures amid expectations that attendance could reach 260,000. According to an announcement posted Friday on the global fan platform Weverse, entry to the main viewing zones for the one-hour event —

The mid-to-late 2010s saw no shortage of K-pop girl groups — the so-called "third generation" of idol acts that gave us Blackpink, Twice, Red Velvet and dozens more. Oh My Girl were never quite the frontrunners, but they did make their presence felt. Coming out of the smaller-label WM Entertainment, the group built a loyal fanbase on dreamy, experimental concepts and some genuinely inventive tracks. They also became one of the industry's unlikelier success stories, breaking through commercially

K-pop powerhouse HYBE has appealed against a court's ruling that ordered the payment of 25.5 billion won ($17.7 million) worth of put options to Min Hee-jin, a former CEO of a HYBE subsidiary named ADOR, judicial officials said Friday. The appeal was filed with the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Division 31 on Thursday after the same court last week dismissed HYBE's lawsuit seeking to confirm the termination of its shareholders' agreement with Min and ruled on the put option payment. HYBE was also ordered by the court on Feb. 12 to pay 1.7 billion won and 1.4 billion won, respectively, to two former ADOR executives for the same reasons. HYBE reportedly demanded in its appeal that the effect of the first trial be suspended until the appellate court makes a decision. The conflict between HYBE and Min began in April 2024 and Min was dismissed as CEO of ADOR in August of that year. HYBE has argued that the termination of the shareholders' contract is valid because Min violated it by seeking to end girl group NewJeans' agency contract with ADOR and pushing for an initial public offering

Rose's "APT." has topped the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Global Single Chart 2025, the organization representing the global recording industry said Friday. According to the chart unveiled Sunday (U.S. time), the global hit by the BLACKPINK member and Bruno Mars was the biggest-selling single of last year. "It is the first time the IFPI Global Single Chart has been topped by an artist outside of North America or Europe," it said on its website, adding it is also "the first time a winning single has featured non-English lyrics, reflecting the increasingly global nature of recorded music and the role of labels in breaking language and market barriers." The song is closely followed by "Golden" from Netflix's animated film "KPop Demon Hunters." The IFPI Global Single Chart calculates global consumption of a song, taking into account single-track downloads as well as streams on both free and paid platforms.

CJ ENM’s long-running K-pop festival KCON has introduced a global ambassador role for the first time, appointing Zerobaseone (ZB1) member Sung Han-bin as its inaugural representative. The company announced Friday that Sung will serve as the first “KCON Global Ambassador,” a position designed to promote the identity and core values of the festival as a worldwide platform encompassing not only K-pop but also K-beauty, K-food and broader K-content and lifestyle trends. As ambassador, Sung will act

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- Rose's "APT." has topped the International Federation...

Rose of Blackpink bagged the No. 1 spot on Global Single of the Year 2025, charted by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said the Italy-based organization on Thursday local time. Her collaboration with Bruno Mars, “APT.,” was the best-selling single in 2025, making her the first singer outside of North America and Europe to secure the title, it added. Psy was the first Korean singer to make the chart in 2012 and BTS made the cut in 2020 and 2021, as did Jungkook in 2024.

Tomorrow X Together announced plans for a weeklong celebration of its seven-year anniversary Friday, via label Big Hit Music. Titled “2026 Dream Week,” the event will look back on the group's career since its 2019 debut with photographs, videos and other content, culminating in the date of the anniversary on March 4. From Feb. 27 to March 1, the quintet will host a series of special concerts, “2026 TXT MOA Con.” MOA is the name of its official fandom. The sold-out shows follow TXT’s fourth inter

Stray Kids exceeded 300 million hits on YouTube with the music video for “S-Class” as of Thursday, according to label JYP Entertainment. It is the band’s sixth music video to accomplish the feat, after those of “God’s Menu,” “Back Door,” “Thunderous,” “Maniac” and “Lalalala.” Co-written by Bang Chan, Changbin and Han, “S-Class” is the eight-piece act’s hit from 2023 and the focus track from third studio album “5-Star.” The LP sold over 4.6 million copies in the first week, the most in K-pop hist

Jungkook of BTS has clocked up 1.4 billion streams on Spotify for the second time with his solo single “Standing Next to You.” The single was released in November 2023 as the main track of his solo album “Golden” and debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 5, charting 19 weeks straight on the main songs chart. It topped Billboard’s Global 200 and Global excl. US and spent 38 and 44 weeks, respectively. In UK, it ranked No. 6 on the Official Singles Chart, where it spent 11 weeks in the top 100. Af