JYP Entertainment’s Japanese girl group NiziU officially debuted in South Korea with its first Korean single album, “Press Play,” on Monday.

The nine-member group debuted in December 2020 as part of the agency’s project to localize K-pop in different places, “Globalization by Localization.”

NiziU was trained under JYP’s strategic K-pop training system, which focuses on differentiating the group from other local bands bands through developing a K-pop identity.

“This debut in Korea is a big opportunity for us. We hope to give energy to the public with our performance. We also hope to meet with our Korean fans through fan meetings and TV shows,” said Mako of NiziU in a press release.

As the group consists of only Japanese members, they put in a lot of effort to learn Korean.

“We received tutoring to learn Korean and we tried to use that language as much as possible even in our daily conversations. We still have a long way to go but we enjoy learning Korean and we hope to develop as better artists during our time in Korea,” said Rima of NiziU.

The group’s single album, “Press Play,” is led by the title track, “Heartris,” a portmanteau of "heart" and "tetris," in which Park Jinyoung took part in writing the lyrics.

“We are honored to get his help as he always gives us helpful advice, such as how to best express a song and how to improve our vocals,” said Miihi of NiziU.

NiziU successfully made a name for itself with its releases such as its pre-debut single, “Make you happy” and its second LP, “Coconut,” debuting on Oricon’s and Billboard Japan’s major charts.

“We’ve always dreamed about debuting in Korea. We worked hard on it because debuting in a foreign country is not easy. This is a new beginning for us and an opportunity to show more of our charms,” said Nina of NiziU.