BT21 character products to launch in Seoul, New York

BT21, a set of characters created by K-pop boy band BTS and Naver’s Line Friends, will launch its character products in Seoul and New York.Line Friends said Monday that it would open a pop-up store for the character merchandise at Boon the Shop in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul from Saturday to Jan. 14, 2018. It will also open “BT21 Zone” in its flagship store in New York on Saturday. Character-related merchandise such as dolls, cushions and fashion items will be available at the stores. The Seoul pop-up

Dec. 11, 2017

Back home, BTS takes aim at top 10 of Billboard Hot 100

It’s been a history-making year for BTS, the K-pop sensation that has made ripples around the globe with its recent US debut and everything in between. Having left footsteps across several continents with its “Wings” world tour that kicked off in Seoul in February, BTS finally returned home to wrap up its monthslong global journey in Seoul at Gocheok Skydome on Sunday. And the ever-growing K-pop act expressed its ambition to enter top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and debut at No. 1 on Billboard 2

Dec. 10, 2017

Twice’s ‘Knock Knock’ tops most popular music video on YouTube

The music video for “Knock Knock,” the lead track off Twice’s February album “Twicecoaster: Lane 2,” ranked as the most popular music video on YouTube for 2017 in Korea, the video sharing platform revealed Thursday.It marked the second consecutive year that the group topped the list after it snatched No. 1 spot on the list with its music video for “Cheer Up” last year.Following “Knock Knock” on this year’s list was another music video from the group, “Signal,” which is the lead track off the gro

Dec. 8, 2017

[Herald Interview] Choi Gonne reflects on last year’s ‘Candlelight Revolution’ in ‘Highlander’

Months have passed since hundreds of thousands of candle-holders declared victory for people power after months of protests to oust President Park Geun-hye in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square.  The air was icy, but what Choi Gonne remembers from the demonstrations is neither hatred nor rage. What she saw were people united, regardless of age or gender, bundled up in coats, singing and chanting tunes calling for Park’s ouster, street vendors selling mattresses and hot snacks and young students marching

Dec. 8, 2017

BTS’ new Japanese single tops Oricon chart

BTS again proved its popularity in Japan, with its eighth Japanese single “Mic Drop/ DNA/ Crystal Snow” notching the No. 1 spot on Oricon’s daily singles chart. The album, released on Wednesday, landed the top spot with a total of 269,861 Oricon points on the first day of release, making this the fifth time the group has shot to the top of the Japanese charts.  “Drop/ DNA/ Crystal Snow” (Big Hit Entertainment)BTS first topped the Oricon charts in June 2015 with its fourth Japanese single “For Yo

Dec. 7, 2017

[Album review] Day6 completes puzzle with ‘Moonrise’

Day6“Moonrise”Genie Music　When Day6 announced its yearlong monthly song release project “Every Day6” in December last year, a spell was cast. Fans have been waiting for the group’s new songs every day for the past year, sharing the joy of filling in the 12-piece puzzle along with the band. And with the year-end album “Moonrise,” Day6 has finally completed the world it has been dreaming of with one last remaining piece.As a band known for its versatility, the self-written and composed 18-track al

Dec. 6, 2017

Super Junior’s web reality show ‘SJ Returns’ to air on TV

K-pop act Super Junior’s web reality show “SJ Returns,” which chronicled the group’s comeback preparations, is now being shown on TV. The show, which was initially streamed on the Naver TV Cast channel and the V Live channel in October, started its six-week run on the cable channel JTBC2 on Wednesday at 9 p.m. “SJ Returns” had topped Naver V Live channel’s monthly chart with more than 24 million views. It showed how the members prepared for the new album over 120 days after a two-year break as a

Dec. 6, 2017

BTS drops new promotional song for Seoul City, website crashes

The release of BTS’ promotional track for the City of Seoul on the city’s official website has sent fans into a viewing frenzy, causing the website to crash.The song, titled ‘With Seoul’ was released for free on Seoul City’s official tourism website visitseoul.net on Wednesday at noon Korea time. Screenshot of BTS` promotional video for Seoul City (Seoul City)When the clock struck noon, the website came crashing down as fans of BTS, collectively known as ARMY, invaded in a bid to check out the n

Dec. 6, 2017

‘Second, third BTS should be born’: Bang Si-hyuk

Producer-CEO Bang Si-hyuk of Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind boy band BTS, hopes to pave the road for future K-pop stars on the international stage. “I believe that a second, third BTS should be born and I believe it is possible. I will try to complete a successful model and let future (K-pop) musicians continue on in this path,” Bang said in accepting the Presidential Citation at the Korea Content Awards ceremony at Coex in Seoul on Tuesday. 　Bang will be donating the 10 million won ($9

Dec. 6, 2017

Zion. T, Lee Moon-sae’s ‘Snow’ sweeps charts

“Snow,” the collaboration track between R&B singer-producer Zion. T and veteran singer Lee Moon-sae, has topped major music charts upon its release Monday. 　As of Tuesday, the song sits at the top of eight major music charts including Melon, Bugs Music, Genie and Mnet.　The two singers met on the SBS music program “Fantastic Duo” last year and kept in touch, eventually deciding on a collaboration, Zion. T said at a showcase in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Monday. 　 Zion. T performs at a showcase for his ne

Dec. 5, 2017

Fan Bing-bing’s brother aims to be K-pop idol

Chinese actress Fan Bing-bing’s younger brother is training to be a K-pop idol.  (Fan Bing-bing`s Instagram)A local news media outlet reported Tuesday that Fan Cheng-cheng, 17, has been training at the Yeuhua Entertainment, a multinational management agency based in Korea, for over a year. The agency officially admitted that the star’s brother is its trainee. “He really likes Korea and is training hard for debut,” the company said. By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@herladcorp.com)

Dec. 5, 2017

BTS ranks 28th on Billboard Hot 100 with 'Mic Drop'

K-pop group BTS' latest song "Mic Drop" has reached No. 28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart making it the first Korean boy band to make it into the crucial top-40 list, according to the US music publication."Mic Drop," featuring hip-hop artist Desiigner and remixed by Steve Aoki, debuted on the Billboard main chart, backed by 9.8 million first-week US streams and 45,000 downloads for the week of Dec. 16, Billboard reported on Monday (US time), citing Nielsen Music.The song, originally listed on the

Dec. 5, 2017

[Next Wave] Clara C seeks to shed YouTube star image, find roots in Korea

For singer-songwriter Clara C, who was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, Korea had been an unknown land. She wrote and sang in English, but deep in her heart, Chung had room for Korea, the motherland of her parents.“At first, I didn’t even know that I had Korean fans on my YouTube channel. When I realized I had Korean fans, I started to write Korean on social media, and they liked it. And now, I’m very excited to meet my fans here, in Korea,” said Chung Jae-yeon, better known as C

Dec. 4, 2017

Taeyeon won’t face indictment, dog unrelated to accident

Taeyeon of Girls‘ Generation admitted that her recent traffic accident was caused by her error, Seoul police said Sunday evening. But the officials denied rumors that the K-pop star’s three-month-old dog -- sitting on the passenger‘s seat at the time -- was related to the accident.Seoul Gangnam Police Station summoned the singer Saturday and questioned her for 20 minutes, during which she said she failed to keep an eye on the road when the accident occurred. Taeyeon also vowed to compensate the

Dec. 4, 2017

Jung Yong-hwa of CNBLUE to hold solo concert

Jung-Yong-hwa, the vocalist and leader of K-pop band CNBLUE, will hold his second solo concert in Seoul next month, his agency FNC Entertainment said Monday.The concert, “2018 Jung Yong Hwa Live [Room 622] in Seoul,” will take place at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul on Jan. 20-21, followed by a Jan. 27 concert in Seoul. It will be Jung’s first concert as a solo artist since March of 2015.Jung, who made his solo debut in the same year with “One Fine Day,” has been expanding his range beyond m

Dec. 4, 2017

BTS becomes first K-pop band to enter UK, German charts

BTS became the first K-pop band to have a song listed on top 100 single charts in Germany and the UK, its agency Big Hit Entertainment said Saturday. 　The boy band’s remix of the song “MIC Drop,” originally released in September, ranked 46th on the UK’s official top 100 single charts. The song ranked 71st on Germany’s official top 100 single charts. 　The song’s original Korean version -- written by Pdogg, Supreme Boi, Bang Si-hyuk, J-Hope and RM -- is included in BTS’ album “Love Yourself: Her.”

Dec. 3, 2017

‘EXO-L, you are wonderful fans’: EXO after winning at 2017 MAMA

HONG KONG -- K-pop group EXO expressed its gratitude to fans after winning the album of the year award at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards at Asia-World Expo in Hong Kong on Friday. It was the fifth consecutive year that the group had received the grand prize, or Daesang, at the annual awards. EXO also won the Mwave global fans’ choice award at this year’s event. Its member Chen’s collaboration track with Dynamic Duo, “Nosedive,” won the best collaboration award, while the group’s subunit EXO-CB

Dec. 3, 2017

Rain says still looking for challenges in ‘Act 2’ of life

Fifteen years have passed since Rain splashed onto the K-pop stage with his deep voice, tall frame and trademark dance moves, singing about the “Bad Guy” that he is through his debut song. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years. I’m so thankful for that,” said Rain during a press conference held in Seoul on Friday prior to the release of his new EP “My Life Ae.” Ae, a Chinese character meaning love, represents his affection for the life he has led, and the music embedded deep within his l

Dec. 1, 2017

Twice Christmas song to appear on repackaged album

Twice fans will be able to celebrate the upcoming holiday season with Christmas single “Merry & Happy,” which will be included in its new album.JYP Entertainment on Friday released the track list for “Merry & Happy,” due out on 6 p.m. Dec. 11, which is a repackaged edition of the girl group’s first studio album “Twicetagram.”  Twice (JYP Entertainment)The track is one of the new songs that will be included on the new record, along with “Heart Shaker.” JYP said that it is a Christmas song, lyrics

Dec. 1, 2017

Red Velvet tops Billboard’s World Albums chart again

Red Velvet has topped Billboard’s World Albums chart again with its second album “Perfect Velvet.” The album debuted at No. 1 on the chart, which sold 2,000 copies in the week that ended Nov. 23, according to Nielsen Music. The figure marks Red Velvet’s best weekly sales in the US after “Red Summer” in July, Billboard said, adding that the group’s success shows strong interest in K-pop girl groups in the US.  A poster for Red Velvet’s “Perfect Velvet” album (S.M. Entertainment)“Perfect Velvet” m

Nov. 30, 2017