Articles by Choi Ji-won
Choi Ji-won
jwc@heraldcorp.com-
Purple Kiss releases 'Sweet Juice' with 5th EP 'Cabin Fever'
K-pop girl group Purple Kiss invites listeners on a journey to freedom through its mystery-packed new album, "Cabin Fever." The six-member group conducted a press conference Wednesday before releasing the album later that day at 6 p.m. The album comes just in time with the end of the pandemic. "Cabin Fever" refers to the irritability and listlessness that comes after a long period of confinement or isolation in a closed space, and the album is like a gift for people who may
K-pop Feb. 15, 2023
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SM artists strive amid ongoing ownership feud, questions remain
As major players of the entertainment industry scramble to get their hands on SM Entertainment, the label's artists are working harder than ever to keep things running. SM Entertainment announced Wednesday that its boy band, NCT Dream, is embarking on a world tour, "The Dream Show 2: In A Dream." The concert series, which officially started in September in Seoul, is set to continue this month, extending to 22 cities across the world where the group will hold 32 shows. With the tou
K-pop Feb. 15, 2023
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StayC aims to define 'teen fresh' genre through 'Teddy Bear'
Girl group StayC aspired to make "teen-fresh" another name for the group with its fourth single "Teddy Bear." The six-member group conducted a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours ahead of dropping the single at 6 p.m. that day. "Teddy Bear" marked the group's return to the K-pop scene after seven months since it last dropped its third single "We Need Love." In the meantime, the girls went on their first global concert tour and made thei
K-pop Feb. 14, 2023
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NewJeans' 'OMG, 'Ditto' most-streamed in the US
NewJeans continues to take the world by storm, with its releases recently showing a steady yet significant growth in the US music market. "OMG" and "Ditto" were the most-streamed on Spotify in the US among all regions, the world's biggest music streaming service said Monday in a press release. "OMG," the title track of the act's namesake second EP released in January, tallied accumulated streams of 111.28 million on the global music platform as of Friday.
K-pop Feb. 13, 2023
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BTS wins 6 trophies without attendance at Hanteo awards
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Hanteo Chart, the Hanteo Music Awards 2022 took place in person for the first time this year. The awarding ceremony happened over two days at the Jamsil Arena in Seoul, on Friday and Saturday, with the winners of the grand prizes, or "Daesang" in Korean, announced on the second night. BTS was the biggest winner of this year's awards, taking home six trophies in total, including two grand prizes, the best artist prize and the best song pr
K-pop Feb. 12, 2023
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YG's next big thing: Babymonster members unveiled
YG Entertainment is gearing up to debut its first new girl group in seven years, Babymonster, and has unveiled the last member of the seven-piece band this week. Just like the label's previous hit group Blackpink, Babymonster is a multinational group. There are three Koreans, two hailing from Thailand and two from Japan. Since the band was first announced on Jan. 1, YG has disclosed information about the new group in gradual stages. Here, we take a deeper look into Babymonster to get an ide
K-pop Feb. 8, 2023
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Kakao becomes SM's 2nd largest stakeholder
Kakao has become SM Entertainment's second largest shareholder, venturing into one of the biggest tech and entertainment alliances in South Korea. IT conglomerate Kakao announced Tuesday that it has acquired a 9.05 percent stake in SM Entertainment. SM Entertainment is one of the nation's biggest K-pop agencies, home to big names like Exo, Red Velvet, aespa and NCT. The latest partnership comes in a move to join force and secure competitiveness amid the burgeoning of K-pop and Korean e
K-pop Feb. 7, 2023
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No win, but multiple nods still make BTS shine at Grammys
In its third year of contending at the Grammys, K-pop phenomenon BTS ends the night technically empty-handed again. But experts assure this does not mean a failure at all. The 65th Grammy Awards' ceremony took place Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. BTS did not attend the event in person. This year saw the group get multiple Grammy nods for its first time, including in the best music video category for "Yet to Come" and in the best pop duo or group performance c
K-pop Feb. 6, 2023
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Stray Kids' 3Racha becomes regular members of Korea Music Copyright Association
Three members of the K-pop boy band Stray Kids have become official members of the Korea Music Copyright Association. KOMCA recently announced a list of 25 musicians who have been promoted to regular members, and among them were Stray Kids' Bang Chan, Changbin and Han. Since the beginning of the band's career in 2018, the three members have been writing almost all Stray Kids songs under their producing unit name 3Racha. Their songs include the act's chart-topping hits "Hellev
K-pop Feb. 3, 2023
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'Boys Planet' strives to thwart vote-rigging concerns
Yet another K-pop audition program is on the way with Mnet's new competition show "Boys Planet," set to premiere Thursday. Mnet, the nation's biggest K-pop channel, operated by the entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, has introduced many aspiring artists through its countless survival shows in the past few years, and with "Boys Planet," the company and its producers aspire to uncover more of the industry's undiscovered talents. A spinoff of the girl group debut p
K-pop Feb. 2, 2023
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Viviz blazes charisma and attitude with 3rd EP 'VarioUS'
K-pop girl group Viviz is back to boast a new spectrum of colors with its third EP "VarioUS." The members -- Eunha, SinB and Umji -- held a media showcase in Seoul on Tuesday ahead of the album's release scheduled at 6 p.m. Stressing "v" and "us" in the name, the new album is packed with various new aspects of Viviz that had not been unveiled before. "The album embodies the fierce side of Viviz, which we've only been able to get a glimpse at through s
K-pop Feb. 1, 2023
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Twice wins at 2023 Billboard Women In Music
K-pop girl group Twice has been honored as this year's breakthrough artist by Billboard Women In Music, becoming the first Korean artist to win at the awards. Billboard on Monday, US time, announced on its website that Twice has been named the winner in the Breakthrough Artist category at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music awards. This marks the first time in history that a Korean artist earned a trophy at the US music event. Billboard Women in Music is an annual event held since 2007 by Bil
K-pop Jan. 31, 2023
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TXT dives into 'Sugar Rush Ride' of temptation
K-pop band Tomorrow X Together has turned a new chapter with its new album "The Name Chapter: Temptation." Ahead of the album's release on Friday, the five-piece act, also abbreviated as TXT, conducted a press conference in Seoul's Coex mall. Returning nine months since its last release, the fourth EP "minisode 2: Thursday's Child," the five members expressed excitement over its latest work. "We've met many fans through the world tour, and coming back
K-pop Jan. 26, 2023
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'Fandom romanization': K-pop sets new rules for Hangeul globalization
Do you know what "ah-shot-chu" means? Recently, Hoshi of the K-pop group Seventeen used the phrase in a Weverse message, and Zee, who provides English translations of the group's messages via Twitter, said she had a hard time deciphering the meaning. "I never heard of it until then, but could get the gist that it was a drink due to the word 'shot.' After researching, I found out it's 'shot added to iced tea,'" Zee, who runs the biggest translatio
K-pop Jan. 25, 2023
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Top K-pop idols to return from military this year
All able-bodied South Korean men are obligated to serve in the military, with even the biggest K-pop superstars no exception. Unlike in the past, when conscription essentially meant a career death sentence for K-pop idols, many singers now return back to their group after serving approximately 18 to 22 months of duty to embark on a fresh new journey. This year greets a string of K-pop musicians from big groups returning to civilian society. Victon's Han Seung-woo, also the brother of singer
K-pop Jan. 23, 2023
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