BTS did not attend the first night of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards, but the group’s presence was still felt, as its team swept four awards at the event. Held Monday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, the first part of the three-day event saw awards being presented to rookie artists who had debuted recently, which was why BTS did not attend. The event also recognized the efforts of those b...

Stray Kids have arrived at the red carpet of the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Fan voting is just one of the criteria for each award, which includes expert evaluation, album and song sales data, music video view counts and social media voting. Nicknamed “JYP Entertainment’s secret weapon,” Stray Kids debuted in March with EP “I Am Not,” consisting of seven tracks penned and composed by the grou...

Following the release of its new album “Present: You & Me” on the previous day, GOT7 hit Twitter’s #Blueroom Tuesday evening. The social media giant’s live Q&A program was held at its forest-themed studio inhabited by Twitter’s iconic bluebirds. It was easy to see GOT7’s beloved status among the Twitter crowd. Muffled chuckles and mouth-covering laughter broke out constantly from staff from behi...

GOT7 dropped its third record of the year “Present: You & Me” Monday, following the EP “Eyes on You” in March and full-length “Present: You” in September. The reissue album is a 28-track winter treat fronted by the seasonally-themed ballad “Miracle.” Twitter is the septet’s chosen medium to herald its final release of the year, on the social networking service’s Q&A platform Blueroom. Held in a...

The value of JYP Entertainment shares held by its founder, owner and Executive Producer Park Jin-young has soared over 100 billion won ($89.2 million) in the past 11 months. Park is the largest shareholder of the company with an 18.72 percent stake, according to Chaebul.com. The value of his stake rose from 74.68 billion won in January this year to 203.79 billion won at the end of November, acco...

Mamamoo is making R&B happen in K-pop town. The quartet added a third EP to its 2018 project “Four Seasons, Four Colors,” a tetralogy of four seasonally themed albums, with each band member taking center stage over the course of a year. This time it’s Solar, the leader. Following spring’s “Yellow Flower” and summer’s “Red Moon,” “BLUE;S” is a late-autumn collection composed of six breakup songs...

Hyundai Motors announced Tuesday that its new flagship SUV model Palisade will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show with BTS members as brand ambassadors. The boy band is featured in the video that will introduce the vehicle at the annual auto show, which runs Friday to Dec. 9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The South Korean carmaker will broadcast its demonstration at the auto show live on...

Toxic ultrafine and yellow dust from China will blanket the Korean Peninsula throughout Tuesday. The smog is expected to worsen as the day progresses, as the western regions will be affected by yellow dust and high concentration of smog later in the afternoon. Except for the southernmost provinces of South Jeolla, South Gyeongsang and Jeju, the dust will hit “bad” levels, which range at around ...

Lovelyz has an uncanny ability to blend a minor key progression with a synthed-up dance beat -- a characteristic that makes its songs recognizable within a few seconds of listening. After a brief detour with “A Piece of Summer,” the group is back to its signature blend. A staple question at Lovelyz’s press conferences is the 4-year-old act’s lack of trophies from music shows of the three major ...

Both President Moon Jae-in and boy band BTS are vying to be named Time’s 2018 person of the year, in the US magazine’s annual search for the person or group who has had the greatest influence for the past 12 months. On Oct. 10, BTS was included on Time’s list of next-generation leaders and was featured on the cover of its Oct. 22 global edition. Among this year’s candidates for person of the ye...

BTS recently won its first platinum single and two gold album certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America. RIAA certifications are awarded based on number of recording units sold -- over 500,000 certify for gold, over 1 million platinum, over 10 million diamond. The septet’s latest album “Love Yourself: Answer,” which debuted at the top of Billboard 200’s Sept. 1 chart, has ...

Jeon Somi, a winner of season one of the talent competition show “Produce 101,” will embark on a solo career in March 2019. Jeon debuted with the yearlong project group I.O.I following the season finale in April 2016. Comprising contenders who finished within the top 11, I.O.I enjoyed success, winning three new artist of the year awards at three of the major music awards at home: Golden Disc, Mn...

Anti-pollution masks are strongly advised as fine dust levels across the country are expected to hit “bad” levels Monday, induced by industrial particles blown from China’s east coast. The National Institute of Environmental Research said the capital area of the peninsula, northeastern province of Gangwon, central province of Chungcheong, southwestern province of Jeolla, southeastern province of...

South Korean music label JYP Entertainment has seen a strong quarter on the strength of its veteran players and newcomer acts, along with steady overseas market expansion, a brokerage said Tuesday. “JYP Entertainment has shown a solid third-quarter performance due to the increase in overseas revenue of the major lineup (of artists such as GOT7, Twice) and the rapid growth of the newcomer lineup ...

South Korean political parties across the aisle voiced their stances on the latest pop culture controversy involving a boy band and a certain T-shirt. Japanese broadcaster Asahi on Thursday canceled BTS’ scheduled appearance on its music show “Music Station,” citing a certain T-shirt worn by a member of the band as the reason behind the decision. The T-shirt featured images and phrases linked to...