SM Entertainment, home to some of the biggest K-pop names like aespa, Red Velvet and NCT, covered Jakarta in pink -- the company's iconic color -- on Saturday with its label concert, "SMTown Live 2023." The star-studded event, officially titled "SMTown Live 2023 SMCU Palace @Jakarta with KB Bank," took place on Saturday evening at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The one-day gig is the latest edition of the company's joint label

K-pop Sept. 25, 2023

Rookie K-pop bands rarely remain off the radar for even a month after debuting, but Mimiirose stayed out of the limelight for over a year after it debuted in September 2022. After a yearlong break, the five-piece girl group said it felt more than ready to reintroduce itself as a brand new group. "There was a time when we felt anxious after having our comeback postponed several times, although we had just debuted. But every time, the members stayed together and encouraged each other," Y

K-pop Sept. 25, 2023

BTS' Jungkook will be back with a new song, "3D," on Friday, his agency said Sunday. Big Hit Music announced the singer will unveil his second solo single at 1 p.m. on Friday. The new song will feature American rapper-singer Jack Harlow. The upcoming single is the latest release from Jungkook since he first came out solo in July with "Seven (feat. Latto)." The 26-year-old singer had a successful start then, with "Seven" nabbing the top place on Billboard's

K-pop Sept. 24, 2023

Boy band Seventeen is set for a grand finale to a busy year with its 11th EP "Seventeenth Heaven," its agency announced Wednesday. Pledis Entertainment said the group's next release would be "Seventeenth Heaven" on Oct. 23. The agency unveiled a poster that showed a red festival wristband with Seventeen's name and the new album title written around it. "Seventeenth Heaven" will be the group's first release since its record-setting album "FML"

K-pop Sept. 20, 2023

A member of once-famed girl group GFriend, singer-songwriter Yuju says one of her most liberating moments is when she strolls down the bustling streets of Gangnam, going unnoticed by anyone. With a cap over her head and mask covering the face, Yuju says she often goes on such night strolls in the glitzy neighborhood to get closer to the people and feel the energy. It was on one of those nights that her new song, "Dalala," was born, the singer recalled during an interview with local med

K-pop Sept. 20, 2023

For singer-songwriter Sole, the last year has been a transformative period, opening up new challenges that she wouldn't have taken on before. One big challenge was creating her album, "A Love Supreme," which consists of remakes of original songs by other artists. The album was released Monday. A self-made musician who built her career up from the bottom, Sole has always tried to keep moving forward since her debut in 2017. Last year, just when she felt she had achieved stability i

K-pop Sept. 19, 2023

Hyundai Card's Da Vinci Motel culture fest on Sunday kicked into high gear with pop diva Lee Hyori gracing the stage. Lee was the final performer of the three-day music and culture event hosted by Korea's No. 1 card company at its cultural complex located in Itaewon of Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Celebrating the singer's long-awaited return to the stage, hundreds of fans gathered to Hyundai Card's Understage building, the part of the multipurpose culture spaces where music gigs took p

K-pop Sept. 18, 2023

The world's biggest Korean culture festival KCON is set to take place in Saudi Arabia next month, CJ ENM said Friday. KCON will take place on Oct. 6-7 in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, the second KCON to happen in the Middle Eastern country, organizer CJ ENM said in a statement. K-pop stars set to perform at the two-day concert are Everglow, Highlight, Hyolyn, Kard, Riize, Super Junior D&E (Donghae and Eunhyuk) and 8Turn on Oct. 6 and Dreamcatcher, El7z Up, Evnne, Oh My Girl, Supe

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

Seven-piece boy Enhypen has made its mark in K-pop history with its Tokyo Dome concerts that ended Thursday. Marking the grand finale of the band's "Fate" world tour in Japan, Enhypen held concerts over Wednesday and Thursday at Tokyo Dome, located in the country's capital city. Enhypen's Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-Ki performed a total of 26 songs over the 200-minute run on both nights, according to their agency Belift Lab on Friday. Blasting ou

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

V's "Layover" is the bestselling solo album in South Korea. Hanteo Chart, one of the biggest music sales trackers here, on Friday announced the BTS member's solo record tallied sales of 2,101,974 copies as of Thursday, marking the highest first-week album sales by a K-pop solo album and the 10th highest among all Korean albums. This is the first time that any solo artist's album has racked up over 2 million in sales in its first week. The latest feat extends the singer&#

K-pop Sept. 15, 2023

Boy band Stray Kids is headed to Gocheok Sky Dome, one of the nation's biggest and most coveted concert venues to perform in. The band's agency JYP Entertainment on Thursday announced Stray Kids will hold a two-day concert at Gocheok Sky Dome Oct. 21-22. It has taken Stray Kids five years to make it to performing at Gocheok Sky Dome, where many top singers from Korea and overseas have performed. The gig, titled "Stray Kids 5-Star Dome Tour 2023 Seoul Special Unveil 13," comes

K-pop Sept. 14, 2023

While big cities bustle with energy and ambition during the day, at night, behind all the glitz and buzz, a tinge of uncertainty lingers. The city is where the singer-songwriter Lee Jin-ah explored the depths of her imagination over the past five years, delving into the different feelings a city harbors as its inhabitants try to endure and live their lives. Lee's new album, "Hearts of the City," taps straight into the hearts of the people. Through her new album, an extensive packa

K-pop Sept. 13, 2023

Pow, a new multinational boy band, is setting forth on its journey with "Favorite." The quintet dropped the single, which comes ahead of the band's upcoming official debut set for Oct. 11. Set to debut under novice local label Grid, the quintet on Wednesday marked the start of its start with pre-debut single "Favorite." Members Jungbin, Yorch, Hong, Dongyeon and Hyunbin held a press conference in Seoul, introducing themselves to the world. "We're excited and ne

K-pop Sept. 13, 2023

Hur Young-ji of Kara launched her solo career on Tuesday with single "Toi Toi Toi." Hur's solo debut comes nine years after she started her singing career as a member of popular girl group Kara in 2014. "Toi Toi Toi," a German expression wishing luck to performing artists, was suggested by her sister, Hur said. "It's like 'fighting!' (in Korean). My sister recommended it after hearing all three songs and it sounded like a perfect match. With the singl

K-pop Sept. 12, 2023

Ear-splitting screams burst out the instant the iconic opening beats of "Again and Again" raised the curtains on boy band 2PM's concert in Seoul on Sunday. Blue laser beams flashed to the beat of the song that turned into a heart-pounding medley of the band's greatest hits. Even those who are not fervent fans of 2PM would recognize every part of the medley, as it thread through songs that had reigned the local music charts in the late 2000s to early 2010s. Sunday's gig a

K-pop Sept. 11, 2023