By Do Je-hae
Pop group JYJ held a concert Saturday in Spain at Barcelona's Poble Espanyol for an audience of 3,000 from all over Europe.
Fans from Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Finland cheered as the band performed some of their popular hits from
albums "The Beginning" and "In Heaven." Spanish dancer Rapa Mondaz choreographed some of the routines.
Their Barcelona concert comes at a time when K-pop’s popularity is growing outside Asia. In June, several bands managed by SM Entertainment held a joint concert in Paris.
JYJ’s Barcelona concert is the first in Europe by a single Korean band.
JYJ formed of Jae-joong, Yoo-chun and Jun-su, three former members of boyband TVXQ. The name of the band is taken from the first letter of each performer’s name.
With the Japanese language album "EP The..." JYJ reached No. 1 on the Japanese Oricon albums chart.
The band's English language global debut album, "The Beginning," was released in October 2010.
Following the release of music videos for "In Heaven" and "Get Out," JYJ's first Korean language offering, "In Heaven," was released on Sept. 28.