Korea Times Digital Content Reporter
Inna Christine Cabel is a digital editor at The Korea Times. Prior to moving to Korea, she worked as an editorial assistant and writer in the Philippines. She occasionally writes about trends, pop culture and music. Reach her at innacabel@koreatimes.co.kr.
Jennie of BLACKPINK arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Costume Art" exhibition in New York, May 4. AP-Yonhap
![[PHOTOS] K-pop stars, Asian celebrities shine at Met Gala 2026](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
With daytime temperatures reaching up to 25 degrees Celsius, people at Gwanghwamun Square sport short sleeves as unseasonably warm, early summer weather arrives in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
When Marga Uy Baula planned her birthday trip to Seoul in January, all the information she had was one date — March 20. Baula was determined to be in Seoul when pop icons BTS dropped their highly anticipated comeback album, “ARIRANG.” “There were no announcements about the comeback yet, but I knew I had to be here,” Baula said. So when more details about the return of the world’s biggest boy band came to light, Baula had a simple plan: enjoy the sights of Seoul on her birthday, and secure a ticket to BTS’ free comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square, scheduled for March 21. As everything fell into place, Baula found herself in Seoul on March 18, just a few days until RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook were set to perform at the biggest stage of their careers. Baula is one of thousands of BTS fans, or ARMYs, who booked flights to Seoul, with or without a concert ticket, to witness BTS’ comeback. After a break of almost four years, K-pop’s biggest act is set to make music history with a large-scale show in the heart of Seoul, one that has filled headlines for mont
In less than 24 hours, K-pop supergroup BTS will release “ARIRANG,” its first full-length album since 2020. Despite one of the largest-scale album promotions K-pop has ever seen, musical details about BTS’ upcoming release continue to remain shrouded in mystery, making the world more curious than ever. Many wonder, what new musical direction will BTS take? It has been six years since the release of BTS’ last full-length album, “MAP OF THE SOUL: 7.” While the band has showcased its musical idiosyncrasies in the past years, with members dabbling in genres like alternative (RM’s "Right Place, Wrong Person") and jazz (V’s "Layover"), many are curious how the seven musicians will come together again for this new record. BTS has only released a 14-song track list and two teaser videos for its upcoming single — turning its dedicated fandom into sleuths as they seek out more clues about the album. Fans noted world-renowned producers credited on the track list, some of whom are known for making some of the most critically acclaimed songs of all time. One of the producers of BTS
What do a Tony winner, a wrestler, an author and a tennis star have in common? A love for BTS. As the seven-member boy group gears up for a historic comeback with its first full-length album in six years, its global fandom, known as ARMY, is also preparing to showcase its full support. While K-pop fandoms are widely perceived as predominantly young and female, ARMY has continuously broken the stereotype with demographics spanning not only the globe but also ages and professions, featuring Oscar winners, rappers and even pro wrestlers among its ranks. Ahead of Friday’s “ARIRANG” album release, here are just some of the famous personalities who are excited for the BTS comeback. Naomi Osaka When Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka met BTS’ Suga at an NBA game in 2022, she mentioned loving a lesser-known song — “Autumn Leaves” from BTS' 2015 album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2.” The top-ranked women’s singles tennis player at the time posted that she told Suga, who produced the track, that “it was a great song,” and that she was fulfilling a promise she made
On the first day of the year, thousands of BTS fans around the world received a letter. It was a postcard with New Year’s messages from the seven members of K-pop's biggest band. Printed just behind the paper, in an eye-catching shade of red, were three dots and a date — “2026.03.20.” The delivery was enough to send an estimated 78 million of BTS’ most ardent followers into chaos. Thousands of posts circulated online, all speculating about the meaning behind the message. Even international news outlets like CNN joined in on the conversation. Joyce Wong, a 43-year-old marketer from Hong Kong, who has been part of the BTS fandom — known as ARMY —for seven years, was among the lucky ones who received the coveted letter, which first revealed the date of the group's highly anticipated comeback. The letter was sent to fans of the band who subscribed to a membership service within a set period of time. Upon hearing the news, Wong immediately got to work. She booked her flights to Seoul for March, chose a hotel in the tourist district of Myeong-dong and was set for the experience
After a three-year hiatus, global superstars BTS are set to embark on their largest world tour yet. The tour will kick off with a three-day concert at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on April 9, April 11 and 12. The pop icons announced the upcoming tour on the fan platform Weverse on Wednesday midnight, sharing the tour’s poster with a list of 79 shows across 34 regions. The band will meet fans worldwide from April 2026 to March 2027, with stops set for North America, Europe, Oceania, East Asia and Southeast Asia. The tour is set to be the "biggest global K-pop tour of all time," a press release by concert promoter Live Nation said. BTS' highly anticipated comeback tour will also feature a "a 360-degree, in-the-round stage design," which is a first for K-pop stadium tours. According to Live Nation, this concert setup allows for increased capacity at every venue. The band will also visit Latin America, holding shows in countries like Argentina, Peru and Colombia for the first time. BTS is also set to celebrate its 13th anniversary in the port city of Busan, Korea's second lar
Fresh off their first major award, ENHYPEN, K-pop's most prolific vampire-slash-idols, are set to pull us in to their mythical world once again. The boy group, who recently won Visa Fan's Choice of the Year in this year's MAMA Awards in Hong Kong, is set to drop their seventh mini-album, "The Sin: Vanish" on Jan. 16. "The Sin: Vanish" will kick off a new chapter in ENHYPEN's dark fantasy arc, drawing from the concept of sin, set in a world full of vampires. Since debuting in 2020, ENHYPEN has cultivated a distinct identity as K-pop's folkloric storytellers, building a rich universe centered on the undead. According to a press release from ENHYPEN's agency Belift Lab, "The Sin: Vanish" will explore "an absolute taboo condemned by the vampire society." Ahead of the release, the boy group opened a fictional digital news site named "Vampire Now" to tease the upcoming album, publishing different articles about the vampire lifestyle to fully immerse fans and listeners in the world of night walkers. The fictional news site also launched an Instagram account, which attracted more than 47,000 foll
Global K-pop powerhouse ENHYPEN, in partnership with their agency Belift Lab, announced Thursday a donation of 100 million won ($68,200) to support flood relief efforts in the Philippines. “We became aware of the recent severe flooding affecting many communities across the Philippines, a country that has long been close to our hearts," ENHYPEN said through a press release. Belift Lab, a subsidiary of HYBE Labels, told The Korea Times that the donation will primarily be used for flood relief efforts across various communities in the northern Philippine province of Bulacan, one of the worst-hit areas during typhoon season. Bulacan also "holds a special place in the group's history," Belift Lab said. In March, ENHYPEN played one of their first major stadium concerts in Southeast Asia as part of their "WALK THE LINE" world tour at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan. The group is also one of the most popular bands in the Philippines, clinching ambassadorships for major local brands. "We wanted to offer our support, even in a small way, and sincerely hope the contributions will be used
When rookie boy group CORTIS first burst onto the K-pop scene in August with styles straight from the pages of a 2000s teen magazine, following in the footsteps of industry icons such as BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, making their mark seemed like a daunting task. But the five teens who made up BigHit Music’s first group in six years — Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon and Keonho — have the swaggering confidence and youthful charisma to show they're up for the challenge. Be it through their nostalgic styling choices or their energetic choreography, CORTIS made a splash with their debut EP, "Color Outside The Lines" — an impressive feat for a group with only five songs under their belt. The group is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year nominations. In a month, the young creator crew broke multiple records by debuting at No. 15 on the global Billboard 200, the highest among their contemporaries; amassing 48 million views for their three official music videos; and gaining over 7.5 million monthly listeners on music streaming platform Spotify. These are numbers and chart placements that e