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Pyo Kyung-min

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

Stay tuned for Pyo Kyung-min's latest K-pop stories, where she digs into the backstories that matter. She’d love to hear from you — share your thoughts at pzzang@koreatimes.co.kr. After all, every article gets better with insights from those who love the scene, just like she does!

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K-pop

WJSN's Dayoung, Jay Park spark chemistry in new single 'FLIRTY'

Dayoung of girl group WJSN, who has been steadily carving out a solo career of her own, joins forces with veteran singer Jay Park for the collaborative single "FLIRTY," set for release Tuesday. The track marks the first collaboration of Dayoung's career and her first new music in about four months, following her second digital single "What's a girl to do," in April. According to her agency Starship Entertainment, the singer took part in writing both the lyrics and music. The agency described the song as a pop track capturing the excitement and confident attitude of a budding romance, blending guitar sounds, groovy rhythms and rich pop melodies with touches of R&B and reggae. The pairing traces back to the 2025 Melon Music Awards last December, where Dayoung made a surprise appearance during Jay Park's performance. Dayoung appeared alongside him again at his Waterbomb festival performance on July 25, and a teaser image for the duo was unveiled shortly after the show, fueling anticipation. Dayoung's solo debut track "body" landed on best K-pop of 2025 lists compiled by Billboard, NME and Th

5h agoBy Pyo Kyung-min
WJSN's Dayoung, Jay Park spark chemistry in new single 'FLIRTY'
K-pop

Red Velvet trades midday heat for sunset glow on 'Velvet Summer'

K-pop girl group Red Velvet returns Monday with the mini album "Velvet Summer," its first full-group release in over two years, trading blazing summer anthems for a sunset mood. The five-piece last released music together with "Cosmic" in June 2024. The five-track album is led by the track "Surfin' Boy," a dance number built on crisp, refreshing production and the group's signature dreamy vocal harmonies. In a first for the team, member Joy wrote the lyrics on her own, reminiscing about the hottest summer of one's life and the promise of making more radiant memories. "I was able to pour out everything I wanted to say to Red Velvet and our fans while writing these lyrics," Joy said in a written interview on Monday. "I wanted to convey that whenever we meet again, we can build memories even more beautiful than before. Seulgi even sent me a message praising how singable the lyrics were after mine were chosen. I was so happy I nearly cried," Joy added. According to Seulgi, the song also marks a sonic departure from the group's high-energy summer anthems like "Red Flavor" (2017) and "Umpah Ump

1d agoBy Pyo Kyung-min
Red Velvet trades midday heat for sunset glow on 'Velvet Summer'
People & Events

World's top dance crews face off in Seoul on Saturday

Elite dance crews from around the world will battle it out in Seoul through the International Dance League (IDL), as the Seoul Series, the fourth stop of the league's 2026 season, takes place Saturday at Kyung Hee University. Launched in 2025, IDL is the world's first global professional dance league, with six franchise teams competing across a regular season for the IDL 2026 Championship title. The league has sold out all three of its previous series in New York, Vancouver and Sydney, surpassing 600 million cumulative views and impressions worldwide. Ahead of the Seoul opener, the league gathered IDL co-founder and CEO Connor Lim and the competing teams at a hotel conference room in central Seoul on Friday to share what audiences can expect. For Lim, a dancer since the age of 13, the league is about reframing how dance is seen. "Dance has been on reality TV shows for a very long time, but not presented as a sport," Lim said. "We are controlling all of the creative, all of the sporting aspects and the way that the dancers are represented ... the way that we believe dance should be repres

Jul 31, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
World's top dance crews face off in Seoul on Saturday
K-pop

BTS' 'Aliens' sweeps iTunes charts worldwide after Grammy withdrawal

BTS' "Aliens," a B-side from the boy band's fifth studio album "ARIRANG," has topped iTunes Top Songs charts in 78 regions, propelled by fans rallying behind the septet's decision to withdraw from next year's Grammy Awards. The seven members announced their withdrawal Wednesday through identical statements posted to their individual Instagram accounts, saying they hope their music "can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language." Within hours, the group's official fandom, ARMY, launched a coordinated streaming campaign, sending the track to No. 1 in countries including the U.S., the U.K., France, Brazil, India and Australia. The Korean-language song, which likens the group's journey through the global pop industry to aliens landing on Earth, reflects the identity struggles the members have faced as Korean artists in Western markets. Its lyrics are now being reread as a pointed rebuke of what critics call the Grammys' attempt to place K-pop in a separate "Asian pop" lane. Support has also poured in from within the U.S. industry. Mike WiLL Made-It, t

Jul 31, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS' 'Aliens' sweeps iTunes charts worldwide after Grammy withdrawal
K-pop

BTS spent years chasing Grammys; Now tables have turned

For years, BTS spoke openly of the Grammys as a goal. On Wednesday, the group walked away from them at the very moment it appeared likeliest to finally win. In a joint statement posted to their individual Instagram accounts Wednesday, the seven BTS members said they have decided not to submit anything to the Grammys this year, adding that they hope music "can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language." The announcement came just over a month after the Recording Academy unveiled five new categories for the 69th Grammy Awards, among them Best Asian Pop Music Performance, a prize for performances rooted in Asian markets that make "meaningful use" of one or more Asian languages. The statement did not name the category, but has been widely read as a response to it. The decision carries the weight of history. Between 2021 and 2023, BTS collected five Grammy nominations without a win for "Dynamite," "Butter," "My Universe" or "Yet to Come" and the group's credited work on Coldplay's "Music of the Spheres." Each cycle, the members described the Grammys as

Jul 30, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS spent years chasing Grammys; Now tables have turned
K-pop

Boy band The Wind chases 2nd act with 'Second Wind : S#00'

K-pop boy band The Wind returned Wednesday with its fourth mini album "Second Wind : S#00," launching what the group calls a counterattack by one of the scene's underdogs. Arriving a year and nine months after the band's previous physical release, the album lands as the group's first release since partnering with PPangStar Entertainment. Five of the band members — Thanatorn, Park Hayuchan, Choi Han-bin, An Chan-won and Jang Hyoun-joon — held a press showcase at Ilchi Art Hall in Seoul's Gangnam District, Wednesday, hours before the album's release, to discuss their comeback and the making of the record. Kim Hee-soo, who suspended activities in May due to anxiety symptoms, is sitting out this promotional cycle. According to the members, the "#00" in the album title represents the coordinates where every story begins, the first page on which The Wind's fresh leap is recorded. "We prepared a lot so that fans can feel both the refreshing charm we have shown so far and a confident, hipster side at the same time," Park said of the group's first release under the new partnership. Jang descri

Jul 29, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Boy band The Wind chases 2nd act with 'Second Wind : S#00'
K-pop

TXT to hold immersive exhibition marking 7th anniversary

K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) is set to hold an immersive exhibition in Seoul chronicling the group's seven-year journey since its debut, the group's agency BigHit Music said Tuesday. Titled "LAYERS OF US," the exhibition will run from Aug. 13 to Sept. 6 at The Seoul Lightium in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul. It marks the quintet's seventh anniversary and visually reconstructs the narrative the members have built across their discography. Since debuting in 2019, the five-member act consisting of Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai has explored the wanderings and growth of contemporary youth through tightly woven lore behind its album series, including "The Dream Chapter," "The Chaos Chapter," "The Name Chapter" and "The Star Chapter." The exhibition traces TXT's path from its 2019 debut EP "The Dream Chapter: STAR" to its fourth full-length album, "The Star Chapter: TOGETHER," released last year. According to the agency, it depicts how fragile moments accumulate to form the self, and how individuals fill each other's gaps to expand into a larger identity of

Jul 29, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
TXT to hold immersive exhibition marking 7th anniversary
K-pop

After Asian pop category launch, BTS says it won't submit music to Grammys

K-pop juggernaut BTS announced Wednesday that it will not submit its music for consideration at the 69th Grammy Awards, set for February, in a move widely interpreted as a protest against the Recording Academy's new Asian pop category. "We have decided not to submit our music to the Grammys this year," the group said in a statement shared through the Instagram Stories of all seven members. "We hope music can be heard and loved as music itself, rather than being divided by region or language." The septet also thanked its official fandom ARMY and supporters worldwide. The decision comes despite a banner year for the group. Its fifth studio album "ARIRANG," released in March, topped the Billboard 200 with 641,000 units, the biggest week for a group album in more than a decade, while lead single "SWIM" debuted atop the Hot 100. The announcement follows the academy's introduction in June of Best Asian Pop Music Performance, one of five categories added for the upcoming ceremony. Critics have called the category a form of segregation that sidelines Asian acts from major awards. BTS earned thre

Jul 29, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
After Asian pop category launch, BTS says it won't submit music to Grammys
K-pop

Can K-pop convince fans to travel to Korea every year?

BTS packs stadiums in Los Angeles and BLACKPINK headlines Coachella, yet Korea has no equivalent to Coachella and Lollapalooza or Japan's Summer Sonic. There's no festival that makes fans around the world book flights to K-pop's birthplace every single year. "Fanomenon," the K-culture mega event unveiled Monday by the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, is the government and industry's most ambitious attempt yet to fill that gap. More than a new festival, it signals a strategic pivot for "hallyu," also known as the Korean wave, from exporting artists and content outward to pulling fans to Korea, converting global fandom into an annual pilgrimage built on concerts, tourism, merchandise and participation. The plan is sweeping. The inaugural festival will run from Dec. 2 to 12, 2027, at Seoul Arena in northern Seoul's Dobong District and KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, anchored by concerts by artists from the rosters of SM, YG, JYP and HYBE, and an awards ceremony that honors their fandoms. Another event will follow in Los Angeles in May 2028. Organizers project 520,000

Jul 29, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Can K-pop convince fans to travel to Korea every year?
K-pop

JYP's new girl group OURBIRTHDAY completes 7-member lineup

A new girl group launched by a subsidiary of K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment has finalized its seven-member lineup ahead of an official debut, the group's label said Tuesday. OURBIRTHDAY, managed by INNIT Entertainment, introduced four more members, Kuk Cho-rok, Shin Hye-won, U and Kilala, following the release of concept photos for the single "HUNGRY (Side B)" on the group's social media channels. The four join Cho Hye-jin, Baby and Achiraya, who began activities last week with the digital single "HUNGRY (Side A)." The label has described the two releases as a phased predebut, an uncommon rollout in the K-pop industry, where groups typically debut as a complete unit. OURBIRTHDAY is the first girl group associated with JYP Entertainment since NMIXX debuted in 2022. The group's name reflects its aim to make ordinary days feel as special as birthdays, according to the label. The multinational group was first teased through animated characters and a superhero-themed animation series that withheld the members' identities, drawing speculation among fans over whether the project was a virtu

Jul 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
JYP's new girl group OURBIRTHDAY completes 7-member lineup
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