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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

TripleS returns with anthem for girls who doubt themselves

K-pop girl group tripleS returned Monday under a whopping full 24-member lineup with an album it hopes will reach every girl who has yet to believe in herself. Under the new project name ASSEMBLE26, the girl group released "LOVE & POP PT. 1," the first installment of a planned three-part full-group project. All 24 members, donning matching sky blue outfits, appeared a few hours before the 6 p.m. album drop at the BlueSquare Theater in Seoul's Yongsan District to discuss the album and share behind-the-scenes stories. The members described the album as an anthem for those who have yet to discover or believe in their own potential. "We were all small girls once," Jiyeon said. "That's why we put extra care and love into preparing this album." Seoa said the concept represented a departure from the group's previous work. "Every time we promote, we put everything into it," she said. "But this song's concept shows a more cheerful side of us, which made the members both nervous and excited. That's why we prepared it with even more determination." The album's title track, "Baby Flower," carries on t

Jun 1, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
TripleS returns with anthem for girls who doubt themselves
K-pop

CORTIS makes it to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia list

K-pop boy group CORTIS has made it to Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2026, the youngest Korean act and the only K-pop boy group on this year's roster. The group earned a spot in the Entertainment and Sports category less than nine months after its debut, recognized in part for its collaborative approach to music, choreography and visual content production. Also named in the same category were K-pop girl groups NMIXX and I-dle, as well as dancer and choreographer Leejung Lee. The annual list recognizes individuals and teams under 30 who have demonstrated significant influence across the Asia-Pacific region. This year's selection involved Forbes Asia reporters, editors and expert panelists who vetted roughly 4,000 candidates across 10 categories. The recognition comes as CORTIS is riding the commercial success of its second mini-album, "GREENGREEN," released May 4. The album sold more than 2.3 million copies in its first week, according to Circle Chart, ranking second in first-week sales among K-pop releases this year behind BTS' "ARIRANG." The album's lead single, "REDRED," s

May 31, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
CORTIS makes it to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia list
K-pop

Aespa squeezes out sophomore studio album with star-studded 'LEMONADE'

K-pop girl group aespa is bottling adversity into a dance track. The group's second studio album, "LEMONADE," drops Friday, anchored by a synth-heavy eponymous title track built around the idiom "if life gives you lemons, make lemonade." The four-member group — Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning — met with the press Thursday afternoon at a hotel in Seoul's Songpa district, a day ahead of the album's 1 p.m. release. The 11-track album follows aespa's 2024 debut full-length album "Armageddon," which produced two major hits in the title track of the same name and prerelease single "Supernova." SM Entertainment, the group's label, said the new record features songs "that add to the listening experience through music capturing sincere emotions and attitudes toward life, each in its own genre and mood." "The new studio album carries a lot of meaning for us," Karina said. "So many people showed love for our first one, so we've been preparing with both pressure and excitement. We put a great deal of thought into what to show people. I think we'll be able to show how much we've grown." The t

May 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Aespa squeezes out sophomore studio album with star-studded 'LEMONADE'
Travel & Food

West Sea towns of Taean, Seosan reward slow travelers

Korea is a country bordered by sea on three sides, each coastline carrying its own charms. The East Sea draws visitors with its crystalline waters and dramatic cliffs. The southern coast enchants with its labyrinth of islands. The West Sea, flatter and quieter and governed by tides rather than waves, has long played second fiddle. Yet the stretch of shoreline running through South Chungcheong Province makes a compelling case for a slower, less-glamorized kind of travel. Taean and Seosan, two towns situated roughly 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul and reachable by car in about two hours, sit at the heart of this coastline. The region rewards visitors eager for more texture than spectacle: tidal flats and sunset skies, fermented crab stew and octopus broth, cattle grazing against mountain ridgelines, and centuries of history folded into fortress walls. None of it announces itself, but all of it lingers. Tides, sunset and 'haerujil' Kkotji Beach on Taean's Anmyeon Island is perhaps the most iconic destination in the area, and its appeal lies not in any single fixed feature but in the way the

May 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
West Sea towns of Taean, Seosan reward slow travelers
K-pop

SEVENTEEN donates to UNESCO to support education in Laos

K-pop boy band SEVENTEEN has marked its 11th debut anniversary with a donation to support underprivileged students in Laos. The Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) announced Tuesday that the boy band made the donation for its Bridge Programme, which will help Laotian students with primary school diplomas to attend secondary school. Although secondary education is free of charge, few kids enroll because of miscelleneous fees, which they can't afford. The donation amount was not disclosed. "We are deeply grateful for SEVENTEEN's continued support since 2022," KNCU Secretary-General Hong Hyun-ik said in a statement. "This contribution will help marginalized learners in Laos access public secondary education and build a better future." The donation is part of an initiative that dates back to August 2022, when Pledis Entertainment, SEVENTEEN's management label, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the KNCU to launch the #GoingTogether campaign, aimed at closing educational gaps in underserved communities. The partnership has since grown considerably in scope. In November 2

May 27, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
SEVENTEEN donates to UNESCO to support education in Laos
K-pop

K-pop wins big at 2026 AMAs in historic night

K-pop made history at the 52nd American Music Awards (AMAs) on Monday (local time), with acts tied to the genre taking some of the night's biggest prizes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. K-pop juggernaut BTS took home Artist of the Year, beating out a star-studded field that included Bad Bunny, Bruno Mars, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Morgan Wallen and Sabrina Carpenter. It marked the group's second Artist of the Year win at the AMAs, having previously claimed the honor in 2021, and its first in-person appearance at the ceremony in five years. The group kicked off the night with a pre-taped performance of "Hooligan" from its latest album "ARIRANG," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units sold in March. The seven-member group also claimed Song of the Summer award for "SWIM" and Best Male K-Pop Artist. RM delivered the acceptance speech for Song of the Summer, saying, "When we made this album, we had a lot of pressure and we tried to figure out what kind of music felt the most like us right now. We have to keep c

May 26, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
K-pop wins big at 2026 AMAs in historic night
K-pop

'Golden' beats Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen to win AMA Song of the Year

"Golden," the breakout soundtrack hit from Netflix's animated film "KPop Demon Hunters," claimed Song of the Year at the American Music Awards (AMAs) on Sunday (local time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The song, performed by the fictional girl group HUNTRIX — consisting of real-life singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — beat out a field of strong contenders, including Alex Warren's "Ordinary," Morgan Wallen's "I'm the Problem," Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia" and Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas." EJAE and Rei Ami attended the ceremony to accept the award, while Audrey Nuna was absent. EJAE, who co-wrote the song alongside Mark Sonnenblick, thanked fans and the production team. "This movie, this song is fueled by the fans. You guys truly sealed the 'Honmoon,'" she said, a reference to the mythic barrier in the film that HUNTRIX maintains to protect the human world from the demon realm. She also took a moment to wish Rei Ami a happy 31st birthday, the occasion falling on the night of the win. Rei Ami in turn thanked fans, family and friends, calling it a year that

May 26, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
'Golden' beats Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen to win AMA Song of the Year
People & Events

Forum blends diplomacy with hidden talents, crowdsourced ideas on K-culture

A diplomat sang a love song in Korean. A veteran actor performed Elvis. A Spanish-born broadcaster in hanbok belted out a Korean ballad. Together, they made the case for what the evening's organizers called the twin engines of Korean culture's global rise: the power to create and the power to communicate. The 17th Culture Communication Forum (CCF), organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), was held Thursday evening at the Italian ambassador's residence in Seoul, drawing more than 50 diplomats, business leaders and cultural figures. Ambassadors from Italy, Belgium, Singapore, Peru and Luxembourg attended, along with Jin Roy Ryu, chairman of Poongsan Group and the Federation of Korean Industries, and Kim Jung-soo, chairman of Samyang Foods. Italian Ambassador Emilia Gatto set the tone early, delivering her welcome remarks in Korean. "This is really the house of all Koreans, all Italians and all friends of Korea and Italy," she told guests. She later closed the evening's "Hidden Talent Challenge" with a performance of Jimmy Fontana's 1965 classic "Il Mondo," sung with Kor

May 22, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Forum blends diplomacy with hidden talents, crowdsourced ideas on K-culture
K-pop

LE SSERAFIM has grown stronger in dealing with fear

Three years after its first full-length record, K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM is ready to tell a different story about fear. The five-member group is set to drop "PUREFLOW pt.1," its second studio album on Friday, built around a premise that inverts the group's debut message. While the group's first record declared strength through fearlessness, this one argues the opposite — that fear, faced directly, is what makes you stronger. "When we first debuted, the message was that we were strong because we had no fear," said Huh Yun-jin, the group's primary songwriter, said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Monday. "Now it's that we're strong because we faced our fears." The group's leader Kim Chae-won was not able to join the interview due to a neck injury. Eleven new songs in the "PUREFLOW" album follow that premise, across genres ranging from Latin house to punk to funk. Formed by Source Music, a HYBE subsidiary, LE SSERAFIM debuted in May 2022 with its EP "Fearless." The group's name is an anagram of "I'm Fearless," and from the start built its identity around a unique kind

May 22, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
LE SSERAFIM has grown stronger in dealing with fear
K-pop

Shownu X Hyungwon breaks silence with bold declaration, 'LOVE ME'

Thirty-four months is a long time in the K-pop realm. Trends shift, rosters change and the industry moves fast enough to leave even established acts behind. For Shownu and Hyungwon of boy band MONSTA X, however, the wait seems to have only sharpened their focus. The duo returns Thursday with "LOVE ME," their second mini-album as a unit, nearly two years and ten months after their 2023 debut. The album arrives at a real momentum for MONSTA X, who recently sold out the KSPO Dome in Seoul's Songpa District as part of the group's ongoing world tour "THE X : NEXUS." MONSTA X debuted in 2015 under Starship Entertainment — home to major global acts like WJSN, Cravity and IVE — and has since built a dedicated global fanbase known as Monbebe. Shownu X Hyungwon first came together as the group's inaugural subunit in July 2023, releasing their debut mini-album "THE UNSEEN" before Hyungwon's mandatory military service put the project on hold. For Shownu X Hyungwon, "LOVE ME" is less of a comeback and more of a declaration. "I wanted to show my natural self, with whatever maturity time has given m

May 21, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Shownu X Hyungwon breaks silence with bold declaration, 'LOVE ME'
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