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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

May is K-pop's biggest month for girl groups' releases in years

A crowded slate of K-pop girl group releases is set to define May, with BABYMONSTER, NMIXX, ITZY, LE SSERAFIM and aespa all returning within weeks of one another. Adding to the momentum is a long-awaited reunion by I.O.I, nearly a decade after its disbandment, setting up one of the most competitive release windows. YG Entertainment's youngest act BABYMONSTER opens the month May 4 with its third mini-album, "CHOOM." Positioned as an heir to the company's girl group lineage that includes BLACKPINK and 2NE1, the group has similarly built global attention since debut through performance-focused releases. According to YG, the new album spans hip-hop, dance and R&B, with the lead track and B-sides “MOON,” “I LIKE IT” and “LOCKED IN” aimed at showcasing the group's range. Girl group NMIXX under JYP Entertainment follows May 11 with its fifth mini-album, "Heavy Serenade." The title track was reportedly co-written by singer-songwriter Hanroro, known for sentimental hits "0+0," "1111" and "Let Me Love My Youth." After debuting with its self-described "MIXX-pop" genre in 2022 to mixed r

May 1, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
May is K-pop's biggest month for girl groups' releases in years
K-pop

SM launches 1st official K-pop merch store in China amid thaw signals

SM Entertainment opened its first official merchandise store in China, marking a notable step in the K-pop powerhouse's push into a market where cultural ties with Seoul have long been strained. The company launched the SMTOWN STORE Shanghai, Wednesday, at Xinliubai YOUNG in Shanghai’s Xujiahui District, as part of a broader effort to expand its global retail footprint. Spanning about 335 square meters, the store offers official merchandise from SM artists — aespa, the NCT subunits, RIIZE, Girls' Generation, Red Velvet and more — alongside a light stick display zone, album photo walls and large multimedia screens, positioning the space as more than a conventional retail outlet. Located near the city's Xujiahui Station, which serves subway lines 1, 9 and 11, the site benefits from steady foot traffic and proximity to major universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University, drawing a young, trend-driven consumer base. According to an SM press release, interest was strong ahead of the opening, fueled by social media buzz. A themed pop-up tied to the label's boy b

May 1, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
SM launches 1st official K-pop merch store in China amid thaw signals
Trends

Drinking no longer default for Korea’s Gen Z

On a recent weeknight near Seoul's Hongdae area in Mapo District, a group of students gathered at Yeokjeon Halmaek, a familiar bar franchise. They ordered cans of zero-sugar Coke and a single highball, splitting one shot among four glasses. No one asked for soju. For bar owners, scenes like this now feel routine. "Alcohol is usually where the margins are," a worker at the Hongdae bar told The Korea Times on the condition of anonymity. "So now when a table orders a lot, I can't help but notice. They feel like a VIP." For Korea's younger generation, drinking is no longer the default social currency it once was. But the shift is not a simple turn toward abstinence, it's something more interesting — a renegotiation of what alcohol means, who it is for and how much of a life it deserves. Among the Korean Gen Zs, the frequency of drinking is falling sharply, while the nature of consumption is tilting toward lighter, more deliberate choices. Highballs with modest proof, craft low-alcohol beers and other nonalcoholic alternatives are gaining ground, reshaping not just what Koreans drink, but wh

Apr 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Drinking no longer default for Korea’s Gen Z
K-pop

For TWS, love is 'NO TRAGEDY' on new mini-album

K-pop boy band TWS is learning to talk about love. The six-member act under HYBE subsidiary Pledis Entertainment returned Monday with its fifth mini album, "NO TRAGEDY," its most emotionally direct work to date. The six-member group — Shinyu, Dohoon, Youngjae, Hanjin, Jihoon and Kyungmin — introduced the album at a press showcase held hours ahead of its release at YES24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul's Gwangjin District, describing it as a project that captures a more self-directed approach to love. "If we previously showed fresh, youthful energy, this time we wanted to be more honest, more bold, expressing feelings more directly," Youngjae said. Since debuting in January 2024, TWS built its identity on its members' bright, boyish charms. "NO TRAGEDY" doesn't abandon that, but it complicates it. The album's lead single, "You, You," is where that conviction lands most clearly. A house-driven confessional layered with R&B textures, it gives a direct declaration to a dreamlike love interest. "It's the first time we've really talked about love in depth," Jihoon said. "We discussed what love m

Apr 27, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
For TWS, love is 'NO TRAGEDY' on new mini-album
K-pop

NEXZ returns to K-pop scene with bold, bass-driven 'Mmchk'

JYP Entertainment's seven-member global boy group NEXZ opened its 2026 chapter, Monday, with the release of its second single album "Mmchk," signaling a confident new push for wider recognition at home and abroad. The group, composed of Tomoya, Yu, Haru, So Geon, Seita, Hyui and Yuki, is returning roughly six months after its October mini-album "Beat-Boxer" and nearly two years since its global debut with "Ride the Vibe" in May 2024. To mark the occasion, NEXZ took the stage at a press showcase at Blue Square in Yongsan District, Seoul, just a few hours ahead of the album drop, so that members could discuss its creative process and what lies ahead. For Yu, whose birthday happened to fall on release day, the moment carried personal weight. "We're already entering our second year, and it still doesn't feel real," he said. "I still vividly remember our debut. We've gained so much experience along the way, and starting with this album, we want to work harder to introduce ourselves to even more people." The album title itself is deliberately hard to pin down. "Mmchk," the eponymous title track,

Apr 27, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
NEXZ returns to K-pop scene with bold, bass-driven 'Mmchk'
K-pop

From survival show to world tour: CLOSE YOUR EYES is just getting warmed up

About a year into its career and currently mid-tour, seven-piece K-pop boy band CLOSE YOUR EYES (CYE) is already releasing music that has something to say. The group, formed in 2025 through JTBC's survival program "PROJECT 7," dropped its first digital single, "OVEREXPOSED," Tuesday. It's a two-track release built around the concept of overexposure in photography — the point at which too much light wipes an image out entirely. The idea, as the group describes it, is about still wanting to leave a record of yourself when everything feels uncertain. "It's an appetizer," said Jeon Min-wook, the group's eldest, during an interview at The Korea Times headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. "Before a new side of us is revealed in the upcoming album, 'OVEREXPOSED' is a preview of what's coming." The single follows the group's third mini-album "blackout," and Jeon is clear that the narrative is intentional and ongoing. "We put a lot of meaning into 'Eternity,' our debut project. Then we woke up from 'blackout,' and we've spent a year," he said. "This single is an extension of that. It's a statement of

Apr 21, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
From survival show to world tour: CLOSE YOUR EYES is just getting warmed up
K-pop

CORTIS returns with 'REDRED,' doubling down on identity

Rookie K-pop boy band CORTIS is betting on a more defined sense of identity with its latest release, "REDRED," leaning into what the group describes as an "honest reflection" of its creative direction. The five-member group — Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon and Keonho — dropped "REDRED" on Monday as the prerelease track from its second EP "GREENGREEN," due May 4. The group debuted last August under BigHit Music, the HYBE Labels subsidiary managing BTS, with "COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES," quickly gaining traction for its hip-hop-driven sound that drew comparisons to artists like Travis Scott and Playboi Carti. The approach proved effective particularly among younger listeners, as tracks like "FaSHioN" and "GO!" spread across short-form media platforms. "REDRED" continues that trajectory, but with a conceptual frame. The track uses the colors green and red to draw a line between what the group embraces and what it rejects. "It's about what we pursue and what we stay wary of," Juhoon said during a media showcase held at YES24 Live Hall in Seoul's Gwangjin District on Monday, just a few ho

Apr 20, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
CORTIS returns with 'REDRED,' doubling down on identity
K-pop

NCT WISH debuts wistful new single at Seoul encore, wraps up 1st world tour

K-pop boy band NCT WISH unveiled its new song, "Ode to Love," at the Seoul encore of the group's first solo concert tour, closing out a global run with a message of warmth in a cold world. NCT WISH, the newest subunit under K-pop giant SM Entertianment's vast NCT roster, performed at KSPO Dome in Seoul's Olympic Park over three nights from Friday through Sunday, wrapping up "NCT WISH 1st Concert Tour 'Into the Wish: Our Wish,'" a 30-show run spanning 18 cities across the globe that launched last October. The Seoul finale came just days before another major milestone, as the group's debut full-length album, titled "Ode to Love," drops Monday. The 10-track record includes the title single of the same name. Just minutes before the final show on Sunday, the six NCT WISH members, Sion, Jaehee, Riku, Yushi, Ryo and Sakuya, met with press at the concert venue to reflect on the tour's end. "It was a performance where we rode a trolley for the first time and were able to perform up close with our fans worldwide," Sion reflected, thanking the group's fanbase, collectively known as NCTzens, for hel

Apr 19, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
NCT WISH debuts wistful new single at Seoul encore, wraps up 1st world tour
K-pop

BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights

K-pop juggernaut BTS performed to capacity crowds at Tokyo Dome on Friday and Saturday, drawing 110,000 fans over two sold-out nights in the group's return to the venue since July 2019. The shows, part of a world tour tied to the group's latest album “ARIRANG,” marked the septet's return to one of Japan's most prominent concert venues after roughly seven years. Inside the stadium, fans waved light sticks in coordinated patterns that swept across the arena. Crowd chants grew louder during high-energy hip-hop tracks like “Not Today” and “MIC Drop,” with the audience closely tracking the group's delivery throughout the sets. A key moment came during “Body to Body,” the opening track from the group’s latest album. As the song incorporated the melody of the traditional Korean folk song “Arirang,” the crowd began singing along in unison, filling the stadium with a chorus that extended beyond the group’s vocals. In a press release from BigHit Music, HYBE Labels Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had pointed to the possibility of such a moment emerging during the tour. The members app

Apr 19, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights
K-pop

Xdinary Heroes turns goodbyes into new beginnings on 'DEAD AND'

What does it mean to say goodbye? For Xdinary Heroes, a six-member band under JYP Entertainment, a goodbye is not the end of the story. It's where the story gets interesting. That idea sits at the core of "DEAD AND," the band's eighth mini-album set for release Friday. The wordplay of the title doubles as a thesis — for the band, a dead end can still become a door to a new start. "An end of a certain chapter may feel literally like a dead end," leader Gunil said during an interview with The Korea Times on Wednesday at a cafe in Seoul's Seongdong District. "But for us, the idea also signals a new beginning." Rather than starting with that phrase, the band built its way toward it. "We worked around the overarching theme of 'farewell,' and once the tracklist was finalized, we chose a title that fit," Gunil said. That theme finds its clearest expression in the album's lead single, "Voyager," selected through an internal vote. Musically, it balances the band's signature intensity with a more accessible structure. "'Voyager' has a sound that fans who like our signature hard style will enjoy, b

Apr 17, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Xdinary Heroes turns goodbyes into new beginnings on 'DEAD AND'
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