The Korea Times

BTS' RM to feature personal art collection at SFMOMA

K-pop boy band BTS' leader RM will share about 140 works from his personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in an exhibition opening Oct. 3. “RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me,” which will run through Feb. 7, 2027, marks the first museum exhibition of RM’s personal collection and SFMOMA’s first collaboration with a K-pop artist. The exhibition will bring together approximately 180 works selected by RM and the museum, including pieces from his collection and SFMOMA’s holdings. Most of the works collected by RM will be shown in the United States for the first time. “This is the first time I am sharing my collection under my own name. I think few things reveal a person as honestly as a collection they have built over a long period. In that sense, this exhibition will be quite a long self-introduction,” RM said through his agency, BigHit Music. “My collection includes many works by modern and contemporary Korean artists. Some of their names may still be unfamiliar outside Korea. I have collected with the hope of contributing a slightly better pe

Sep 30, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS' RM to feature personal art collection at SFMOMA

K-pop

Fin.K.L's return revives legacy of 1st-gen K-pop

Around the turn of the millennium, first generation K-pop girl group Fin.K.L went from a sweet, fairytale image created through songs like "To My Boyfriend" and "Eternal Love" to the hip-hop-driven "Now." Its four members then branched out into separate careers that kept them in the public eye long after the group stopped putting out records. That trajectory is back in focus as the quartet — Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin and Sung Yu-ri — prepares to work together again for the first time since the 2005 digital single "Forever Fin.K.L." Their agency, Gemstone E&M, has laid out roughly two years of new music and performances leading up to the group's 30th anniversary in 2028. From Blue Rain to Now Fin.K.L debuted in May 1998 with an album that included "Blue Rain" and "To My Boyfriend." The ballad "Ruby" followed as the next single, extending a run of early hits. Launched by DSP Media, then known as Daesung Planning, Fin.K.L arrived a year after SM Entertainment's girl group S.E.S., and the two groups were widely seen as rivals, mirroring the competition between their agencies, which

Sep 30, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

K-pop

BTS wins Song of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAs

K-pop juggernaut BTS won Song of the Year for "SWIM" at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in the United States, Sunday (local time). The win adds to a banner comeback year for the septet, which reunited as a full group in March after a nearly four-year hiatus. BTS, which did not attend the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, also won Best K-Pop and Best Group, sweeping all three categories for which it was nominated. The Best Group trophy is its fifth, following four straight wins from 2019 to 2022, making BTS the most-awarded act in the category's history. "We sincerely thank ARMY (the group's official fandom) for always giving us your unwavering love and support," the group said in a statement released through its agency, BigHit Music. "'ARIRANG' feels like a new beginning for us, which makes this award all the more meaningful," it said, referring to its fifth studio album "ARIRANG." The members credited the Song of the Year win to everyone who has loved their music, adding that all seven members would continue to deliver great music and performances together. "SWIM,"

Sep 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS wins Song of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAs

Arts & Theater

Joseon court dancer crossed to Paris; Pansori singer brings her home

Almost nothing survives of Lee Jin, the woman a French memoir records as "Li-Tsin." A court dancer in the final years of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, she is said to have sailed to Paris in the 1890s with her lover, a French diplomat, then returned to a country that no longer had a place for her. The record rests almost entirely on a single source: "En Coree" a memoir published in 1904 by Hippolyte Frandin, France's second minister to Korea. Scholars have argued for years over how much truth there is in his account. That patchy record is where pansori singer Shin Jin-won started, spinning a tale of a woman barely mentioned in archives. "I suppose it comes down to imagination," Shin during a written interview with The Korea Times. "It started with imagination, and director Lee Wang-soo helped enormously in carrying it through. He expanded that world far beyond what I had imagined myself." Shin, a transmission-certified holder of pansori — a traditional style of Korean narrative performance by a singer accompanied by a drum — performed "Li-Tsin: A Woman Without a Name" on Sept. 12 at t

Sep 25, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

Joseon court dancer crossed to Paris; Pansori singer brings her home

K-pop

ONEUS sidesteps '7-year curse,' full lineup returns for 12th EP

For K-pop groups, the seventh year is supposedly cursed. Standard exclusive contracts usually are set to expire around that point, and members start weighing solo careers, new agencies or leaving the industry altogether. For boy band ONEUS, members say that reckoning never really arrived, and agreeing to stay together took far less discussion than deciding where to do it. The five-member boy group — Seoho, Leedo, Keonhee, Hwanwoong and Xion — will release its 12th EP, "FIRST LIGHT: 井," at 6 p.m., Wednesday. It is the group's first release as a full lineup since Seoho was discharged from mandatory military service in August, and their first album since all five moved together to B-Wave Entertainment earlier this year. ONEUS debuted under RBW in January 2019 and parted ways with the agency when their contracts ended in February. At the members' request, B-Wave acquired the ONEUS-related intellectual property from RBW, which allowed the five to carry on under the same name. "There weren't really any difficulties," Keonhee said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Monday.

Sep 23, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

ONEUS sidesteps '7-year curse,' full lineup returns for 12th EP

Arts & Theater

Winner of this year's Korea Musical Awards best actress returns as 'Dracula' heroine

Among Korean musical fans, actor Cho Jung-eun has long been known as the "Seonnyeo" onstage — the celestial maiden from Korean folklore — ever since she appeared in the costume in "Pimatgol Yeonga" in 2010. The nickname has since followed her through a string of graceful, emotionally charged heroines, from Emma in "Jekyll & Hyde" to Fantine in "Les Misérables." Offstage, however, the actor says she is nothing of the sort. "My everyday personality isn't emotional at all," Cho said during an interview with The Korea Times in central Seoul, Tuesday. "I like things clear, sharp and distinct. I like feedback to be sharp and straightforward too. Meaningless praise actually scares me." That approach has carried her through a quarter century on stage. Cho, who debuted in 2001 as an ensemble member of the Seoul Performing Arts Company, marks her 25th anniversary this year, months after winning best actress at the 10th Korea Musical Awards for her role in "The Bridges of Madison County." She is now back as Mina in "Dracula," a role she first played in the show's 2014 Korean premiere and is re

Sep 22, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

Music

AI music is already charting. Korea is slow to respond

An artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted song's entry into Melon's Top 100 chart has exposed a regulatory vacuum over AI music in Korea, just weeks after the country's largest music copyright collective withdrew its first attempt to allow the registration of such works. "Forest of the Heart," released in May by YouTube creator Joseon HipHop, peaked at No. 89 on the Top 100 chart and No. 99 on the daily chart for Melon, one of the country's top streaming platforms, according to Yonhap News Agency. The creator wrote the lyrics and produced the melody and vocals using Suno, a generative music AI service. The track became popular by word of mouth, especially among listeners in their 40s. The song has since dropped out of both charts, but its run showed that AI-assisted music can already reach mainstream listeners here, well before rules on authorship and royalties are in place. In March, the Board of Audit and Inspection said 29 composers had submitted more than 200 songs each to the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) in 2024, and roughly 5,200 of those songs showed signs of generativ

Sep 21, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

AI music is already charting. Korea is slow to respond

K-pop

NCT 127 makes missing members part of Seoul show

The loudest KSPO Dome got on Sunday, where K-pop boy band NCT 127 wrapped the Seoul leg of its "NEO CITY – THE REDLINE" tour, had less to do with anyone standing onstage. Midway through "Ay-Yo," the screens cut to members Doyoung and Jungwoo, both away on military service. Their verses played out on video while the five who were actually there held the floor, as an audience that had already been loud for more than an hour found another register. That turned out to be the logic of the entire show. The fifth tour by the SM Entertainment act, which debuted a decade ago as a nine-piece group, opened with four of those members off the stage — two have left the group, while Doyoung and Jungwoo are serving in the military. Rather than detouring around the gaps, the production kept putting them in front of the crowd. The three-night run, which opened Friday, drew about 31,500 fans. It was the group's first headlining show in Korea in a year and eight months, and the first tour with the five-member lineup of Taeyong, Johnny, Yuta, Jaehyun and Haechan. The night opened with the five strung up o

Sep 20, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

NCT 127 makes missing members part of Seoul show

K-pop

BTS, BLACKPINK lead K-pop charge in Best Group race at MTV VMAs

K-pop-linked acts make up half of the Best Group race at this year's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with BTS seeking to reclaim a title it held four years running and BLACKPINK looking to defend the trophy it took home last year. MTV announced nominees for four social media vote categories Friday (local time), naming BTS, BLACKPINK, rookie boy group CORTIS and global girl group KATSEYE for Best Group. They will compete against British girl group FLO and U.S. acts Fuerza Regida, Geese and Twenty One Pilots. The addition brings BTS' nomination tally to three for the event, following earlier nods for Song of the Year and Best K-pop for "SWIM," the lead track of its fifth studio album, "ARIRANG." The septet won Best Group four consecutive times from 2019 to 2022, the most by any act in the category's history. CORTIS also has three nominations. Last month, the group earned its first-ever VMA nods for Best New Artist and for Best K-pop with April's "REDRED." The five-member group, which launched just over a year ago, is the most recently debuted act in the Best Group lineup. KATSEYE received f

Sep 20, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS, BLACKPINK lead K-pop charge in Best Group race at MTV VMAs

People & Events

K-indie music heads to Berlin with Chang Ki-ha, Catch The Young

Korean indie musicians will take the stage in Berlin this weekend, as a festival there sets out to show European audiences that Korean music stretches well beyond K-pop. The Korean Cultural Center in Germany will hold the K-INDIE ON Festival 2026 — No Borders, Just RocK! during the weekend (local time) at Saalchen, a concert venue in the German capital, featuring indie acts Catch The Young, Bongjeingan, Kim Seung-joo and Chang Ki-ha. Now in its fourth edition, the festival has been held annually since 2023 to introduce the wide range of genres and styles in Korean music. Five-piece indie band Catch The Young, formed in 2023, and alternative rock trio Bongjeingan will open the festival at 7 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, Kim, a singer-songwriter who gained attention with the 2023 song "Shonen Manga," will perform before Chang closes the festival. Chang, who helped bring Korean indie music into the mainstream as the frontman of rock band Kiha & The Faces from 2008 to 2018, plans to perform songs from his first solo studio album, "Sansanjogak," released Sept. 9. Last year's edition drew abou

Sep 17, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

Pyo Kyung-min

Read more

BTS' RM to feature personal art collection at SFMOMA

Fin.K.L's return revives legacy of 1st-gen K-pop

BTS wins Song of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAs

Joseon court dancer crossed to Paris; Pansori singer brings her home

ONEUS sidesteps '7-year curse,' full lineup returns for 12th EP

Winner of this year's Korea Musical Awards best actress returns as 'Dracula' heroine

AI music is already charting. Korea is slow to respond

NCT 127 makes missing members part of Seoul show

BTS, BLACKPINK lead K-pop charge in Best Group race at MTV VMAs

K-indie music heads to Berlin with Chang Ki-ha, Catch The Young

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