BLACKPINK meets fans for 10th anniversaryK-pop girl group BLACKPINK marked its 10th debut anniversary Saturday with a meet-and-greet for 40 fans at the National Museum of Korea (NMK) in Seoul, closing a week during which the group's fandom accused its agency of mishandling the milestone. All four members — Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé — attended. It was the first time the group appeared before fans in Korea since its Goyang concerts in July last year. "Today is the day BLACKPINK turns 10," Jisoo said on a Weverse live broadcast before the Saturday event. "It's an important day for us." Rosé said the decade had gone by in a blur, and that it did not feel like 10 years had passed. She then brought out a cake topped with a "10" candle and handed each member a bouquet, prompting Jennie to call her "the romanticist of our team." Lisa said she had been too nervous to eat and had listened to BLACKPINK songs while getting her hair and makeup done. Jisoo also used the broadcast to address criticism of the event. "We originally wanted to see many more people," she said. "We knew this was an important day, but there seems to have beeAug 9, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
'Silver ARMY' reshapes BTS fandomVicki Ronn, a professor of English at Friends University and a BTS fan in her 60s, gave her adult son a vinyl copy of BTS member J-Hope's solo album "Jack in the Box," turning him into a dedicated fan. Ronn discovered the group in 2020. Watching BTS perform "On" in front of New York's Grand Central Terminal on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" sparked her interest. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was captivated by their dynamic stage performance and soon fell in love with their lyrics. "'Black Swan' is a song about the fear of losing your passion for what you love," Ronn told the Hankook Ilbo at Jeonbuk National University on Sunday. "Listening to it made me reflect on how I had been losing my passion as a scholar." 89-year-old American sparks fandom shift Ronn was among many who traveled to Korea to attend a BTS conference at Jeonbuk National University. Her presentation explored ideas of aging, participatory culture and the reimagining of women, examining how BTS has transformed the lives of older fans abroad and the new social relationships they are building through fanAug 8, 2026By Hankookilbo
RESCENE's rise exposes price of media spotlight“Miracle” seems a fitting word to describe what RESCENE and its leader, Woni, have experienced over the past few months. Member Minami's innocent cry of “Geoje yah-ho” in a YouTube video became a viral meme, while the group’s song “Love Attack,” released two years earlier, began climbing the charts. Almost overnight, RESCENE became one of Korea’s most talked-about K-pop groups, its music heard across the country. For Woni and the other members, such attention was a first since their debut. Soon, however, they came to realize the dark side of fame and life in the spotlight. Not long after the group began taking center stage, a series of rumors and allegations targeting Woni began circulating online. The first was a claim that she had used language associated with Ilbe, a controversial far-right online community, in a YouTube video. Her passing remark in dialect — “museupno” — was called out by a producer at a regional broadcaster based in the area where the dialect is spoken. The accusation sparked a fierce online dispute over whether Woni’s remark was an authentAug 7, 2026By Hankookilbo
From BIGBANG to BLACKPINK: The man behind YG's viral performance videosExecutive producer Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment centers his production on the fundamentals of music and performance. YG Entertainment has released approximately 170 performance and dance practice videos to date. Of these, 69 are categorized as official performance videos, generating a combined 7 billion views. Yang directly oversaw all these projects from initial planning to choreography and final video editing. Performance is a core element that defines an artist's identity alongside music in K-pop. While conventional dance practice videos primarily document stage formations and movement, YG’s performance videos use dynamic editing to highlight the choreography’s distinctive appeal. Observers say this approach elevates choreography into a standalone visual medium, capturing angles and movements that are difficult to fit entirely into standard music videos. Yang's production decisions and persistence fueled this success. Even as short-form content became dominant, the company recognized the global expansion of YouTube early in BLACKPINK’s career and invested heavily in develoAug 7, 2026By Xportsnews
BLACKPINK's 10th anniversary event sparks backlash as only 40 fans invitedBLACKPINK finally unveiled plans to celebrate its 10th debut anniversary, but instead of excitement, the announcement has fueled frustration among fans over what many see as limited access and restrictive eligibility rules. On Thursday, the K-pop group's agency shared a notice through fan platform Weverse announcing a special event to thank fans for supporting BLACKPINK over the past decade. The event is scheduled for Saturday, the group's official debut anniversary. However, the announcement revealed few details. The exact time and venue were not disclosed publicly, with organizers saying the location would only be shared with selected attendees. Only 40 fans will be invited. The limited scale of the event quickly drew criticism online. Fans questioned why such a milestone celebration would be restricted to just 40 participants and why applications were accepted exclusively through Weverse, a platform where the members have had little activity over the past year. Another major point of contention involved eligibility. Only fans who had purchased a Weverse membership by July 31 could appAug 7, 2026By Xportsnews
BLACKPINK to mark 10th anniversary with fan event in SeoulK-pop girl group BLACKPINK will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its debut with a small-scale meet-and-greet for fans in Seoul, bringing all four members together for a rare domestic fan appearance, industry sources said Friday. The quartet is scheduled to attend the event Saturday, the date of its debut in 2016, at an undisclosed venue in the capital with 40 selected fans, according to the sources. It will be the first time that all four have appeared together for fans in Korea since July last year, when the group held a stop of its "Deadline" world tour in Goyang in the northwestern suburbs of Seoul. Since debuting under YG Entertainment in 2016, BLACKPINK has become one of the most influential acts in global pop, turning each release into a chart-topping hit, and extending its reach into fashion, luxury branding and advertising. Its 2022 album "Born Pink" made history as the first by a female K-pop act to top the U.S. Billboard 200, while also reaching number one on the British Official Albums Top 100. In February, the group returned with its third EP, "Deadline," its first group projAug 7, 2026By Yonhap
BLACKPINK marks 10th anniversary with National Museum heritage collectionK-pop powerhouse girl group BLACKPINK is set to release a merchandise line created with MU:DS, the official goods brand of Korea's national museums, to celebrate the group's 10th debut anniversary, according to YG Plus, Wednesday. The BLACKPINK HERITAGE COLLECTION, comprising seven items, draws inspiration from the "jeogui wonbon," a garment pattern for an empress's ceremonial robe housed at the National Museum of Korea (NMK). Painted on traditional "hanji" paper, the pattern features 12 rows of pheasant motifs symbolizing the empress, alongside plum blossom designs representing the imperial household of the Korean Empire. Developed under the slogan "Heritage, Where Time Becomes Value," the collection "reinterprets the royal motifs through the group's visual identity, presenting itself as a branding project rather than conventional artist merchandise," according to YG Plus. The items go on display Saturday at the merch shop inside the museum's permanent exhibition hall, with preorders opening the same day on YG SELECT's online stores in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. Online ordeAug 7, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Hyunjin vs. Felix? Stray Kids stars steal the spotlight in contrasting suitsStray Kids members Hyunjin and Felix drew attention with sharply contrasting takes on the classic black suit, proving why they are widely regarded by fans as two of the group's standout visuals. The pair appeared Thursday at the Conrad Seoul in Yeongdeungpo District for a press conference celebrating the release of Stray Kids' new mini album, “THIS & THAT.” Although both wore black formal attire, their distinct styling created dramatically different impressions, prompting a barrage of camera flashes from attending media. Hyunjin opted for a satin double-breasted jacket with a subtle sheen, paired with flowing trousers that accentuated his tall frame. A deep neckline layered with necklaces, combined with his long black mullet, completed a dark, dreamy look that highlighted the fashion-forward image he has become known for. Felix, by contrast, embraced understated elegance with a minimalist single-breasted jacket featuring satin lapels. The clean silhouette and tailored slacks emphasized a refined aesthetic, while his signature blond hair and fair complexion created a striking contrasAug 6, 2026By Xportsnews
Stray Kids returns with genre-fluid mini album 'THIS & THAT'K-pop powerhouse Stray Kids returns Friday with "THIS & THAT," an eight-track EP built around the group's ability to move between genres without losing its identity. The release follows last year's mixtape "DO IT," which made Stray Kids the first act to debut eight consecutive releases at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Speaking at a press event in Seoul on Thursday, a day before the album's release, the eight members appeared in coordinated suits to discuss the making of the album and share behind-the-scenes stories. "It's been so long since our last comeback that every part of the schedule feels exciting," Changbin said. "We held concerts in Seoul last month, and I hope we can carry that energy into this album." The members described the title track, "This & That," as a departure from the group's previous singles, favoring a more relaxed and approachable sound over its usual intensity. "This time we went in a different direction — a little more chill and relaxed," Changbin said. "Like the title, we wanted to express the confidence of being good at this and that." He said the group intentioAug 6, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BLACKPINK marks decade of rewriting K-pop's global playbookWhen K-pop girl group BLACKPINK debuted on Aug. 8, 2016, with the double lead tracks "Whistle" and "Boombayah," the quartet arrived under the weight of expectations as YG Entertainment's first girl group since 2NE1. Ten years later, as the group celebrates its anniversary Saturday, that debut reads less like the launch of another idol act and more like the starting point of a structural shift in how K-pop meets the world. BLACKPINK's significance within K-pop rests on a simple distinction — Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa were the first K-pop girl group to be consumed not as a regional phenomenon but as global pop. The numbers built the case. With the 2022 studio album "Born Pink," the group topped both the Billboard 200 and the U.K. Official Albums Chart, a feat achieved among K-pop acts only by boy band BTS. It was the first Billboard 200 No. 1 by any girl group since Danity Kane in 2008, and the first simultaneous conquest of the two charts by a female pop group since Destiny's Child in 2001. In 2023, BLACKPINK became the first K-pop act to headline Coachella, and the group later becaAug 6, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
