BLACKPINK, 'Kingdom' writer make Variety's list of notable women

K-pop titan BLACKPINK / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

By Park Han-sol

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Kim Eun-hee, the writer of Netflix zombie thriller series “Kingdom,” were dubbed women who have made notable achievements in the global entertainment scene by Variety last week.

The American entertainment trade magazine published a list online featuring 54 women from around the world under the theme “Women That Have Made an Impact in Global Entertainment” in celebration of the March 8 International Women's Day.

The quartet BLACKPINK rewrote K-pop history alongside their male counterparts, the megastar BTS in 2020. “The past year has seen them cement their superstardom ― in a lockdown year, without touring,” Variety wrote.

They dropped a number of hit tracks with global pop stars including Lady Gaga (“Sour Candy”), Selena Gomez (“Ice Cream”) and Cardi B (“Bet You Wanna”). The group's “How You Like That” music video soared past 100 million views on YouTube in just 32 hours after its release in June, making a new record before BTS' “Dynamite” took over.

The group's popularity also reached beyond the realm of music with their Netflix documentary “Light Up the Sky” released in October depicting their meteoric rise to fame.

The magazine introduced writer Kim Eun-hee's “Kingdom” into “which she folded two hot genres ― historical drama and zombie action thriller” alongside her other upcoming projects this year.

These include “Kingdom: Ashin of the North,” a spin-off of the hit series centering on the character Ashin who appeared at the very end of the show's second season, and mystery thriller “Mount Jiri” for tvN and China's iQiyi.

Kim's works are one of many that are representative of the rapid evolution that Korea's scripted drama series have undergone in recent years.

Also included on the list was Kim Min-young, vice president of content for Netflix in Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, as one of “The Women of Netflix.” She is responsible for delivering the second season of “Kingdom,” the monster horror series “Sweet Home,” and Korea's first sci-fi blockbuster “Space Sweepers” on the streaming platform.

“We believe and have seen that when you tell a local story that is authentic, it resonates globally,” Kim was quoted as saying.