Singer Lim Young-woong's first LP on course to become million seller

Korean trot singer Lim Young-woong / Courtesy of Mulgogi Music

The first full-length album by Korean trot sensation Lim Young-woong is on the verge of becoming a million seller as its preorders have already surpassed that number, according to the album's distributor Tuesday.

Dreamus Company said "Im Hero" has scored preorders of 1 million in and out of the country since April 1, a record high for any album released by an individual artist in the 2000s.

The company, however, did not give an exact number.

Lim rose to stardom following his appearance on cable channel TV Chosun's hit audition show "Mr. Trot" (2020) for male singers of trot music, a genre popular among middle-aged and older Koreans. "Im Hero" marks the singer's first physical album ever.

Since his debut in 2016, the 30-year-old artist has charted high on major domestic music charts whenever he dropped new songs.

The first LP, released in four formats Monday, actually sold 940,000 copies that day, according to Hanteo Chart, a local album sales tracker. The total is expected to top 1 million by Tuesday.

Baekhyun, a member of K-pop boy group EXO, is the only K-pop solo artist with one or more albums that sold more than 1 million in recent years. He hit the milestone twice with EPs "Delight" in 2020 and "Bambi" in 2021.

"Im Hero" consists of 12 songs of diverse genres in which many famous K-pop musicians participated. The lead track "If We Ever Meet Again" is a ballad number written and composed by singer Lee Juck. The album also includes "Our Blues, Our Life," a pre-released soundtrack song for the popular tvN TV series "Our Blues."

The album has also been heating up local music charts with all 12 tracks charted in the top 30 of the real-time chart of the country's largest music streaming platform Melon as of 11 a.m. "Our Blues, Our Life" was at No. 4 and the lead track "If We Ever Meet Again" at No. 9 on the chart. (Yonhap)