SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - "APT." sung by Rosé, a member of South Korean girl band BLACKPINK, has remained at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive weeks, making it the highest-ranked song on the American chart by any K-pop female artist. The collaborative song with American pop star Bruno Mars made its entry into the top 10 of the U.S. Hot 100 at No. 8 at the time of its release in October last year and has since stayed on the chart, slightly moving up

SEOUL, January 15 (AJP) - Seven-member boy band KickFlip will make their debut next week. "KickFlip will kick off their activities on Jan. 20 with the release of their first mini album, 'Flip It, Kick It!'," said their agency JYP Entertainment on Wednesday. Comprising five South Koreans and two Japanese, a couple of them including rapper Kyehoon have gained some recognition through their appearance on terrestrial broadcaster SBS' audition program "LOUD,"

SEOUL, January 14 (AJP) - K-pop juggernaut BTS' hit song "Dynamite" has garnered over 2 billion streams on Spotify. According to their agency BigHit Music on Tuesday, the septet boy band became the first K-pop act to achieve the milestone on the world's largest music streaming site with a single track. Known for its upbeat rhythm, the song helped them reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its release in 2020 and also earned a Grammy nomination th

SEOUL, January 13 (AJP) - Rookie girl band Hearts2Hearts will make their debut next month. SM Entertainment said on Monday that the eight members of its new girl band are preparing for their debut on Feb. 24. They will become the talent mill's first girl group in about five years, following the debut of aespa in 2020. The announcement came just a day after SM unexpectedly unveiled a teaser video for the group during their 30th anniversary concert, "SMTOWN LIVE 2025," h

SEOUL, December 27 (AJP) - Rookie girl band ILLIT set a new record on Spotify with their debut single, reaching 500 million views on the global streaming site. The quintet's single "Magnetic" has amassed over 503.58 million streams, achieving the feat in the shortest time among debut tracks of K-pop acts, their agency said on Friday. Released in March 2024, the song captures the moments of magnetic attraction to a crush, portraying the journey of realizing and expre

SEOUL, December 24 (AJP) - K-pop boy band Stray Kids' latest album "Hop" made history for a South Korean act by reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for the sixth time. Billboard said last Sunday that the album ranked first after earning 187,000 equivalent album units for the week ending Dec. 19 in the U.S. It praised the eight-member band achieved a historic milestone by securing the top spot on the chart with six consecutive albums, a feat unprecedente

SEOUL, November 26 (AJP) - Jungkook, a member of boy band BTS, is vying for awards at this year's Billboard Music Awards to be held in the U.S. in December. According to a list of finalists released by Billboard on Monday, Jungkook received nominations in five categories — Top Song Sales Artist, Top Global K-Pop Artist, Top K-Pop Album, Top Selling Song, and Top Global K-Pop Song — making him the most-nominated South Korean artist this year. Other South Korean nom

SEOUL, November 25 (AJP) - K-pop boy band ATEEZ topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with their latest album, the U.S. music chart said on Sunday. Their 11th mini-album "Golden Hour: Part.2" took the top spot for the week ending on Nov. 21, with over 179,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album is "the 26th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the third of 2024," Billboard said. The album explores themes of love and self-disco

SEOUL, November 20 (AJP) - Claims of workplace bullying raised by Hanni about a couple of months ago, a member of K-pop girl band NewJeans was dismissed, in a decision made by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday. The ministry said that she cannot be regarded as a typical employee under South Korean labor laws where workers are entitled to certain protections, so it decided to close the case. The ministry explained, "Hanni cannot be classified as a waged worker,