Mina ParkRosé will perform at LACMA's Art+Film Gala
LACMA booked Rosé as the musical guest for its November 7 Art+Film Gala, honoring Vija Celmins and Denis Villeneuve. She has already attended the dinner twice.
Image: SWinxy (CC BY 4.0)
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K Pop
69 stories on k pop across film, TV, music, fashion, food, and diaspora culture.
Browse Goldscene coverage tagged k pop. For how we source and write stories, see our editorial standards.
K Pop stories
YG wouldn't license BLACKPINK's music for 'Always Lalisa'
Sue Kim says YG would not license BLACKPINK's music or footage for Always Lalisa. The documentary opens in IMAX and theaters October 12, then on YouTube Premium later this year.
Image: Outhere505 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
i-dle's Soyeon wins Music Core with 'I'm gonna TOESA'
Jeon So-yeon won Show! Music Core on October 10 with I'm gonna TOESA, 6,670 points to BOYNEXTDOOR's 4,667. It is the song's third music-show win.
Image: K-POPIT (CC BY 3.0)
BTS’s Arirang tour just crossed $500M. No pop group had done that before
Billboard Boxscore says BTS’s Arirang world tour has surpassed $500 million in ticket sales, the first pop group to hit that mark on one tour. About 40 shows remain, with a possible path toward $1 billion.
Image: Elwin594 (CC0)
Stray Kids sat out the Grammys. The Academy kept its Asian pop category anyway
JYP confirmed Stray Kids filed nothing for the 2027 Grammys, joining BTS after Harvey Mason Jr. said Best Asian Pop Music Performance will proceed. The group can still vote. Their music will not compete.
Image: K-POPIT (CC BY 4.0)
Anika RaoNetflix just put KPop Demon Hunters 2 on the same theatrical shelf as Narnia
At Bloomberg Screentime, Ted Sarandos said the KPop Demon Hunters sequel will get a very broad theatrical release, the same four-quadrant lane as Narnia and Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory.
Image: Shelby Lee (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Inside the K-pop star machine: where the stars come from and how they get big
Private academies, years of trainee contracts, and survival shows. That is still how BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and the HYBE groups after them reached a stage this size.
Image: Big Hit Music
Stray Kids open STRAYCITY in Mexico City tonight
Two sold-out nights at Estadio GNP Seguros, Sept. 25-26. NEXZ plus Mexican openers RENEE and Andrés Obregón. Mexico's president named the show Thursday and floated a BTS 2027 return that HYBE has not confirmed.
Image: Live Nation
TUIDE just topped Billboard's Emerging Artists chart
HYBE's new girl group TUIDE just got its first Billboard week: No. 1 on Emerging Artists, World Albums No. 3, Top Album Sales No. 8. The debut EP already cleared 112,000 first-week copies at home.
Image: ABD / The Korea Times
Bulgari names Ningning a global ambassador
Bulgari named aespa's Ningning a brand ambassador on Sept. 21. The first pictures put her in Divas' Dream earrings and a Serpenti watch, months after she wore the house to the Met.
Image: Bulgari
HYBE Cine Fest goes global, with BTS live from South America
BTS is in Argentina for the first time, and HYBE is selling that night to multiplexes worldwide. Oct. 24-31, more than 60 territories, tickets Sept. 30.
Image: HYBE / Trafalgar Releasing
The Goldscene DeskKATSEYE: the multicultural girl group still built on K-pop training
KATSEYE is a six-member Los Angeles girl group formed by HYBE and Geffen through Dream Academy. The lineup is multinational. The training, fandom tools, and stage discipline still come from K-pop.
Image: Warmtoned (CC BY 4.0)
Rhea Raj just got the first Republic × HYBE joint deal
The older Raj sister signed the first joint Republic × HYBE America deal, with 5 Junction Management in the room. Lara is already at HYBE × Geffen. Rhea spent a decade getting there on her own terms.
Image: Angel Rivera
Stray Kids just headlined a rock-festival main stage. Here's what that means for music
Stray Kids became the first K-pop act to headline Rock in Rio's Palco Mundo, drawing about 100,000 fans on a night that also let lightsticks into the grounds for the first time since 1985.
Image: Rock in Rio
After Heeseung left ENHYPEN, EVAN sold 461,000 copies on day one
Six months after leaving ENHYPEN, EVAN's DEATH OF ME sold 461,488 copies on Hanteo day one. He stayed at BELIFT, rebranded, dropped Ride or Die in June, and wrote across the mini.
Image: SBS Radio 에라오 (CC BY 4.0)
KATSEYE's first Billboard 200 No. 1 asks what counts as K-pop now
Wild opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Aug. 29 with 170,000 equivalent album units, the biggest week an all-woman group has posted since the chart switched to consumption units in 2014. Two of KATSEYE's six members are sitting out the victory lap.
Image: HYBE x Geffen / Julian Song
Lara Raj finally got her name in the credits
Unloveu is Lara Raj's first songwriting and production credit on a KATSEYE release, written with Amy Allen and Ross Golan and buried on the Target edition of Wild. It landed the same week the EP hit No. 1.
Image: David Lee (CC BY 4.0)
Stray Kids’ 3.28 Million Week Makes Nine-for-Nine Look Inevitable
THIS & THAT sold 3,289,269 copies on Hanteo and is tracking toward Stray Kids’ ninth straight Billboard 200 No. 1, with the group’s biggest U.S. week yet.
Image: JYP Entertainment
A Baby Shark child star is trying to become a singer without staying a meme
Park Geon-roung, the boy from Pinkfong’s 17-billion-view Baby Shark Dance, returns Aug. 20 as Baby Shark Boy with WAVE, featuring Monsta X’s Joohoney. The harder job is building an adult voice next to the internet’s biggest kids’ clip.
Image: The Pinkfong Company
TEMPEST’s Hanbin is rising by putting Vietnam on the solo frame
TEMPEST’s first soloist drops No Fear on Aug. 24 with a modern áo dài concept and the HEU’NG HANBIN coinage. Vietnam is in the styling, not just the bio line.
Image: YH Entertainment
KATSEYE’s new concert film wants to replace pop perfection with something messier
KATSEYE: WILD HEARTS hits theaters August 12, two days before the WILD EP and weeks before the Wildworld Tour, with Sophia and Manon on mental-health hiatus. The film is selling raw authenticity from a group built by HYBE and Geffen’s Dream Academy machine.
Image: Trafalgar Releasing / HYBE x Geffen
NOL World Is Turning K-Pop Fandom Into a Korea Travel Platform
NOL World, the inbound platform born from Interpark Global, just opened standalone Korea lodging for international travelers, with venue-proximate search aimed at concert nights. The pitch is one app for tickets, stays, tours, and transport.
Image: NOL World / NOL Universe
Hanbin: the first Vietnamese male K-pop idol, from Hanoi dance floors to TEMPEST
Ngô Ngọc Hưng, known as Hanbin, left Hanoi dance crew C.A.C. for I-LAND, debuted with TEMPEST in 2022 as the first Vietnamese male K-pop idol, and opens a solo lane with No Fear in 2026.
Image: 권현진 / News1
Spotify is building its largest Seoul pop-up yet, and Seongsu is the point
Spotify House returns to Anderson C in Seongsu September 10–13 for four days of concerts and experience programming, billed as the platform’s largest Korea footprint yet. The story is less the lineup than why a streaming app keeps renting Seoul’s pop-up laboratory.
Image: Spotify
Audrey Nuna is converting Mira fame into her own era
After singing Mira in KPop Demon Hunters and riding Golden through the Hot 100 and awards season, Audrey Nuna drops superHuman on Republic with Cirkut, her first solo since Trench and a VCT Pacific Stage 2 anthem.
Image: Ajt9 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
BTS is boycotting the Grammys’ new Asian pop category. Do they have a point?
All seven BTS members will not submit for the 2027 Grammys after the Recording Academy created Best Asian Pop Music Performance. The fight is whether a dedicated spotlight expands recognition or contains artists who already compete as global pop.
Image: Dispatch (CC BY 3.0)
The concert is only the beginning. K-pop is turning cities into destinations.
Around BTS’s Arirang tour, host cities stack hotels, pop-ups, welcome centers, and stamp rallies onto stadium nights. Fans stay longer, spend more, and treat the show as the center of a temporary destination economy.
Image: Ganbaruby (CC BY-SA 4.0)
BIGBANG’s 20th is stadium infrastructure with a sold-out clock
BIGBANG’s XX:COSMOS tour opens Aug. 21–23 in Goyang after a 210,000-person ticket queue, with a free Han River anniversary night on Aug. 19 that sold out in six minutes.
Image: YG Entertainment
Stray Kids are not teasing a comeback. They are booking like a stadium economy.
Stray Kids drop THIS & THAT on Aug. 7 mid-RUN IT tour, with five Seoul sellouts already done and Japan National Stadium, Rock in Rio, and STRAYCITY still ahead.
Image: JYP Entertainment
Cortis is rising as a capacity problem, not a discovery problem
Big Hit Music's first boy group in six years is under a year old and already selling out arenas, hitting Billboard No. 3, and spilling into 870 movie theaters. Cortis is rising as inventory math, not a slow-burn debut.
Image: Big Hit Music / The Korea Herald
Ji-young Yoo is the face of the next studio K-pop bet
Colorado-born Ji-young Yoo went from Tribeca and Expats to Zoey's speaking voice in Netflix's most-watched film. Now she leads Paramount and HYBE's K-Pop: The Debut, due February 26, 2027.
Image: Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Jihyo told ONCE her heart is heavy. TWICE's JYP renewal is the story.
TWICE leader Jihyo posted on Bubble that her heart feels heavy while JYP contract renewal talks continue, promising a careful decision and affirming she loves the group.
Image: David Lee (CC BY 4.0)
BTS's Arirang is back in the Billboard 200 Top 10. The World Cup helped.
Arirang jumps 26 to 9 on the Billboard 200 dated Aug. 1 after a special vinyl push and BTS's World Cup final Dynamite set, putting the March album back in the Top 10 four months later.
Image: Big Hit Music
Cortis is taking its LA tour stop to 870 movie theaters
Big Hit Music and Trafalgar Releasing will broadcast Cortis's Aug. 13 YouTube Theater show to more than 870 cinemas in 29 countries, with tickets on sale July 31 and Lollapalooza plus a North American theater run first.
Image: Ten Asia (CC BY 4.0)
Netflix ordered HYBE America's creator-led idol factory series
Netflix ordered an untitled scripted series from YouTube Shorts star Alan Chikin Chow and HYBE America, moving their co-ed band franchise off YouTube and onto the streamer that already proved K-pop-adjacent music can chart.
Image: Reinhardt Kenneth
BTS fans blame reverse streaming for SWIM's Melon drop. Old posts cut both ways.
After IVE’s Bang Bang took Melon daily No. 1 from BTS’s SWIM, some ARMYs alleged a multi-fandom reverse-streaming plot. Melon showed no UL spike. Netizens dug up 2023 reverse-stream calls aimed at NewJeans’ Ditto.
Image: Big Hit Music
Netflix paid for BTS's Gwanghwamun comeback. HYBE kept the IP.
Industry reports put Netflix's production spend for BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang in the 10 billion won range, while HYBE kept core music and performance IP and Netflix took the global livestream.
Image: Big Hit Music / Netflix
While Dracula owns the Hot 100, Jennie wants a little less than a lover
Jennie’s first solo single of 2026, Less than a Lover, lands while her Tame Impala remix still sits at Hot 100 No. 5 and Pop Airplay No. 1. Festival soft-launch, then a quiet song about wanting less intimacy.
Image: Odd Atelier / Columbia Records
NewJeans opens summer as four, before ADOR opens a schedule
On their fourth debut anniversary, NewJeans dropped 2026 Summer of NewJeans films and photos with Minji, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein. ADOR calls it a gift for Bunnies; the schedule still waits on finished talks.
Image: ADOR / NewJeans
HITC headlined by KATSEYE asks who Asian pop is for now
Head in the Clouds returns August 8 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl with KATSEYE headlining a one-day bill that also includes XG, Rich Brian, Dabin Remix, and UMI. The interesting part is the identity flip: HITC used to prove Asia could top an LA festival; the top of the bill is now a HYBE-Geffen global group already fluent in Coachella and Hot 100 math.
Image: Goldenvoice / 88rising
Jimin turned Dior into stadium infrastructure in Paris
At BTS's sold-out Arirang nights at Stade de France, Jimin wore custom Dior stage looks tied to Jonathan Anderson's menswear, with house PR in the building and President Macron posting the red hoodie Dynamite clip. The ambassador job moved from front row to 92,000-person livestream.
Image: AJEONG JM (CC BY 4.0)
Jung Kook becomes Graff's first global ambassador in 66 years
Graff named BTS's Jung Kook its first global ambassador in 66 years and put him in the unisex Laurence Graff Signature line. The choice says as much about the jewelry house's growth plan as it does his luxury portfolio.
Image: Graff / Sølve Sundsbø
How RESCENE turned a two-year-old song into a Melon No. 1
RESCENE's 2024 single LOVE ATTACK reached No. 1 on Melon's Top 100 after a viral catchphrase led listeners back through two years of music and more than 1,500 pieces of fan content.
Image: THE MUZE Entertainment
Wild Sing hits Netflix July 31: Gang Dong-won's Y2K K-pop comedy goes global
Netflix will stream Wild Sing worldwide on July 31, taking Gang Dong-won, Um Tae-goo, Park Ji-hyun, and Oh Jung-se's early-2000s co-ed idol comedy from Korean theaters to a 32-language subtitle rollout.
Image: TV10 (CC BY 3.0)
Jay-Z's MarcyPen opens a Seoul joint venture with Hanwha Asset Management
MarcyPen Capital Partners and Hanwha Asset Management launched MarcyPen Asia in Seoul, a 60/40 joint venture aimed at growth-stage K-content and lifestyle brands with global expansion potential.
Image: Hanwha Asset Management
Paramount sets K-Pop: The Debut for February 26, 2027
Paramount and HYBE America locked the title K-Pop: The Debut and a February 26, 2027 theatrical date for Benson Lee's live-action K-pop survival drama, starring Ji-young Yoo and Eric Nam.
Image: Variety
Taeyeon's Korean "Bansanka" remake tops Melon's Hot 100
Taeyeon released a Korean remake of tuki's "Bansanka" on June 29. By early July it hit No. 1 on Bugs and topped Melon's 30-day Hot 100, the first entry in a J-pop cover project built for domestic streaming.
Image: Pabian (CC BY 4.0)
Cha Eun-woo: the idol-drama face navigating military pause and Netflix
Cha Eun-woo built ASTRO fandom and K-drama romantic-lead stardom, then entered South Korean military service in July 2025 while Netflix launched The Wonderfools, his pre-service superhero comedy-drama.
Image: Ten Asia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Jennie: the BLACKPINK star who charted through remix culture
Jennie Kim built BLACKPINK's rap and fashion lane, then proved solo stardom could ride Chanel campaigns, Ruby-era releases, and a Tame Impala remix that re-entered the Hot 100 top 10 in June 2026.
Image: D4cgrapher / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Group Chat Verdictmusic7 min
Is Secret Flavor nostalgia product or a new group?
Secret dropped Secret Flavor on June 18 with a three-member lineup and new vocalist Yebin after a 12-year gap. Goldscene weighs whether RBW is selling catalog comfort or betting on a second-generation reboot.
Image: RBW / Photo via Soompi
ATEEZ takes Daesang at the 35th Seoul Music Awards as BTS wins Hallyu honor
The 35th Seoul Music Awards crowned ATEEZ with the Daesang on June 20 at Inspire Arena, while BTS received the Korean Wave Special Award and LE SSERAFIM took Best Song.
Image: lexatiny / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
How idol fandom logistics shape U.S. chart weeks
Hot 100 weeks are not only about streams. For K-pop and global idol acts, chart life depends on release clocks, fan purchasing coordination, vinyl variants, and U.S. time zones stans treat like shift work.
Image: Dayron Villaverde / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Lisa: the Blackpink star who turned Vegas into a K-pop residency lane
Lisa Manoban, born in Thailand and raised as Blackpink's main dancer and rapper, built a solo lane through luxury fashion, global chart hits, and a 2026 Las Vegas residency that treats K-pop like a permanent Vegas headliner category.
Image: LG전자 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
ATEEZ drops eerie BAD music video trailer ahead of Golden Hour Part 5
ATEEZ unveiled a music video trailer for BAD on June 19, the title track from GOLDEN HOUR Part.5, their 14th mini album due June 26 at 1 p.m. KST before a British Summer Time Hyde Park headline debut.
Image: KQ Entertainment / Photo via STARNEWS
Secret returns after 12 years with Secret Flavor and new member Yebin
Secret released the special mini album Secret Flavor on June 18 at 6 p.m. KST, marking a 12-year group hiatus with a trio lineup of Jeon Hyosung, Jung Hana, and new vocalist Yebin under RBW, led by the title track Ice Cream.
Image: RBW / Photo via STARNEWS
Stray Kids' Felix named face of Korea's 2026 Hanbok Wave campaign
Felix of Stray Kids was named the Ministry of Culture's 2026 Hanbok Wave artist on June 17, partnering with five domestic hanbok brands on designs, pictorials, and billboards in Seoul, New York, Paris, and Milan.
Image: Jason Hargrove / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
U-Know Yunho launches his first solo Asia tour with SCENE#1
TVXQ's U-Know Yunho announced U-KNOW PROJECT 26 : SCENE#1, a seven-city Asia solo tour opening with three sold-out nights in Seoul before stops in Macau, Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Jakarta, and Hong Kong.
Image: The Korea Times
Katseye's Pinky Up climbs back to No. 85 on the Hot 100
Katseye's Pinky Up rose five spots to No. 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the chart dated June 20, staying on the list for an eighth cumulative week after peaking at No. 28 in April.
Image: Dthomas246 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
BTS unlocks Come Over on streaming for FESTA and a Busan anniversary weekend
BTS released Come Over on global streaming June 12 as the centerpiece of FESTA 2026, after the track had been vinyl-only on ARIRANG since April.
Image: Monbmon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
LE SSERAFIM, Illit, and Katseye drop Hybe's triple-group single Iconic by Mistake
LE SSERAFIM, Illit, and Katseye released the joint single Iconic by Mistake on June 12, after debuting the track on M Countdown as a rare cross-group Hybe project.
Image: Wikimedia Commons contributor
Jung Kyung-ho and Sooyoung end 14 years without a scandal attached
Actor Jung Kyung-ho and Girls' Generation's Sooyoung ended their 14-year relationship in June 2026. Both agencies confirmed the split and framed what comes next as collegial, not chaotic.
Image: Composite (modified): 셀러게이트; 티비텐 (CC BY 3.0)
TXT's Yeonjun opens a free Petra Collins photo show in Seoul
A free Seoul exhibition of about 90 Petra Collins photos of Tomorrow X Together's Yeonjun runs through June 21 at a Seongsu-dong pop-up tied to Vogue Salon.
Image: Vanbasten 23 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
TREASURE's NEW WAV sweeps Japan and Korea in the same comeback week
TREASURE's fourth mini album NEW WAV debuted at No. 1 on Oricon and Billboard Japan while crossing one million first-week copies on Hanteo, ahead of three Seoul arena shows June 19–21.
Image: YG Entertainment
Jennie's Tame Impala remix puts Dracula back in the Hot 100 top 10
A Tame Impala remix featuring BLACKPINK's Jennie rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the second BLACKPINK member with a solo top-10 hit after Rosé.
Image: The Korea Times
Warner Music Korea partners with Feelghood Music on BIBI
Warner Music Korea formed a global partnership with Feelghood Music to represent BIBI for worldwide release and promotion, timed to her single BUMPA and more than one billion streams in the past year.
Image: Hipposonic Studios / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Group Chat Verdictmusic7 min
Did ATEEZ deserve the Seoul Music Awards Daesang in summer 2026?
ATEEZ took the Daesang at the 35th Seoul Music Awards while BTS won the Korean Wave honor and LE SSERAFIM swept song categories. Goldscene weighs whether the trophy matches the summer 2026 sales and touring map.
Image: lexatiny / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Group Chat Verdictmusic7 min
Are HYBE's joint girl-group singles fan magic or roster overload?
LE SSERAFIM, Illit, and Katseye shared Iconic by Mistake in June 2026 while SMA trophies and Hot 100 heat stacked the same week. Goldscene weighs whether HYBE's cross-group singles help fans or fatigue them.
Image: @_TV10 (CC BY 3.0)
What Lisa's Colosseum ticket math means for K-pop travel season
Lisa's Viva La Lisa run at Caesars Colosseum priced like legacy pop residencies with presales in April 2026 and resale listings starting around $200. Goldscene maps what that sticker shock signals for K-pop fans planning November trips.
Image: Supercarwaar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
China's unofficial K-pop ban is still shaping BTS's world tour map
BTS's comeback tour skips mainland China because of a decade-long entertainment restriction a decade after Beijing quietly restricted most South Korean entertainment.
Image: Monbmon (CC BY-SA 4.0)