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Newsworthy moments in the world of K-pop last year that got less attention View the Substack version of this piece here! In no particular order, these are some of the less-discussed but just-as-interesting headlines and anecdotes from 2025 related to Korean artists and music. #1: An iconic producer duo split up after sixteen years. Black-Eyed Pilseung cited “creative differences” as to why they went their separate ways in March (although they did not confirm the split until September). Following the breakup, Choi Kyu Sung left High Up Entertainment, while Rado decided to stay. The team became famous for hit songs by CHUNG HA, TWICE, SISTAR, and many others. #2: Surprising soundtrack features The Wednesday season two soundtrack featured “Um Oh Ah Yeh” by MAMAMOO (in the episode called “Here We Woe Again”) and “BOOMBAYAH” by BLACKPINK (in the episode called “Woe Thyself”)! The team behind the show explained why here. Additionally, Netflix’s official playlist corresponding with season two of XO, Kitty included…
#3: Surprising TV show cameos Bill Gates was on You Quiz on the Block, Tom Cruise was on Jin’s “Mission Jin-Possible” YouTube special, and Stray Kids’ Felix got an NCIS: Tony & Ziva shout-out (“I even bought a Stray Kids poster to give her. Tony said she really likes the pretty one… Felix”)! #4: Los Angeles officially declared August 1 to be “KCON Day.” #5: Agency licensing problems After a series of high-profile incidents in which artists failed to properly register their newly-founded talent agencies, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism issued a registration grace period through the end of the year. Additionally, the Korean Creative Content Agency offered the owners of unregistered agencies consultation services to clear up any sources of confusion regarding the process. #6: Rolling Stone’s list of “The 250 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century So Far” included…
#7: ROSÉ was on TIME’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People of 2025.” And Lily Collins wrote the blurb about her! #8: ENHYPEN took over a theme park. Lotte World went all-out for the band’s fifth “ENniversary”! Three thousand lucky fans got to watch a concert and then enjoy ENHYPEN-themed activities throughout the park. #9: ROSÉ ended her relationship with KOMCA. ROSÉ’s contract with the Korea Music Copyright Association was effective as of 2021, she requested its termination in October of 2024, and it officially ended in January of 2025. Now, Atlantic Records is handling her copyright revenue, and although the exact reason for ROSÉ cutting ties with KOMCA has never been disclosed, a possible benefit of this new arrangement is speedier revenue processing times, considering Atlantic is a U.S.-based company. #10: The United Center gifted P1Harmony members custom Game Boys made out of 400+ LEGOs! #11: Light stick controversy In late September, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association got involved in a light stick design copyright dispute. Fans of THE BOYZ were upset to see QWER release a light stick with a similar megaphone-themed look, and the former’s agency threatened to sue the latter’s. The association issued a statement calling for a swift resolution and offered mediation services, insisting that prolonging the dispute would do long-term global reputational damage to K-pop. #12: PSY received an honorary degree from Yonsei University. #13: An art exhibit hosted BTS fans’ work! In Seoul, an event titled “The Presence in Absence: The Art of BTS Chapter 2” was held, and the number of reported visitors from outside of South Korea was around 95 percent of them! The exhibit was timed to align with BTS’s “Festa” anniversary month and Jin’s comeback concert, and it featured the art of 20 fans from 13 different countries. The event was co-curated by someone from the art consulting firm JESPER, Seo Ji-eun, and an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Yvette Wohn. #14: Coldplay’s South Korea concerts Besides TWICE opening for Coldplay on their South Korean world tour stops in April, there were some surprise cameos! ROSÉ made a surprise appearance to perform “APT.,” and separately, Jin surprised the crowd with “The Astronaut” - after first being seen in the crowd with a homemade sign asking Chris Martin to make his dream come true and bring him on stage! #15: RM’s Right People, Wrong Place documentary became a Korean Air in-flight movie option! #16: "Baby Shark" legal victory After six years, a copyright suit involving Pinkfong finally came to a close. Composer Johnny Only sued over the song “Baby Shark” allegedly copying his own, but a court in South Korea determined that the song not only didn’t copy Johnny’s, but it was in the style of a public-domain folk melody, making it fair game for any artist to use. It also stayed a good PR year for Pinkfong on other fronts; the company made its public stock market debut in November. #17: BLACKPINK appeared on Barack Obama’s annual “Favorite Music” list, for “JUMP”! #18: ALLDAY PROJECT were threatened with “the greatest legal battle of all time.” An Australian rapper named Allday, aka Tomas Henry Gaynor, first threatened to sue ALLDAY PROJECT over using “ALLDAY” in their name, then changed course and offered to drop the lawsuit (never actually filed, as of publication time) if they replaced Tarzzan with him as the group’s leader! Needless to say, ALLDAY PROJECT has not taken his offer. #19: A cool promotional tactic with poor execution To promote the mini-album ELSE, Cha Eun-Woo left a pre-recorded message for fans to hear when they called a specific phone number. Over 100,000 fans did, but enough dialed the wrong numbers and irked enough call recipients that his company had to issue an apology! #20: SKZOO’s Roblox marathon Stray Kids’ animated alter egos played on the hour, every hour, in Roblox during the weekend of December 20. #21: TWS made their Fashion Month debut! #22: PLAVE’s triumphs PLAVE made headline after headline all year long, for doing everything from becoming the first virtual K-pop act to surpass one million first-week album sales to becoming the faces of an anti-drugs campaign! But arguably the band’s most significant headlines had to do with a court verdict from May 14. Setting a new precedent, the Uijeongbu District Court determined that there is no legal distinction between defaming a virtual artist and a human one. #23: JOOPITER partnerships LISA sold some items from Celine, Balenciaga, and more high-end labels for a JOOPITER charity auction, and BamBam designed his own capsule collection for the Pharrell Williams-founded company. #24: The Korea Content Awards gave its highest honor, the Order of Cultural Merit, to KPop Demon Hunters writer/director Maggie Kang. #25: SUGA’s new center BTS member SUGA returned from his military enlistment and promptly announced the establishment of the Min Yoongi Treatment Center. The center is a music-focused autism treatment center at the Severance Hospital in Seoul. It is run by a pediatric psychiatrist and professor named Chun Geun-ah. SUGA co-developed its “MIND” therapy program, which focuses on “Music, Interaction, Network, and Diversity.” The space has soundproof rooms and designated spaces for social skills-related group meetings. SUGA’s initial five billion won donation was not only the largest of its kind in the Yonsei Medical Foundation’s history, but it was followed by BTS fans contributing a collective 200 million won more - 100 million in just under seven hours! #26: RM was a wedding MC. A stylist and close friend of RM’s, Kim Youngjin, got married in July. Not only was RM a speaker at the wedding, but the groom gave him a custom suit as a gift! #27: T.O.P was in a Netflix ad with Lil Yachty and Martha Stewart! #28: LISA released a limited-time drink at Erewhon. The “Thai up the World” drink was inspired by Thai iced tea, sold for $11 (for 20 ounces), and included unsweetened black tea, ARMRA colostrum, Clover Sonoma Organic Heavy Cream, maple syrup, vanilla powder, and cane sugar. All proceeds went to the Best Friend Animal Society! #29: There were TONS of K-pop sports partnerships. The worlds of K-pop and sports collided more than ever!
#30: KQ Entertainment prepared to go public on the stock market. The agency behind ATEEZ and xikers struck a deal with Mirae Asset Solutions to coordinate an IPO. #31: Someone robbed NANA - and she fought back! In mid-November, Guri police issued a statement confirming the arrest of someone who broke into NANA’s home while she and her mother were inside. They were threatened for money at gunpoint, but they both put up a physical fight and eventually subdued the attacker. By the time cops arrived on the scene, the suspect was lying there injured, and NANA’s mom had lost consciousness. Although NANA and her mother were legally cleared, with the official determination being that they had acted in justifiable acts of self-defense, and the attacker initially confessed to wielding a weapon, he later retracted that statement and announced a counter-suit. Sublime Artist Agency called this counter-suit “inhumane.” #32: BTS got a Little Golden Book! BTS: A Little Golden Book Biography was published September 2. #33: G-DRAGON beamed a music video into space. G-DRAGON made history when he beamed the “HOME SWEET HOME” music video into outer space! It was part of his ongoing partnership with KAIST, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Although BTS was the first K-pop act to transmit music into space, with their hit song “Dynamite,” G-DRAGON became the first to transmit music into space through a ground-based antenna. #34: BLACKPINK released limited-time Tamagotchis! #35: NAYEON got a special solo magazine cover. A special edition of tmrw starred TWICE’s NAYEON and came with both English and Korean translations. The 80+-page issue featured an in-depth album review, an interview, and lots of photos. Although it came out in January of 2025, it was made to celebrate her “brilliant 2024.” #36: Insooni became the first Korean to win the Pearl S. Buck “Woman of Influence” recognition since 2000. #37: Cartoon branding There were many examples of cross-promotion between K-pop artists and cartoon characters, for both merchandise and music videos! These collaborations included…
Plus, NEWBEAT teamed up with Tappytoon Comics for an animated “Flip the Coin” music video! #38: One in four members of Gen Alpha called K-pop their favorite music genre. Over 4,500 members of Generation Alpha (those born in the 2010s and early 2020s) participated in this survey about their favorites. #39: BTS broke a record when they surpassed 30 million Weverse subscribers. #40: K-pop-themed courses The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is running several K-pop-inspired classes this semester: “Crooked Studies of K-pop: Reimagining K-pop’s Dominant Discourses Through G-Dragon” and “Promoting i-dle in the U.S.” The latter offers hands-on experience with marketing and fan engagement! More of the Latest from 17 Carat K-Pop
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