The Best K-Pop Music Videos of 2025

A ranking and review of the top 50!

View the Substack version of this piece here!

#50: Stray Kids, “Burnin’ Tires”
Out of several subunit videos corresponding with the release of Mixtape : dominATE, “Burnin’ Tires” does the best job encapsulating Stray Kids’ type of rabble-rousing! Changbin and I.N compete in various contests: a race (Changbin’s car versus I.N’s motorcycle), parkour (scenes that pull the audience into the action particularly well thanks to curved-lens shots), tests of physical strength, and a running race. They do so with funny plot twists, like interrupting the final race for a dance-off, and snatching a trophy at the same time a printer ejects a speeding ticket! Their mischievous and roundabout ways of winning do not necessarily break the rules, allowing their claims of victory to ring true!

Most of the video feels like it is moving at 2x speed, making the beginning and ending restaurant scenes extra jarring by comparison. The boys casually sit in the restaurant, with the only change to the setup being the addition of their trophy on the table at the end.

“Burnin’ Tires” represents how Stray Kids handily win all kinds of contests not due to competitiveness towards others as much as a desire to one-up themselves! Regarding both  “Burnin’ Tires” and Stray Kids’ overall philosophy, they get in the game for the fun of it and treat winning as just an inevitable byproduct! Read more about this era here! 

#49: LUCY, “Hippo”
LUCY are childlike in all the best ways, depicting youth’s ups and downs through vibrant and frenetic animations in the “Hippo” music video. The hippo represents a feeling LUCY cannot escape or deny, and its distracting nature is why they fear confronting it! Indeed, the main character in the music video runs away from a grinning hippo! This forces the shy boy to run in the direction of a shop his crush works at, and as he blushes and approaches the counter, the hippo winks and then appears as just a photo on the wall! The hippo has led the boy to face his crush, and confessing his feelings for her ends happily! Read more about the corresponding album here!

#48: D.O., aka Doh Kyung Soo, “Snowfall at Night” 
This cartoon is full of wholesome, vintage charm. It brings to mind another animated D.O. music video, “That’s Okay,” only now with a Frosty the Snowman-inspired twist! The video is about the magical train rides offered at “Nostalgia Station.” A grown man rides the train back to his snow-covered hometown and turns back into a little boy the second he steps foot on the ground. He spends the snowy day playing outside like he used to, with a presumably imaginary friend, a boy-size penguin who returns to a stoic snowman form once the playdate ends. The boy’s big grin while sledding with the penguin is just as “Awe!”-inducing as his sorrow is during their goodbye hug. After the boy waves goodbye and re-boards the train, becoming a grown-up once again, “THE END” appears on the screen in a font reminiscent of old-school cartoons, and like those cartoons, viewers can smile knowing that they can replay and mentally revisit those childhood memories again and again! 

#47: Forestella, “Everything”
This sweet and sentimental story will resonate with anyone who has ever owned a certain toy that doubled as a security blanket. In the beautifully illustrated video, a young boy gets a teddy bear as a gift, instantly becomes enamored, and takes it on many adventures. Even after growing up, his furry friend repeatedly comes alive, re-emerging from storage to cheer on his brightest moments (like a marriage proposal) and to offer comfort in his bleakest ones (like when a loved one passes away). The teddy stresses an “If you need me, no matter how old you are, I’ll be there for you” message at the end when it puts a blanket on him as he sits on the beach, watching his young daughter play in the same waves he once splashed in while holding his teddy’s hand. He is an adult and a father now, and his teddy might look different than it used to - its wear and tear becomes obvious! - but the second the blanket covers him, he is mentally back in his childhood bedroom, his teddy helping him sleep soundly at night. 

Toys may not be “real,” but the emotional fulfillment they provide is, and that fulfillment never has to expire. All who can relate to this video will appreciate the reverence it shows for the memories made with toy companions, memories as valid and vivid as those involving “real” friends.

#46: JO YURI, “Farewell for now!”
“Farewell for now!” is strong on both aesthetic and narrative fronts. JO YURI wakes up in a sunny space covered in butterfly decals. She goes on a series of cute and picturesque dates, including going to the beach and making crafts. Later on, she goes back to those date spots alone, but the implication is anything but wistful. She still looks content, and when back at the beach alone, she looks at a blue butterfly painting with a smudged wing. She can still fly just fine with one working wing - her ex was just the smudged one! 

“Farewell for now!” shows how to cathartically close the books on a past relationship, preserving the memories of good times without overly romanticizing them. Read more about the corresponding album here! 

#45: LE SSERAFIM, “HOT” 
LE SSERAFIM’s trilogy conclusion tells the story in a mix of new-to-them and true-to-them ways. They reintroduce some elements from the “EASY” music video, including glimpses behind the curtain (then in the form of dancing on an unfinished stage setup, now by showing their recording studio mid-performance), a dress code that can be summarized as “distressed angel,” and the use of shadows and lighting to channel a particular ambiance. But “HOT” also has detailed discrepancies, including a cryptic opening scene and camerawork that repeatedly changes the viewers’ vantage point. Read more about the corresponding album here! 

#44: ARrC, “awesome”
“awesome” throws so much at viewers so fast that re-watches are in order! It has plenty of typical K-pop video components, like flames and graffiti, but it focuses more on old-school influences. It pays tribute to both Korean folklore and 1980s Japanese films, and puppet-like characters wear traditional masks inspired by those from Indonesia, Korea, and Portugal. Those characters play peculiar roles that are even harder to parse due to the second-by-second speed of scene shake-ups. Red text repeatedly interrupts the action, too. The group throws one more interruption at people when the song title is burned into the ground. 

“awesome” has big entertainment value and gives people a lot of inspiration for what culture and art to go learn more about after seeing it!

#43: CIX, “WONDER YOU” 
There are some clever connections between the start of the “GO” series and the “HELLO” series. A key symbol from the latter is a magical Rubik’s Cube, which is what one CIX member grabs in the “Numb” music video. In that video, one of them sets fire to a classroom, and the world around them is in ruins. In “WONDER YOU,” the cube is back in their possession, the members are surrounded by debris, and a member starts a fire that burns away a wall with wings painted on it. On the other hand, “Numb” and “WONDER YOU” contain crucial distinctions. “Numb” does not have a happy ending, whereas “WONDER YOU” hints at one on the horizon; the members follow the “sailing through the sky towards the Gates of Heaven” experience with walking up a floating staircase that is also presumably towards Heaven.

During the HELLO Chapter 2: Hello, Strange Place era, CIX struggle and stumble through a cruel world, but their self-isolation does not equate to self-preservation. The “GO” era shows how life can be more like Heaven (or at least less like Hell) if they keep their eyes open. Ignorance is not bliss, and staying curious - full of “WONDER” - is what enables CIX to see the good in the world they have been previously too overwhelmed and inward-looking to recognize. Read more about CIX’s story here! 

#42: TWICE, “ME+YOU”
“ME+YOU” is not just worth appreciating for its feel-good fun, but for how it goes the extra mile. TWICE could have easily and forgivably made a clip show, stringing together old music video footage to avoid having to film much new material. But instead, the members in “ME+YOU” watch their present-day recreations of their previous videos, implying a lasting fondness for their own material that not all artists are willing to express. “ME+YOU” is not purely nostalgic, though, and the new sitcom-esque plot casts each member in a different role that sets itself up for natural and comedic conflict with the other ones! Read more about the corresponding album here!

#41: BEOMGYU, “Panic”
In addition to representing what panic feels like through scenes where BEOMGYU is compressed from both sides (by walls at one point and between mattresses at another), the music video depicts the fragile glimmers of hope to which BEOMGYU can turn after getting out of “freeze” mode. Once he can reengage with his immediate surroundings, he can pick up one of the dandelions at his feet and make a wish for a calmer tomorrow, and he can wish on the dandelion tufts that float around him in the scene where he runs through darkness in slow motion. He reassures others who share his dark mental state that “This cold winter too / Shall pass,” and he realistically does not fast-forward to acting like he fully believes in spring yet.

“Panic” does the opposite of sugarcoating what panic feels like. With simultaneous simplicity and metaphorical density, “Panic” reveals some of the forms panic can take and shows how close yet out-of-reach changes for the brighter can seem. Read more about this song and video here! 

#40: BLACKPINK, “JUMP”
BLACKPINK literally go to new heights, flying and then performing on a levitating stage! Before that, they revel in the hold they have over people, controlling fans’ movements to stay synchronized with the rave-ready beat. They have a blast exploiting their inescapable power in other forms, too, including convincing fans to pursue them on foot, despite the members’ supersonic speed making it impossible to catch up to them; tilting the world to and fro; and giving “stuck in your head” a literal interpretation! 

BLACKPINK present one exaggerated portrayal after another of their very real global pop dominance, and they take the same approach to showing individual pop dominance, both by trading lines and appearing on individual billboards. However, the last impression they leave is one of being strongest when together. They end the video while on a floating stage yet staring upwards; despite already being in the sky, they imply that there are still higher highs they can reach!

#39: MARK, “1999” 
As described more here, MARK stays in the director’s chair of his life story’s retelling, which is emphasized by “1999” taking place on a film set and his character in that video spending more time with the actor playing a younger MARK than anyone else. But despite having total oversight of the movie of his life, MARK aims for neither total veracity nor complete fiction. He shows the world who he truly is but has a lot of surreal fun while doing so! He compares his seismic global impact to that of the “Y2K Panic.” He accurately frames the year of 1999 as one in which the public felt shaken to its core, but he revises history to say they felt that way due to his birth that same year! The impression he has made on the world is most exaggerated when what resembles an alien’s spaceship headed for Earth turns into a giant hockey puck, a nod to his hobby and Canadian roots! MARK also shows the impression he continues to have on the world, by swaggering his way through the choreography and showing off different sides of his personality through his outfit changes. 

Overall, MARK’s creative liberties make “1999” an irreplicable psuedo-biopic!

#38: RIIZE, “Fame”
Staying true to RIIZE’s “music about music itself” brand, “Fame” tells a nuanced story about fame itself. Like in the EP trailer, in which the members appear somber in and around a picturesque mansion, the members show palpable angst as they dance in fancy clothes in “Fame.” Living “the good life” feels anything but, and they appear much more at ease during casual jam sessions. The dance scenes also highlight RIIZE’s discomfort with their boosted social status through one of the backgrounds: a wall printed to resemble one from target practice. However, their discomfort does not outweigh their drive. Quitting while ahead is an easy and available option, and their choice to not take it is why “disorientation” stays a relevant word for summarizing the video. RIIZE represent the out-of-body sensation that can afflict those who feel compelled to live dual lives in one way after another: giant projected images of themselves, quizzical looks at the mirror and TV screen, and moments when an appearance blurs. Their world feels shaken and unsteady, but what matters to them is that it makes them feel, period.  

Notably, one wall shatters due to someone throwing a guitar at it, and a burning guitar lies on the ground as the credits play. That guitar triggers destruction as much as it “lights the fire” within RIIZE, a testament to music’s role as both RIIZE’s salvation and torture. Since they treat music as an extension of themselves, when it is on fire, so are they, in both positive and negative contexts.

#37: ILLIT, “little monster”
“little monster” does not pick and choose between story-related and stylistic strengths, and which one dominates changes from scene to scene. “Normal” scenes take turns with ones starring ILLIT as “magical girls,” dressed like cartoon superheroes. They act in ways befitting a TV theme song opening sequence, joining hands to float upwards, then each character facing a different door, and later revealing themselves to be either giants who demolish city buildings or normal-size people who destroy a city diorama! Further warranting an “Expect the unexpected” heads-up are scenes when they stick their heads in those buildings to gobble up gummy bears, the “little monsters” representing doubts and fears! 

ILLIT’s empowering message takes on unconventional forms, to say the least! And it ties back to the era’s overall “DIY” aesthetic, both with the apparent dioramas and text appearing on the screen via embroidery. Read more about this era here! 

#36: JENNIE & Dominic Fike, “Love Hangover”
While JENNIE asserts the fact she calls the shots in “ZEN” directly, she does so in a knowingly teasing way in “Love Hangover.” She influences others’ behaviors not through a tone and gestures that are commanding, but through ones that convey deliberate passivity. She lets her love interest (played by Charles Melton) go the extra mile to rescue her, letting him jump and try to catch her as she refuses to let go of her balloon, letting him slide down a bowling alley lane as she refuses to let go of her bowling ball, and more! The final text on the screen reads “RIP Jennie & Charles: Lost But Never Forgotten,” which implies two things. One is that every time JENNIE lives another life, she drags Charles onto that roller coaster with her! Second, she enjoys this endless game that puts him through the ringer; she keeps getting “lost” on purpose, fully aware she told herself she’d “never do it again.”

“ZEN” shows JENNIE making things happen, while “Love Hangover” shows things happening to JENNIE and JENNIE willingly allowing that to be the case. Either way, the songs are both self-aware reminders that JENNIE remains the sole crafter of her own image. Read more about JENNIE’s Ruby era here and here!

#35: CHA EUN-WOO, “SATURDAY PREACHER”
The “SATURDAY PREACHER” theme has shades of a savior complex, but with sinister and self-oriented spins. CHA EUN-WOO plays alter egos who feel emboldened by the power of music, for better and for worse. The “normal” CHA EUN-WOO works in a music store, and at first, the only indicator that something is unusually possessive about the form his passion for music takes is a moment when he struggles to let go of an album he is handing over to a customer. Elsewhere, the “evil” CHA EUN-WOO controls the masses, moving like a conductor on a raised platform in front of columns that resemble the moving sound bars in a music-making computer program. Just like the “normal” EUN-WOO has a flickering indicator of being just like the “evil” EUN-WOO, the “evil” EUN-WOO has a “normal” moment, popping into the music store and facing his previously misused forces turned against him. He loses dominion over the power of music when in the other EUN-WOO’s environment. Regardless of where they are, though, details including a shared tattoo and image convergence triggered by a lightning strike show how inextricable the links between the EUN-WOOs are. 

Music can be an overwhelming force used for a wide range of ends, both personal and public-facing. Both versions of EUN-WOO show that great power, with varying degrees of awareness and ambiguity.

#34: SEVENTEEN, “THUNDER” 
“THUNDER” is a meta application of the SEVENTEEN Music Video Universe’s ongoing themes. Their states of consciousness remain up to interpretation, as some appear to have clones and others appear to fall asleep or wake up after being struck by lightning. Which versions of SEVENTEEN show up to the party and which ones do not remain open questions, just like in the flashback-filled “Eyes on you” music video. 

“Eyes on you” and “THUNDER” also have a party setting and lightning strikes in common. Plus, they share a filming technique: A transition takes place as the camera zooms through someone’s pupil. It increases the odds that the following scene is just in someone’s head, and it adds significance to these lyrics from “THUNDER”: “So what if they mock me, say my changed pupils are weird / What a shame if this all turns out to be a dream.”

Both “THUNDER” and “Eyes on you” represent the SEVENTEEN Universe’s expansiveness. Storylines that seem to imply one thing can be edited at any time to imply the opposite, and videos that bear resemblances to previous SEVENTEEN ones are also very distinct. One can find repetition in life, but one can never live the exact same day twice. Every day is a chance to reassess one’s reality. Read more about this era’s meaning here!

#33: SORAN, “Love is No Sin”
“Love is No Sin” sums up what the fan-idol relationship is the antidote for: “Maybe turning away in silence was a struggle to be understood...” That yearning to feel understood is what fan-idol love and romantic love have in common, and while the former is a focus of the corresponding album, the latter is the focus of the “Love is No Sin” music video. Its take on the “No regrets; let’s just cherish what we had” message involves a willing hostage, who follows a woman’s commands to ride in her trunk, get out upon arriving in the desert, sit facing her, and stay put as she aims her bow and arrow at him again and again! Her arrows are actually flowers, though, and he willingly takes their blows until the very end, when he offers some of them to her. There is much to read into in certain video frames, including the one where he makes this offer. He stands in the spot where he has been held hostage, in an empty and abandoned place, where all of the symbols of romance are left at his feet. All of the “blooming anew” symbolism is now on his side, and he offers to bring some of it back over to hers. He will gladly be a “victim” of love again and again, and that is emphasized by the changing sky indicating hours are passing by as the archery continues. His lover is also very committed, as shown not just through the archery but the preservation of their love story onto typewritten pages. A translucent overlay that zooms in on some of those typewritten pages appears in front of a “shooting” scene, which is just one of many small details adding to the video’s distinctness when it comes to love’s portrayal.

In both literal and metaphorical ways, “Love is No Sin” speaks to the sensation of feeling relentlessly punctured by the feeling of love, the bizarre forms relationship give-and-takes can have, and the ways relationships are things in which both parties ought to be mutually invested.

#32: BOYNEXTDOOR, “I Feel Good”
BOYNEXTDOOR take their good vibes on the road with them! From dominating a dance-off outside of a convenience store, to running around the city after dancing at the crosswalk, to moving dance party locations without missing a beat, BOYNEXTDOOR make sure the good times roll uninterrupted! This insistence on transferring the party atmosphere wherever they go takes on comically over-the-top forms. They take their show into black-and-white and colorized scenes alike, they cover the indoors and outdoors, they perform in widescreen and fullscreen, and they dance individually and as a group. As if they have not made themselves clear yet, they send literal messages, too, running around slapping fliers and stickers all over the place! It ends with a member’s casual hat toss towards the camera, representing the audience’s invitation to join in, as well as how easy it is to do so! Read more about BOYNEXTDOOR’s storytelling here!

#31: Xdinary Heroes “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)”
Xdinary Heroes have interrogated the meaning of reality before, but never in this specific context. “FiRE (My Sweet Misery)” starts with one of them watching himself on television. They play the role of rockstars at times and as mad men under surveillance at others. They walk with confident strides and stares in some scenes, but while in a narrow hallway with lighting periodically turning red instead of green. Other mitigating variables on their powerful presence unfold during performance scenes. They rock out in leather looks, but they do so while black birds ominously fly around them and while on a relatively small platform, and their jam session is interspersed with squeamish blink-and-miss-it images, like vials of blood.

“FiRE (My Sweet Misery)” keeps questions open regarding how self-discovery and self-defining unfold, given varying degrees of constraints and freedoms. The song itself stays loyal to the “experimentation” key word, with daring detours and a high-voltage yet refreshingly unrushed structure. Read more about this era here!

#30 & #29: ONEW, “ANIMALS” & “Confidence”
ONEW has to learn the hard way that he cannot change other people, so rather than wait for the world to accept him or follow his lead, he decides to just live as his happiest self. 

In “ANIMALS,” his fellow subway passengers turn into animals and unleash their “party animal” instincts, losing all self-consciousness. But the video ends as it begins: with the passengers ignoring ONEW. People hurry to their offices without even looking his way, but he beams. So what if he’s the only one who remembers their “party animal” night?! At least he has tried to give others a spontaneous good time!

In “Confidence,” ONEW tries to fly. He makes himself mechanical wings and casually roams the neighborhood wearing them. The neighbors appear unamused, if not embarrassed by him. They remain that way when he mails them a miracle product that can supposedly turn them into flyers too! ONEW never succeeds at flying, but the universe rewards his genuine efforts, and his fall is softened by landing on garbage bags. After the fall, he finds many treats, and his wings gain colors. He is glad he tries to make his flying dream a reality, even if it does not work and does not generate the desired butterfly effect. He has tried to manifest a whimsical time for other people but has only succeeded at manifesting one for himself, which is enough to satisfy him. After all, he sings, “Look, the difference between a question mark and an exclamation point / Is just one thing / Built in doubt / A hunched back / Or a straightened attitude in contrast / With nothing but certainty.” He cannot stop others from living life as question marks, but at least he can show through example how to live like an exclamation point, with an uncompromising, if misguided, vision! Read more about the corresponding album here! 

#28: SUHO, “Who Are You”
What is at first unbeknownst to SUHO is that he plays a secondary character in someone else’s movie. The moment that flips his world differs from Truman’s in The Truman Show, though (whether the Truman Show parallels are intentional is unclear but notable nevertheless). Truman realizes he is the star of a television series and has been living by others’ scripts. SUHO acts like he knew he was in a show but is shocked to learn he is not the star of it. This explains why he is relegated to a side role in the “Who Are You” music video, witnessing more than participating. Some scenes present him as a couple’s equal and a friend more than a third wheel, like when they have a jam session in a living room and when they take a road trip together, but he is literally not in the driver’s seat on that trip! Plus, SUHO alludes to that jam session being a distorted - if not outright falsified - memory, recalling being in “A band living inside worn-out lyric notes” (on the corresponding album’s song “Birthday”), and describing the immediate need to break up as being because “The next song’s already on” (on “Who Are You”). 

SUHO is not in charge of the pacing of this musical. He does have a role to play; it’s just not the front-facing one he has assumed. 

As with all great music and art, this is just one of many interpretations that does SUHO’s project justice, but the bottom line is that he reinvigorates a “Maybe it was all in your head” premise, adding mysteriousness to his presentation of an identity crisis. Read more about this era here!

#27: KANGDANIEL, “Episode”
As he sings about wishing a loved one would stop being so evasive and tell him more than just “the little episodes” of which smalltalk consists, KANGDANIEL takes audiences through their own kind of mental gymnastics. He plays a time-traveler at the “Metaphor Museum,” searching for its missing knight while dealing with the other exhibits coming to life after hours! The dynamic between him and this on-the-loose knight keeps changing. They at first seem like friends who lightheartedly tease each other, and KANGDANIEL tries to take off the knight’s helmet before being swatted away. Things escalate quickly, and the knight turns into the one chasing him, while holding a sword! They seem to be back on good terms once KANGDANIEL repairs the knight’s suit of armor in a quiet moment away from the crowd. He adds flowers to it and hands the knight a bouquet, leading audiences to assume he is doing so to win over his crush. But this is not an “enemies to lovers” story, and his efforts are just to empower the knight to stop hiding underneath the disguise. The plan works, and the helmet finally comes off, revealing a human woman underneath. Her love interest is not KANGDANIEL, and he watches from a distance as her lover embraces her. The pair turns into a statue while embracing, which doubles as a mid-courtyard fountain that is one of the museum’s main attractions. 

What starts out like a madcap Night at the Museum copycat turns into a twisty love story, then into a deeper story about how works of art can be made more whole after breaking and undergoing makeovers. The video also makes the case that some of the best “episodes,” in love and in life, come from letting someone else be the protagonist. 

#26: B.I & Heize, “Ferris wheel”
After flipping a theme park’s “Closed” sign to “Open,” B.I rides the ferris wheel with a different version of himself. They share laughs and seem at ease together. A montage of settings sweeps audiences briskly through what are presumably the sites of other good times from B.I’s past - the beach, a flower field - and ends with the image of a castle. The castle’s glowing outline molds into the shape of the other B.I, and after he appears in clearer detail and offers the original B.I one last smile and wave, the other B.I fades into blackness. The original B.I leaves as the location representing his imagined world does too. However, something major has changed: As the original B.I walks back out of the theme park, his footsteps leave grass and flowers behind them. B.I has not just visited an old memory; he has drawn from it to “blossom” in the future more than ever. 

Notably, the magical visit is not with his younger self, but his inner self. After all, the other B.I looks about the same age as the original. He sings, “Which way is right for me? / Since I stopped talking to the child inside me / I can’t quite grasp it,” but he has a new sense of direction and confidence after restarting talks with that inner child, and he is able to do so once he realizes the “Closed” sign to that mental state can once again be “Open.” He realizes he can take his inner child with him as he ages; he does not have to treat it like a static, dust-collecting memory stored in a mental drawer. He can continue to return to it, to draw new inspiration from it, and to join it in the “never-ending dance” that is “the turbulence of youth” (as he puts it in the song “PARADE”).

The main lesson is that the past can enrich the future, when seen as a set of moving pieces on an ever-expanding collage. Read more about the corresponding album here!

Stay tuned for the rest of the countdown!