Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Individual responsibility isn’t enough. There needs to be social change: “The audience, media and culture need to shift into acceptance rather than demanding Korean artists conform
to meet our expectation. Otherwise, these stars are caught in a loop of abuse that will never end.”
Born and raised in Chicago, NCT 127’s John Suh got his first taste of concerts thanks to his mother, who worked for a local radio station. “I was too young to remember who I saw, but I remember myself having a lot of fun,” says Suh, who goes by the stage name of simply Johnny. “(One day), I would love to see Coldplay at Soldier Field. That would be very awesome.” Johnny and some of his band mates took a breather from promoting their EP “We Are Superhuman” to participate in this interview.
One of the things that really impresses me about Korea’s K-Pop idols is how many of them are exceptional actors. And that got me wondering … What would it be like if some of our favorite singers had been cast in some of our favorite K-Dramas?
To no one’s surprise, BTS – one of the world’s most famous boy bands – won the MTV Video Music Award’s inaugural award for Best K-pop group for their song “Boy With Luv.” The septet didn’t attend the ceremony to accept their Moon Man trophy. While the new category appears to be a nod to the popularity of Korean music in mainstream U.S. pop culture, fans have been vocal that the category is suspicious at best and borderline racist.
Created to celebrate South Korea’s soft power, KCON has grown into the Coachella of Korean culture. Debuting in 2012 as a one-day festival in Los Angeles just months after Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became a worldwide hit, KCON attracted 12,000 curious fans. Flash forward to 2019, when one of the world’s most-famous groups is the Korean boy band BTS, Korean beauty products are all the rage, chefs are incorporating kimchi into western cooking and streaming sites including Netflix are premiering buzzworthy Korean shows such as the zombie serial “Kingdom.”
2019 is shaping up to be Blackpink’s breakthrough year. The all-girl Korean quartet kicked off the U.S. leg of a world tour with a concert at Coachella that was livestreamed in New York’s Times Square.
Monsta X has been nominated for their first MTV Video Music Award for their English-language single “Who Do U Love?” They will become the first K-Pop group to perform at the iHeartRadio Music Festival later this year. (They previously were the first Korean boy band to take the stage at Jingle Ball.) But a highlight of 2019 for the group was performing in Oslo for South Korean president Moon Jae-in and King Harald V of Norway, where the countries’ dignitaries celebrated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Norway.
The success of Korean superstars BTS has paved the way for multiple K-pop acts to try their chances in the U.S. — but few will be making their U.S. concert debut with as much panache as Blackpink.
Ten years ago, Epik High was in jeopardy when online trolls went on a malicious rampage to defame frontman Tablo. “I took my family to Tokyo and then to Hawaii to keep them away from the awe-inspiringly hellish thing that was happening to me,” he says. “I remember everything about that trip. It kept me sane for a little bit. Call it a sane-cation.”
When Big Hit Entertainment announced that it was launching a new boy band, the internet went wild digging for more information. Why? Because Big Hit is home to the world’s most famous boy band — BTS — and everyone wanted to know who TXT was.