K-pop originated in South Korea in the late 1990s and gained global popularity in the 2000s through the Korean Wave. In 2008, dedicated K-pop fans spent large amounts of money to see their favorite groups perform live. Psy's "Gangnam Style" in 2012 was a major international breakthrough for K-pop. Today, many popular K-pop groups like B.A.P and EXO are releasing comeback albums and music videos in November and December, keeping the K-pop scene very active despite the end of the year. International fans are drawn to K-pop because of the idols' hard work, energetic performances, and likable personalities that create a sense of interaction between fans and groups.

2. WHAT IS K-POP?
 K-POP, which is short for Korean Pop, is a musical genre originating in South Korea throughout
the late 1990s.
Towards the turn of the 21st century, the K-pop genre began spreading out internationally as part of the global
Korean Wave, which can be literally translated into “flow of Korea”.
In 2008, K-pop’s popularity and fandoms grew, fans were willing to give out large amount of money just for the
chance of seeing their idols and therefore supporting them financially. An example of this would be TVXQ’s
Tohoshinki Live Tour in Japan, which managed to sell over 850,000 tickets, each on an average cost of £72.
This supplied the group with an overall gain of more than £60million.
In 2012, K-pop’s long awaited breakthrough in America occurred when Psy released “Gangnam Style” and
gained over 2 billion views on YouTube in July 2014, making it the first ever Internet video to reach one billion
views.

3. K-POP TODAY
 Most recent album release happened today and it is known as GOT7’s MAD Winter Edition.
November so far had been difficult for k-poppers, considering the fact that nearly every popular band is
having their comebacks currently and in the near future as well. One of these most long-awaited
comebacks were B.A.P’s and EXO’s.
When B.A.P’s Young, Wild & Free MV got released a week ago, it gained more than 1 million views in
less than a day, considering the fact that, fans have been expecting it for months. Therefore, this
means that even though November is at its’ end, idols’ comebacks are nowhere near over. There are
still to come 2NE1’s, BTS’s, EXO’s and PSY’s all in this months and hopefully when the gods allow it,
there will be BIGBANG’s M.A.D.E album which is the one VIPs have been patiently looking forward to.

4. BIGBANG

5. WHY DO INTERNATIONAL FANS
LISTEN TO K-POP?
 This is mostly because of their admiration towards idols’ hard work,
energetic dancing styles and many various talents. This also links to
South Korea’s ability to produce more than 60 boy and girl bands
annually, making its’ labeling as a “star factory”.
Anyway, most of the time, half of these bands manage to last, while the
other half, die out after a few hits. Some of these hits are mainly made, so
that fans can download them, listen to them for a few days and then
delete them. These hits are also known as one-time hit songs.

6. 2NE1

7. WHY IS K-POP
INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS?
 Most fans are willing to admit that they like idols mostly for their personalities and
looks, which helps radiate friendliness between billions of fans.
Most of them would also state that, when attending a concert, a fan could get the illusion
of an idol sometimes looking right at them and interacting with them personally.
This also links to fandoms and how each fan club has their own unique name and color.
An example of a K-Pop fandom would be BIGBANG’s fandom, which is made up of VIPs.
However BIGBANG does not officially have a fandom color, as many other K-Pop groups
do. Instead, their fans would simply wave either black or white crown light sticks.

8. G-DRAGON
G-Dragon (Kwon Ji-yong) was born on 18
August 1988 (27) in Seoul, South Korea.
As a rapper, part of BIGBANG (since 2006)
he and the other members were recruited
by YG Entertainment and they debuted on
19 August 2006.
Since their debut, BIGBANG had always
been the most successful K-Pop band in
Korea in comparison to other major boy
bands such as EXO, BTS & GOT7.

9. CL
CL (Chaelin Lee) was born on 26 February 1991
(24)
in Seoul, South Korea.
As a musical artist, part of 2NE1 (since 2009)
her band had been considered the female version
of BIGBANG ever since their official debut (May 6,
2009).
As a female band made up of four members
(CL, Bom, Dara and Minzy) they’ve made an
excellent
effort remaining one.

10. PSY
PSY (Park Jae-sang) was born on 31
December
1988 (37) in Seoul, South Korea.
As a singer/songwriter, he is considered a
solo
artist, due to his phenomenal hit Gangnam
Style.
However, he does have collaborations with
other
famous artists such as Snoop Dogg and
Steven
Tyler.