24 Overlooked Headlines from 2024
K-pop news that flew relatively under the radar last year
#1: A new “K-culture visa”
South Korea’s Finance Ministry initiated a specialized visa plan for foreign aspiring K-pop stars. One of the program’s goals is to incentivize tourism; although South Korean tourism has somewhat recovered since a pandemic-related drop, it has not yet reached the hoped-for new normal. Suggestions for boosting tourism besides this “K-culture training visa” have included:
Reducing visa application process times in ways besides creating a “fast track” option
More multilingual tour guide training
Incentivizing more public transportation usage
Increasing the number of direct flights between foreign cities and Korean airports
#2: Detained in Bali
In April, while filming a new KBS show called Pick Me Trip in Bali, 30 people, including a variety of K-pop girl group members, were detained and had their passports confiscated. They had reportedly gotten the wrong type of visa, one designated for tourism instead of filming. While the K-pop idols were able to leave Bali just a couple of days later than originally planned, the crew was stuck for longer due to an ongoing investigation into their visa acquisitions.
#3: Proposed changes to legal working hours
In September, Representative Kim Jun-hyuk proposed an amendment to the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act that would reduce the permitted maximum number of hours child performers could legally work each week:
Performers ages 15-18 could still work for up to 40 hours per week.
Performers ages 12-14 would go from having a maximum of 35 to 30 working hours per week.
Performers ages 9-11 would go from having a maximum of 35 to 25 working hours per week.
Performers ages 6-8 would go from having a maximum of 35 to 20 working hours per week.
Performers ages 2-5 would go from having a maximum of 35 to 15 working hours per week.
Performers under the age of 2 would go from having a maximum of 35 to 10 working hours per week.
#4: Some major rebrands - and the opposite
K-pop group makeovers last year were both minor (like Kingdom rebranding as The KingDom, and THE NEW SIX deciding to go back to just being called TNX) and major (like LIMELIGHT, which became MADEIN). More seasoned K-pop acts took the opposite approach, cementing long-held group identities. HIGHLIGHT earned trademark ownership of their previous band name, BEAST, and BTOB kept their name’s trademark upon establishing BTOB Company.
#5: KCON surprises
There were some notable new aspects of KCON USA last year. Day Two’s concert was followed by a networking opportunity in the form of an industry afterparty. There and elsewhere, there was buzz about talks between movie-makers and K-pop artists seeking serious acting roles!
Other unexpected moments: JEON SOMI teasing her “Ice Cream” comeback (despite lacking her team’s express permission to do so!), ZEROBASEONE’s “CINEMA PARADISE” era spoiler, and the representation of all five K-pop generations!
#6: A canceled trip to the moon
Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa planned to team up with SpaceX for the “dearMoon Project,” in which eight people would go to the moon to mark a new era of “lunar tourism.” The project was first publicized in 2022 and included BIGBANG’s T.O.P. in its lineup. On June 1, 2024, Maezawa announced the project’s cancellation, citing SpaceX’s inability to meet the desired rocket construction deadline. Still, T.O.P. wrote at length on social media about his appreciation for the opportunity and how helpful just the thought of space travel had been to get his creative juices flowing again!
#7: SM Entertainment’s deal-making
There were countless headline-grabbing moments for SM Entertainment last year, but some less-buzzed-about ones had some of the most interesting implications for the company’s future. SM Entertainment struck new partnerships with:
Kakao Entertainment and NetEase Cloud Music, the latter being a popular streaming service in China
TV Chosun, to form a new trot group
Kakao Games Corp., to use SM artists’ intellectual property in mobile games
The Seoul Metro Government, with which they signed a memorandum for a biodiversity project
The company also stressed its existing ties to Britain, co-producing the British boy band dearALICE and receiving a visit from British Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.
#8: YG Entertainment vs. Monster Energy
As Monster Energy has been known to do, the company filed a lawsuit over the use of the word “Monster.” This time, the suit was against YG Entertainment over the company’s girl group named “BABYMONSTER.” Obviously, YG Entertainment prevailed!
#9: PLAVE’s popularity
While a variety of virtual artists proved popular last year, including naevis and iaaa, it is hard to overstate how much more popular the virtual boy group PLAVE was. PLAVE won several Melon Music Awards; performed at the MAMAs (with human collaborators!); signed with HYBE Japan; joined the “Melon Billions Club,” a major streaming milestone; sold over half a million copies of their sophomore mini-album; and gained interest from over 70,000 fans during a concert presale!
#10: TikTok fame
The 10 most-popular artists globally on TikTok in 2024 included many K-pop acts:
TWICE in 9th place
TXT in 7th place
aespa in 6th place
Stray Kids in 5th place
LE SSERAFIM in 4th place
NCT in 3rd place
ENHYPEN in 2nd place
#11: Stray Kids’ Stratospheric Success
It was neither entirely unpredictable nor unnoticed that Stray Kids’ popularity reached a new height last year, but the extent of that rise is hard to wrap one’s head around! Their global recognition rose thanks to everything from a Met Gala appearance, to soundtrack contributions (Deadpool & Wolverine, Arcane League of Legends), to participation in an American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special. In 2024, Stray Kids officially entered the “mainstream” western media’s cultural zeitgeist, a status reaffirmed by the fact they upgraded to selling out STADIUMS in North America (for their 2025 tour)!
#12: JYP and YG Entertainment moved in opposite directions
JYP Entertainment launched a new subsidiary called Innit Entertainment, led by long-standing, prominent company figures Park Nam-yong and Yoon Jae-ho. The company described Innit’s goal as expanding the company’s legacy further into areas beyond music. Meanwhile, YG Entertainment narrowed its focus, selling its stake in the production company Studio Plex and (more recently, in 2025) announcing the discontinuation of its acting division.
#13: Incheon Airport backtracked after suggesting a celebrity perk
Incheon Airport faced backlash after announcing a policy change allowing celebrities to use its “Employees Only” entrances. (Previously, celebrities had VIP exits there but no special entrances.) The change was cancelled shortly before it was set to take effect, due to criticism of its perceived unfairness to non-famous travelers. One politician went so far as to say:
“This move gives the public a sense of relative deprivation and sparked debates over preferential treatment and social hierarchy among celebrities…”
#14: MLD Entertainment’s struggles
Last summer, a report came out alleging that MLD Entertainment was in financially dire straits, failing to pay employees, and dealing with an employee exodus as a result. Some only received severance payouts after bringing the issue to the Ministry of Labor. At the time the reporting came out, CEO Lee Hyeong Jin was in the Philippines, supposedly helping to promote the company’s multi-cultural boy group HORI7ON. By the end of 2024, the company had no more actively-promoting K-pop acts on its roster, although as of publication time, it has not officially ceased operations.
#15: Goldman Sachs vouched for K-pop
Last spring, the bank argued that shares in the “Big Four” K-pop companies should actually be valued at least 85% higher than they have been. Adding to its argument that K-pop is economically underestimated, Goldman Sachs cited growth in K-pop interest in Japan that is predicted to keep rising over the next few years.
What Else?
#16: Some adorable new merchandise came out, including Toy Story-themed BTS Funko Pops and BABYMONSTER’s too-cute, devil-horn-featuring light stick!
#17: Nostalgic marketing brought back trends from an earlier internet and media era. TWICE posted a holiday gift guide to Pinterest, and a version of aespa’s Armageddon album came with a CD player!
#18: New Oxford English Dictionary additions included words that are a part of K-culture fans’ lexicon: “Dalgona,” “Hyung,” “Noraebang,” “Maknae,” “Jiigae,” “Tteokbokki,” and “Pansori.”
#19: Junior KOMCA (Korea Music Copyright Association) members who were upgraded to full-time members included Ahn Ye Eun, BOL4, CODE KUNST, JEON SOYEON, Jung Kook, VERNON, and more.
#20: In a first for an Mnet project group, seven out of nine Kep1er members renewed their contracts with WakeOne Entertainment. Previously, no Mnet reality show group had chosen to stick together past the length of one contractual period!
#21: Billboard Korea launched, and ATEEZ were special guests at the Opening Ceremony!
#22: K-pop fans joined the “Celebrity Look-Alike Contest” trend, with a Mark Lee look-alike contest in Washington Square Park - at which the real Mark Lee made a surprise appearance!
#23: The first hard-of-hearing K-pop group debuted, a boy band named Big Ocean!
#24: Yunmin from the band TOUCHED made history by winning King of Masked Singer for the ninth time in June, tying Ha Hyun-woo’s record!
Stay tuned for…
The year in Korean TV and movies
YOUR “Best of 2024” picks
And more!