The place where you can see the K-pop Star in Seoul
Some people get to know the Korean idol bands and visit Korea to see them or just to experience how Korea is.
It has been around 20 years, since the Korean Wave started in Asia area. From 1998, Korean Pop music has started
to be popular in Asia area such as China and Japan. Now in these days, not only in China and Japan, but also in Hong-Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines, the Korean wave has been spread rapidly. The fan of Korean idol bands started to feel affection for Korea itself. The people who are trying to buy Korean products and learning Korean language have increased.
‘Music Bank’, which is a popular music program in Korea, also started ‘World Tour’ from 2011 in Tokyo. From that time, ‘Music Bank’ and Korean singers visited Paris, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Chile, Jakarta, Istanbul, Brazil and Mexico, has performed and ended in great success every performance. That means the K-pop genre entered the global market successfully.
In 2012, ‘Gangnam Style’ song was released by Korean singer ‘PSY’ and the song was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most ‘liked’ video on YouTube. It was really proud of things in Korea and Korean loved him more than before.
As mentioned above, K-pop has been influential in the world even in Europe, so I prepared ‘the place where you can see the K-pop star in Seoul’ for people who really love K-pop star such as Super Junior, Girl’s generation, BEAST, CNBLUE, 2pm, miss A etc.
A few of popular K-pop entertainment company buildings are gathered in one place which is Apgujeong-dong in Gangnam. Now, let me introduce these company locations now.
[1] CUBE Entertainment – BEAST, 4MINUTE, BTOB, TROUBLE MAKER
The picture above is the company building of CUBE entertainment. In this entertainment, the group singer BEAST, 4MINUTE and Trouble maker are working for. As you know, BEAST is one of the top idol boy groups based in Korea. Now, they are gaining a lot of popularity not only in Korea, but also in other countries such as Japan, China, Thailand, Taipei and even Berlin. Now, each member is extending their field of activity such as musical, drama, and TV entertainment program.
4Minute is also the top idol girl group in Korea. Not only the singing skills, but also the dancing is really awesome, they have become in popular.
Trouble maker is consisted of Hyun-Ah and Jang Hyun-Seung who is a member of BEAST, 4MINUTE. They always make the hot issue by extreme performance whenever they release a new album.
Near the Cube Entertainment Company building, there is a ‘CUBE studio’ which is for the fan of those singers. In there, they are selling a cup of coffee, other drinks and the goods which are related BEAST and 4MINUTE, etc.
Information
[Address] 8 Dosan-daero 89-gil Gangnam-gu, Seoul
[Subway Stations near CUBE Entertainment] Cheongdam Station Line No. 7
[Map]
[2] JYP Entertainment – 2pm, 2am, miss A, G-Soul
The building in photos is JYP Entertainment Company. JYP is the top 3 entertainment company in Korea with SM, YG entertainment. In this company, the group singer 2pm, 2am, miss A are working for. 2pm is also one of the most popular boy group idol bands. As soon as they debut, they’ve got much popularity by the image of beast and good looks.
2am is the ballad group singer. Whenever they release their album, they are ranked No.1 in music chart by their mild voice. Also the representative girl group idol band in JYP is miss A. Whenever they release new album, they are ranked No.1 by their cute, cheerful music & image. One of the members in the group, ‘Suzy’ is known as a girl friend of Korean actor Lee Min-ho.
Information
[Address] 123-50, Cheongdam-dong, Seoul
[Subway Stations near JYP Entertainment] Cheongdam Station Line No. 7 / Apgujeong Rodeo Station Line. Bundang
[Map]
[3] FNC Entertainment – FT ISLAND, CNBLUE, AOA
The building in the picture above is the FNC Entertainment Company building. In this company, the group singer FT Island, CN BLUE, AOA are working for. CNBLUE and FT ISLAND are the most representative Korean group band. They have cute looks and such a gorgeous voice. They have many fans in Asia, for these reasons.
When I visited this building, I saw the van of K-pop star. It might be CN BLUE’s car or FT Island’s.
Information
[Address] 46, Dosan-daero 85-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
[Subway Stations near FNC Entertainment] Apgujeong Rodeo Station Line. Bundang
[Map]
[4] SM Entertainment – TVXQ, SUPER JUNIOR, EXO, GIRL’S GENERATION, F(X), SHINY
The picture above is the company building of SM entertainment. In this entertainment, the group singer Super Junior, Girl’s Generation and EXO are working for. It’s one of the top K-pop entertainments in Korea. Almost all top K-pop stars are on this entertainment. Super Junior is the oldest idol group existing in this company. They have gained in top popularity not only in Korea, but also in China. In China, their music has been ranked No. 1 for over 15weeks in China. It’s such a great and gorgeous group in Korea ever. These days, they are extending their field of activity such as drama, movie, radio DJ, and even musical.
Girl’s generation is the second oldest idol group in SM and the oldest idol girl group among existing girl idol bans in Korea. They are all attractive and appealing in appearance, and singing and dancing is all perfect. For this reason, as soon as they debut as a singer 8 years ago, their music song ranked No.1. Not only every music song they have released ranked top, but also they have been keeping the tile of top idol girl band in Korea until now.
Exo is the new idol boy band started in 2011. They are also gaining in popularity in Korea and China. By their good looks and perfect performance, they are appealing captivating ladies’ heart.
Information
[Address] 423, Apgujeong-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
[Subway Stations near SM Entertainment] Apgujeong Rodeo Station Line. Bundang
[Map]
I introduced 4 K-pop entertainment company buildings located in Gangnam area. But, even though you go these areas, it’s hard to see them such as EXO, CNBLUE, Super Junior and Beast. It’s depends on your luck. Although you don’t see them, let’s just visit these areas, which idol singers you love are working for, if you have free time while you are traveling. Especially near the SM entertainment building, there is a popular attraction ‘Apgujeong Rodeo street’. Also in front of the this building ‘K-pop star road’ can be seen. So, if you visit this area, there are a few interesting things.
By Hanna, Kwak
Photos by Hanna Kwak
www.koreatourinformation.com Staff Writers
lee2@seoulcitytour.net