Korean pop music, or K-pop, has continued its expansion over the past few years, and looks poised to rule 2025. Soloists and groups notched up impressive achievements last year, with Blackpink’s Rosé becoming the highest charting female artist on the Billboard Hot 100 (#5) and three Korean acts (Ateez, BTS’ Jin, and Enhypen) occupying the top 10 on the Billboard 200 at once.

With new groups debuting, fresh albums announced, tour dates dropping, and fans calculating potential concert expenses, 2025 promises a lot for the K-connoisseur.

Along with its entertainment value, K-pop incorporates unique company structures and signals an interesting expansion and demonstration of South Korea’s soft power. Its fandoms are a cultural phenomenon unto themselves. With that in mind, K-pop in 2025 may significant socio-cultural developments unrelated to the music itself.

A glimpse of this has already been seen in continuing pro-democracy protests against Yoon Suk Yeol, which have acquired a unique flavour with the participation of K-pop fans. Koreans have used lightsticks of their favourite groups as protest symbols, even as popular K-pop standards like Into The New World by Girl’s Generation (SNSD) play during rallies.

So where is the world of K-pop headed this year? We look at some significant developments expected over the course of the year.

BTS is reuniting

After completing their military service, mandatory for all young South Korean men, the seven members of the group Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) will be back in action.

Kim Seok-jin (Jin), the first to enlist, and the first to be discharged on June 12, 2024, released an album in November and is keeping up variety show appearances. Jung Hoseok (stage name J-hope) was the second to be discharged in October has just announced the release of new music in March, and is preparing for a global tour.

His first concert will be held in Seoul, South Korea at the KSPO Dome on February 28. This tour will make him the second BTS member to tour solo, after Min Yoongi (who goes by the monikers Agust D and Suga) completed a well-received tour before enlisting in 2023.

As for the other members, group leader Kim Namjoon (RM), Taehyung (V), Jungkook and Jimin are expected to be out of the military in June. The last member to complete his service will be Suga, who is doing alternative service as a social worker and is expected to be out on June 25, 2025.

This year also marks the 10 year anniversary of the landmark Hwayangyeonhwa (화양연화) (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life) series by the group, a bittersweet exploration of youth, and fan expectations run high for thematic extensions and new music releases. A tour in 2025-26 is also on the cards.

Blackpink: Lisa’s solo album and potential group comeback

YG Entertainment, in charge of Blackpink’s group activities, announced that an album and perhaps a tour is in the works for the popular girl group, known for its bold girl-crush concept and catchy tunes. Additionally, all the members have ventured into solo work under different agencies, with some launching their own labels.

Thai singer-rapper Lisa is releasing a full-length album called Alter Ego on February 28, 2025 through her company Lloud and RCA Records. There are also rumours of members Jennie and Jisoo releasing full musical projects of their own in 2025; Jisoo just dropped an enigmatic trailer featuring the date February 14. Blackpink member Rosé put out her first full-length album Rosie on December 6, 2024; it was a runaway success, charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Pre-release APT, a collab with Bruno Mars, is still charting on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at no 5.

Acting projects for Lisa (White Lotus Season 3) and Jisoo (Newtopia) are expected to premiere this year as well.

GOT7 reunion

Third generation boy group GOT7, known for hits like Hard Carry, If You Do and Just Right, hasn’t released a group album since 2022. Now they return in time for their 11th anniversary with an EP titled Winter Heptagon, which will be released on January 20.

While the group has not been very active after leaving their record label JYP Entertainment in 2021 following the completion of a seven year contract, the members have been active as soloists. Members Jay B, Mark, Jackson Wang, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom have released solo music and toured globally, with Jackson Wang even performing at Coachella in 2024.

Two members also made stops in India recently. While Jackson Wang performed at Lollapalooza India in 2023, Thai rapper BamBam (Kunpimook Bhuwakul) was here as part of the KTown Festival in Mumbai in December.

Gfriend is back in action

Gfriend fans, known as Buddies, have reason to celebrate in 2025. The six members of the girl group Gfriend have reunited to release a special album called Season of Memories for their 10th anniversary. The title track Season of Memories was released on January 6, while its music video and the album itself dropped on January 13. The group performed at the Golden Disk Awards and at music shows, and is expected to hold a few fan-meetings and concerts.

Fans were dismayed when Gfriend, beloved in South Korea for hits such as Rough, Time for the Moon Night and Mago, suddenly disbanded in May 2021 after the completion of its first contract with Source Music.

EXO will be together again

After various group members being in military service since 2019, all members of the popular SM boy group EXO will be out this year. While member Kai is expected to be discharaged in February, Sehun, who is serving as a social service worker, will be the last member to be discharged, tentatively in September.

EXO put out an EP (Don’t Fight the Feeling, with an epynomous title track) in 2021, and released a studio album Exist in 2023, but promotions have featured less than the complete nine members. Members have, however, been active as soloists. D.O released his album Blossom in May 2024, featuring the cheery Popcorn and Mars. and Baekhyun released Hello, World, featuring the seductive Pineapple Slice, last September. Meanwhile, Suho, Xiumin and Chen performed in India on various dates in November-December 2024— the first time any members from EXO held a concert in India.

Seventeen subunits are releasing music

The highly popular group Seventeen had a successful 2024, and now subunits of its members are back to delight the public. BSS, comprised of DK, Seungkwan and Hoshi, put out their second single album Teleparty on January 8, 2025, along with title track CBZ (Primetime). BSS expands to BooSeokSoon, a portmanteau of the names of all three members— Boo for Boo Seungkwan, Seok for Lee Seok-min (DK), and Soon for Kwon Soon-young (Hoshi).

Meanwhile, rumours have emerged that Hooshi and Woozi (Lee Ji-Hoon), both born in 1996, will have a comeback as a subunit later this year.

Popular artists are releasing new music

Chart-topping girl group IVE, known for hits like Love Dive and HEYA, will release its third EP Empathy on February 3. They have put out a cinematic trailer for the EP, and dropped pre-release single Rebel Heart on January 13.

Thai artist Minnie, who is a member of girl power group G-idle, will release her first solo mini album Her on January 21. She has already dropped the pre-release single Blind Eyes Red, on January 7.

ZEROBASEONE, a buoyant and boyish group formed through a televised competition titled Boys Planet, has acquired its own legion of dedicated fans, or Zeroses, who will be looking forward to the group’s first Japanese EP Prezent on January 29.

Other bands, including CIX and ONEUS, also have releases on the cards.

NewJeans and ADOR/Hybe legal tangle

Hearings in multiple cases pertaining to a dispute between star rookie group New Jeans and their company ADOR/Hybe have kicked off in January 2025. The court proceedings are being followed with intense interest by those curious about the corporate machinations of k-pop. Defamation, plagiarism accusations, mistreatment allegations, a contract dispute and a criminal investigation are all part of a complicated legal tangle.

Reactions from fans and netizens to the prolonged dispute, which kicked off with an internal audit by Korean entertainment conglomerate Hybe of its sub-label ADOR in April 2024, have ranged from support for the group for the alleged mistreatment to questions about the validity of the claims and concerns over ex-ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin’s role in the matter.

Bystanders are watching the trajectory of NewJeans with interest; they quickly shot to fame both at home and abroad with songs like Attention, Hype Boy and Ditto after their debut in 2022 as the second girl-group under Hybe, the parent company for BTS and Seventeen, and girl groups Le Sserafim and IILIT among others.

New groups are debuting

The K-field is vast and continues to expand at dizzying speed. Already this year, JYP has launched a new boy group called Kickflip, which released its first album on January 6, 2025. Now SM has announced the debut of a new girl group called Heart2Heart. Source Music, YG, and Pledis Entertainment are also expected to debut new groups.

More military enlistments

Military enlistment is set to temporarily claim more members of popular K-pop groups in 2025. Seventeen member Hoshi is expected to enlist over the course of the year, joining bandmate Jeonghan who is already in the military.

Doyoung of NCT will also join his bandmates Taeyong and Jaehyun for mandatory military service. While Taeyong is already serving in the Navy, and is expected to be released in December, Jaehyun is serving in the Army band and will be out next year.

Kang Daniel, soloist and ex-member of the project group WANNAONE, is also expected to enlist soon.

South Korea’s K-pop industry is booming, but investors in its stocks can easily get burned.

Thanks to now world-famous acts like BTS and Blackpink, the industry is worth about $5 billion, according to analysts, and is continuing to grow as more people around the world tune in. That’s pushed up the stocks of K-pop stars’ agencies and transformed moguls like Hybe Co.’s Bang Si-Hyuk into billionaires.

Still, the industry is highly dependent on the actions of a few key players, and negative news about its stars can wipe out millions in market value.

Consider what happened a few weeks ago: Reports emerged that one of the biggest Korean pop stars had a boyfriend, and the stock price of her agency plunged.

The news about singer Karina from the group Aespa ignited outrage among her fans, some of whom even sent a truck with an electronic billboard that said “Do you not get enough love from your fans?” to her agency SM Entertainment Co. Its shares fell 11% in South Korea, and Karina, who’s real name is Yu Ji-min, issued an apology.

Although the stock has since recovered, the episode illustrates the perils of the industry, both for its stars and for investors.

So, should you turn your love of K-pop into an investment? Here’s what you need to know:

What’s the case for investing in K-pop?

It has a huge global fan base, which Bokyung Suh, senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, estimates at about 500 million people. That’s continuing to grow as more music lovers discover the genre. He estimates the industry will have a 12% compound annual growth rate until 2030.

Surging demand for concerts alongside rising ticket prices should boost profits for the companies behind K-pop acts, said Lars Ognarsson, head of research at Jakota Index Portfolios. He’s also optimistic because of increased album sales as well as the continued overseas expansion.

“Digital streaming for K-pop is soaring, including a significant increase in the number of streams within English-speaking markets,” he said.

Plus, Hybe is expanding its presence in the global music scene through mergers and acquisitions, he noted. In November, the company acquired its first Latin music company, following its purchase of US-based QC Media Holdings.

What are my options?

First, the key players: there are four big companies behind most of K-pop’s stars – Hybe, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment Corp. and YG Entertainment Inc.

Hybe is known for the boy band BTS, also called the Bangtan Boys, which arguably turned the K-pop industry as a whole into a global phenomenon. SM is behind Karina’s Aespa along with Super Junior and Girls’ Generation, among others. Artists under JYP include Stray Kids, Boy Story and 2PM, while YG is known for Blackpink and BigBang.

They’re all listed on the Korea Exchange, which can be difficult for foreign investors to access, although the country’s regulators are working to make it easier.

For US investors, there’s the Jakota K-Pop and Korean Entertainment ETF (KPOP), which invests in companies that will benefit from the industry’s growth. Its largest holdings are internet services firms Kakao Corp. and Naver Corp. along with SM and Hybe. The fund’s price has fallen almost 15% so far this year.

In Hong Kong, an option is the newly launched Global X K-Pop and Culture ETF (3158 HK), which counts Hybe and media production company CJ ENM Co. as its biggest positions.

What are the risks?

One of the biggest headwinds for the industry in recent years was news that BTS would take a pause to focus on individual projects, which sent Hybe plunging 28% and wiped out as much as $1.7 billion in market value. Under South Korean law, able-bodied men are required to complete 18 to 21 months of military service, and two of the BTS members began their duties in December.

Although the stock has since recovered, the episode was indicative of BTS’s influence on the K-pop world.

In general, the shares are notoriously volatile, which is especially dangerous for those who aren’t investing for the long term. Consider Hybe’s share price: In 2023 alone, it rose 77% in the first six months of the year, then fell 38% through mid-November, before rallying another 23% to close the year.

Much of the volatility comes from how fervently K-pop fans and the country’s retail investors follow the industry. That means news events can easily trigger big price moves, Suh said.

For example, anything from a single group’s contract renewal to rumors of drug use to a star debuting a new relationship can result in gains or losses for the entire sector. K-pop artists are intensely scrutinized by both fans and their management companies. Some reports allege that many singers have a “no dating” clause in their contracts to make them more appealing to fans, and stars such as members of the group Great Guys have spoken out about restrictive diets and forced gym routines.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)