K-pop and the Korean Wave are evolving, and the latest trend is all-foreign combos who are recruited through auditions abroad.
In 2020, JYP Entertainment launched the all-Japanese girl band NiziU along with Japan's Sony Music, and now SM Entertainment is in the process of forming an American idol group called NCT Hollywood in collaboration with MGM.
Hybe, which manages K-pop juggernaut Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, has held a televised talent contest with Nippon TV and Hulu Japan to form a nine-member dance group there, and seven of the nine members are Japanese. One is Korean and the other Taiwanese.
Smaller agencies have also turned their eyes abroad. In 2020, midsize talent management company RBW launched a five-member boy band called D1Verse made up entirely of Vietnamese performers, while SBT, another midsize talent mill, launched a five-member Filipino boy band called SB19 in 2018.
Last year SB19 was nominated along with BTS for the Top Social Artist category of the Billboard Music Awards, a first for a Southeast Asian group.
Some purists say a band with no Korean members cannot be called a K-pop group, but industry watchers say the global success of the K-pop model will benefit both the domestic and overseas entertainment markets.
Music critic Kim Young-dae said, "The North American and Japanese music markets are still two times bigger than ours. Through collaborations, foreign entertainment companies can learn about the K-pop model, and the connections can build bridges for domestic performers to other markets."
