Cultural Insight

[Anchor Lead]

Despite difficulties in Korea-Japan relations, the Hallyu or Korean Wave phenomenon led by K-pop is still going strong in Japan. If 2018 was a big year for girl band Twice, IZ*ONE is expected to follow suit this year. Let's take a look

[Pkg]

IZ*ONE, a Korean-Japanese girl group, is making a splash in Japan. According to their management agency, IZ*ONE released their first single album in Japan on February 6th and are traveling between Korea and Japan every week for album activities. Their debut album in Japan sold more than 190-thousand copies in just one day, marking a milestone for a Korean idol girl band. The album also topped the Oricon daily singles chart and other key music charts in Japan. Sales and rankings performance of this level for a debut single album is even rare for a local all-Japanese girl group. IZ*ONE's first-day records in Japan are about double that of their senior girl group Twice who are extremely popular in Japan at the moment. Industry experts both in Korea and Japan are taking note of this fact and will keenly observe IZ*ONE's future activities in the island nation and whether their popularity may get a boost down the road. The song titled "Korean Dream" rendered by a large number of top Korean singers has been unveiled along with a music video. It is the 2019 theme song for a movement called the One K Global Campaign which has been promoting the cause of Korean unification through culture. The campaign's organizing committee says the newly released track is a remake of a same-titled melody released in 2017. Famed producer Kim Hyeong-seok joined the latest project. The song comes in three different version: an ensemble where all the singers sing together, an instrumental piece and a solo version performed by the idol boy band Astro. The ensemble version in particular brings together the voices of 59 artists ranging from the seasoned veterans such as Im Chang-jeong, Jeong In and Kim Jo-han to young K-pop bands such as Momoland and April. The project's organizers said that five students from an elementary school near the inter-Korean border also took part in the recording to add more significance to the unification campaign song.