▲ BTS Tops Billboard “HOT 100”
On August 31, BTS became the first Korean artist to top Billboard “HOT 100” with their recently-released song “Dynamite.” The previous best record was held by Psy when he ranked second in the chart for 7 consecutive weeks with “Gangnam Style” in 2012. Plus, BTS rewrote the history of K-pop by being the first Korean artist to top Spotify’s “Global Top 50” chart and coming in third in UK Official Singles Chart.
▲ BLACKPINK Garners 1.3 Billion Views on YouTube
BLACKPINK’s “DDU-DU DDU-DU” has surpassed 1.3 billion YouTube views for the first time in a K-pop history. “DDU-DU DDU-DU” is the title track of the group’s first mini-album, SQUARE UP, released in 2018. In its first year of release, it was selected as the most-watched K-pop music video in the world. Even after two years and two months, its popularity on YouTube is still hot. It only took four months to go from 1 billion views to 1.1 billion views, three months from 1.1 billion views to 1.2 billion views, and two months from 1.2 billion views to 1.3 billion views.
▼ Lee Hyori Deletes Her Instagram Account
Lee Hyori declared an end to her Instagram activities. On September 2, she wrote, “I just wanted to let you know that I will stop using Instagram from about 3 days later” on her Instagram. She then continued, “It’s not because of the recent incident (of course, I’d be lying if I say it had zero effect). I started this to communicate with fans thirsty for news since I wasn’t promoting often, but this is not easy and worries me here and there.” Recently, Lee Hyori mentioned the name “Mao” during her appearance on How Do You Play? and was severely attacked by Chinese netizens. Currently, Lee Hyori’s Instagram account has been deleted.
▼ Hwang Jung Eum Is Getting a Divorce
Hwang Jung Eum surprised everyone with the news of her divorce. It was reported that she filed for divorce by mediation to the Suwon District Court’s Seongnam branch on September 2. In response, her agency C-JeS Entertainment said, “We will help her with the process so that it goes smoothly” and added that they will not be disclosing any detail such as reason for divorce as it is her personal matter. Hwang Jung Eum married Lee Young Don, a professional golfer-turned-businessman, in 2016 and gave birth to a baby boy in August of the following year. She recently starred in drama To All The Guys Who Loved Me.
