Korea Observer

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Japanese girl group AKB48 and boy band One Direction won as Artists of the Year at the recently concluded Japan Gold Disc Awards 2014. Several K-pop artists also emerged as winners in the prestigious awards, including TVXQ, Girls’ Generation and BAP.

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Six K-pop boy bands in one concert proved to be an overwhelming experience for Filipino fans. The Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert 2 held last February 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum showcased some of the best K-pop acts. A-Jax with KARA Seungyeon (All photos by Jonathan Hicap)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin KARA’S Seungyeon will be in Manila this weekend as a special guest at the MBC Music’s “Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert 2″ to be held on Feb. 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. “She will be here to support A-Jax,” a representative of the organizers told  Bulletin Entertainment . KARA’s Seungyeon (left) will be a special guest at the Dream K-pop Fantasy Concert 2 in Manila on Feb. 2 (www.newsen.com and All Access Productions)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Boy band EXO and SHINee’s Choi Minho became the most searched K-pop group and Korean personality in the Philippines in 2013, respectively. Google Philippines released its annual year-end Zeitgeist, a collection of the top search queries by Filipinos on google.com.ph. (Clockwise from top left) SHINee's Minho, EXO, Jang Geun Suk, Girls' Generation, Yoo In Na and SHINee. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com and EXO's Facebook page)

MTV announced the nominees in the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards and among them are Korean singers EXO and U-KISS and the Philippines' Sarah Geronimo. This year, MTV EMA listed nominees under the Worldwide Act category by territory. (Clockwise from top left) Sarah Geronimo, EXO, SISTAR and U-KISS  (Photo by MTV EMA, EXO Facebook page and www. newsen.com)

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin Girls' Generation dominated albums sales in Korea while rappers Psy and Baechigi led in digital rankings for the first half of 2013. Gaon Chart, Korea's version of Billboard, has released the rankings for January to June 2013 of album sales, digital singles and online downloads. (Clockwise from the top) Girls' Generation, Psy and Baechigi (Photos by www.newsen.com)

MBC Music Core today featured performances of Taetiseo, SISTAR, BTOB, BAP, EXO-K, Ivy, Mighty Mouth and more.