: popular music originating in South Korea and encompassing a variety of styles
The opening ceremony, which took place Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea, featured several songs from notable K-pop artists as teams circled the stadium.—
Kimberly Yam
Kimberly YamExamples of K-pop in a Sentence
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NewJeans, one of the most exciting and innovative recent K-pop groups, has been largely inactive since 2024 due to a baroque legal dispute with the HYBE subsidiary ADOR.
—Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
There are numerous non-Korean producers and singer-songwriters throughout the album, and while this isn’t something unusual for a K-pop release, there’s plenty of overlap with those who made JENNIE’s sleek solo debut Ruby, most notably Diplo.
—Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 24 Mar. 2026
Their dissatisfaction stems in part from Arirang’s failure to make the most of an attempt at fusing strip- and EDM-club aesthetics to the insistent word repetition of the K-pop generation prior to BTS.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026
Based partly on a spectacular opening day on Spotify, the K-pop group’s first new album since 2020 is widely projected to rack up the year’s best opening figures to date.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 23 Mar. 2026
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Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
There are numerous non-Korean producers and singer-songwriters throughout the album, and while this isn’t something unusual for a K-pop release, there’s plenty of overlap with those who made JENNIE’s sleek solo debut Ruby, most notably Diplo.
—Joshua Minsoo Kim, Pitchfork, 24 Mar. 2026
Their dissatisfaction stems in part from Arirang’s failure to make the most of an attempt at fusing strip- and EDM-club aesthetics to the insistent word repetition of the K-pop generation prior to BTS.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026
Based partly on a spectacular opening day on Spotify, the K-pop group’s first new album since 2020 is widely projected to rack up the year’s best opening figures to date.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 23 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for K-pop
Cite this Entry
“K-pop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/K-pop. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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