No big teaser campaign. No months of hype. Just three days’ notice — and Stray Kids still took over the world’s charts. That’s the whole story of “RUN IT,” and …
Mina Cho
Mina Cho
Covers K-pop, gaming, and webtoons for KoreaUpClose. ENFP. If it's trending before lunch, she's already written about it.
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K-pop & Fandom
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Web Novels
The Web Novelist Who Cracked the NYT Best Seller List Is Back — And Her New Story Already Has 20 Million Reads
by Mina Choby Mina ChoSuji Kim made history in 2024 when “Under the Oak Tree” hit #7 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Hardcover Fiction — the first web novel originally …
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K-pop & Fandom
Inside BTS’s “ARIRANG”: The Bell, the Ballad, and the Quiet Tension Behind K-Pop’s Biggest Comeback
by Mina Choby Mina ChoWhen BTS returned this year with their fifth studio album, the title alone did a lot of talking. “ARIRANG” isn’t a coined word or an English phrase built for global …
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Gaming & Esports
T1 Just Booked Their MSI 2026 Ticket — In Front of 2.18 Million Pairs of Eyes
by Mina Choby Mina ChoT1 is going to MSI 2026. They earned the trip the hard way: by beating their fiercest domestic rival, Gen.G, 3-2 in a winner-takes-the-slot decider on June 14 — a …
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Webtoons & Comics
Hero Killer Is Becoming an Anime. Here’s Why the Numbers Make That Obvious.
by Mina Choby Mina ChoHere’s the headline: “Hero Killer,” one of Naver WEBTOON’s biggest action hits, is becoming an animated TV series. French studio Passion Paris unveiled the adaptation on June 26, 2026, at …
