JYP Entertainment has collaborated with US record brand Republic Records to debut a global K-pop girl group. On June 29th at 21:00 (KST), JYP Entertainment officially released a teaser for 'A2K' on its official YouTube channel, showcasing audition clips in five cities in the US. They are the first US girl group to have been created through the K-pop training system.
It is reported that Park Jin-Young (JYP) personally scouted the members. Last year in September, Park Jin-Young met a diverse range of participants in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Dallas and LA.
He expressed admiration at the scene by saying, "more than what I had hoped for", "truly powerful voices" and "I think an incredible group will emerge from these kids."
JYP's new girl group 'A2K' received initial training at a boot camp in LA. The successful candidates then moved to JYP's headquarters in Korea and have since been training hard, working towards their official debut. An official from the agency stated, "The final list of debut members will be confirmed after three rounds of competitions." After their debut, 'A2K' will focus on activities in North America. The first of their episode will be released on July 14th at 22:00 (KST).
Last year in March, JYP introduced a new era in the K-pop industry by establishing a North American subsidiary 'JYP USA', and collaborating with US-based record brand Republic Records in May.
Previously, Park Jin-Young stated, "'A2K' is the biggest project for myself and JYP as we will be establishing American artists through K-pop."
Monte Lipman, the chairman of Republic Records, expressed his anticipation by saying, "If the values and music expertise of JYP are applied to American artists, it will be an opportunity to create a super girl group."
JYP plans to expand its line of new artists in the second half of this year and is implementing a strategy of "globalization through localization." In addition to 'A2K', JYP Entertainment will also launch a Chinese boy group called 'Project C' and a Japanese boy group in the early months of next year.
