100NCT Wish→Enhypen, etc. to appear at ‘ASEA 2025’… Diverse lineup

The groups Enhypen, NCT Wish, and Nexdge will appear at ‘ASEA 2025’. The 2nd ‘Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2025 presented by ZOZOTOWN’ (hereafter as ‘ASEA 2025’), where music, stars, and fans unite, will be held on May 28th and 29th at K Arena Yokohama in Yokohama City, Japan, and Enhypen, NCT Wish, and Nexdge will participate, the ASEA organizing committee officially announced on the 24th. Enhypen, known as the ‘global album powerhouse,’ recorded cumulative album sales of 5.45 million copies last year alone, based on explosive global popularity.

They clinched the title of ‘Triple Million Seller’ for the first time since debut in February with their 2nd regular album ‘Romance: Untold’ released last July.

With this album, Enhypen ranked 2nd in the 2024 Global Album Sales Chart of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and 4th in the 2024 Global Album Chart, marking the highest rank for a K-pop artist.

In the Oricon annual ranking of 2024 in Japan, they placed 9th in the album ranking and 10th in the combined album ranking.

Enhypen will set the record for the shortest overseas artist entry with performances in July at Tokyo Ajinomoto Stadium and in August at Osaka Yanmar Stadium Nagai. Debuted in February last year, NCT Wish rapidly emerged as the representative ‘Icon of Generation Z’ in K-pop based on their fresh visuals, diverse content, and trendy styling.

Having successfully completed their Tokyo Dome debut stage, they recorded album sales nearing 2 million with a total of three works released last year, including the debut single ‘Wish’, the second single ‘Songbird’, and their first mini-album ‘Steady’, setting the highest sales for debuting artists in 2024.

Not stopping there, their first regular Japanese album ‘Wishful’ secured the top position for five days in the Oricon daily album ranking, and dominated various awards such as newcomer awards, solidifying their unreplaceable position as ‘the best newcomer’.

NCT Wish is scheduled to make a comeback with their mini 2nd album ‘Pop Pop’ on April 14. Nexdge is a rookie boy group introduced by JYP Entertainment 6 years after Stray Kids, making its global debut last May and officially debuting in Japan in August.

Having been recognized as the ‘next-generation stage restaurant group’ based on their excellent performance capabilities, they topped the Oricon daily album ranking with their Japanese debut album ‘Ride the Vibe (Japanese version) / Keep on Moving’, and proved their passionate local popularity by selling out a showcase tour conducted in six sessions across three cities including Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo.

On March 12, they were honored with their first award by being selected as the winners in the ‘Best 5 New Artists’ category at the 39th Japan Gold Disc Awards.

Their first solo tour in Japan is also scheduled to begin on June 4. Celebrating its second edition, ‘ASEA’ is an awards ceremony where top Asian stars unite through music with fans worldwide.

The inaugural ‘ASEA’, held last April, saw top artists like Stray Kids, who achieved a triple crown including the grand prize, along with Tomorrow X Together, DAY6, Treasure, SHINee’s Taemin, Creepy Nuts, and others attending, exciting music fans. This year, too, numerous top-class K-pop artists and top Asian singers who achieved meaningful results on the global stage over the past year will participate, creating spectacular performances.

Artists like aespa, &TEAM, Enhypen, Hana, and Xdinary Heroes have confirmed their appearances.

For the first day, THE BOYZ member Juyeon and IVE member Rei have been selected as MCs. ‘ASEA 2025’ is hosted by Newsen, a South Korean entertainment and sports specialty media celebrating its 20th anniversary, and star & style specialty magazine atstar1, The Star IN&M, celebrating its 13th anniversary, and is organized by the ASEA organizing committee and ZOZOTOWN. ‘ASEA 2025’ begins ticket sales on March 25. Reporter Jihye Kim jahye2@edaily.co.kr