Photo: BTS | By Justin McCurry, The Guardian | NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT: Music Business News: Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25% tariff on foreign steel may have caused alarm among South Korean officials, but it has been music to the ears of one sector of the country’s export-led economy: K-pop.
Investors have ploughed money into the industry, which is now being seen as a “safe haven” from Trump’s trade war with some of his country’s closest partners.
As government officials warned of the potentially negative impact of the tariffs, given South Korea is the US’s fourth-biggest supplier of steel, shares in South Korea’s four major entertainment groups soared to their highest levels for a year.
JYP Entertainment and Hybe, the agencies behind some of the most recognizable names in K-pop, saw their respective stock prices rise by 6.09% and 3.15% on Tuesday, according to the Korea Exchange, marking a 52-week high for both companies.
Shares in two other industry giants, SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment, came close to reaching yearly highs, according to the Korea Times.
Market analysts say K-pop has avoided entanglement in Trump’s burgeoning trade war, which primarily targets goods while leaving “soft power” sectors such as entertainment largely unscathed.
The aggressive purchase of entertainment stocks has also been driven by expectations that K-pop is about to enter another boom period. BTS, whose members have been performing compulsory military service, are due to resume their music careers this summer, while the girl band Blackpink will start a world tour in the second half of the year.
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Go here to read the full story:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/12/donald-trump-tariffs-k-pop-group-investments-soar-stock-market-safe-haven
[Thanks to Alex Teitz for contributing this article! http://www.femmusic.com]
Photo: BTS