Although it is difficult to fully enjoy the romance of the year-end due to the aftermath of the impeachment, many K-pop stars are delivering comfort to the public by releasing ‘Winter Songs’ ahead of Christmas. Furthermore, whether a new ‘Winter Pension Song’ will emerge among these stars is also emerging as a matter of small interest among K-pop fandom.

○V and Fifty Fifty as ‘Winter Song Powerhouses’

This year in particular, stars who have surpassed existing hit carols and taken on new crowns are attracting attention both domestically and internationally.

BTS‘s V showed off his prowess by ‘all-killing’ all of the Christmas-related charts released by Billboard in the United States. He placed ‘Christmas Tree’, released on Christmas Eve 2021, on the ‘25 Best Christmas Songs of the 21st Century’ selected by Billboard staff. Through this, it stood shoulder to shoulder with representative global carols such as Mike Bublé’s ‘Cold December Night’ and Mariah Carey‘s ‘Oh Santa!’.

‘White Christmas’, released on the 6th, was included on the ‘2024 Best New Christmas Songs’. This is thanks to V using voice isolation technology to complete a duet song with the original author of the mega-hit carol released by ‘pop master’ Bing Crosby in 1942, stimulating nostalgia among global fans. Billboard praised it, saying, “The soft voices of the two stars that transcend generations are in perfect harmony.”

Rookie girl group Fifty Fifty also topped the ‘2024 Best New Christmas Songs’ chart with their new song ‘Nutty or Nice’. The song, which stands out with its retro sensibility, caught Billboard’s attention with its “‘a mood that seems to turn a page from Santa Claus‘s book to ask the eternal question, ‘Are you naughty or nice?’.”.

○Chaotic political situation becomes a ‘barrier’

In Korea, the carol ‘Because It’s Christmas’ featuring Sung Si-kyung, Park Hyo-shin, Lee Seok-hoon, Seo In-guk, and VIXX is doing well. According to the ‘Carol Trend’ recently released by TJ Media, a music accompaniment company, ‘Because It‘s Christmas’, released in 2012, has ranked first among carols for 11 consecutive years.

EXO’s ‘First Snow’, IU‘s ‘Merry Christmas in Advance’, and virtual group Playbe’s ‘Merry Pleistmas’ have re-appeared on music platform charts such as Melon and Bugs. Jay Park, Oh My Girl‘s Hyojung, Dreamcatcher, and Youngpa C have all released winter songs to join the ‘Carol Battle’.

However, it seems unlikely that the new ‘Winter Songs’ will have as much special effects as expected. This is because they have not been able to receive proper attention due to the aftermath of the impeachment, and there is also no atmosphere in which they can be promoted to their fullest.

A music industry insider said on the 23rd, “After the end of the Corona pandemic, the ’season song‘ craze is reviving, so many singers prepared carols, but it was unfortunate due to unexpected circumstances.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com