The group ZEROBASEONE (Sung Han-bin, Kim Ji-woong, Jang Ha-o, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae-rae, Ricky, Kim Kyu-bin, Park Gun-wook, Han Yu-jin), who announced a comeback in February, recently had an interview with the prestigious Italian magazine PANORAMA.

The fact that a magazine that extensively covers the Korean Wave in Italy showed interest in ZEROBASEONE shows how popular they are.

PANORAMA introduced ZEROBASEONE as follows: “‘Born through Boyz Planet, ZEROBASEONE has established themselves as the most beloved 5th generation K-pop group. With the members‘ versatile charms, excellent vocals, and splendid performances, they have captured the hearts of millions of fans around the world.” PANORAMA emphasized that ZEROBASEONE is solidifying their position as an elite group in the global music scene by breaking their own records with every comeback.

In an interview with PANORAMA, when asked about their ‘most memorable moment of 2024’,’ the members all recalled their memories from their first overseas tour. They said, “On the first day of our world tour, the moment the LED screen behind the first stage opened is still vivid. We were so moved to see all the cheering stick lights.”, “While touring overseas, we received a lot of energy from Zeroz (fandom name). We think we can work harder for our future activities with this memory.”.

When asked ‘What can fans expect from their next album?’, ZEROBASEONE answered, “We are working hard to show a surprising side of ourselves within the image that ZEROBASEONE has. We will greet you with an album full of our youth,” he said, raising expectations.

ZEROBASEONE is a group formed through the choice of fans around the world through ‘Boyz Planet’, and is quite popular not only in Europe but also in the United States. Last year, on December 30th and 31st, ZEROBASEONE’s video was shown on the electronic billboard at the ‘Ball Drop’ event to welcome the New Year in Times Square, New York, USA, which was attended by over 1 million citizens, proving their hot popularity.

ZEROBASEONE has achieved remarkable results in the United States, the world‘s largest music market. Their third mini album, ‘You had me at HELLO’, entered the upper ranks of the US Billboard’s ‘Best K-POP Albums of 2024’, and the title song ‘GOOD SO BAD’ from their fourth mini album, ‘CINEMA PARADISE’, was selected as one of Grammy.com‘s ‘10 K-POP Songs That Shined in 2024’. Last July, ZEROBASEONE also performed on the stage of the ‘Global Spin Live’ at the GRAMMY Museum, which highlights global artists.

Ahead of the release of their first Japanese EP, ‘PREZENT’, ZEROBASEONE will pre-release ‘Doctor! Doctor!’, a track from their fifth mini album, in Korea on January 20.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com Reporter jhj@donga.com