So a few months ago I stumbled across this cable station called M-NET. Originally based overseas in Asia, they had a time slot of a few hours a day on US national television. Just recently, they were given the go to become a 24 hour station, this one based in LA, that showcases the best of J-Pop (Japanese Pop Music) and K-Pop (Korean Pop Music).
The phenomenon has existed for a few years (like when BoA released an album that got some buzz in 2009), but is just now starting to blow up. MTV Iggy, MTV's world music site, who has been following the acts for some time, had an international contest called 'Best New Band," in which the winners would perform on stage in NYC. The winners last year were 2NE1, an all-girl group from Korea. They performed along with Venezuelan group La Vida Bohème; the Malaysian sensation, Yuna; and Jamaicas' beloved star, Gyptian; the festivities were held last December at Best Buy Theater.
Another K-Pop act had its time to shine soon after, as the spicy five girl clique the Wonder Girls scored a Nick Cannon produced debut on American TV; they were the stars of the TV special, The Wonder Girls, on Nickelodeon this past February.
SPIN recently took an in-depth look into the K-Pop phenomenon in their March/April 2012 issue. On the foretable was the strict training and disciplined practice of all of the K-Pop stars, studying music and dance together in Seoul. It's an amazing read on the come up of acts such as 2AM, and BoA, the demise then redemption of Jay Park, and more. Slowly infiltrating the market, there's probably much more to come from these talented young stars.