YG’s new girl group lifts stock price to decade high

YG Entertainment Inc., the K-pop label behind global sensation Blackpink, saw its stock hitting the highest point in more than 10 years as a new group of seven girls from South Korea, Japan and Thailand is poised to take the stage in the coming months.

YG’s share on Friday rose up to 19.2% to 79,500 won ($59.5), the highest level since October 2012 after the South Korean entertainment agency decided on the debut of BabyMonster this autumn.

The group consisting of three South Koreans, two Japanese and two Thais is YG's first female band after Blackpink, which debuted in 2016.

BabyMonster has already secured more than 2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel. The cumulative number of views on the channel has exceeded 400 million, according to YG.

Such popularity even before a debut is expected to boost the corporate value of YG, the market capitalization of which is just a tenth that of HYBE Co., the label behind global sensation BTS, and JYP Entertainment Inc. of ITZY.

Write to Man-Su Choe at bebop@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.