JYP founder presents Stray Kids with gold plaques to celebrate Billboard success

Park Jin-young, founder and chief producer of JYP Entertainment, presented Stray Kids with gold plaques valued at more than 100 million won ($72,400) to celebrate the boy band’s historic Billboard success.

On September 15, the boy band shared six photos and a video on Instagram, showing the eight members holding gold-framed plaques gifted by Park. Each plaque featured commemorative photos of the band and its record-setting achievement.

Stray Kids’ fourth full-length album “Karma” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart on Sept. 6, making it the first act in the chart’s 70-year history to enter at No. 1 with seven consecutive albums.

To mark the milestone, Park gifted each member 20 don (75 grams) of gold, totaling 160 don — or roughly 102 million won as of press time. A celebratory video also showed the group gathered around a cake with lit candles.

“Karma” continues to hold strong, ranking No. 8 on the latest Billboard 200 dated Sept. 20, its third straight week in the top tier.

Meanwhile, JYP confirmed on September 16 that Stray Kids’ newly added concerts set for Oct. 18 and 19 at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium had sold out immediately. The shows will cap off its largest-ever world tour, “dominATE,” which spans 54 shows in 34 cities worldwide.

Park was also recently appointed co-chair of the newly established presidential commission for international pop culture exchange. Working alongside Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young, he will help devise strategies to expand the global reach of Korean music, drama, film and gaming.

BY CHO MUN-GYU [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]