Stray Kids honored with Prime Minister’s commendation at 2023 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards

Stray Kids (JYP Entertainment)

K-pop boy group Stray Kids received the Prime Minister’s commendation at the 2023 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards.

The Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards honor figures of various fields -- singers, actors, comedians, directors and more -- who have contributed to the development of the local pop culture and art scene.

The boy band was unable to attend the ceremony on Saturday due a concert it held in Seoul on the same day.

“We are really grateful for having been honored with the Prime Minister’s commendation. We would also like to thank our local and foreign fans who cherish our music. We want people to enjoy our music and performance, and get energy from it,” the band said in a press release on Tuesday.

Stray Kids has been establishing its position as a K-pop sensation with various global achievements this year.

That includes selling out tickets to its second world tour “Maniac” show held at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

It was the second K-pop boy band in history to hold a standalone concert at this stadium.

The group’s third LP “5-Star” released in June also made a new record in K-pop history by selling more than 4.6 million copies of its album in just a week since its release -- the highest number so far.

It also topped the Billboard 200 chart for the third time with this album.

In July, Stray Kids headlined Lollapalooza Paris becoming the first K-pop artist to do so.

In September, the group took home the award for best K-pop from the 2023 MTV Music Awards.

Recently, it has been on the “5-Star Dome Tour 2023” in Korea and Japan to visit five different cities for a total of 10 shows.

The tour will conclude at the Tokyo Dome this weekend.

Stray Kids is scheduled to drop a new mini album titled “Rock-Star” on Nov. 10.

By Hong Yoo(yoohong@heraldcorp.com)