On August 13, AtHeart, the first girl group under Titan Contents, led by former SM Entertainment CEO Han Se-min, made their debut. Among its lineup is Kaitlyn, who was selected through auditions in Manila, Philippines. This is no longer a surprising development. New girl group UNIS has sold out fan concerts in the Philippines, and JL, a member of boy band AHOF, met with 4,000 fans in the Philippines even before debuting. The successful K-pop playbook, it seems, is now being written in Manila before Seoul.

The profound influence of Filipino fandom is best demonstrated by the success of UNIS. Born out of SBS survival show Universe Ticket, the group features Elicia and Jeildangka, both Filipino nationals. Thanks to overwhelming support and votes from local fans during the show’s broadcast, they secured their spotlight in the debut lineup. Filipino fans aren’t just consuming finished idols—they’re actively creating K-pop stars that represent their own country. As a result, UNIS has surged in popularity as a “national idol” in the Philippines from the outset.

Even more striking is JL from AHOF, who, back in February, held a successful solo fan meeting at a 4,000-seat venue in his native Philippines—before his official debut. This iconic moment proves that the Filipino fandom is no longer just a market for consuming established stars, but is now evolving into a maker market, nurturing and launching talent from the ground up.

Why the Philippines? Choi Jae-woo, CEO of F&F Entertainment and the driving force behind the successes of UNIS and AHOF, offers a compelling answer. He recently proclaimed, “The Philippines is absolutely essential in K-pop’s global strategy,” adding, “the popularity K-pop enjoys in the English-speaking Philippines ultimately serves as a bridgehead for expansion into Central and North America.”

Indeed, the Philippines is now the ideal testbed for K-pop's push into the West. With English as an official language and a fandom renowned for its SNS impact, Filipino fans have a direct influence on global charts like Spotify and Billboard, shaping the “global consensus” around K-pop.

This “Philippines First” strategy is rapidly becoming the new normal in the K-pop industry. MLD Entertainment launched Hori7on, a group consisting entirely of Filipino members, and in HYBE’s U.S.-based group CatsEye, the top finalist Sophia, a Filipino member, now plays a pivotal role.

Whereas Sandara Park once leveraged her Filipino popularity as a springboard into Korea, today’s K-pop aims to use the Philippines as a bridgehead toward America. Filipino talent is now at the core of K-pop’s systems that are directly targeting the U.S. market.

K-pop’s world map is being redrawn from Manila. The traditional K-pop trajectory—Korea, then Japan/China, then Asia, then the West—is being rewritten. The successes of UNIS and AHOF, along with Choi Jae-woo’s comments, demonstrate that the Philippines is now the most crucial “strategic foothold” and starting point for K-pop’s global expansion.

Just as Kaitlyn from today's debuting AtHeart group began her journey in Manila, future K-pop stars may soon have “Manila” on their résumés before “Seoul.” The world map of K-pop is being redrawn, starting from Manila.

Note “This article was translated from the original Korean version using AI assistance, and subsequently edited by a native-speaking journalist.”

Photo=MHN DB, F&F Entertainment, HYBE X Geffen Records