Have you realized? There’s just something fascinatingly disruptive about KATSEYE, and we can’t really sum up by calling them “K-pop” or “Western pop.” This group has performed on both M Countdown and Good Morning America. Their EP then debuted on the Billboard 200, and they filmed Relay Dances like your favorite Korean idols. Also, one member trains in Korean etiquette, and another performs in Tamil traditional accessories. And still, the question lingers, turning them into a debate controversy: Is KATSEYE K-pop? Do we count KATSEYE as a K-pop girl group?
From the moment they debuted, fans have been massively quarreling. Some insisted on their K-pop origin while others deny, claiming them to be entirely global. It’s a full-blown identity debate dividing fan communities, online forums, and even industry insiders.
However, if you’re expecting a simple yes or no answer, you’re asking the wrong question. Because KATSEYE isn’t here to fit a mold—they’re here to completely reshape the conversation. And here’s how.
Does KATSEYE Count as K-pop Girl Group: The Root of the Debate Controversy
If you’ve been an avid K-pop fan for decades, you would have immediately noticed that HYBE had never intended to build KATSEYE as a typical girl group.
KATSEYE debuted under HYBE x Geffen through the global survival show “The Debut: Dream Academy,”. And everything about the show was meticulously crafted to globalize the K-pop model.
Through this show, HYBE basically treated the K-pop system itself (synchronized choreography, pre-debut training, visual branding, long-term creative direction, and a fandom-first mindset) as their product. And they wanted to “export” this system, expanding K-pop’s reach to dominate the global music industry.
So, from the beginning, KATSEYE had been a representation of a much bigger aim than just charting the Billboard. The group was basically HYBE’s whole ambition of dominating the global music industry using the notorious K-pop system.
And this is where the debate controversy about whether KATSEYE counts as K-pop girl group begins.
Is KATSEYE K-pop: What Makes the Group “Global”
So does KATSEYE count as K-pop? Functionally speaking, yes.
The group trained under the same bootcamp-style system that gave us BTS and LE SSERAFIM. They perform on Korean music shows. They participated in KCON and performed at MAMA. Their choreography, styling, and concept rollouts follow a structure that is distinctly K-pop.
But wait a minute, here’s where it shifts.
KATSEYE did NOT debut in South Korea. And unlike the other overseas K-pop trainees, they did NOT train in the Korean language and culture for years before debut. Also, they are not learning to assimilate into Korean idol culture. Their members—Filipina, Tamil-American, Swiss-Ghanaian, Latina, Korean, and Swedish-Chinese—were never expected to blend into a single cultural identity. Instead, each of the KATSEYE members is actually being encouraged to honor their own.
With Sophia’s Filipino roots, Lara’s Tamil identity, and members switching between English, Tagalog, Korean, and Spanish, every KATSEYE member brings their full cultural background forward instead of blending it away.
And if you have been following K-pop for years, you must understand how this approach has been far from what K-pop has been. After all, most K-pop groups, especially in earlier eras, downplayed personal cultural identities to fit Korea’s domestic standards.
But KATSEYE didn’t need to do that. They were born in a different era of global Hallyu influence—and that changes everything.
The Real Controversy: Who Gets to Be Called K-pop?
Now, this is where it gets tricky. KATSEYE trained and debuted under HYBE. They are everywhere in K-pop shows, and they performed just like how idols debuted. If KATSEYE is not K-pop, then who gets to be called one?
Okay, let’s just take a deep breath for a moment, because we’re about to discuss something that’s way deeper.
The debate controversy surrounding KATSEYE and its K-pop vs Global identity brings us back to the very definition of K-pop, especially when everything has completely shifted in 2025.
The term “K-pop” usually refers to a very specific formula: a Korean-based company, a Korean-language song, and a group of East-Asian-dominated idols operating under rigid creative control.
If we’re using this as a reference, then you can basically see how KATSEYE has broken all of that. And that’s precisely why some fans resist labeling them K-pop.
Their songs are in English. They then debuted on Good Morning America. Their members are mostly non-Korean. They operate out of Los Angeles. That is why some critics argue that the only thing “K-pop” about them is their parent company.
But here’s the truth: K-pop stopped being just a geographic label a long time ago. If BTS could headline SoFi Stadium, if BLACKPINK could dominate Coachella, then the debate isn’t about where K-pop goes. It’s about how it evolves. And HYBE knows this.
What Makes KATSEYE Different from Other Girl Groups?
What makes KATSEYE truly different isn’t that they’re “not K-pop”; it’s the fact that they were born global.
Most K-pop idols go through years of domestic promotions before branching into Western markets. KATSEYE reversed that trajectory. Their debut was strategically Western-facing, with stops on Good Morning America, Netflix documentaries, and partnerships with brands like COACH and Fendi.
Yet, in the same breath, they’re performing on Music Bank and releasing singles that echo K-pop’s polished choreography and visual storytelling.
Therefore, it is sufficient to say that KATSEYE is not a rejection of K-pop. In fact, they are the very expansion of it.
This is why KATSEYE’s emergence matters. While K-pop groups have long aspired to go global, KATSEYE began there. It is not a shortcut, but a response to an already changed world where fans are everywhere and where K-pop no longer needs translation—it just needs presence.
Fan Reaction: Celebration, Confusion, and a Crisis of Labels
Now, the notion of KATSEYE is completely new. This group is the very proof that HYBE’s ambition to export the K-pop system into the global market has been successful. And just as it usually happens with pilot products/projects, it’s natural for the audience to get confused, wondering, and questioning their original identity.
On Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), fans are split. Some celebrate KATSEYE as a blueprint for a new kind of idol group—multinational, English-speaking, culturally expressive, yet still trained under the K-pop system.
Not to mention, member Sophia once said to KoreaTimes that she was happy to return as a “K-pop idol.” And yet, they’re not really K-pop somehow.
“I’m so happy to go back to my hometown as a K-pop idol.”
KATSEYE Sophia.
Meanwhile, others criticize what they see as K-pop “aesthetic-washing,” saying that KATSEYE is capitalizing on the visuals of K-pop without fully committing to its Korean cultural roots.
But maybe that’s the point.
As one fan aptly put it, “KATSEYE isn’t trying to be BTS or BLACKPINK—they’re trying to be the best of both worlds.” And in doing so, they’ve created a third category altogether: K-pop inspired, Western-facing, global at the core.
So… Is KATSEYE a K-pop Group?
The short answer? Yes—and no.
The KATSEYE K-pop controversy exists because the group doesn’t fall neatly into any label. And that’s exactly why they’re important.
They are not a Western girl group mimicking K-pop. Nor are they a K-pop group rebranded for an English-speaking market. They are the result of a calculated evolution—a group that blends the discipline, style, and fandom-driven structure of K-pop with the mainstream accessibility of global pop.
They are trained like idols, styled like pop stars, and positioned like a brand-new category of their own.
So, well, you could call them “K-pop adjacent,” or “global idols,” or just KATSEYE. Because the industry is changing, and with it, so must our labels.
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