KOREAN NEWS

S. Korean boy band hits Abbey Road

LONDON, June 19 (Yonhap) - South Korean boy band SHINee put on a showcase at a famed recording studio here Sunday ahead of the release of their first Japanese single this week.

In the latest sign of the growing popularity of Korean pop music, or "K-pop," the five-man dance and R & B unit was greeted by hundreds of fans from Britain and other nations around the world at the Abbey Road Studios. The Beatles recorded most of their albums there in the 1960s and renamed their 1969 album "Abbey Road," after the street where the studio is located.

SHINee fans wait for the South Korean boy band on Abbey Road in London, Sunday.

SM Entertainment, the South Korean company that manages the group, said SHINee are the first Asian artists to perform live at Abbey Road Studios, joining global greats Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Coldplay and Robbie Williams.

SHINee was among the South Korean pop acts who performed in two sold-out concerts in Paris earlier this month. SM organized that event.

The Company's Facebook page ( www.facebook.com / smtown ) had announced the schedule for the Abbey Road Last Friday and Uploaded Performance Promotional video ares.

SHINee fans flooded the Facebook wall, demanding the concert be broadcast live on SM's Facebook page and the group be made available to meet fans after their performance. The agency selected

44 fans in a draw so they could attend the showcase.

Those who couldn't get inside the studio crowded Abbey Road and chanted the names of the group members, while singing and dancing to SHINee songs blasted from boom boxes.

SHINee is set to release their single "Replay" in Japan this Wednesday. EMI Music Japan uploaded the music video of "Replay" on its YouTube channel in May.

SHINee drew about 24,000 fans at their first Japanese concert last December in Tokyo.