South Korean boy bands refer to South Korea's all-male idol groups who account for a large portion of the K-pop industry. Korean boy bands have aided in the global spread and promotion of Korean culture through their demonstrated prominence and popularity. The emergence of hip-hop music act Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 shifted the focus of the Korean music industry to teen-centred pop music. Idol bands of young boys or girls were formed to cater to a growing teenage audience. In 1995, Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment, brought the idol trainee system to South Korea, which further solidified the format for idol bands and modern Korean pop culture.

Major boy bands from the late 90s and early 2000s, such as H.O.T., Sechs Kies, Shinhwa, and g.o.d, who were trained with the idol system, are cited to help build the foundations as the first successful all-male groups in Korea and as pioneers of the first Hallyu Wave. From 2007 onward, second generation groups, such as BigBang, TVXQ, Super Junior, 2PM, Shinee, Beast, and Infinite, continued to grow the popularity of boy bands domestically in Korea, as well as globally through the second phase of Hallyu. The rise of groups such as Exo and BTS in 2012 and 2013 launched the third generation of boy bands and introduced K-pop to mass global appeal. BTS, in particular, has attained mainstream Western appeal with number-one hits on the Billboard charts and multiple collaborations with several global artists, including Coldplay, Nicki Minaj, and Halsey. Other major boy bands that debuted from 2012 onward include Seventeen, NCT, Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together, Ateez, and Enhypen, all of whom continue to garner widespread attention and build K-pop's global appeal.

First generation South Korean boy bands that debuted in the 90s to 2002, arranged in alphabetical order.

1TYM 5tion Black Beat Click-B Deux DJ DOC Epik High Every Single Day Flower F-iV Fly to the Sky g.o.d H.O.T. Jinusean jtL J-Walk K-pop Noel NRG Shinhwa Sechs Kies Sweet Sorrow The Blue Turbo U-BeS UN Yurisangja

Second generation South Korean boy bands that debuted in 2003 to 2011, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best-selling boy bands + Best-selling generation two South Korean boy bands Group and years active Notable singles Platinum-certified albums 2AM 2PM B1A4 Beast / Highlight BigBang Block B CNBLUE F.T. Island Infinite MBLAQ Shinee SS501 Super Junior Teen Top TVXQ

Other notable groups

AA Apeace Battle Boyfriend DMTN F.Cuz Homme Led Apple M.I.B Monday Kiz Myname N-Sonic N-Train One Way Paran S Shu-I Supernova T-max The Boss Touch Tritops U-KISS Ulala Session V.O.S Vibe Wanted ZE:A

Third generation South Korean boy bands that debuted in 2012 to 2017, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best-selling boy bands + Best-selling generation three South Korean boy bands Group and years active Notable singles Platinum-certified albums Astro B.A.P BtoB BTS Day6 Exo Got7 iKon Monsta X NCT NU'EST Seventeen The Boyz VIXX Wanna One Winner

Other notable groups

14U 100% 2000 Won 24K+ 5urprise A.C.E A.cian A-Jax A-Prince AlphaBat B.I.G Beatwin Big Brain Big Star Bigflo Boys24 Boys Republic C-Clown Cross Gene Golden Child GreatGuys HALO HeartB High4 History HNB Honey G Honeyst Hooni Yongi Hotshot Hyeongseop X Euiwoong Imfact IZ JBJ JJCC K-Much KNK Longguo & Shihyun LC9 Lunafly M.O.N.T M.Pire M4M Madtown Masc Map6 Mr.Mr MVP MXM Myteen N.Flying Newkidd ONF Pentagon Rainz Romeo Seven O'Clock SF9 Skye Snuper Spectrum Tasty The Legend The Rose Toheart Topp Dogg TRCNG Troy TST Up10tion Uniq UNVS Varsity VAV Victon Voisper Vromance Wonder Boyz

Fourth generation South Korean boy bands that debuted since 2018, arranged in alphabetical order.

Best-selling boy bands Generation four South Korean boy bands that have at least one million-selling album from Korea Music Content Association. + Best-selling generation four South Korean boy bands Group and years active Notable singles Million-certified albums Alpha Drive One Ateez BoyNextDoor Cortis Enhypen Riize Stray Kids Tomorrow X Together Treasure TWS Zerobaseone

Other notable groups

1Team 1the9 1Verse 8Turn 82Major AB6IX AHOF Aimers All(H)Ours Ampers&One And2ble Argon ARrC ATBO AxMxP B.D.U BAE173 BDC Blank2y Blitzers BXB Ciipher CIX Close Your Eyes Cravity Daily:Direction D-Crunch D1ce DKB DKZ Dragon Pony Drippin Dxmon E'Last ENOi Epex Evnne Fantasy Boys Flare U Ghost9 Hori7on Idid Idntt Just B KickFlip Lngshot Lucy Luminous Lun8 MCND Mirae Newbeat Noir NOMAD Nouera Nowz NTB NTX N.SSign Omega X One Pact Oneus Onewe OnlyOneOf P1Harmony Plave Pow Superkind SuperM TAN Target Teen Teen Tempest TFN The KingDom The Wind TIOT TNX TO1 Trendz Vanner Verivery W24 Waker Waterfire We in the Zone WEi X1 Xdinary Heroes Xikers Xlov Xodiac Younite

See also List of South Korean idol groups List of South Korean girl groups

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