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MBC’s “Ssak3” Starring RAIN Sweeps Summer Music Ratings in Korea

MBC’s weekly entertainment series <Hangout with Yoo> presented its 2020 summer project, “Ssak3”. Ssak3 (meaning “to sweep” in Korean) is the name of a newly formed K-Pop group consisting of 3 celebrities in Korea – Rain, Lee Hyori and Yoo Jaesuk. 

Back in the beginning of June this year, Yoo Jaesuk, Korea’s beloved comedian and versatile talented host of the series called in the two most iconic singers of 1990’s – RAIN and Lee Hyori and proposed them to start a K-Pop group project. Soon enough they named themselves “Ssak3”, aiming to sweep the summer music charts which indeed became an unshakable reality in less than two months.

On the first week of August, a retro style song titled <Beach Again> of Ssak3 was selected as no.1 on Korea’s representative K-Pop ranking TV music shows, Mnet’s <M Count Down> and MBC’s <Show! Music Core>, as well as heading to the top on every music charts. 

While actively engaged in the Ssak3 group, Rain has also teamed up with Mamamoo, a famous K-Pop girls group, for his new solo track. Other members, Lee Hyori and Yoo Jaesuk are also independently uniting with various artists to display their own vocal colors and musical preferences. 

Currently, <Hangout with Yoo – Ssak3 project> is sweeping TV ratings as well as popularity index, topping as no.1 among all entertainment programs in Korea.   

Some say Ssak3’s success lies in tapping the nostalgia of the 90’s by bringing back the easy going dance music, and others say it is due to the star power and the viewers enjoy watching the members energetically taking part in building the new vibe. 

The executive producer of <Hangout with Yoo> and its Ssak3 project, Kim Taeho of MBC Entertainment Dept. expressed his point of view towards the Ssak3 syndrome: 

“I never expected such grand success of Ssak3 and I am very thankful. As everyone is aware, due to coronavirus, this year’s summer is not like any ordinary summer day in the previous years; and the key concept of Ssak3, which is to sweep away all the worries and fears and dive into nostalgic dance songs of the 90’s may have appealed to the viewers”. 

Contact: Jean Hur / International Relations, MBC (jean99@mbc.co.kr)