Korean bands set to appear at KCON 2016 Abu Dhabi

Courtesy CJ E&M

Han Myung-Gu / WireImage / Getty Images

Courtesy CJ E&M

Courtesy CJ E&M

A look at the other bands scheduled to play at KCON 2016 Abu Dhabi at du Arena.

BTS

After a scene-stealing entrance in mid-2013, seven-piece boyband BTS were anointed as instant stars, picking up numerous New Artist of the Year awards, including 2013's MelOn Music Awards and Golden Disk Awards, and the 2014 Seoul Music Awards. They came good on the promise, scoring monster hits with last year's Run and I Need U. Also known as Bangtan Boys, the group's name is a play on the words for "bulletproof" and "boy scouts", which fittingly distils both their military-like conquest of pop culture, and the charm that endears them to so many fans. A Korean One Direction? Not quite.

Taeyeon

Kim Tae-yeon is best known as one-eighth of Girls Generation, the best-selling girl group that formed in 2007 and burst onto the scene two years later with uber-hit Gee, later named the most popular song of the decade by online music seller Melon. Following 2015's fifth album Lion Heart, Taeyeon broke out as a solo artist with debut EP I, later that year, followed by the single Rain, in February.

Kyuhyun

Cho Kyu-hyun might have been the last member to join huge 13-piece boyband Super Junior, but he is far from being a forgotten face — his image is one of just four Korean pop stars to appear on Chinese postage stamps. Super Junior became poster boys for the whole K-Pop craze, breaking out with 2009 hit Sorry, Sorry, clocking best-selling status four years in a row, and picking up more awards than all 13 of them could carry. The group's international appeal was confirmed in 2012, with a nomination for Best Asian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and solidified with a double win of both best International Artist and Best Fandomat America's Teen Choice Awards last year. Since 2014 Kyuhyun has also been working as a solo artist, releasing two EPs to date.

Monsta X

The freshest act on the bill is this seven-piece hip-hop troupe that debuted in early 2015 after members were chosen on a reality TV show. Recognition came in December, when the band performed singles Trespass and Hero at the Mnet Asian Music Award, before picking up the Next Generation Asian Artist award.

Ailee

Korean-American starlet Ailee (Amy Lee) was raised stateside, before following her roots to launch a career in K-Pop in 2010. After a stint as an actress on hit TV series Dream High 2, Ailee capitalised with early hit singles including Heaven and U&I. After three EPs last year released her first full-length album, Vivid.