KARA claims gold in Japan with DVD

Korean female idol group KARA's DVD released in Japan has been certified gold, adding another achievement to their already long list of recognitions in the country.February data on the website of the official Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) showed Thursday that "KARA BEST CLIPS” released on February 23, claimed gold status which is handed to DVDs which sell over 100,000 copies.The DVD, composed of a total of eight music videos featuring the girls’ past hit songs such as “Mister,” “Lupin” and “Jumping” in both Korean and Japanese versions, has already ranked No. 1 on Japan's prestigious Oricon chart for the second week in a row after selling about 158,000 copies, Oricon's website showed yesterday.Only five other foreign artists have ever topped Oricon’s DVD weekly chart -- the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, TVXQ, JYJ and Michael Jackson and it has also made them the first foreign female artists to achieve the feat.KARA, composed of five members Gu Hara, Han Seung-yeon, Park Gyu-lee, Kang Ji-young and Nicole, debuted in 2007 and are well-known in Korea for their hit songs "Mister," "Wanna" and "Lupin." Their career soared further in Japan, being named best new artists of the year at the 25th annual Japan Gold Disc Award and placing at NO.1 on the Oricon chart’s listing for the most successful new artists of 2010 and them being named the most promising artist of 2011. The future of the group is up in the air however with members Han Seungyeon, Kang Jiyoung and Nicole having applied for their contract with agency DSP Media to be terminated. ※ Any copying, republication or redistribution of 10Asia's content is expressly prohibited without prior consent of 10Asia. Copyright infringement is subject to criminal and civil penalties.Jessica Kim jesskim@<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>