2AM to launch singing career throughout Asia

2AM [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

Korean ballad group 2AM will officially launch their singing career in eight Asian countries next month, joining a line of K-pop artists who have branched out into the international music markets.

The news came yesterday during the group's showcase introducing their first full-length album "Saint o'clock" to local and foreign media at the AX-Korea hall in Seoul, when member Seulong spoke about the group's upcoming activities overseas.

"Our first album will go on sale in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand," Seulong said. "We haven’t gone on many promotional tours in Asia so we were happy to hear that it will be released in those countries."

An official at Big Hit Entertainment, producer and publicist of 2AM, further backed what the singer said, explaining that "Saint o'clock" will be released in the eight countries successively starting mid-November with a promotional tour in those countries planned for early next year.

“Saint o’clock,” which went on sale in Korea starting October 26, has been produced in a regular version and limited edition with the latter album featuring eleven songs from the regular record plus two bonus tracks.

Two tracks from the boys latest release, "Like Crazy" and "You Didn't Answer My Call," have been set as the title songs, which will be promoted simultaneously, Changmin stated at the showcase.

The music videos for the two songs were shown during the showcase which was then followed by a live performance of the two songs.

Trained and discovered by one of Korea's biggest talenthouses JYP Entertainment, 2AM released their debut single "This Song" in July 2008 and released follow-up "Time For Confession" a year later.

They are known for their hit ballads including "Can't Let You Go Even If I Die" and "I Did Wrong" as well as having branched out into various facets of the entertainment industry such as hosting radio shows and appearing on variety programs.

The group will hold their first solo concert this Christmas at Korea University's Hwaseong Tiger Dome from December 24 to 26 and give their comeback performance on Mnet's televised music program "M! CountDown" today.