TikTok Awards 2025 celebrate K-pop’s global influence, creators shaping digital culture

Big Ocean, a deaf K-pop trio, stole the spotlight at Saturday's TikTok Awards 2025, earning the Social Impact Artist awardpresented by The Korea Herald for championing diversity and inclusion through music. The star-studded event, attended by more than3,000 fans and creators, also highlighted K-pop’s growing synergy with TikTok, as K-pop acts — including Ive’s Rei, Cortis, CloseYour Eyes, KiiiKiii, Meovv, QWER and The Boyz — took the stage at Korea University’s Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul wit