The Perfect All-Kill (PAK) record is considered the standard to measure success in K-pop.
Perfect All-Kill (PAK) is a very important achievement that every K-pop artist wants to achieve when releasing a product. It best reflects whether the song is well received by the Korean public. A song reaches PAK when it reaches #1 on all iChart charts (including Melon, Genie, Bugs, FLO, VIBE and YouTube music). Perfect All-Kill songs are considered big hits in Korea. This record is hard to set and it’s even harder for rookie girl groups. After nearly 7 years, there is still no girl group that can beat BLACKPINK in the record of the fastest group to reach PAK.
BLACKPINK – 6 days
Before rising to the status of a global girl group, BLACKPINK was already a “dinosaur rookie” thanks to an unbelievably impressive debut. 4 YG girls debuted on August 8, 2016 with their first single “Square One”, including 2 songs “Whistle” and “Boombayah”. While Boombayah quickly broke the YouTube view record, Whistle achieved outstanding results on Korean digital music charts. Only 6 days after its release, Whistle topped all digital music charts, helping BLACKPINK achieve the first Perfect All-kill in their career on August 14, 2016. Up to now, BLACKPINK is still the fastest K-pop group to achieve Perfect All-kill since their debut.
NewJeans – 146 days
As the rookie receiving the most attention right now, NewJeans is considered the perfect ‘next BTS’ of HYBE. NewJeans quickly gained popularity right after its debut. The first comeback with Ditto helped NewJeans conquer all digital music charts after only 6 days of the song’s release. With this achievement, NewJeans achieved the first Perfect All-kill 146 days after their official debut.
I.O.I – 5 months
I.O.I is a girl group formed by Mnet through Produce 101, debuted on May 4, 2016 and maintained its activities until 2017. This is also the most prominent girl group coming out of Mnet’s survival programs. The title song “Very Very Very” helped I.O.I receive the Perfect All-kill certification on October 19, 2016. I.O.I set a PAK record 5 months after debut.
TWICE – 6 months
Debuted in October 2015, TWICE quickly became one of the most successful girl groups of the 3rd generation. In their heyday, TWICE owned a series of national hits, in which Cheer Up is the song that brought the JYP girl group to the top of their career. Cheer Up brought TWICE the first Perfect All-kill in their career on April 27, 2016, six months after the group debuted.
IVE – 9 months
Along with NewJeans, IVE is the most prominent rookie girl group in 2022. IVE debuted in December 2021 and continuously released a series of hits. While Eleven helped IVE lay a solid foundation, Love Dive achieved many Daesangs, the 2nd comeback with After LIKE in August 2022 helped IVE bring home the first PAK in their career.
Source: K14
