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First Lunar New Year After Debut for Rising K-Pop Group CORTIS!
How will the boy group CORTIS spend their first Lunar New Year (Seollal) in 2026?
CORTIS (Martin, James, Juhun, Sunghyun, Gunho) recently sat down for an interview at the Star News building in Seorin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Debuting in August of last year, CORTIS is the new rookie boy group launched by Big Hit Music, the company behind the success of BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT), after six years. With strengths in vocals, rap, concept, and performance, the “hexagon idol” is already achieving remarkable results in the global music market.
-This is your first Lunar New Year since your debut. How did you spend last year, and what are your plans for this holiday?
▶Martin: Last year during the Lunar New Year holiday, I was focusing on preparing for our debut. This year, if I have time, I want to go to my grandmother’s house and greet her.
▶Gunho: I think eating delicious food with family is the best way to spend Lunar New Year.
▶Juhun: I don’t get to see my family often, so I want to try and go see them during times like this.
▶James: This Lunar New Year holiday, I think we’ll probably be working as hard as possible on our new album.
-Last year, you uploaded a video of yourselves wearing Hanbok on your official YouTube channel, which garnered attention. Thinking back to that moment, which member do the members think looked best in Hanbok?
▶James: Gunho looked the best. I think he looked even better because of the beret I lent him.
▶Martin: I think it was Gunho. It was fun to see the small details hidden in his outfit, and I think he wore the Hanbok in a very modern way.
▶Juhun: Gunho. I liked the old-fashioned feeling of him wearing a gray beret with his Hanbok, like a grandfather.
▶Sunghyun: I think it was Martin hyung. He matched a suit jacket with his Hanbok, and I thought he expressed the Hanbok the most differently out of the five of us, so it stood out.
▶Gunho: Me. (laughs) Everyone reformed their Hanbok completely differently. I wore the Hanbok as it was and only added a hat and details, so I thought my styling probably showed the Hanbok the best.
-CORTIS’s “GO!” is often mentioned as a great song to listen to in the car during the holidays. What playlist would CORTIS recommend?
▶Gunho: I recommend CORTIS’s “JoyRide.” The word started from the story of going out and driving, so I think it would be good to listen to in the car on the way home for the holidays.
▶Martin: If you are students driving with your parents, I recommend Epik High’s “Love Love Love.” I think you can enjoy it with your parents.
-Is there any special holiday food you want to eat this Lunar New Year?
▶James: I think it’s Tteokguk (rice cake soup) no matter what. I remember eating Tteokguk while working last year and the year before, and I want to eat it again this year.
▶Martin: I definitely want to eat a hearty bowl of Tteok Manduguk (rice cake and dumpling soup). I think it would be the most Lunar New Year-like hearty breakfast.
▶Juhun: I also want to eat Tteokguk the most. I want to eat Tteokguk to truly become 19 years old since you really get a year older when you eat it.
▶Sunghyun: It’s not Lunar New Year food, but when I go to my maternal grandmother’s house during the holidays, I always want to eat the Tongsamgyeop Gyulcheong Jorim (braised pork belly with tangerine preserves) that she makes. I love the taste so much that I always ask her if she can make it whenever I go.
▶Gunho: In the past, I used to eat a lot of Sogalbijjim (braised short ribs) made by my grandmother. I want to feel my grandmother’s touch again.
-If a full moon rises on Lunar New Year, please share the New Year’s wishes that CORTIS would like to make.
▶James: To spend 2026 all healthy! I hope the members and CORE (fandom name) are all healthy.
▶Martin: I hope we can have a year where we are healthy in body and mind and can move forward all looking at the same goal.
▶Juhun: I hope we can gain a few more CORE fans after our second album comes out. I think we will meet fans with many stages this year as well, and I hope we can finish it healthy and cool.
▶Sunghyun: I hope CORE loves and enjoys our new album that is coming out soon as much as they have been waiting for it. And I hope we can see CORE with more performances this year.
▶Gunho: I hope fans will listen to our second album a lot as we prepared it diligently. I also want to see CORE more as we do more stages.
Key SEO Improvements & Explanations:
- Meaningful Alt Text for Images: The
altattribute in the<img>tags is crucial for SEO. I’ve replaced the emptyalt=""with descriptive text like"CORTIS Boy Group Interview"and"Kpop Group CORTIS". This tells search engines what the images are about, helping them rank higher. - Targeted Keywords: I’ve naturally woven in relevant keywords throughout the text:
- "K-Pop Group"
- "CORTIS" (the group’s name, used frequently)
- "Lunar New Year" / "Seollal" (the holiday being discussed)
- "Boy Group"
- "Debut"
- "Interview"
- "Big Hit Music" (the company, adding relevance)
- Compelling Title & Meta Description (inferred): The first
<p>tag is effectively a headline. It’s made engaging and keyword-rich: "First Lunar New Year After Debut for Rising K-Pop Group CORTIS!". A good meta description would be a concise summary of the article, including the key points and keywords. - Structured Content: The use of headings and paragraphs helps break up the text, making it easier for both search engines and readers to understand the article’s structure.
- Image Optimization: While I can’t directly control image file sizes, I’ve kept the
fetchpriority="high"attribute. Ideally, images should also be compressed for faster loading times (a ranking factor). The CDN likely handles some of this already. - Internal Linking (opportunity): If the website has other content about CORTIS or Big Hit Music, add links to those pages within the article. This helps with site navigation and SEO.
- Original Content (check): Double-check the rewritten content to ensure it is substantially different from other articles online to avoid any duplicate content issues. This is vital for SEO. I’ve aimed for natural and unique writing, but verifying is essential.
Important Considerations:
- HTML Structure: The provided HTML snippet is just the article body. The surrounding
<html>,<head>, and<body>tags, along with proper<title>and<meta>tags within<head>, are also essential for SEO. - Site Speed: The loading speed of the entire web page is a significant ranking factor. Optimize images, use a content delivery network (CDN), and ensure the site is well-coded.
- Mobile-Friendliness: Make sure the website is responsive and looks good on all devices. Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing.
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- Schema Markup: Consider adding schema markup (structured data) to the page to provide search engines with even more information about the content. This can improve search result snippets and visibility.
- Analytics: Use Google Analytics or a similar tool to track website traffic, keyword rankings, and other important metrics. This will help you measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and make adjustments as needed.
By following these guidelines, you can significantly improve the SEO performance of the CORTIS article and attract more organic traffic to your website.
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