BLACKPINK Just Got a State Medal in Their 10th Year. Here’s the Decade That Earned It

Featured photo: BLACKPINK in a 2020 video for PUBG Mobile. Photo: PUBG MOBILE via YouTube / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

All four members of BLACKPINK, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, received the Okgwan (Jade Crown) Order of Cultural Merit at the 2026 Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards on October 29, 2026, at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism cited a group that topped both the US Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums Chart and became the first music act in the world to pass 100 million YouTube subscribers (NewDaily; Nocut News). A YG Entertainment representative accepted the medal on the group’s behalf (OSEN photo).

I’m going to say it plainly: as a BLINK, this one made my whole week. Ten years after “WHISTLE,” the country that raised them put a medal on all four, together.

“GO,” from the third mini album DEADLINE, released in February 2026: 99.3 million views as of October 29, 2026.

What happened on the night

• The honor. The Okgwan Order sat third this year, after the late Shin Hae-chul’s Silver Crown and the five Bogwan medals that went to Yoo Jae-suk, Han Young-ae and others. The ministry handed out 10 Orders of Cultural Merit among 36 honorees, and four of them were BLACKPINK’s (NewDaily).
• The reason. The citation named their No. 1s on the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums Chart, their 100-million-subscriber YouTube milestone, and the members’ solo work that spread Korean pop abroad (The Report; Nocut News).
• Who came before. At last year’s ceremony, G-Dragon became the first idol to receive the Okgwan Order, and Rosé received a Presidential Commendation (Woman Donga; Star News, Oct. 23, 2025). This year, the whole team moved up together.

Also read: K-pop News Today (Oct 28, 2026): A2O LITE Cracks Billboard's Global Top 10, JENNIE's 22nd Week, ILLIT's 382K Day One

The decade, in one table

Year	Work	What it meant
2016	“WHISTLE” and “BOOMBAYAH”	Debut on August 8, 2016, with a double title (JTBC)
2020	THE ALBUM, “How You Like That”	First full-length album (Wikitree)
2022	BORN PINK, “Pink Venom,” “Shut Down”	No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums Chart (NewDaily; Wikitree)
2025	“JUMP” and the DEADLINE world tour	Tour from July 2025 to January 2026; “JUMP” released that July (SportsQ; Wikitree)
2026	DEADLINE, “GO”	Third mini album in February 2026, their first group album in about four years (SportsQ)
2026	YouTube	Passed 100 million subscribers in February (Jeonnam Ilbo)

Here’s where it started. WHISTLE’s video is now at 970.7 million views (as of October 29, 2026).

Three turning points

1. 2020, “How You Like That.” The video has 1.38 billion views, and its dance performance video has 2.06 billion (YouTube, as of October 29, 2026). This was the song that made the four of them a global habit.

1. 2022, BORN PINK. The album took them to No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK chart, the exact records the government named tonight. Its pre-release, “Pink Venom,” is at 1.11 billion views.

1. 2025 to 2026, all four, again. After years of solo releases, they went back on the road together with the DEADLINE tour in July 2025, released “JUMP” the same month, and followed it with the DEADLINE mini album in February 2026 (SportsQ; Wikitree). For that release they teamed up with the National Museum of Korea on a “NMK × BLACKPINK” project (JTBC; Marie Claire Korea).

“JUMP”: 444 million views as of October 29, 2026.

Why they’re so cool

Because every one of them grew while the team held. In the same 10 years, Rosé’s “APT.” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Global 200 (Tenasia). Jennie headlined Summer Sonic 2026 as a solo act in Tokyo on August 14 and Osaka on August 16 (The Fact). Jisoo’s mini album AMORTAGE hit No. 1 on iTunes top-album charts in 45 regions (Raon News). The ministry’s citation named that solo work too.

And then they came back as four, and it still felt like the four of them were having the most fun in the room. That part is adorable to me: superstars who still look like friends who just found out they’re going on tour together.

Where to listen: BLACKPINK’s albums are on Spotify, Apple Music and Melon, and all the videos above are on the official BLACKPINK YouTube channel (checked October 29, 2026).

Ten years, four members, one medal each. Congratulations, BLACKPINK. I’m already waiting for whatever you do with the next ten.

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Sources: NewDaily (Oct. 29, 2026); Kyunghyang Shinmun (Oct. 29, 2026); Nocut News (Oct. 29, 2026); The Report (Oct. 29, 2026); OSEN (photo, Oct. 29, 2026); Jeonnam Ilbo (Oct. 29, 2026); JTBC (2026); Marie Claire Korea (August 2026); SportsQ (2026); Wikitree (2026); Tenasia (Sept. 3, 2026); The Fact (2026); Raon News (2026); Woman Donga (2026); Star News (Oct. 23, 2025). View counts as shown on YouTube, Oct. 29, 2026.