Singer G-DRAGON was selected as person of the year at the 2025 DAP Awards, once again proving his overwhelming presence as a leading artist driving Korean popular culture.
G-DRAGON received the "There is absolutely no forever" award at DAP 2025, released on the 27th. Started in 2016, the DAP Awards are the only non-face-to-face awards in the country in which Dong-A Media Group DongA.com reporters select the people and content that represent the year, and they draw attention each year for their fairness and witty award names.
DAP 2025 said, "G-DRAGON has broken various records in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, and the interest in him transcends eras and generations, showing what 'real' is," and added, "He sang that 'there is absolutely no forever,' but his music and sensibility shown through the album Übermensch make one expect 'eternity,'" as the reason for the selection.
G-DRAGON this year set a new milestone for K-pop solo artists by dominating top positions on various global charts with his third full-length album Übermensch, released for the first time in 11 years and five months. He then completed 36 shows in 16 cities across Asia, the Americas and Europe with the G-DRAGON 2025 WORLD TOUR [Übermensch], realizing a world tour of an unprecedented scale for a solo artist. It is extremely rare in Korea to hold an immediate solo global tour after years of hiatus, and this once again proves G-DRAGON's overwhelming brand power and competitiveness in live performance content.
This selection as DAP 2025 person of the year is a symbolic result showing that the unique artistry and influence he has built are not stuck in past glory but continue in the present. At the same time, it is evaluated as a record that reaffirms the existential weight G-DRAGON holds across popular culture.
Meanwhile, G-DRAGON recently received the Ok-gwan cultural medal at the 16th Korea Popular Culture and Arts Awards, officially recognizing his contribution to the development of Korean popular culture and the spread of the Korean Wave. In addition, as an official promotional ambassador for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), he performed at the welcome banquet of the 2025 APEC leaders' meeting; he was the only dual selectee to appear on the Golden Disc Powerhouse 40 as both an individual and a group; and he was the only Asian artist named on Complex's 21st-century best dressers, demonstrating his national treasure-level influence.
He is set to perform the encore of the G-DRAGON 2025 WORLD TOUR [Übermensch], which thrilled the world, in Seoul at Gocheok Sky Dome from Dec. 12 to 14. As a style icon and artist representing K-pop, expectations from domestic and international fans are gathering for G-DRAGON's final stage in Korea.
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