Universal Music Korea has confirmed its plan to launch its first-ever K-pop group this year. The five-member boy band will go by the name “Boys Republic,” but the personal details of the members, including their names and ages, have not yet been released to the public.

“Boys Republic is the first K-pop group that has been organized directly by Universal Music,” representatives of Universal Music Korea said in news reports. “The group has been training for two years in singing, dancing and acting as well as learning many different customs in order to become a global idol group.”

The boys’ debut album will be produced by noted producer Park Geun-tae, who was behind the albums of many Korean artists such as Baek Ji-young, Yoon Mi-rae, Ivy and many more. It has been revealed that Dsign Music will also take part in the production of Boys Republic’s upcoming album. The Norwegian songwriting and production company was behind Girls’ Generation’s recent smash comeback single “I Got A Boy” and has in the past composed for many K-pop stars including BoA, TVXQ, f(x), Super Junior-M and SHINee.

The debut of Boys Republic will be a first for Universal Music, a global music corporation, which has hundreds of artists under its label from all over the world such as Psy, Girls’ Generation, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Mumford & Sons and U2. The band project marks a big stepping stone for Universal, which like most record labels generally focuses on signing and recording musicians rather than taking on the role of talent agencies and forming new acts.

Although the K-pop group is set to debut in the Korean market, the representatives of Universal Music Korea said that they planned to promote Boys Republic as an international group.

“I plan to create content that will appeal to people beyond just Asia,” said producer Park Geun-tae in a recent television interview.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)