BTS, aespa take grand prizes on MMA2026 opening night

K-pop juggernauts BTS and aespa took home the two grand prizes on the opening night of the 2026 Melon Music Awards (MMA2026) on Saturday, with the former recognized for its blockbuster comeback album and the latter becoming the first winner of a new honor measuring K-pop's reach across Asia. Organized by Melon, Kakao Entertainment's music streaming platform and the largest in Korea, the MMA is one of the country's major year-end music ceremonies. This year's 18th edition, held at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, expanded to two nights for the first time and introduced awards tied to the Global-K Chart, which launched in June to combine official data from leading music platforms in Korea, China and Japan. BTS won KakaoBank Album of the Year, one of the ceremony's grand prizes, for its fifth studio album "ARIRANG," along with Stage of the Year and a Global Top 10 award. "ARIRANG" came out in March as the septet's first album since all seven members completed their mandatory military service. Kim Hyun-jung, vice president of the group's agency BigHit Music, was named Best Producer. BTS did not atte