(LEAD) BTS' claims 3rd week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 with 'Arirang,' a first in K-pop

▲ K-pop supergroup BTS is seen in this photo provided by BigHit Music.(PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) BTS-Billboard chart

(LEAD) BTS' claims 3rd week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 with 'Arirang,' a first in K-pop

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details of chart in paras 5-8; RECASTS headline)

SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- "Arirang" by South Korean boy group BTS scored a third week at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard's main albums chart for the first time in K-pop history.

Billboard said Sunday (U.S. time) in a chart preview for this week that the group's fifth studio album held onto the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for the third consecutive week ahead of Morgan Wallen's "I'm the Problem" and "Bully" by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

No other K-pop artist has achieved three weeks atop the chart, marking a historic milestone for the genre's global reach. The original soundtrack of the animated film "KPop Demon Hunters" earlier reached No. 1 for two non-consecutive weeks.

The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equivalent album units, comprising physical album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

"Arirang" earned 124,000 equivalent album units in the latest tracking week, down 34 percent from the previous week.

Of that sum, 71,000 came from physical and digital album sales, while SEA units accounted for 50,000, and TEA units made up the remainder.

With this feat, BTS became the first group in 13 years to spend three weeks at No. 1 on the chart.

"The last album by a group to spend at least three weeks at No. 1 was Mumford & Sons' 'Babel,' which had five nonconsecutive weeks atop the list in 2012-13," Billboard said. "'Arirang' is the first album to spend its first three weeks at No. 1 since Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl' racked up its first seven weeks atop the list (Oct. 18-Nov. 29, 2025), of its 12 total weeks at No. 1."

"Arirang" debuted at No. 1 last month, becoming BTS' seventh album to launch atop the chart. The lead single "Swim" also opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week before dropping to the second position.

Released March 20, the 14-track album explores the identity of BTS as a group that began in Korea and the universal emotions its members have encountered throughout their lives, according to its agency, BigHit Music.

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