Pledis Entertainment has announced that they will be debuting a grand 17-member male idol group by the end of the year!

Tentatively named 'Seventeen', the group is made up of  17 members averaging 17 year old, who have been trained not only for the domestic market, but specifically for the international market as well. Although they're being touted as the largest K-Pop group to date, A-Peace holds the title with 21 total members.

Pledis has revealed that they will not be going the standard route of debuting the group in Korea before advancing overseas, but rather debut a group that is ready to promote in Korea, China, and Japan right from the get-go.

After their debut as a group, the boys will be split into units to promote separately in Korea, China, and Japan with promotional tactics tailored to each country.

A representative stated, "We've been preparing a team that is able to promote in China and Japan for a very long time. Since they'll be specially promoting in three countries, you can consider them an official Hallyu group. Their debut is currently set for the end of the year, and we're planning unique music and stage concepts."

Through Seventeen, Pledis aims to create a new genre they call 'Asia Pop', a genre with K-Pop colors at the forefront but switched up to the tastes of the Chinese and Japan markets.

In related news, Pledis is also gearing up for the debut of After School's sister group, Hello Venus, next month.

Source + Photos: Star News