The best selling albums in K-pop over the past 15 years

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1. 2001 - g.o.d - 'Chapter 4: road'

The fourth album by this legendary group released in 2001 sold a whopping 1.588 million copies! This isn't even their best selling album as their 'Chapter 3' album released in 2000 sold over 1.8 million copies.

2. 2002 - Cool - 'Truth'

Before 2002, physical albums would routinely sell over 1 million copies but with the growing popularity of the internet and mp3 files, physical sales started to drop. Cool's 'Truth' was the best selling album in 2002 by selling 647,052 copies.

3. 2003 - Kim Gun Mo - 'Hestory'

Kim Gun Mo has the highest selling album of all-time in Korea as 'Mis-Encounter' released in 1995 sold a whopping 3.3 million copies! In 2003, he released his 8th album 'Hestory' which sold 529,416 copies.

4. 2004 - Seo Taiji - '7th Issue'

After starting his career in 1992 as the leader of legendary hip-hop group Seo Taiji & Boys, he went solo and started doing pop punk and alternative rock. His third studio album '7th Issue' was much loved and was the highest selling album in 2004 by selling 482,066 copies.

5. 2005 - SG Wannabe - 'As I Live'

The beautiful voices of SG Wannabe in their 2nd album 'As I Live / Saldaga' took Korea by storm in 2005. They won the daesang for 'Artist of the Year' at the Golden Disk Awards and also had the top selling album in 2005 by selling 414,855 copies.

6. 2006 - TVXQ - 'O-Jung.Ban.Hap.'

TVXQ took over the 2006 physical album chart in 2006 by selling 349,317 copies of this album. This was the start of SM's dominance on the physical album chart over the past decade.

7. 2007 - SG Wannabe - 'The Sentimental Chord'

Korea couldn't get enough of SG Wannabe's beautiful voices. Their fourth studio album sold 190,998 copies, making it the highest selling album of 2007.

8. 2008 - TVXQ - 'Mirotic'

At this point, TVXQ were the kings of K-pop. Everything they touched turned to gold and 'Mirotic' was no exception. This album sold 502,837 in 2008 and launched SM into the top of the annual physical album sales chart ever since.

9. 2009 - Super Junior - 'Sorry Sorry'

Super Junior's 'Sorry Sorry' took Korea by storm in 2009. Around this time, YouTube started getting popular and a growing international fanbase started doing the 'Sorry Sorry' dance all across the globe. This album sold 250,683 copies in 2009.

10. 2010 - Super Junior - 'Bonamana'

Super Junior were still at the top of their game as they reigned supreme for another year. According to the Gaon Chart, Super Junior's 'Bonamana' was the highest selling album of 2010 by selling 200,193 copies.

11. 2011 - Girls' Generation - The Boys

This is impressive because they're the only female artist(s) to make it on the list! Physical albums are dominated by male artist(s) so it was quite an accomplishment for Girls' Generation to have the highest selling album of 2011 by selling 385,348 copies of 'The Boys' (according to Gaon).

12. 2012 - Super Junior - 'Sexy, Free & Single'

Super Junior had some tough competition as Big Bang released 'Alive' in 2012 but Super Junior was able to reign supreme again as 'Sexy, Free & Single' sold 356,431 copies.

13. 2013 - EXO - 'XOXO'

The start of EXO's dominance on the album chart. The 'Kiss version' sold 335,823 copies in 2013 but if you add all the different versions and repackaged albums, it has sold a total of over 1,000,000 copies, making i the first album to accomplish this since the first album on this list (g.o.d's 'Chapter 4: road').

14. 2014 - EXO - 'Overdose'

The combined Korean and Chinese versions of EXO's 'Overdose' sold over 650,000 copies in 2014 making it the top-selling album that year.

15. 2015 - EXO - 'EXODUS'

Another year, another EXO album at the top. This album sold over 1.1 million copies combined in 2015. EXO has remained relatively unchallenged in terms of album sales but BTS is growing in popularity and their album sales are also approaching 1 million copies. It will be interesting to see what happens with album sales from here on out.

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