kpop1-1, Exercise 2: First use and origins

Model answer:

The first known use of "K-pop" was in Billboard on 9 October 1999, in an article headed "S. Korea To Allow Some Japanese Live Acts" by Cho Hyun-jin.
"First known use" only means the earliest appearance someone has found. Cho himself is not sure he coined the term, and the article says some articles stated that industry insiders were already using it. So the word may be older than its first printed appearance.
The group that popularised "rap dance" (a fusion of hip-hop, techno and rock) was Seo Taiji and Boys. The article credits Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment with developing the Korean idol system in the late 1990s.

Source: Wikipedia, K-pop.