SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - K-pop girl group Aespa took home three prizes at the 19th Korean Music Awards, emerging as the rookie group with the most number of winsthis time.

At the annual music awards ceremony held in central Seoul on Tuesday (March 1), the quartet took home the Song of the Year award for its megahit Next Level, which was released in May 2021.

Next Level also won the newly created best K-pop song category, with the group named Rookie of the Year.

Aespa debuted in November 2020 with the single Black Mamba. The four members - Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning - also have alter egos in the virtual world, or metaverse.

The single, Next Level, is a rearrangement of a number from the original soundtrack for the 2019 action film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

In their acceptance speech, the members of Aespa thanked those who had danced along to the song's signature choreography and said they would continue to work hard this year.

K-pop sensation BTS were named Musician of the Year thanks to their Billboard chart-topping songs Butter and My Universe.

The boy band had previously won it in 2018 and 2019.

Singer-songwriter Lang Lee, band Soumbalgwang and alt-electronic duo Haepaary also had a big night with two prizes each.

Lang Lee was named the winner of Album of the Year and Best Folk Album for her third record, There Is A Wolf.

The best K-pop album prize went to Chungha for her first studio album Querencia.

Singer-songwriter IU's Lilac was named Best Pop Album and sibling duo Akmu's Nakka - featuring IU - won the award for Best Pop Song.

The annual Korean Music Awards gave out trophies in 25 categories this year for albums and songs released in South Korea from December 2020 to November 2021.

The winners were determined by a panel of music critics, radio show producers and music industry professionals.