Some call them “JYP Entertainment’s secret weapon.”

Stray Kids on the stage at 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (Mnet)

Stray Kids bagged yet another new artist of the year award at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards held at the iconic Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul.

They are proving themselves worthy of the buzz they’ve created since day one as the Korean entertainment industry giant’s latest boy group.

The nine-piece act has had a phenomenal debut year, having won best new artist awards at three other major music awards including the Asia Artist Awards, MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards, and Soribada Best K-Music Awards.

Stray Kids trump poll for 2018 MAMA's Best New Male Artist (Mnet)

Excluding the pre-debut mix tape released Jan. 8, the boy band released three eight-track EPs this year as a trilogy, starting off with the debut album “I am Not” on March 26, followed by “I am Who” in August and “I am You” in October.

After the band was named best new artist at the Asia Artist Awards on Nov. 28, JYP Entertainment’s Executive Producer Park Jin-young congratulated the group with an Instagram post that read, “The world will start to witness how special you guys are, because effort and talent are eventually unveiled by time.”

It looks like Stray Kids have already emerged as not-so-secret weapons in their first year in the music scene.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)