BLACKPINK has established a new first-week sales record for a K-pop girl group with its third EP, "Deadline," the group's agency announced Friday. The release sold more than 177,000 copies in the week following its launch last Friday, YG Entertainment said, citing data from local sales tracker Hanteo Chart. The figure marks the highest first-week sales for an album released by a K-pop girl group, registering 230,000 units more than its previous album, "Born Pink." Within the K-pop industry, first-week sales figures serve as a critical metric for gauging an artist's popularity and the overall size of its fandom. Highlighting its immediate commercial impact, "Deadline" surged to the top of Hanteo's monthly albums chart for February just 2 1/2 days after its release, with 1,468,894 copies, according to a chart update released Wednesday. The new album has also topped iTunes albums charts across 38 countries and regions since its debut.