SM Entertainment on Monday unveiled some of the trainees taking part in its pre-debut reality show, “NCT Universe: LASTART.” The trainees unveiled go by the names Riku and Ryo, while eight more trainees are set to be revealed in the coming weeks. These trainees are candidates who will debut as NCT’s new subgroup, one of the three new groups that the K-pop powerhouse plans to launch this year. Through the pre-debut reality show, SM will show the process of evaluating the 10 can

Legendary K-pop group EXO is back, releasing its seventh studio album “Exist” on Monday. It is the first group effort in over two years since the release of the special album, “Don’t Fight the Feeling.” Prior to its official release, “Exist” had racked up a total of 1.6 million pre-order sales as of Sunday, according to SM Entertainment. The new album is led by the title track “Cream Soda,” which is of the pop dance genre composed with rhythm

Allegations and controversy surrounding Fifty Fifty continue, but the group is not the first K-pop group to face suspicions over a potential buyout after rising to stardom in the competitive music industry. “Poaching members of a group or attempts to breach their exclusive contracts have been ongoing in the entertainment industry for a long time. These practices have impeded normal business activities, resulting in irreversible consequences for both the company and its artists,” said

EXO is opening a pop-up store in time for the release of its seventh LP, “EXIST.” According to SM Entertainment on Thursday, EXO’s pop-up store “EXOcial Club -- Cream Soda” will be open from July 11 to Aug. 6 at the D Museum and Understand Avenue in Seoul. The concept of this pop-up store is “Cream Soda,” which is also the name of the title track of EXO’s upcoming LP. There will be a photo zone similar to the “Cream Soda” music video se

진행자: 홍유, Beth Eunhee Hong 1. Half million workers set for two-week nationwide strike against Yoon 기사요약: 전국민주노동조합연맹은 ‘윤석열 정권 퇴진’을 내걸고 15일까지 2주간 총파업 투쟁에 들어갔다. [1] The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more militant of the nation's two largest umbrella labor organizations, has announced two weeks of strikes starting Monday to call for the resignation of President Yoon Suk-yeol. *strike: 파업 *resignation: 사직, 사임 [2] The strikes, expected to involve a total of 400,00

K-pop girl group Lapillus has been appointed as the ambassadors of the 26th Boryeong Mud Festival. The appointment ceremony took part at the Boryeong City Hall on June 29, according to MLD Entertainment on Wednesday. The 26th Boryeong Mud Festival starts on July 21 and runs through Aug. 6 at various parts of Daecheon Beach in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province. The annual Boryeong Mud Festival is one of Asia’s three major festivals selected by the International Festivals & Event Asso

The documentary film “My SHINee World,” produced to celebrate the K-pop boy group SHINee’s 15th debut anniversary, will be released in September. SM Entertainment announced Wednesday that the film will consist of exclusive clips that have never been previously released. The movie will go over the past 15 years of SHINee and its journey with its fandom, SHINee World. It also includes footage of the act’s recent three-day standalone concert “Perfect Illumination&rdquo

K-pop girl group Oh My Girl is set to release its ninth mini album, “Golden Hourglass,” on July 24. WM Entertainment revealed the act’s comeback schedule on its official social media account Tuesday, along with a teaser image of the upcoming album that shows an hourglass on a beach. This is a long-awaited full-unit comeback as the new album comes in a year and four months. The seven-member group debuted in April 2015 with its EP “Oh My Girl" and has since released hi

Girl group IVE is releasing a new Pepsi campaign song “I Want” on July 13. IVE has been a Pepsi brand ambassador since the beginning of the year. Pepsi and Starship Entertainment dropped teaser images of the upcoming campaign song on Monday on their official social media accounts. The images show Yujin posing in front of refrigerators filled with Pepsi, Rei holding up a can of Pepsi Zero Sugar, and Gaeul working as a cashier scanning the barcode of a cola can. Yujin of IVE was a Peps

Thousands of people dressed in blue flocked to the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul on Friday to get wet and wild with the iconic K-pop singer Psy. Psy kicked off the first day of his nationwide tour, “Summer Swag,” this year with a video clip of himself and actor Heo Sung-tae dancing to “Kokain 2021,” the wildly popular track that took over social media with its addictive melody. The song got everyone in the stadium on their feet, jumping to the song. Psy soon appeared on

K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment and the American music label Republic Records will unveil its new K-pop girl group production project “A2K” on JYP’s official YouTube channel starting from July 13, JYP Entertainment said Friday. “A2K” is the first project between the two labels to create a female band under the K-pop idol training system. Through a series of clips on YouTube, JYP Entertainment will be sharing the process of selecting candidates of diverse national

Jungkook of BTS is making his official solo debut next month with the digital single “Seven.” The artist announced through the global fandom communication platform Weverse on Friday that he would be dropping the single on July 14 at 1 p.m. The single “Seven” will be a rhythmic song perfect to tune into in the summer season, according to Big Hit Music. Jungkook is the sixth member of BTS to debut solo, following J-Hope, Jin, RM, Jimin and Suga. This series of solo debuts o

K-pop girl group Oh My Girl is making its long-awaited full-unit comeback with a new album in late July. Oh My Girl’s new album will be released next month, a year and four months after the act dropped its second LP “Real Love,” according to WM Entertainment on Thursday. The seven-member group debuted in April 2015 with its EP “Oh My Girl" and has since released hit singles such as “Nonstop,” “Dolphin,” and “Dun Dun Dance.” The lin

Kim Sungkyu is ready to cool off the sweltering summer season with his new album “2023 S/S Collection.” The singer's fifth mini-album, which was released on Wednesday, is led by the track “Small Talk.” “I wanted to make bright and energetic music this time, unlike my prior albums which mostly consisted of serious and sad tracks. This album comprises tracks perfect for summer,” said Kim Sungkyu during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. “The ti

All four members of rising K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty have applied for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contract with their agency Attrakt. Members Keena, Aran, Sio and Saena have applied for an injunction to suspend their exclusive contract with Attrakt on June 19 to the Seoul Central District Court, according to their legal representative Barun Law on Wednesday. “Such a measure was taken for breach of contract by Attrakt and for having lost trust with the members. We’ve r

It has been over four months since K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty shot to fame with the hit single “Cupid” but the outlook for the group remains foggy. Although Fifty Fifty's management announced in May that the group will be releasing an album in the near future, several impediments that have emerged since then appear to be holding the group back. Attrakt, Fifty Fifty's agency, released a press statement Monday saying that there has been an attempt by a third party to poach

FNC Entertainment’s new boy band Hi-Fi Un!corn made its debut on Monday with the single “Over the Rainbow.” “We hope to comfort listeners with our music in diverse languages. We are really nervous and excited about this debut, but we can confidently say that we are ready to face the public,” said Taemin of Hi-Fi Un!corn during a press conference in Seoul to mark the band’s simultaneous debut in South Korea and Japan. Hi-Fi Un!corn consists of five members&mdas

The KSPO Dome in Seoul was packed Sunday with 10,000 SHINee fans, eagerly waiting for the K-pop veterans to appear on stage and kick off its much-anticipated concert. As the lights dimmed to signal the beginning of the last day of SHINee’s three-day concert, “Perfect Illumination," the dome rippled with cries of joy. Minho, Taemin and Key of SHINee appeared in front of the audience on a spacecraft-like platform singing “Chemistry.” Dressed in bejeweled sky blue suits

K-pop sensation BTS topped the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. US charts dated June 24 with its latest single, “Take Two.” BTS' single “Take Two,” released to mark its 10th debut anniversary, was streamed 60.2 million times and sold 64,000 copies worldwide from its release June 9 through June 15, according to Billboard. It garnered 54.3 million streams and 48,000 copies were sold outside the US during the same period. The Billboard Global 200 and Bill

Haseul, a former member of the disbanded K-pop girl group Loona, has signed an exclusive contract with Modhaus, the company said Wednesday. “We will do our best to help Haseul show off her talents and meet with her fans in many ways,” said Modhaus in a press release on Wednesday. With Haseul joining the agency, Modhaus now houses a total of five former members of Loona: Heejin, Kimlip, Jinsoul, Choerry and Haseul. They will be part of the agency’s Artms project, under which the