Korean pop group Big Bang will return to the limelight with its new music album next month, their entertainment agency said Wednesday.
YG Entertainment said the idol group will make a comeback after a 10-month hiatus caused by a deadly traffic incident and a marijuana case involving two of its members.
There have been no musical activities since the release of a compilation album titled "Big Bang Special Edition" last April.
Fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of one of the country's most influential pop bands. Expectations have been high since the group took part in the "YG Family Concert" held in South Korea and Japan last month and this month, respectively, to mark the agency's 15th anniversary.
The agency has heralded the group's comeback on "YG Life," its official Internet blog, with a big, capitalized phase, "BIGBANG IS COMING" on display since Saturday.
Prosecutors had investigated Daesung, one of the group's five members, on suspicions of negligence resulting in a death after he accidentally ran over a man who crashed his motorcycle moments before on a river bridge in Seoul in May last year. But prosecutors cleared him of the charge in August, saying that no definitive evidence was found to suggest the motorcyclist was alive before being hit by Daesung's vehicle.
In October, G-Dragon, the 23-year-old leader of the boy band, was questioned by prosecutors for smoking marijuana. He was released without an indictment, however, because he smoked only a tiny amount, according to prosecutors. (Yonhap)