BIGBANG takes over London with world tour marking 20th anniversaryBIGBANG held its first solo concert in London in nearly 14 years as part of its ongoing world tour marking the iconic K-pop act's 20th debut anniversary, the group's agency said Tuesday. The "XX: Cosmos" concert took place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday, marking BIGBANG's first solo tour in the British capital since 2012, according to YG Entertainment. The gig opened with the group's megahit "Fantastic Baby" and included tracks such as "Haru Haru" and "Lies." At the concert, members of BIGBANG — G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung — thanked fans for their unwavering support and noted that celebrating the group's 20th debut anniversary feels like a "miracle," YG Entertainment said. The world tour, which began in South Korea last month, will continue across North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia through February next year.Sep 29, 2026By Yonhap
Taemin postpones North American tour two weeks before launch over US visa delaysSHINee member Taemin has postponed the North American leg of his world tour due to issues involving U.S. visas and related administrative procedures. A notice posted on Taemin's official social media accounts Tuesday announced the postponement of the North American dates of his 2026-27 world tour, "LiMiNaL." According to the notice, Taemin's team decided to postpone the scheduled concerts due to uncertainty surrounding U.S. visas and related administrative procedures affecting key tour and production personnel. "A significant number of essential staff members required for the North American shows are still awaiting their visas, and there is no clear timeline for when they will be issued," the notice said. The team said it determined that proceeding with the tour as scheduled would pose significant operational and production risks and instead plans to hold the North American concerts on a rescheduled itinerary. New dates and venues are currently being arranged and will be announced at a later date. Refunds for the North American concerts are available through the original point of purchaseSep 29, 2026By Hankookilbo
Ive to return with new EP next monthK-pop girl group Ive will release a new EP titled "Looks Can Kill" on Oct. 26, the group's agency Starship Entertainment said Monday. It will be the group's first music since its second full-length album, "Revive+," was released in February. Ahead of the EP's release, Ive will drop a pre-release single on Oct. 19, Starship said in a release. The group recently wrapped up its second world tour, "Show What I Am," which kicked off in Seoul and visited major cities across Asia, Oceania and North America.Sep 28, 2026By Yonhap
BTS wins Song of the Year at 2026 MTV VMAsK-pop juggernaut BTS won Song of the Year for "SWIM" at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in the United States, Sunday (local time). The win adds to a banner comeback year for the septet, which reunited as a full group in March after a nearly four-year hiatus. BTS, which did not attend the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, also won Best K-Pop and Best Group, sweeping all three categories for which it was nominated. The Best Group trophy is its fifth, following four straight wins from 2019 to 2022, making BTS the most-awarded act in the category's history. "We sincerely thank ARMY (the group's official fandom) for always giving us your unwavering love and support," the group said in a statement released through its agency, BigHit Music. "'ARIRANG' feels like a new beginning for us, which makes this award all the more meaningful," it said, referring to its fifth studio album "ARIRANG." The members credited the Song of the Year win to everyone who has loved their music, adding that all seven members would continue to deliver great music and performances together. "SWIM,"Sep 28, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
TXT to return with new EP in NovemberK-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together (TXT) will drop its ninth EP, "Perfect Storm," in November, the group's agency said Monday. The album, set for release Nov. 16, will feature six tracks, with further details to be released later, BigHit Music said in a release. The five-member act's last Korean-language release was its eighth EP, "7th Year: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns," released in April. TXT will begin its fifth world tour, "Steal the Wind," with three concerts at Seoul's KSPO Dome from Nov. 13 to 15.Sep 28, 2026By Yonhap
JYP founder to face National Assembly scrutiny over 'Korean Coachella' trademarkPark Jin-young, founder and chief producer of JYP Entertainment, is expected to be called to testify at a National Assembly audit over his company's move to secure trademark rights to Fanomenon, a government-backed large-scale K-pop event. Rep. Bae Hyun-jin of the main opposition People Power Party said she plans to summon Park, who also serves as co-chair of the presidential committee on popular culture exchange, to explain why his company applied for the trademark rights and how they would ultimately be transferred. "The committee said the rights would later be transferred to the entity responsible for organizing the event," Bae wrote in a social media post Tuesday. "But it remains unclear why it was handled that way in the first place, when the rights will be transferred and whether the arrangement was properly reviewed," Bae said. "It has become unavoidable for us to call Park to testify at the National Assembly audit." Fanomenon, billed as Korea's answer to Coachella, is a global K-pop event being jointly organized by the presidential committee and major entertainment agencies. SchedSep 26, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
HYBE takes K-pop cinema festival worldwide across 50 countriesK-pop’s entertainment juggernaut is redefining what it means to go to the movies. HYBE, the agency behind BTS, announced Wednesday an ambitious expansion of its cinema franchise, bringing live concert broadcasts and exclusive feature films to more than 1,100 movie theaters across roughly 50 countries next month. The weeklong event, dubbed HYBE CINE FEST 2026, represents the company’s most aggressive effort yet to transform traditional cinema screens into interactive, communal gathering spaces for a global fandom. Organized in partnership with event cinema distributor Trafalgar Releasing, the festival will run from Oct. 24-31. In Korea, the event will screen exclusively at Lotte Cinema, while Japanese distributor Avex Pictures will oversee a tailored rollout in Japan. What began in 2024 as a localized initiative in Latin America — drawing 260,000 attendees — expanded to Asia last year, attracting roughly 320,000 moviegoers. This year’s edition marks its transition into a truly worldwide affair, featuring six distinct theatrical programs. Highlights include never-before-seen concSep 23, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seventeen's new unit of Jeonghan, Joshua to debut with 'Dreamscape'K-pop boy group Seventeen's vocalists Jeonghan and Joshua will launch the group's new unit with their first EP, "Dreamscape," next month, the group's agency said Wednesday. Pledis Entertainment said "Dreamscape," set for release Oct. 19, portrays a "dreamlike realm" in which two notions of dreaming — unconscious fantasies that surface during sleep and the ideals people pursue in waking life — endlessly intertwine and collide. "On the new release, Jeonghan and Joshua become dreamers, offering an audio-visual rapture through the unfamiliar beauty they discover at the point where the boundaries of the two dreams dissolve," Pledis said in a release.Sep 23, 2026By Yonhap
BTS bridges centuries of Korean art with new 'ARIRANG' merchandise lineK-pop juggernaut BTS is seamlessly blending heritage with modern pop culture in its latest merchandise collection, weaving traditional Joseon Dynasty folk art (munjado) into the visual universe of its fifth studio album, “ARIRANG.” HYBE said Tuesday that the 2026 BTS DALMAJUNG merchandise collection will go on sale Tuesday, with a pop-up store opening the same day at HYBE Yongsan in Seoul. The collection marks the fourth DALMAJUNG series and the second collaboration between HYBE and the National Museum Foundation of Korea, following their 2024 collaboration through MU:DS, the museum merchandise brand. This year’s collection draws on munjado, a genre of Joseon-era folk painting in which decorative images are incorporated into or placed around the strokes of Chinese characters. Designers also drew on “Aliens,” a track from “ARIRANG,” using the lyric "heungjeukdaegil," a phrase conveying the idea that apparent misfortune can ultimately become great fortune, as a central motif. The collection connects that theme with traditional symbols associated with happiness, longevity and gSep 23, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
InterviewONEUS sidesteps '7-year curse,' full lineup returns for 12th EPFor K-pop groups, the seventh year is supposedly cursed. Standard exclusive contracts usually are set to expire around that point, and members start weighing solo careers, new agencies or leaving the industry altogether. For boy band ONEUS, members say that reckoning never really arrived, and agreeing to stay together took far less discussion than deciding where to do it. The five-member boy group — Seoho, Leedo, Keonhee, Hwanwoong and Xion — will release its 12th EP, "FIRST LIGHT: 井," at 6 p.m., Wednesday. It is the group's first release as a full lineup since Seoho was discharged from mandatory military service in August, and their first album since all five moved together to B-Wave Entertainment earlier this year. ONEUS debuted under RBW in January 2019 and parted ways with the agency when their contracts ended in February. At the members' request, B-Wave acquired the ONEUS-related intellectual property from RBW, which allowed the five to carry on under the same name. "There weren't really any difficulties," Keonhee said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Monday.Sep 23, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
