K-pop girl group aespa to drop digital single featuring new solo pieces from each memberGirl group aespa will officially release four solo tracks next week, one from each of its members, following the songs' premieres during its Seoul concerts last month, its agency said Friday. The special digital single, titled "SYNK: COMPLaeXITY," that comes out Monday will feature Karina's "16 Bit," Winter's "Saddle Up," Giselle's "ByeB4Hello" and Ningning's "I Love You But I Gotta Let You Go," according to SM Entertainment. The tracks were first unveiled during the group's latest concerts at Gocheok Sky Dome on Aug. 7-8. The K-pop quartet is set to hold a concert in Mexico City on Friday (local time) as part of its fourth world tour, which will take it to 25 regions around the world.Sep 11, 2026By Yonhap
BTS brings 'ARIRANG' tour to cinemas worldwideBTS will bring two South American concerts from its "ARIRANG" world tour to movie theaters worldwide, giving fans a chance to watch performances on large screens across more than 80 countries and regions. The live viewing events will feature BTS' Oct. 24 concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and its Oct. 30 concert in São Paulo, Brazil, according to BigHit Music. Tickets for the screenings will go on sale Thursday, with sales in Korea opening sequentially from 10 a.m. and global sales beginning at 10 p.m. that day. The screenings will be presented live or on a delayed basis depending on local time zones, with audiences in Korea, other parts of Asia and Australia expected to watch the concerts one to two days after the performances. The screenings will use large screens and enhanced sound systems to recreate the concert experience for audiences gathered in cinemas. BTS has previously held live viewing events in Goyang and Busan in Korea and in Tokyo, drawing strong interest from music fans. The South American screenings are expected to take place at about 3,800 theaters across more than 80 cSep 11, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Korean musicians counter short-form trend with long-form films"Of the songs I've made, the only one that reached No. 1 on the Melon chart is 'Bam Yang Gang.' The funny thing is, everyone knows the line, 'On the way out you said to me,' and everyone knows 'So sweet and sweet, so sweet and sweet.' But there are a lot of people who don't know the part, 'The table legs break' (a Korean idiom for a lavish feast)." Singer-songwriter Chang Kiha, who released his first solo studio album "Sansanjogak" on Wednesday, shared this observation during a post-screening question and answer session on Aug. 26 at CGV Wangsimni in eastern Seoul. He said music is increasingly consumed in bite-sized pieces, much like short-form videos and countless songs become widely known only as the background music for short videos. In those circumstances, does a full-length album still hold meaning? "Sansanjogak" is Chang's answer. Ahead of the album's release, he premiered a 33-minute short film containing every track. "I wanted to make an album that has a reason why you have to listen to it from beginning to end," he said. The film starts from a different premise than a traditionSep 10, 2026By Hankookilbo
BTS' 'ARIRANG' tour tops ticket scalping reports over past yearKorea's most-reported concerts for illegal ticket sales over the past year were for K-pop supergroup BTS' "ARIRANG" world tour, data showed Thursday. The tour drew 102 reports to the Korea Creative Content Agency's (KOCCA) online board for reporting ticket scalping between September 2025 and Aug. 27, 2026, the highest of any event, according to the data submitted by the agency to Rep. Jeong Jun-ho of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Standalone concerts of Psy came in second with 88 reports, followed by those of BIGBANG with 69, Lim Young-woong with 64, Day6 with 51, British band Oasis with 48 and The Weeknd with 44. "These figures reflect only reports to KOCCA's online board," Jeong said, adding that the actual damage from ticket scalping is likely much wider. For example, he said, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism found 1,868 online posts suspected of illegal ticket sales for the BTS shows, which is more than 18 times higher than the reported cases. The lawmaker also said KOCCA logged 7,639 scalping reports from January 2023 through last month, with music concerts accountSep 10, 2026By Yonhap
Former NCT member Mark Lee starts solo era with independent label Upper RoomMark Lee — the artist and rapper best known as a core member of the global supergroup NCT — released his new single “My Friend” Thursday, marking a pivotal departure from the glossy mechanics of mainstream pop and laying the cornerstone for a new independent chapter. The track serves as his inaugural release under Upper Room, a creative company founded by Lee. Rather than leaning on maximalist production, “My Friend” leans comfortably into restraint. Built over a nostalgic, lingering guitar loop, the mid-tempo pop track wrestles with a timeless late-summer question: What does the highest form of love actually look like? Mark took the reins across every stage of the track's creation, contributing to the songwriting, composition and arrangement. The result is less of a commercial product and more of a personal diary entry — a gentle reflection on closing one chapter of life to step quietly into the next. That ethos carries directly into the song's accompanying music video. Steering entirely clear of computer graphics or artificial staging, director Gus Black — known for hisSep 10, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
IU to drop self-penned digital singleSinger-actress IU is set to release a new digital single Thursday, marking her first musical release in exactly a year. According to her agency, Edam Entertainment, "Unknown Planet" will drop at 6 p.m. across all major music streaming platforms. The single arrives one year after "Bye, Summer," her surprise digital single released Sept. 10, 2025. The new project features double lead tracks -- "Unknown Planet" and "Dear My Crazy Soulmate" -- both of which were written by IU herself. These songs are also slated to be included in her upcoming sixth studio album, a release that was previously delayed due to health concerns. The music video for "Dear My Crazy Soulmate" will be released alongside the single, with IU appearing as a police officer. Following that, the video for "Unknown Planet" is scheduled to debut at midnight Tuesday.Sep 10, 2026By Yonhap
Deaf K-pop group Big Ocean returns with 'Love Sign,' most mature release yetThe world's first Deaf idol group, Big Ocean, dropped its digital single "Love Sign" on Wednesday, its first release in about four months.. The trio — PJ, Chanyeon and Jiseok — put the track out on major streaming platforms. The title plays on the idea of star signs and astrology, layering it over the group's identity rooted in sign language. American, British and Korean sign languages appear in the chorus hook, according to Parastar Entertainment. Set to a nu-disco groove with lyrics mostly in English, the single targets listeners abroad. A revival of late-1970s and early-'80s dance music, nu-disco pairs a steady four-on-the-floor beat with funk basslines and synthesizers, and has become a recurring choice for K-pop acts with strong overseas audiences. The agency described the track as the group's most mature work to date, built on "gaze, mood and moments where silence carries the strongest presence" rather than direct declarations. Big Ocean heads to New York Fashion Week next, launching the "Big Ocean × Andy Yu Debut Collection" with designer Andy Yu on Thursday (local time). TheSep 9, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Stray Kids launches 'Stray City' festival tour in Latin AmericaK-pop boy group Stray Kids will kick off a new Latin American festival tour, "Stray City," in Bogota this week, the group's agency, JYP Entertainment, said. Co-produced with U.S. concert giant Live Nation, the festival places the eight-member act at the center of a multi-city run that will also hit Buenos Aires and Mexico City later this month. The band, which has already played flagship stages, such as Lollapalooza Chicago and New York's Governors Ball Music Festival, will headline "Stray City" shows in Bogota on Wednesday (local time), followed by dates in Buenos Aires on Monday and Tuesday next week and Mexico City on Sept. 25–26, the agency said. The shows will also feature local artists as well as JYP's multinational boy group Nexz, it added. Stray Kids will headline Brazil's "Rock in Rio," one of the world's biggest music festivals, on Friday, making it the first K-pop act to do so.Sep 9, 2026By Yonhap
Seventeen's DK embarks on Army duty after heartfelt message to fansSeventeen member DK begins his military service Tuesday, becoming the sixth member of the group to enlist. His agency, Pledis Entertainment, announced Tuesday that the singer is entering an Army training center and is scheduled for discharge in March 2028. He is expected to enter quietly without a separate event, out of consideration for other recruits and their families. The day before, DK held a livestream on a fan platform to bid fans farewell, repeatedly touching his hair as if still getting used to how short it was. “My head looks so round now,” the singer said through tears. “I turned on the livestream to tell you I’d serve well and come back, but I don’t know why I’m crying.” “I think I’m tearing up because it’s starting to feel real. It’s not that I’m afraid of enlisting,” he added. “I think I’m going to miss you all a lot.” In July, all 13 members of Seventeen, which debuted in 2015, renewed their contracts with Pledis Entertainment for a second time, reaffirming their commitment to staying together. “The 13 of us decided to stay together becauseSep 8, 2026By Hankookilbo
&TEAM's 2nd Korean EP leaves deep markFor nearly four years, &TEAM has told the same story from the same vantage point — nine wolves learning to survive as a pack — and built some of the most physically demanding choreography in HYBE's catalog to sell it. On its second Korean EP, released Tuesday evening, the group reaches the chapter where those wolves meet someone, and the sound softens to match. "Mark on Me," out at 6 p.m. through YX Labels, arrives some 10 months after "Back to Life," the mini album that served as the Japan-based group's official Korean debut last October. Where that record traced nine members rediscovering their instincts, the new one follows a lone wolf who begins to change after meeting a loved one. "Until now, the story was mostly about wolves who had been alone finding each other and growing together, but this time, it's about the wolf boys meeting one person," Harua said at a media showcase at SBS Prism Tower in Seoul's Mapo District on Tuesday, hours before the release. "Because that person understood the scars they were carrying, they open up and grow. That's the change we focused on." The tiSep 8, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
