&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
'Long time no see, Haerin': NewJeans star makes 1st official appearance in 18 monthsNewJeans member Haerin reunited with fans after a long absence, making her first official public appearance following her return to ADOR. The NewJeans member arrived at a luxury beauty brand’s photocall at Lotte Department Store’s Jamsil branch in Songpa District, Seoul, on Monday afternoon. She appeared pairing a black dress with a white cardigan, displaying a polished and sweet look. The celebrity was greeted with cheers and "We missed you" chants from her fans as she walked to the photo wall, taking a variety of poses in front of assembled fans and photographers while showing her signature feline features and charm. In November 2024, NewJeans members announced that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with ADOR and began pursuing independent activities under the name NJZ. However, the group halted activities in March 2025 after a court granted ADOR’s request for an injunction. Hanni, Haerin and Hyein confirmed their return to ADOR last December, while Minji remains in talks over whether to return. This article from Xportsnews is adapted by a generative AI system and edSep 8, 2026By Xportsnews
H.O.T. at 30: How 5 teenagers helped build K-popThe idol-group blueprint that K-pop now exports to the world, with its casting and training pipeline, its fixed member roles and its official fan club color designations, was drawn up in under five years through a group of teenagers who introduced themselves to the nation on live TV. That was 30 years ago. On Sept. 7, 1996, a group of five male high school students — Moon Hee-jun, Jang Woo-hyuk, Tony An, Kangta and Lee Jae-won — stepped in front of viewers as H.O.T. and performed "Age of Violence." Viewers went wild, teenagers in particular. The name stood for "High-five Of Teenagers," and the group was the first act SM Entertainment, a top K-pop conglomerate, planned and built from scratch. Their timing was almost too perfect. Earlier that year, another boy band, Seo Taiji and Boys, had retired, and teenagers installed H.O.T. in the vacancy the trio had left behind. Where Seo Taiji and Boys had been a self-made phenomenon, H.O.T. were assembled on purpose. The group was the product of meticulous planning and strategy at SM, which set a concept first and then filled it by casting andSep 8, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS' Jung Kook hits 500 mil. Spotify streams with self-written 'Still With You'"Still With You," a self-written solo track by BTS member Jung Kook, has surpassed 500 million streams on Spotify, his label said Tuesday. BigHit Music said the 2023 song became Jung Kook's sixth track to cross the 500-million mark on the global music streaming platform, following "Seven," "Standing Next to You," "Left and Right," his duet with Charlie Puth, "3D" and "Dreamers." "Seven," Jung Kook's official solo debut and biggest hit, has now topped 3 billion Spotify streams, the company said. "Still With You" peaked at No. 33 on Billboard's Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 62 on the Billboard Global 200 upon its official release in July 2023. The track is built around a wistful intro featuring the sound of rain and a lonely, jazz-tinged melody, while Jung Kook's soft vocals lend it a calm, intimate mood. BTS is scheduled to kick off the South American leg of its "ARIRANG" world tour with two shows in Bogota on Oct. 2-3, the label said.Sep 8, 2026By Yonhap
BTS concludes N. American tour with record-breaking LA showsK-pop supergroup BTS has wrapped up the North American leg of its "ARIRANG" world tour with a series of record-setting concerts in Los Angeles, drawing an estimated 1.92 million fans across the continent. All 31 shows in 12 cities, including El Paso, Mexico City and New York, had sold out in advance, with the North American dates attracting about 1.92 million fans during the five-month run, according to its agency, BigHit Music on Tuesday. The North American tour ended with four-day concerts at SoFi Stadium last Tuesday and Wednesday, and again Saturday and Sunday, which drew roughly 282,000 attendees and were watched in 177 countries on the K-pop fan community platform Weverse. Including its previous shows at the venue in 2021, BTS has now played eight shows at SoFi Stadium, more than any other act, and has drawn about 496,000 fans, a record figure in the stadium's history. The group marked two birthdays during the run with fans singing celebratory songs for Jungkook last Tuesday and for RM on Sunday ahead of his Sept. 12 birthday. The crowd lit the stadium with golden and blue flashligSep 8, 2026By Yonhap
EVAN channels fear of being forgotten into music on 1st mini albumSix months after walking away from one of K-pop's biggest boy bands, EVAN says the album he has built as a soloist is organized around his anxiety — that an artist whose music stops reaching people has "ceased to exist." The soloist, known until March as Heeseung of ENHYPEN, dropped his first mini album "DEATH OF ME" on Monday. He hosted a press event just hours ahead of the official release at the Grand Peace Palace at Kyung Hee University in eastern Seoul. The idea behind the album, he explained, came from a line in the anime "One Piece" about how a person truly dies only when they have been forgotten. "When my music no longer reaches people, my reason for existing as an artist disappears," he said. "This album carries the meaning that I won't let that happen." Belift Lab, the HYBE label that announced his departure from ENHYPEN on March 10 and that he remained with as a soloist, describes "DEATH OF ME" as an album about holding onto a tangle of emotions and moving forward anyway. The group, meanwhile, has continued as a six-member act since the announcement. Asked directly about theSep 7, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Former Thai idol shares photo with BLACKPINK's LisaPleum, a former member of Thai boy band V.R.P and a friend of BLACKPINK's Lisa, shared a photo of the two together. Pleum posted the image Saturday with the caption, "Hello SaWaDiKa. I’m screaming [you're doing great] since yesterday." The photo shows the two smiling for the camera. Wearing a striking red crop top and skirt, Lisa has her arms around Pleum's shoulders while he rests his arm around her waist. The two smiled brightly, highlighting their friendship. Meanwhile, the recently released documentary film "Always Lalisa" chronicles Lisa's journey from trainee to solo artist. "In K-pop culture, we can't date," she said in the film. "When I was younger, I dated a few times, but we had to hide when we're dating. I didn't want my dating to be the thing that hurts Blackpink's popularity." She noted she drew on those experiences for her album. The singer has been romantically linked to Frédéric Arnault, heir to the LVMH luxury empire, since 2023, though recently there has been speculation that the two had split up. She was subsequently linked to Thai actor Blue Pongtiwat in unconfirmed rSep 7, 2026By Xportsnews
TripleS cuts concert price amid rising K-pop ticket costsK-pop girl group tripleS slashed its concert ticket prices. As inflation continues to drive up costs, live concert tickets have risen sharply, and in an industry where tickets routinely exceed 200,000 won ($149), the group's move has inevitably captured the attention of K-pop fandoms. The group kicks off its new world tour, "ANDLESS," at Jangchung Arena in Seoul on Oct. 10 and 11. This Seoul leg drew intense interest because Modhaus, the group's agency, priced S-section tickets at 30,000 won. Concert ticket prices have gradually climbed in recent years. As production values rise and staging becomes more extravagant, regular admission seats now often cost well above 100,000 won while VIP seats at major K-pop agency shows routinely exceed 200,000 won. Once elevated, concert ticket prices often become the new standard. Amid this trend, tripleS took the opposite approach, opting not for a temporary discount, but to lower the barrier to entry for the live concert experience and make performances accessible to a broader audience. Modhaus cited audience accessibility as the main reason for theSep 7, 2026By Hankookilbo
Who is Bang Si-hyuk?HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, 54, studied aesthetics at Seoul National University and was recruited by JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young in 1997. He spent his JYP years writing songs for acts including g.o.d, Park Ji-yoon and Rain before founding Big Hit Entertainment in 2005. He kept writing after going independent, working on singer Baek Ji-young's 2008 ballad "Like Being Shot By a Bullet" and 2AM's "Never Let You Go" (2010), making him one of the country's most sought-after composers well before he had a hit act of his own. Big Hit Entertainment's first girl group, GLAM, launched in 2012 as a joint project with Source Music and disbanded in January 2015. BTS debuted in 2013 and went on to achieve global success, transforming the small entertainment agency into the country's largest music company. Big Hit Entertainment expanded into a multilabel operation with the purchase of Source Music in 2019, followed by Pledis Entertainment and KOZ Entertainment in 2020. Bang rebranded the growing empire as HYBE in 2021 and stepped down as CEO that July to chair the board. He remains the coSep 7, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
HYBE chairman case reaches prosecutors: What's next for him?The police file on HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk arrived at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office last week with a precise number attached: 263.1 billion won ($190 million) in what investigators called improper gains. The question that will decide Bang's fate is one that police and prosecutors have spent almost two years failing to settle between themselves: what crime, if any, the conduct amounts to. On Thursday, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's financial crime investigation unit referred Bang and four others to prosecutors without detention on suspicion of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, closing an investigation that went on for 21 months. Prosecutors will now review the record before deciding whether to indict, order further investigation or drop the financial crime charge, and lawyers who work these cases say all three remain possible. What police say happened Investigators allege that in 2019, while the company, then known as Big Hit Entertainment, was already moving through preliminary listing procedures, Bang and others told existing shareholdeSep 7, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
