K-pop groups prepare for returns after members finish mandatory military service

Boy band SHINee / Courtesy of SM Entertainment

By Park Han-sol

Several boy bands that had been on hiatus are getting ready to stage comebacks this year as their members are set to finish their mandatory military service. The announcements from the so-called "second-generation" idol groups, including SHINee, 2PM and Highlight, have raised anticipation both on the K-pop scene and among their legions of fans.

Boy band SHINee has confirmed that its members will appear on a special live show "The Ringtone: SHINee is Back" on YouTube and Naver's V Live, Jan. 31. In the show, the quartet will reflect back on their activities since their debut as well as discuss and perform one of the tracks on their upcoming album slated for release this year, its agency SM Entertainment said.

After the release of its sixth studio album "The Story of Light" in 2018, the group's members Onew, Key and Minho began their mandatory military service, with no new albums coming out for over two years. After Minho became the last member to be discharged in November last year, SM Entertainment announced their comeback during an online concert called "SMTOWN LIVE" at the beginning of this month.

The all-boy K-pop act debuted in 2008 with its first album "Replay" and has enjoyed popularity both locally and overseas with many hits, including "Ring Ding Dong" (2009), "Lucifer" (2010) and "Sherlock" (2012).

Boy band 2PM / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment

2PM is another boy band making a highly-anticipated return after being on hiatus since 2017.

With members Ok Taec-yeon, Jun. K, Woo-young and Chan-sung already discharged from the military and Jun-ho returning to civilian life in March, 2PM recently announced its comeback, stating "Please look forward to the year 2021 filled with us, 2PM."

The sextet, which debuted in 2008, has had multiple hits including "10 Out of 10" (2008), "Heartbeat" (2009) and "Again & Again" (2009). One of its songs, "My House", released in 2015, belatedly became a viral sensation last year online and led to a number of cover videos by other K-pop artists.

The group Highlight, which went on hiatus after the album "Outro" released in 2018, hinted at its comeback as well after Son Dong-woon became the last member to finish his military service last month.

The K-pop act debuted in 2009 under the name BEAST and became widely popular for songs such as "Mystery" (2009), "Fiction" (2011) and "On Rainy Days" (2011). After the group left its former agency Cube Entertainment, it returned to the K-pop scene as Highlight.

Boy band BIGBANG / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

Whether the K-pop megastar BIGBANG will make a comeback this year is another topic of interest.

After its former member Seungri was indicted on multiple charges, including enabling prostitution and habitual gambling, and left the group in 2019, the boy band announced it would return to the music scene at Coachella 2020, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But hints of the group's leader G-Dragon working on new songs late last year have raised anticipation over the group's possible return.

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