Upcoming K-pop releases and comebacks: SHINee, TWICE’s Jihyo and more

Jungkook of K-pop boyband BTS is set to make his solo debut next month with ‘Seven’.Jungkook’s label Big Hit Music announced the upcoming release through the fan community platform Weverse. ‘Seven’ will be released on Friday, July 14 at 1pm KST/12mn ET.In its press statement, Big Hit Music described the song as “an invigorating ‘summer song’ that is sure to have you experience the full breadth of Jungkook’s charm We hope that “Seven” will bring your summer fun to the next level.”The label also called Jungkook’s upcoming single as the start of his “official solo activities”.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of indie distributor Magnolia Pictures, has acquired North American rights to “Sleep.” The horror-thriller, which sounds designed to make you rethink your thoughts about sleepwalking, recently had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s critics week. It was directed and written by Jason Yu, who worked with Korean filmmaking legends Bong Joon-ho and Lee Chang-dong before making his feature directing debut with “Sleep.” Magnet will release the film early next year. The director’s previous collaborator, Bong, called “Sleep,” “the most unique horror film and the smartest debut film I’ve seen in 10 years.” So that’s some high praise from the director of “The Host” and “Parasite.”

Ampere Analysis  presented Tuesday at Spain’s Conecta Fiction.  Ampere’s popularity score is a propriety metric based not on viewership but on the tracking of internet search volume received by a title each month as well as other metrics, Ampere’s Alice Thorpe clarified at the presentation.  The fandom base of Korean series and Japanese anime are concentrated in teen and YA demographics, which are also most avid Internet users. 

K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY have filed a lawsuit against their agency Attrakt to suspend their exclusive contracts.On June 28, South Korean law firm BARUN released a statement on behalf of the girl group, announcing that they had filed to suspend their exclusive contracts with entertainment agency Attrakt due to its violation of contract terms.“The four members filed an application for provisional disposition suspending the validity of their exclusive contracts to the Seoul Central District Court on June 19, and the trial is currently underway,” said BARUN, per eDaily and translated by Soompi. “This is due to the fact that Attrakt violated contract terms and took actions that resulted in the destruction of a relationship based on trust.”The firm also alleged that Attrakt had been “discrediting” the members of FIFTY FIFTY through its continuous media statements in recent days.

Hot off his headlining gig at the Glastonbury Music Festival on Saturday, June 24, Lewis Capaldi announced he won’t be returning to the stage any time soon.

TikTok recently to share the news, writing the following text across one of his videos that featured him listening to music in a car: “When ur dating a girl but ur also a lil bit into men.” Now, it seems clear that Lauv is not straight, but how exactly he identifies isn’t obvious, at least from what was shared in the clip. Lauv continued the conversation in the comments on the video, explaining how he’s come to this realization.

Manchester City are 'ready to make a late move' for Napoli defender Kim Min-jae, according to reports.

During a three-day visit to Seoul, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the streamer is fairly compensating producers and nurturing new talent, after calls from some local lawmakers and industry figures for more profit-sharing with creators. 

committed to invest US$2.5billion on new South Korean TV shows and films.“[Korean content] is very often unpredictable and catches the American audience by surprise,” Sarandos said at the event, per Variety. “I think what’s brilliant is to see film, unscripted and series all grow according to the interests of our Korean audience.”He added that “great stories can come from anywhere and be loved anywhere [and] nowhere has this proven more true than here in Korea”, per Yonhap News Agency.Over the past two years, Netflix has released a number of hit Korean series and films, from the global phenomenon Squid Game, to the thrilling revenge series The Glory, to the reality TV series Single’s Inferno.Sarandos added that 60 per cent of all Netflix subscribers have watched at least one Korean title, while viewership of Korean content is up sixfold over the past half decade.During the event, the Netflix co-CEO also spoke about how the company is looking to use its US$2.5billion investment plan to “grow the industry” in Korea.

Choi Sung-bong, a South Korean pop star, has been found dead at the age of 33.

It’s so hard to say goodbye, but sadly, several K-pop groups are disbanding for good.

BBC Radio 4 has announced a new six part podcast series, titled ‘Burning Sun’, about a series of sex scandals that led to criminal convictions for a number of K-pop stars.The series is named after the Seoul nightclub upon which the scandal centred. Popular with celebrities, an allegation of assault sparked an investigation into the venue, which uncovered claims about women being drugged by staff.Later, it was discovered that a group of celebrities who had frequented the club had shared secretly filmed sex videos online.“This is an astounding story we have been working on for years”, says presenter Chloe Hadjimatheou.

‘Halli-Galli’ is notably produced by Hot Sauce, a JYP Entertainment producer. In addition to the title track, PLAN B’s debut release will include two other songs, ‘LON (Overflow)’ and ‘Sunday to Monday’.The upcoming H.LAND Entertainment group comprises five members: Hwi, Roy, Hao, James and Han, who hail from South Korea, Thailand and China.Members Roy and James had previously participated in the reality TV competition Seven Stars, through which Thai-Korean boyband THE7 was formed.

Gyeongseong Creature, Mask Girl, A Time Called You, Song of the Bandits, Doona!, Celebrity and Daily Dose of Sunshine.Netflix’s new video also previews the upcoming second seasons of hit K-dramas D.P and Sweet Home In addition, the clip also highlights the original Korean films Ballerina and Believer 2.All nine K-dramas and two films were previously announced by Netflix back in January 2023, when the streaming platform unveiled its slate of upcoming Korean dramas and movies set to premiere this year.Notably missing from the new preview are K-drama Goodbye Earth and feature film The Match, both of which had previously been slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2023. The two Netflix original properties star Yoo Ah-in of Hellbound fame.However, Yoo has since been dropped from Hellbound, following a police investigation in South Korea for illegal drug use.

Baekhyun, Xiumin and Chen have reportedly revolved their differences with K-pop agency SM Entertainment over their contracts.Today (June 19), South Korean news outlets Star News and Kpop Herald reported that SM Entertainment and EXO’s Baekhyun, Xiumin and Chen have worked out issues over the K-pop idols’ contracts.Earlier this month, the trio had filed to terminate their contracts with the agency over alleged “mistreatment and unfair contract terms”. At the time, SM Entertainment had refuted claims made by the three EXO members, while alleging that “outside forces” have been cajoling its artists to violate the terms of their contracts.According to a statement by SM Entertainment, per Star News, the two sides have managed to reach a mutually amicable agreement over the “misunderstanding” following careful discussions.“The company and the three artists [have] promised to solidify their relationship in the future by going through a process of mutually equal discussions and corrections,” SM Entertainment said, as translated by Koreaboo.The K-pop agency also said that there was no “outside forces” involved in the contract dispute between the company and its artists, and apologised for “causing concern with our [previous ] announcement”.Meanwhile, EXO are set to make their long-awaited return in July with their new album ‘Exist’.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Netflix’s controversial reality competition show based on its smash South Korean drama “Squid Game” will finally debut in November, and the streamer offered up a very brief glimpse of reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge” on Saturday during its global, virtual Tudum fan event from Brazil. “The world’s most notorious game becomes reality,” the teaser clip says, before showing contestants exiting their rooms and heading to the game of “Red Light Green Light” — featuring the giant, killer doll that in the scripted “Squid Game” swivels its head around and fires gunshots to eliminate players who were moving. The unscripted game show, which was first announced in June 2022, was shot across two studios in the U.K. and produced by Studio Lambert and The Garden. Like the series, 456 contestants were cast (in this case, from around the world) to compete in various challenges based on the Korean children’s games featured on the show, as well as new games. The winner receives a $4.56 million cash prize.

Bruno Fernandes has revealed he never takes up Erik ten Hag’s offer of a rest at Manchester United, explaining how he knows the day will come when he won’t be given the choice.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games. The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

2NE1 member Sandara Park will be making her long-awaited solo debut this July.On June 14, several South Korean news outlets reported that Sandara Park would soon be returning to the music industry as a soloist. Later that day, a representative from Park’s current agency, Abyss Company, confirmed to Star News that she would be making a comeback in July.“Sandara Park will make a comeback in the music industry as a solo artist in July.

writers strike that is being branded “Screenwriters Everywhere,” with events planned in major cities including Paris and London. The Writers Guild of America has enlisted members from the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, Federation of Screenwriters in Europe and UNI Global Union to demonstrate global support for the union’s strike against Hollywood’s largest producers. The unprecedented rallying behind the WGA is especially relevant during this strike given the globalization of content, and the fast-growing international outposts of many “struck” companies, such as Netflix and Prime Video.