K-pop: Last News

Last week, Splice and MIDia Research shared their “Sounds of 2025” report; exploring some of the biggest music trends of 2024 and how they’ll likely evolve in 2025. Among trends like fan remixes and the return of the digital underground, one thing was clear: the rise of pluggnb.

Mercy For None, starring So Ji-sub, Heo Jun-ho and more. Here’s everything you need to know about the new series.Adapted from popular webtoon Gwangjang, Mercy For None follows the story of Nam Gi-jun, a feared assassin known for his previous stint as a member of the notorious Bongsan Gang, led by Gu Bong-san.

BLACKPINK‘s Jisoo has announced her upcoming 2025 ‘Lights, Love, Action!’ tour of Asia, featuring concerts in Thailand, Vietnam and more.BLACKPINK singer Jisoo’s upcoming 2025 ‘Lights, Love, Action!’ tour was first announced on February 4 by her label Blissoo with the release of a poster for the upcoming concerts.Jisoo will play a total of seven stops for her 2025 ‘Lights, Love, Action!’ tour, ith concerts in Manila, Bangkok, Tokyo, Macau, Taipei, Hong Kong and Hanoi. It currently remains unclear if the K-pop star will expand the tour beyond Asia.Dates, venues and ticketing information have all yet to be announced.

IVE have returned with their third mini-album ‘IVE Empathy’, alongside a music video for title track ‘Attitude’.‘Attitude’ is one of two title tracks for ‘IVE Empathy’, the other being the song ‘Rebel Heart’, which was released last month. Wonyoung is credited as a co-lyricist on ‘Attitude’, alongside frequent IVE collaborator Seo Ji-eum.

G-Dragon has revealed that his long-awaited solo comeback album, titled ‘Übermensch’, will be released later this month.Today (February 4), G-Dragon uploaded a teaser to his YouTube channel announcing the new record. The brief new clip features two silhouettes walking toward one another amid a colourful backdrop, while a crowd cheers.Due out February 25, ‘Übermensch’ will mark G-Dragon’s third studio album overall and his first body of work in seven years.

GOT7 singer Yugyeom has announced the forthcoming North and Latin American legs of his 2025 ‘Trusty’ tour.On January 31, South Korean music label AOMG announced forthcoming headline shows in cities across North America and Latin America to take place sometime this year. The concerts will be part of the K-pop idol’s ongoing ‘Trusty’ world tour, which began with an Asian leg late last year.According to the poster, Yugyeom will be performing in Toronto, New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Santiago, Sao Paolo and Mexico City.

BBGirls – previously known as Brave Girls – have opened up about how the success of ‘Rollin” going viral in 2021 helped them financially.BBGirls, which consists of Minyoung, Eunji and Yuna, recently appeared as guests on the Korean music talk show Lee Young-ji’s Rainbow, where they shared how the success of ‘Rollin” going viral in 2021 helped them financially.‘Rollin” was first released in 2017 to little fanfare. However, the song became a sleeper hit four year later, after being featured in a viral fan-edited video.

Melo Movie, starring Choi Woo-sik and Park Bo-young. Here’s everything you need to know about the new series.Melo Movie is a romantic comedy K-drama series that follows the life of Go-gyeom, a film buff and extra who later becomes a film critic.

BLACKPINK singer Jisoo has inked a new partnership deal with Warner Records for her forthcoming solo music.The deal was announced on January 28, with Warner Records describing their new partnership with the Korean singer-actor an “all-encompassing global solo deal”. The news comes days after Jisoo announced the upcoming release of a new mini-album ‘Amortage’ on February 14.

BLACKPINK‘s Jennie has dropped a new single ‘Love Hangover’ featuring Dominic Fike, alongside a music video starring American actor Charles Melton.Both the song and music video were released on January 31, marking the third song off her forthcoming solo debut album ‘Ruby’. The mellow track, which features a verse by Dominic Fike, “explores an undeniable attraction to someone who’s both toxic and intoxicating”, per a press release.The ‘Love Hangover’ music video stars May December and Riverdale actor Charles Melton and is directed by Bradley & Pablo, known for their previous work on music videos for the likes of Harry Styles and Lil Nas X.The visual begins with Charles Melton’s character giving a eulogy at Jennie’s funeral before her coffin is lowered into the grave, before it launches into the full backstory of events that led up to the funeral.

Jennie — one of the four members of Blackpink — is going on a much shorter trek in the U.S. and her native South Korea in support of her forthcoming debut album “Ruby,” which hits shelves March 7.As of now, the only non-festival North American gigs the singer/rapper/actress/model has on her 2025 ‘Ruby Experience Tour’ itinerary are back-to-back performances at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on March 6-7 and New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Monday, March 10.“Intense and intimate as I like it,” the 29-year-old shared in what appears to be a David Lynch-inspired Instagram post.She’s also slated to perform both Sundays at Coachella — April 13 and 20 — this year.

fromis_9 have signed with a new label after deciding to “continue with their group activities”.South Korean entertainment company ASND published a statement on January 26 via Ilgan Sports announcing that five out of eight fromis_9 members have signed exclusive contracts with the intention of pursuing further activities as a group.fromis_9 were previously under HYBE sub-label Pledis Entertainment until their contracts expired in December 2024, with all eight members opting not to renew.Although plans for the group’s continuation post-contract expiry were unclear at the time, members Song Ha-young, Park Ji-won, Lee Na-kyung, Lee Chae-young and Baek Ji-heon will now proceed under new management. It remains unclear if the band’s remaining members will join them.“It must have taken a lot of thought and courage for the artists to decide to continue their group activities,” wrote the company, as translated by Soompi. “We at ASND are sincerely grateful to the artists for their great courage and for choosing to walk this journey with us, and we promise to provide unwavering support and encouragement so that they can pursue their dreams going forward.”ASND shared in the same statement that it is currently undergoing negotiations with Pledis Entertainment for the trademark to the fromis_9 name.

BLACKPINK singer Jennie has announced a string of intimate shows to celebrate the upcoming release of her debut solo album.On Wednesday (January 22) the K-pop idol and her label Odd Atelier announced the LP titled ‘Ruby’ will be released on March 7, featuring collaborations with Doechii, Dua Lipa and more.Now, she’s revealed she’ll be playing three small shows once the LP has come out, which she described as “intense and intimate as I like it” on Instagram.The first show will take place on March 6 – the night before ‘Ruby’s release – at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre. From there, she’ll head to New York to play Radio City Music Hall on March 10, followed by a gig in Seoul, South Korea on March 15.Tickets will go on sale next Friday (January 31) at 10am local time, and a portion of proceeds will go towards recovery efforts following the Los Angeles wildfires that took place earlier this month.

Newtopia, starring BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and Park Jung-min. Here’s everything you need to know about the new series.When a zombie outbreak overtakes the streets of South Korea, Lee Jae-yoon and Kang Young-joo, having recently graduated from college and freshly broken up, are caught in the middle of chaos.As the couple are driven further apart by the zombies overtaking the city, Jae-yoon is forced to face his insecurities both as a new, clueless recruit protecting the country and as Young-joo’s love interest, as the couple go through hoardes of the undead to find each other again in more ways than one.Acclaimed Korean actor Park Jung-min, with recent appearances in Harbin and Smugglers, is set to star as Jae-yoon.

YOUNG POSSE have dropped the dates and venues for their upcoming ‘082DROP’ 2025 US tour.On January 23, YOUNG POSSE and their label label DSP Media announced the ‘082DROP’ 2025 US tour. It’s is set to run through March with all dates in Texas.

NewJeans said in a new statement that they “have no intention of ever returning” to ADOR amid their legal battle with the agency.Today (January 23), NewJeans released a statement through their independent Instagram account, where they addressed several legal actions made against them by ADOR.In December 2024, ADOR filed a lawsuit to verify the validity of NewJeans’ contracts after the quintet announced the termination of their contracts with the label. Earlier this month, the HYBE subsidiary also filed an injunction against NewJeans to prevent them from signing brand deals as independent artists.In their new statement, NewJeans announced that they “have received the lawsuit and application documents a few days ago, and we have appointed Shin & Kim LLC as our legal representative”, as translated by Soompi. NewJeans went on to denounce both ADOR and HYBE in the new statement, reiterating previous claims regarding the companies’ “[failure] to fulfil their responsibilities as an agency to protect their artists and support their growth”.The band also claim to be subject to malicious rumours and comments, following what they describe as the “lawful termination” of their contracts with ADOR, which they say are based on information “which could only have been provided by ADOR and HYBE”.The K-pop group further accused their former label of “essentially abandoning and replacing” them, and alleged that the companies “have continued to harass and attack us relentlessly, just as they did before”.“We will state this firmly: the five of us have no intention of ever returning to HYBE or ADOR, where even the minimum level of trust cannot be expected,” NewJeans wrote.

Chung Ha has announced the upcoming release of a new mini-album titled ‘Alivio’ next month.On January 22, Chung Ha and More Vision dropped a video clip titled ‘mood sampler’ via her YouTube channel, announcing the forthcoming release of a new mini-album titled ‘Alivio’. The clip features Chung Ha sitting pensively on a pile of bricks covered with a tarp, as she speaks through a voiceover.“We all learn from our past. We learned that sometimes we gotta break down to break through.

Big Bang member T.O.P has hinted at his return to music this year, which he says is his “responsibility as a musician”.T.O.P recently sat for an interview with NMEin light of the premiere of Squid Game season 2 in December, where he plays the character Thanos. His appearance on the hit Netflix series marked his first project since he announced his departure from the entertainment industry in 2020 after he was charged with smoking marijuana at home.Though his role on Squid Game marked his return to entertainment, T.O.P revealed that he has no “concrete ideas” about future acting projects.

Netflix has announced the long-awaited premiere date for upcoming romance K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, led by IU and Park Bogum. Here’s everything you need to know about the new series.Billed as a romantic slice-of-life series, When Life Gives You Tangerines is set in 1960s Jeju and follows the adventurous lives of Ae-soon “the remarkable rebel” and Gwan-sik “the unyielding iron” as they weather the trials and tribulations throughout all four seasons on the South Korean island.

SEVENTEEN recently debuted a new song titled ‘Bad Influence’, produced by Pharrell Williams, at the Louis Vuitton FW25 show.‘Bad Influence’ by SEVENTEEN was first played at the Louis Vuitton FW 2025 show in Paris on January 21. ‘Bad Influence’ is performed by nine of the boyband’s members: S.Coups, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino.The song was notably written and produced by Pharrell Williams, who selected the K-pop boyband as its performers, according to a press release by the boyband’s label Pledis Entertainment.

Single’s Inferno season 4 contestant Lee Si-an has been sued by her agency for an alleged breach of contract.Yesterday (January 21), South Korea-based entertainment company Leaders Entertainment announced its lawsuit against Single’s Inferno season 4 star Lee Si-an. “[She] has violated the terms and conditions of her exclusive contract,” the company’s statement to Ranking News read, as translated by Soompi.