Welcome back to this installment of Seoulbeats’ Week in Review! Here are some of the happenings this week that you may have missed:

SERIOUS NEWS

  • 20150527_seoulbeats_kimhyunjoongA rise in Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has caused alarm in South Korea, as the current tally rises to seven cases. The virus has no cure or vaccine, and the authorities are criticized for being slow to react to this situation.
  • The Ministry of Maritime Affairs recently compensated ~$1.13 million (USD) to the family members of three people who lost their lives during the Sewol tragedy. The next committee meeting will decided on the compensation of another fifty cases.
  •  On May 27, the dirty laundry between Clara and Polaris Entertainment‘s CEO was finally taken to court. The initial date was delayed from April 8, and both parties were not present at the hearing.
  • Yoo Seung-joon spilled tears for his second broadcast, where he tried to clarify the accusations thrown against him. He claims that he did not time his request to just miss the military enlistment cutoff age, and he’s doing all this for the sake of his children.
  • The debacle does not end — Kim Hyun-joong‘s side is insisting that his fiancee’s previous miscarriage has nothing to do with him and is now waiting for analysis of medical reports for evidence.

COMEBACKS AND DEBUTS

  • 20150524_seoulbeats_2ne1_clKara has dropped their MV for “Cupid”, along with their 7th mini-album In Love.
  • Also, be sure to check out “Doctor Pepper”, CL‘s collaborative track with Diplo, Riff Raff and OG Maco.
  • Jung Joon-young has made his comeback as part of 4-member band aptly called the JJY Band. They have released their album Deviation, as well as their MV “OMG”, which is co-composed by Jung himself.
  • Seulong releases the MV for “Tell Me Baby”, one of the songs in his self-composed album Normal.
  • Eric Nam has dropped the much-teased collaboration “Dream”, featuring his After School Club co-host 15&‘s Jimin.
  • Singer-songwriter Eddy Kim and Mamamoo’s Solar collaborated for a cute little release “Coffee and Tea”.
  • CLC has dropped its latest MV “Like” and album Question, which may or may not shock you with its strikingly bright colour palette.
  • Yankie, in anticipation for his album Andre, pre-released “Sold Out”, whose MV features Tablo, Zion.T, Loco and Kang Hye-jung.
  • Uniq drops their follow-up MV “Luv Again” from their first mini-album EOEO.

TEASERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • 20150527_seoulbeats_bigbangTVXQ‘s Yunho is releasing his debut solo Japanese album and has even dropped a teaser video for “Burning Down”. His album, smartly titled U KNOW Y, will include a self-composed song “Santa Revolution”. It’s set for a release date of July 8.
  • Big Bang has released the title and posters for its upcoming double tracks to be released on June 1 as part of their Made series — “Bang Bang Bang” and “We Like To Party”. Also, they were spotted filming for Running Man, so let’s all be sure to tune in.
  • Seo In-young will be returning with an album on June 9.
  • MBLAQ is finally returning as three members with “Mirror”, and ex-member Lee Joon has come out to show his support for them.
  • Sistar will be releasing “Summer Song” in the last week of June, composed by Duble Sidekick, who has been behind a good number of Sistar hits.
  • A Pink‘s Nam-joo and BtoB‘s Sung-jae is next up for Cube’s project, the duo will be releasing “Photograph” on June 2.
  • Oh, look who else is joining the comeback frenzy. EXO will be releasing its repackaged album Love Me Right, which will include not one, not two, but four new songs. The release is set for June 3, and the group will be going ahead to promote as nine members. Questions have been raised if SM staff know the difference between baseball, soccer, and football.
  • Melody Day has released teaser images and opened an Instagram account in anticipation for their comeback with “Love Me” on June 9.
  • Other groups set to return in June: Year 7 Class 1 with “White Breeze” on June 1, High4 with “Baby Boy” on June 4, Boys Republic with “Hello” on June 5, SPEED with “What U”.

OTHER NEWS

  • Hollywood actress Chloe Moretz visited Korea over the course of 4 days, hosted by Eric Nam. She even guested on WGM and SNL, going the full nine yards for the show.
  • Song Joong-ki is back from the army! He reveals that BFF Lee Kwang-soo gave him more strength than girl groups did, and promises to work harder for his upcoming drama Descendants From the Sun.
  • Shinhwa has finally gained trademark rights to their name (previously owned by SM Entertainment and then Joon Media) after the court ruling on May 27. Their company, ShinCom Entertainment will be changing its name to Shinhwa Company.
  • The 51st Baeksang Awards took place on May 26, and winners include Na PD, Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Yoochun, Siwan, and Krystal. Congratulations!
  • Baby teasers! Actress Lee Yoon-ji (currently in Ex-Girlfriends Club) is three months pregnant, after her marriage to a dentist last September. Soccer player Park Ji-sung is also expecting is first baby with announcer Kim Min-ji.
  • After much push-pull between the media and WGM, it has been officially announced that the Sorim couple (Kim So-eun and Song Jae-rim) will be leaving the show in June. They have been “married” since last September, and their departure is attributed to Kim’s busy drama filming schedule. Well, hide yo kids, hide yo wives, hide your idols, who will be the next couple?
  • Another couple break-up — Nickhun and Tiffany are said to have ended their relationship, citing their busy work schedule as the reason. Considering both groups are slated for comebacks in the summer months, they’re bound to meet on stage somehow. Aaawkward.
  • Jo Kwon stated in a magazine interview that he’s currently “seeing someone with positive feelings”. Netizens immediately took to the net to speculate if he was referring to a male. Jo Kwon took to social media to clearly state that he is not yet in a relationship.
  • YB (Yoon Do Hyun Band) will be joining the Smashing Pumpkins on tour in the United States this year.

(Reuters, Ilgan Sports, Xports News, TV Report, Naver, Nate, Star News, Images via TV Report, YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment, dongA)