Welcome to November, everyone! Here’s your weekly update:
Main Headlines
- The fallout from South Korea’s presidential scandal continues. Choi Soon-sil arrived back in Seoul and was questioned over the weekend, before being detained ahead of her trial. Massive protests also took place across the country over the weekend, with thousands turning out to demand President Park Geun-hye‘s resignation. For her part, Park unveiled her newly reshuffled cabinet. There are also reports that Choi Soon-sil’s sister Choi Soon-deuk is the real brains behind the operation.
- Meanwhile, a task force has been assembled to investigate all projects tied to Choi Soon-sil and Cha Eun-taek, who is still evading authorities, The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is also under investigation due to links with Cha. KOCCA is the organiser for SXSW events Seoulsonic and K-pop Night Out.
- Psy and Lee Seung-chul have denied links to Choi Soon-sil’s niece, who is Choi Soon-deuk’s daughter. YGE also dismissed claims from Dispatch that the agency received help from Choi and her associates in setting up their cultural complex.
- G-Friend‘s SinB collapsed during a performance; she appeared to be in better health in a recent V App appearance, but fans are disgruntled that SinB will not be taking time off to rest.
- April will be losing member Hyunjoo, who will be focusing on her acting career.
Debuts & Comebacks
- Exo-CBX make love, not war in “Hey Mama.”
- Block B Bastarz hope to “Make it Rain” with their comeback.
- Berry Good is back with “Don’t Believe.”
- Seventeen‘s hip hop unit are here to “Check In” on you.
- Hyolyn teams up with singer!Jay Park for “One Step.”
- Halloween may be over, but I am still enjoying Grace‘s “Trick or Treat”
- If you’re still not entirely sure what’s going on in Vixx‘s “The Closer,” then we may be able to help.
- Black Pink dropped two tracks: did you enjoy “Stay” and “Playing with Fire?”
- Taeyeon wowed our reviewer in “11:11”
- Jenyer — AKA Jiyoon, formerly of 4Minute — released “I Do.”
- Kangta is finally back with “Diner.”
- Loco dropped “Still.”
- Crucial Star is back with “Fall,” featuring Kim Na-young.
- Hello Venus dropped “Runway” out of nowhere. I think their budget went to Astro.
- This week’s Station release is “Always in My Heart,” a duet by Red Velvet‘s Joy and former 2AM member Seulong.
- The Yellow Unit from Boys24 release the MV for “E.”
- And CL kicked off her North American tour in New York.
Teasers & Announcements
- We have a few comebacks happening on the 7th:
- BtoB‘s New Man
- B.A.P‘s Noir.
- Topp Dogg‘s first full album, First Street.
- Hyolyn will release “Paradise” on the 8th, at midnight.
- More groups are debuting or coming back on the 10th:
- Momoland‘s “JJan! Koon! Kwang!”
- Astro’s Autumn Story.
- Kyuhyun‘s Wait for You, his last release before enlisting.
- Imfact will be going dark for their comeback on the 11th.
- … As will, Snuper for It’s Raining on the 16th.
- Kim Kwang-soo and Jung So-min will be starring in the live-action adaptation of long-runing webtoon The Sound of Your Heart, which begins airing this Monday on Naver.
- Pentagon is preparing to debut in Japan.
- IU will be holding a special year-end concert in early December.
- G.o.d will be touring South Korea in early 2017.
- Park Bo-gum will be holding a series of fanmeets in East and South-east Asia.
- And The Host and Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho will be receiving French honour of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Other News
- Psy‘s “Gentleman” reached one billion YouTube views.
- The South Korean embassy in Nicaragua has opened a ‘K-Studio‘ that locals can use to make videos on Korean culture.
- The Unforgettable Gala will be held on December 10 in Beverly Hills. Among the Asian American entertainment industry talent to be honoured are George Takei, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Ken Jeong, and Wong Fu Productions. Oh My Girl was invited to perform last year (but their visa issues meant they could not attend), so we’ll see if any K-pop groups make the list this year.
- Kim Woo-bin will be releasing a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S7, which will feature details of the actor’s schedule, emojis based on his likeness, and more. And no, this isn’t the exploding phone.
- And Rainbow posted a letter for their fans on social media, to farewell and thank fans for their support. The members will also be going on holiday together before going their separate ways.
(ABC Online, Chosun Ilbo, Dispatch, Instagram[1][2], Korea Herald, Korea Times[1][2][3][4], New York Times, SM Town, Twitter, Unforgettable Gala, X Sports News, Yonhap News[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], YouTube[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Images via: TS Ent., RBW, DSP Media)
