Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Week in Review! It’s been a relatively slow news week, but here is everything you need to know going into the new week:

Headlines

  • Police have concluded that no abuse took place in the case of Choi Jin-sil‘s daughter Choi Joon-hee and her grandmother, who was accused by Joon-hee of physically abusing her to the point of hospitalisation.
  • Dia and Mamamoo were involved in car accidents, though no injuries were officially reported.
  • Following fan outcry, Winner‘s official instagram has deleted a post that showed member Jinu Jinwoo wearing a top with a Confederate flag logo.
  • Ailee is the latest idol to call out sasaengs on social media, for calling her on her phone in the middle of the night. Just let the woman sleep!
  • A year after being involved in an idol escort scandal, G.Na has taken to Instagram to greet fans and hint at a comeback.

Debuts & Comebacks

  • iKon‘s Bobby dropped his first solo mini, but our reviewer isn’t too hot on it. Did you enjoy Love and Fall?
  • 2PM‘s Junho has a solo mini out, and while our reviewer liked the double lead singles well enough, they don’t seem to bring anything new to the table.
  • G-Friend‘s Rainbow is more of the same to our reviewer’s ear.
  • Elris‘ “Pow Pow” is a hit in our reviewer’s books!
  • The now-quintet Rania are here with “Breathe Heavy,” though we’ll have to wait a while for the MV.
  • Super Junior-M‘s Henry continues his stream of releases with “U&I,” a Station duet with SNSD‘s Sunny.
  • Oudside of K-pop, f(x)‘s Amber is living the ascended fan trope after collaborating with Pentatonix offshoot Sup3rfruit on “Fantasy.”
  • And BTS is officially back with “DNA,” more on them next week!

Teasers & Announcements

  • On the 20th, April hope the goodwill from their next release will last for all Eternity.
  • On the 21st, Loona‘s Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry will grace us with more pre-debut music as sub-unit Odd Eye Circle.
  • On the 25th, B1A4 are Rollin’ back onto the K-pop scene.
  • ABC‘s (US) adaptation of Joo Won-starrer Good Doctor, featuring Freddie Highmore as the titular autistic savant doctor, also premieres on the 25th.
  • Next week has been dubbed TVXQ week by SM, with Yunho and Changmin set to release their first post-army music for Station.
  • CL is making her way back into the spotlight with a track on the upcoming My Little Pony movie soundtrack.
  • Other comebacks on the horizon include:
    • Highlight will return on October 16, Beast‘s anniversary.
    • BtoB will also be back in October
    • EXID join the October rush too, with Solji participating in the album recording while also sitting out promotions as she continues her treatment for hyperthyroidism.
    • Wanna One will have a repackage album for us in late November.
    • There will be Rain in early December
    • Seventeen with their second full length album.
  • Hyukoh will be touring London, Paris, and Amsterdam in a few weeks. Anyone planning on seeing the band?
  • Meanwhile, SF9 will be visiting Boston, Seattle, and Dallas in November.
  • And this year’s MAMAs will also be presented in three installments across Vietnam, Japan, and — of course — Hong Kong.

Other News

  • April member Jinsol came under netizen fire for flubbing a magic trick performed by magician Choi Hyun-woo. Many blamed her for not only ruining the performance, but also Choi’s livelihood by revealing the allegedly copyrighted act’s secret. Choi himself clarified that the act in question was not copyrighted, accepted DSP‘s apology and defended Jinsol from the harsh comments.
  • Apple of my eye Kang Ha-neul AKA McSweaty from To The Beautiful You has enlisted in the military police unit. At least I have my For Your Viewing Pleasure magnum opus to see me through the next 20 months.
  • AkMu‘s Chanhyuk has also enlisted, joining the Marine corps.
  • Exo celebrated their 100th music show win with a Star Wars-themed video on social media. An impressive feat indeed — congrats to the group!
  • This week in random K-pop references in Western media:
    • Maury‘s Twitter discovered Exo’s Twitter.
    • Burberry (and Vogue) are all over Winner’s Mino and Hoony Seunghoon at London Fashion Week.
    • Bill Maher thinks any member of Red Velvet would be a better American president than Trump. My vote is for Yeri — how about you?

(Donga Ilbo, Facebook, FN Star, Instagram[1][2][3][4], Newsen, Osen[1][2], Star News, TV Report, Twitter[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], Yonhap[1][2], YouTube. Images via: DSP Media, Instagram, Vostro.)