Welcome to another edition of SB Week in Review. Here’s all the news you might have missed over the past week:

Headlines

  • An update on Seungri‘s trial: the prosecution has demanded a five-year sentence and a 20-million-won fine for Seungri with his list of charges. His nine charges revolve embezzlement, aiding prostitution, special violence instigation, gambling, and more.
  • Park Sooah (former After School member) has been indicted by the prosecution for driving under influence. The idol-turned-actress had run into a taxi while driving on May 18, with her blood alcohol level being high enough to have her license revoked.
  • Brown Eyed Girls‘ Gain has been fined 1 million won for propofol usage.

Debuts & Comebacks

  • 2PM made a long-awaited comeback with the groovy “Make It“. Check out our album review!
  • Loona were ready to “Paint The Town” with their own colour. Read our album review of Paint The Town here.
  • NCT Dream welcomed the future in “Hello Future“, the title for their repackaged album.
  • Drippin asked for a “Free Pass” in their latest MV.
  • Just B debuted with the powerful “Damage“.
  • AleXa had a little something “Xtra” in her latest comeback.
  • Itzy and Kim Shinyoung collaborated for the colourful, summer-themed “Break Ice“.
  • Brave Girls continued to be summer queens in “Pool Party“, the b-side for “Chi Mat Ba Ram“.
  • Omega X debuted with catchy, energetic “Vamos“.
  • DPR Live dropped an aesthetic “Yellow Cab“, a pre-release for his July release of Iite Cool.
  • Stray Kids‘ Bang Chan and Lee Know released an MV for “Drive“.
  • KARD‘s BM shared his single, “13IVI.”

Teasers & Announcements

  • SF9 continue to tease their return with “Tear Drop” on July 5.
  • Day6 (Even of Day) releases “Right Through Me” on July 5.
  • (G)I-dle‘s Soyeon makes her solo debut with “Beam Beam” on July 5.
  • Taeyeon will be releasing “Weekend” on July 6.
  • Exo‘s D.O. will release his first solo album, Sympathy on July 26.

Other News

  • SM Congress 2021 hinted at some future plans for their artists:
    • A possible Hollywood film based on Aespa‘s universe.
    • WayV, NCT U, and NCT 2021 having albums this year.
    • NCT Hollywood will also be happening: 21 contestants will join SM Entertainment and go through a K-pop bootcamp. The winners will debut in America as NCT Hollywood.
    • SM has partnered with YouTube to remaster over 300 previously-released music videos and songs from their founding groups.
    • SM Classics will be getting an expansion. Founded in partnership with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, SM Classics will operating on a larger scale to create more classical renditions.
  • JYP Entertainment is looking into establishing a NFT-based platform for K-pop.
  • The youngest members of VAV will be enlisting on July 2. This is to minimise the group’s hiatus, putting the entire group on a break for two years.

(YouTube: [1] [2] [3]. Twitter: [1] [2] [3]. Naver: [1] [2] [3] [4]. Yonhap News: [1]. Images via JYP Entertainment, FNC Entertainment, SM Entertainment)