Hello everyone, and welcome back to a double edition of Week in Review! Here is a roundup of the last fortnight’s news:

Headlines

  • The entertainment world was shocked to learn of the murder of actress Song Sun-mi‘s husband, art director Go Woo-seok. He was attacked while handling a legal dispute on behalf of his grandfather. Following her husband’s funeral, Song has returned to filming her ongoing projects. We at Seoulbeats extend our condolences to Song and her family. Meanwhile, MBC has been roundly criticised for secretly filming and airing footage of the funeral, despite the family’s request for privacy.
  • In related news, union members at both MBC and KBS are striking from Monday onwards, in reponse to management’s attempts to control journalistic coverage critical of government administrations and agencies.
  • Newly-debuted girl group Apple.B‘s dorm caught fire after an air conditioner unit malfunctioned. None of the members were physically harmed, and our thoughts go out to them during this tough time.
  • Kangnam has drawn criticism after talking about and threatening to hit Nine Muses‘ Kyungri while appearing on a web variety show. Though he laughed the comments off, Kyungri and a number of netizens were understandably upset.
  • Produce 101 Season 2 finalist and member of project group Wanna One, Jaehwan recently made a comment that attracted criticism from international fans. Jaehwan’s “naega? what’s up” comment in a Show! Champion promo video (as captioned by MBC) was called out for using the Korean word naega as a pun substitute for the N-word. Many have argued that Jaehwan actually said “naega wasseo” (“here I am”), and Wanna One’s agency YMC Entertainment released a statement saying only that the comment was pre-approved and more or less blamed a segment of international fans (guess who) for bringing attention to the matter in the first place.
  • Stellar‘s troubled times continue; following Gayoung and Jeonyul’s graduation, The Entertainment Pascal is aiming to rearrange the group into a four-member outfit, incorporating new member Youngheun. Current members seem to be just as surprised by the development as fans, which comes on the heels of a crying Stellar asking fans not to support their next Makestar campaign, and a fansite making then retracting claims about The Entertainment Pascal’s treatment of the group.
  • With news of six of Infinite‘s seven members re-signing with Woollim, Hoya has been revealed as the holdout, who ultimately decided against renewing his contract. Wishing Hoya and Infinite all the best — I am going to miss Infinite H.
  • The saga of Alex Reid and BP Rania has come to an end after two almost two years, with the American rapper and DR Music parting ways.

Debuts & Comebacks

  • Sunmi‘s “Gashina” dazzled our reviewer — do you feel the same?
  • Hyuna‘s new mini shows a different side to her, according to our reviewer.
  • 2PM‘s Junho released his first solo mini, Canvas.
  • Meanwhile, labelmate Jackson‘s “Papillon” failed to impress our reviewer.
  • Primary dropped the idol-laden Pop.
  • Our reviewer was in awe of Vixx LR‘s soulmate concept in “Whisper.”
  • Dia returned with “Can’t Stop.”
  • Victon‘s Identity, despite its name, needs more uniqueness, according to our reviewer.
  • Hoody dropped “Hangang.”
  • New acts that debuted include:
    • C9 Entertainment‘s Good Day with “Rolly.”
    • Woollim’s Golden Child with “DamDaDi.”
    • Heo Hur Young-ji going solo with “Memory Clock.”
    • S2 with “Honeya.”
    • IZ with “All You Want.”
    • Amor with “Push Ya.”
    • Produce 101 Season 2 alum Jeong Se-woon with “Just U.”
    • S.I.S with “I’ve Got a Feeling.”
  • Sungjae released two songs in the sixth installment of BtoB‘s Piece of BtoB project.

Teasers & Announcements

  • On the 3rd, Black6ix return with “Like a Flower.”
  • On the 5th:
    • Exo bring the power with their repackage of The War.
    •  B.A.P and their mullets — sorry, wolf cuts — with Blue.
  • On the 6th:
  • On the 13th, G-Friend are back with “Summer Rain.”
  • On the 14th, iKon‘s Bobby drops his first solo mini.
  • On the 18th:
    • IU celebrates her ninth anniversary with a follow up to Flower Bookmark.
    • BTS is back with their much-awaited Love Yourself
  • More releases without dates include:
  • The male version of IBI has been revealed to be Rainz, to debut in October.
  • Day6 will be visiting four US and one Canadian city for a North American tour this October!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtuqIEc4I8k

Other News

  • Following up on Onew‘s sexual harassment case, the Shinee leader is not attending the group’s Japan concerts in order to reflect.
  • Everyone is mad at (almost) everyone following a recent episode of Happy Together 3, In a throwback to Star Bell, Yerin upset people by claiming that G-Friend‘s choreography was more difficult than that of other existing girl groups; the MCs upset people by claiming that the choreo didn’t look that tiring and maybe Yerin just needed to exercise more; and Kai upset people by claiming that, since he dances boy group choreography, G-Friend’s dance doesn’t look that hard. Lizzie also took the opportunity to remind everyone of After School‘s own demanding routines. The only person no one is criticising is Taemin, who was diplomatic in his responses.
  • Wheesung has started a new agency, Realslow, and decided to advertise it by changing his name to the same.
  • The latest BTS coverage in the Western media comes in the form of a 20-minute video interview with People.
  • Mamamoo‘s Wheein issued an apology after fans complained about her drunkennes during a recent V Live + broadcast.
  • NS Yoon-ji has split from rapper Chancellor.
  • Former After School member Jungah is to marry basketballer Jung Chang-young. Congrats to the couple!
  • Moon Hyuna also tied the knot over the weekend. Congrats to the new bride and her groom!
  • Lay is getting a wax model of himself installed in Madame Tussaud’s — maybe they can make an extra one for Exo to use in Korea.

(Daum, Dispatch, Donga, Facebook[1][2], Hankook Ilbo, Insight, Instagram, Korea Times, MBN Star, Osen[1][2], Segye, Sports Seoul, Star News, TV Report, Twitter[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], X Sports News, YouTube[1][2][3][4].