Welcome to another edition of SB Week in Review. Here’s all the news you might have missed:
(Please note that there is mention of death and suicide. If these trigger you, please skip the headlines.)
Headlines
This week started off with news that left most of us in shock: SHINee‘s Kim Jonghyun passed away Monday evening. The note he left behind mentioned his struggle with depression, which led him to seek solace in taking his own life. The Seoulbeats team is deeply saddened by his passing and will offer our personal condolences and respects in a separate post.- On the same day, comedian Choi Seo-in passed away, too. She had been battling ovarian cancer, and after a strong fight, eventually passed. Once again, Seoulbeats offers our deepest condolences to Choi Seo-in’s family, her loved ones, friends and the fans that she had.
- Big Bang‘s Taeyang and Min Hyo-rin have confirmed their marriage. They will hold a quiet wedding on February 3. Heartfelt congratulations to the couple!
- After 18 months of legal battle, Park Yoochun has been ruled not guilty for his last trial. After five counts of being ruled not guilty, his legal battle from June 2016 has come to an end.
Debuts & Comebacks
- There aren’t many debuts or comebacks this week. Nonetheless, you can check our playlist for the compilation of all the comebacks this week!
- Twice released a winter track, “Merry and Happy” for the repackage of their first album, Twicestagram.
- Nine Muses’ Kyungri and 2AM‘s Jinwoon released a digital Christmas single called “4LOVE”.
- Cheeze released a mellow ballad, “See You Again“.
- Crush soothed hearts with “Be By My Side“.
- Lay dropped his Chinese language digital album Winter Special Gift with the lead single “Goodbye Christmas“.
Teasers & Announcements
- To pay respects to Jonghyun, EXO has postponed their Winter album release from December 21 to December 26.
- YG Entertainment will release a studio version of Black Pink‘s cover of “So Hot” on December 25 (9pm KST). This will be uploaded on YouTube and Soundcloud for free.
- ZE:A‘s Kim Dong-jun, NU’EST W‘s JR, and DIA‘s Chaeyeon will join the cast of Law of the Jungle in Chile.
- JBJ is scheduled to comeback in January 2018, although Kim Taedong will not be part of the promotions.
- The Idol Stars Athletics Championships (ISAC) is scheduled for filming on January 15 and January 22.
- Sunmi is confirmed to make a comeback in January 2018 as well, with album concepts to be released on a later date.
- G.Soul will drop an album on December 25 before his enlistment the following day.
- Eric Nam‘s Hold Me is due for release on December 27.
- Block B’s comeback is imminent. Hopefully, we’ll get more details soon!
- Oh My Girl released the first teaser for their January comeback.
- Infinite also shared the first teaser for their 3rd album, Top Seed, set for release on January 8.
Other News
- Following his drug controversy, Kush has left the cast of Livin’ the Double Life.
- Many idols have postponed or cancelled their schedules to pay their respects to Jonghyun.
- Taeyeon‘s meet-and-greet, scheduled for December 19, was cancelled.
- Kangta and NCT members Jaehyun and Johnny have also stepped down from their radio appearances.
- Idols such as BTOB, Seventeen, Weki Meki, Davichi and Junhyung of Highlight have postponed or cancelled planned broadcasts.
(YouTube. Naver: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12], Newsen, Yonhap News, Channel News Asia, The Straits Times, Around Us Entertainment’s Instagram, Korea Herald, Nate, Twitter [1] [2] [3], Images via: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Woollim Entertainment.)
