Welcome to another edition of SB Week in Review. Here’s all the news you might have missed over the past week:
Headlines
Court proceedings for Source Music and BLift Lab‘s respective defamation suits against Min Hee-Jin began this week with all sides presenting initial arguments. The next hearing will take place in March featuring PowerPoint presentations. In other Min Hee-jin news, the CEO of Davolink alleged in an interview with TenAsia that Min had met with him to discuss investment and potentially poaching NewJeans from Ador in September 2024. Meanwhile, the group has concluded all schedules under Ador and future activities remain uncertain. Neither Wendy nor Taeyeon participated in SM‘s 30th-anniversary concert over the weekend, citing the agency’s lack of planning.
Debuts & Comebacks
BoyNextDoor charmed in “I Love You.”Onew picked himself up off the ground in “Winner.”JYP previewed its new boy group KickFlip with the pre-release, “Umm Great.”The group is slated to debut with Kick It, Flip It on January 20. BSS delivered happiness with “Prime Time.” Don’t miss our MV review!Gunwook of ZeroBaseOne dropped the solo MV for “Placebo.”
Teasers & Announcements
GFriend shared the mood teaser for their reunion album Season of Memories, out on January 13.IVE dropped the “Rebel Heart” concept film ahead of its January 13 release. The group will return in February with Empathy. Oneus released the second MV teaser for “IKUK,” out on January 14.Seulgi and Park Wan-sun will team up for the JYP-produced track “Lucky” on January 15. Wei will be back with “Not Enough” and The Feelings on January 15.BB Girls put out the concept film for their single album Love, to be released on January 15.Got7 will reunite for Winter Heptagon on January 20.ZeroBaseOne will drop the pre-release MV for “Doctor! Doctor!” on January 20; the MV for “Now or Never” will follow on the 29th. CIX posted the comeback schedule for Thunder Fever; the album drops on January 23.Plave shared the teaser schedule for their February 3 return with Caligo Pt. 1. JHope teased a March comeback.OnlyOneOf teased a new single album “Stay” but did not specify a release date.
Other News
Due to health reasons, Ateez‘ Wooyoung sat out the group’s Japanese activities this past week. Actress Park Gyu-young accidentally uploaded a photo to Instagram that may have given spoilers for Squid Game season 3; it was quickly deleted. While waiting for the next season, check out our review of season 2! Seventeen took home the physical daesang and Aespa the digital daesang at the 39th Golden Disk Awards.
(YouTube. Naver, The Korea Herald, The Korea Times, Chosun Ilbo Business. Images via: Starship Entertainment, Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment.)
