ICYMI IN CASE YOU MISSED IT // MARCH 25 - MARCH 31

[Polaris_Tae]

MARCH 25 - MARCH 31


Hello Hallyuplussers and welcome to another fantastic update of In Case You Missed It! This week, we saw various comeback announcements from idols such as BIGBANG's G-Dragon & NewJeans, while also seeing the (hopefully) season finale of Han So-hee & Ryu Junyeol's relationship drama. We also saw some much-anticipated debuts from ILLIT & ME:I, as well as a comeback from BTS member J-Hope. See all of this, and so much more in this week's update of In Case You Missed It!
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This week's ICYMI comes with trigger warnings relates to self-harm, Child ab*se & SA. So if you are triggered by any of the aforementioned subjects, keep an eye out for trigger warnings within the text below.

BY POLARIS_TAE


MONDAY:
#1- We received a few personal updates on Monday. Firstly, it was shared that TWCE's leader Jihyo and South Korean Olympian and Skeleton Racer, Yun Sung-bin are currently in a relationship, it was also revealed that the pair were able to keep their relationship under wraps for at least a year. Then the following day, South-Korean-based Japanese soloist YUKIKA took to Instagram to announce the birth of her first child, a daughter, with her husband & former MAP6 member Kim Min-hyuk. We congratulate the couple on the new addition to their family!

#2- BLOCKB's Zico had an exciting announcement to share on Monday! It's been revealed that the idol will be joining the KBS music variety, 'The Seasons' as their newest MC. Congrats!



TUESDAY:
#1- We had several comeback and debut announcements this week! For debuts, there will be a group making their debut in April, Big O!cean, the first sign-language group will be making their debut on the 20th of April with a remake of H.O.T's 'Glow'. Now as for comebacks and upcoming releases, BLACKPINK's Rose will sing the theme song for the upcoming m-net girl group formation program, ‘I-LAND 2: N/a’, while Lee Hyori released the full versions of her BOL4 & DAY6 covers — previously shared on her variety, 'The Seasons' — on the 31st of March. Then in May, we'll be seeing new music from both NewJeans and aespa! NewJeans will be returning with the first of two new double-singles on the 24th of May. The group will return with 'How Sweet' & 'Bubble Gum' in May, while they also plan to drop two more songs, 'Supernatural' & 'Right Now' a month later in June. Their management, ADOR has also shared that the group will be holding their first world tour later in 2025. As for aespa, the group will be making their return in May as they prepare to begin their 2nd world tour, '2024 SYNK: Parallel Line' in June. We also had a series of comebacks announced with no set date. Former IZ*ONE member and soloist, Kwon Eunbi has shared that she will be coming back with new music this Summer (June - August) following the positive reactions to her performance at the 2023 Waterbomb Festival. Meanwhile, rookie group mimirose will be making their return during the first half of 2024 with two new Japanese members set to join the group. Are you looking forward to any of these future releases?

#2- We had a few sponsorships and brand deals announced throughout the week! On Tuesday, 'Queen of Tears' star Kim Jiwon was announced as the newest brand model for the soju brand Chum Churum following the expiration of Han Sohee's contract with the brand. Then on Wednesday, LE SSERAFIM's Kazuha was announced as the new campaign model for the South Korean branch of LANCÔME. Later in the week, NewJeans' Hanni was announced as the brand ambassador of Gucci Beauty. We congratulate them on all of the new opportunities!

#3- We had a few entertainment-related updates on Tuesday. The Kang Han-na & Go Kyung-pyo led drama, 'No Secret' will reportedly air on the JTBC network in May. The series is a comedic melodrama and will reportedly centre around an announcer who has the inability to lie and their relationship with a passionate variety show writer. Moving on and the MBC music series, MBC Show! Music Core is reportedly undertaking preparations for their upcoming special half-year broadcast in June. The show will be held at the Belluna Dome in Japan. Then on Friday the 2024 Lovesome Festival announced their official performance line-up! Artists including WJSN's SeolA, INFINITE's Nam Woohyun, SHINee's Key, H1-KEY, NCT's Doyoung and more are set to perform. The festival will take place on the 27th & 28th of April at Olympic Park - 88 Garden and KSPO Dome.



WEDNESDAY:
#1- There was a series of contract updates throughout the week! Brown Eyed Girls' leader, JeA has signed a contract with AURA Entertainment. Now on the opposite side of the spectrum, several artists left their labels as well. After 10 years with the label, it was announced that the ballad duo DAVICHI would be leaving WAKE ONE following the expiration of their contract. Meanwhile, AOMG has been going through a rough patch lately as several artists have been consecutively departing from the label. On Thursday, it was shared that Gray, Woo Wonjae, Goosebumps & Lee Hi had left the label following the expiration of their contracts. Then the following day, it was officially confirmed that the artists had left the label. What are your thoughts on the potential impending collapse of the label?

#2- HYBE had an exciting update this week! The label shared that they had entered into a partnership with Universal Music Group that would include Universal's exclusive distribution rights to music by HYBE artists. In addition, it was shared that UMG artists such as Taylor Swift and more are expected to join the weverse fan communication platform.

#3- We're placing a content warning for this story for self-harm & Child ab*se. On Wednesday, it was shared that former T-ara member Areum had been hospitalized for self-harm after attempting to take her own life. This came directly following the news that she had fled her abusive ex-husband who had abused both Areum herself and their two young children during both their marriage and throughout their now ongoing divorce proceedings.



THURSDAY:
#1- We had a few updates for artists with THEBLACKLABEL on Thursday. To begin, Jeon Somi has announced that her new makeup brand, GLYF — inspired by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs — will officially launch this April. Meanwhile, THEBLACKLABEL will be launching their first girl group later in the year and they have just filed for the copyright of the name, MÉOVV — the presumed name of the group — in preparation for it. What are your thoughts on Somi's new makeup label? And are you looking forward to a new girl group from THEBLACKLABEL?

#2- On Thursday, it was announced that SNSD's Yuri will be showing up in a new tvN drama! The idol will be making a cameo in the tvN series, 'Lovely Runner'. We congratulate her on the exciting new opportunity!



FRIDAY:
#1- We had a few relationship updates this week. To begin, we have some wedding news between SUPER JUNIOR's Ryeowook & TAHITI's Ari. The pair will be tying the knot later this year in May. The pair officially went public with their relationship all the way back in September 2020. We congratulate the pair on their upcoming nuptials.

We had a breakup announcement this week as well. Han So-hee and Ryu Jun-yeol officially called it quits on Saturday following a tumultuous two weeks in the spotlight. This came following several lengthy Instagram statements where Han had vaguely shaded either Hyeri or her ex — Ryu Jun-yeol — for staying silent throughout the 'transit-love' controversy. She has categorically denied ever being involved in a transit-love romance despite the suspicious timelines between Ryu's break-up with Hyeri, and his relationship confirmation with Han So-hee.

#2- The March edition of the idol brand reputation rankings was revealed on Friday! For the latest edition, ASTRO's Cha Eunwoo took the top spot, while SNSD's Taeyeon & BLACKPINK's Jennie rounded out the top three. Did any of your biases manage to rank this month?

#3- We're placing a content warning for this story for SA & the ab*se of minors. CEO of SMILE-UP — formerly known as Jonny & Associates — has shared with the BBC that he believes that the scandal related to the sexual abuse of minors at the company goes much further than initially anticipated. The former idol and current CEO of the label told the news agency that he believes that there are at least two more perpetrators — not including the now-deceased Kitagawa himself — still residing at the company. Following the internal investigation of SMILE-UP, Higashiyama told the BBC that the company had concluded that at least two more people at the label were believed to have sexually abused talent. He revealed that, as of the time of writing, he had not contacted the local authorities regarding the matter. Stating that: "From a legal standpoint, I don't think we have the authority to do that," but that "If those involved file a criminal complaint, I imagine we would co-operate as much as possible." Victims of Kitagawa's abuse have criticised the label for their opaque compensation process, for failure to act quickly enough to engage with them and a lack of a definite timeline. What are your thoughts on this issue?



SATURDAY:
#1- BoA took to Instagram this week to address the various malicious comments related to her appearance over this past week. In the post, she shared — translations provided via @readybutterfly — that "If I don't take care of myself, you criticise me, and if I do, you criticize me for doing so. You tell me I've lost too much weight, so I should gain some. If I gain some, you tell me I look like a pig. Also, I don't know about your faces, but don't waste your lives and time like that. Sorry, but I'm BoA". Do you think she was right to address the commentators, or is she just feeding the trolls?

#2- VVUP took to their official Twitter this Saturday to share the name of their official fandom. From Saturday, VVUP fans will now go by the name VVINIE. The group further elaborated that the name contains the meaning of VVUP & VVINIE with the two V's forming a 'W', and as such they will always be together, just like the two V's in VVUP come together to form the 'W' in win. What are your thoughts on this fandom name?



SUNDAY:
#1- We had a few more comeback announcements at the end of the week as well. On Saturday, it was shared via Red Velvet's official Weibo that the group would be making their return in the second quarter of 2024. Then later, it was revealed that the group's leader, Irene was preparing to make her solo debut with an album later in the year. As of now, it is unknown what format (LP, EP, Maxi-single, etc.) the release will consist of, but regardless, we can't wait! We had two more comeback announcements from two former YG soloists! Firstly, it was reported that BLACKPINK's Jennie was preparing for the release of her new solo album in June. The idol's solo agency, ODD ATELIER responded that while the BLACKPINK member is currently working on her album, no official release schedule has been finalised. Meanwhile, BIGBANG's leader G-Dragon is currently preparing for his comeback! His agency, Galaxy Corp. has shared that the current goal for release is the 2nd half of 2024. They also shared that the idol aims to hold a world tour very soon, with the final stop of the tour planned to be the Vegas Sphere in 2025. Are you looking forward to any of these upcoming comebacks, and will you be buying tickets to GD's upcoming world tour?

BY POLARIS_TAE


#1.ME:I - CLICK
Our first Produce101 feature this week consists of the newly debuted Japanese girl group, ME:I. The group debuted this week with 'Click', a song set to feature on their upcoming debut single Mirai on the 17th of April. Unlike most Korean or Chinese iterations of Produce101, the Japanese variant is often tasked with creating and forming a permanent group that will promote within the Japanese idol industry. For the 2023 series, which was the third season overall, the program tasked themselves with creating their first permanent girl group which would eventually become ME:I. In the resulting group, we have a few familiar faces from both Jpop and Kpop including former Chreey Bullet member Kokoro — now known by the name Kato Cocoro — along with former Girls² member & ME:I sub-leader Ishii Ran, GIRLS PLANET 999 contestant Sakurai Miu & former Hello Project Kenkyuusei & AngerMe member Kasahara Momona who will act as the group's leader and centre.

During the initial release of 'Click' at the beginning of the week, I found myself coincidentally browsing the main Kpop subreddits only to find the music video posted to r/Kpop on my front page with various users arguing whether this was Kpop or not by saying that it was "the most Kpop-influenced Jpop group" that they'd come across since NiziU or XG, or that it was "Kpop adjacent Jpop". However, I am of the opposite view and see it as following the trends that established Jpop idol groups — such as Stardust Promotion's Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku or LDH's Girls² — have presented through their more recent material. The two groups in particular have been releasing several singles that fall into a similar electronic genre that ME:I's 'Click' falls into (albeit slightly less polished). As for the single itself, 'Click' is a very upbeat and bright single with an addictive chorus that allows each of the eleven members to showcase their charms, but feels somewhat overpolished in its sound production. Similarly to the single, the music video helps to showcase the members' personalities while not going overboard with the special effects. Overall, it's a great release, and I'm looking for more from the group in the future as well!




#2.ILLIT - MAGNETIC
The female counterpart to ENHYPEN has finally made its debut this week as ILLIT with the release of 'Magnetic' and its accompanying EP, SUPER REAL ME. The group was formed through HYBE's 2023 JTBC reality show, "R U NEXT?" and will be managed through their BELIFT LAB label. According to the label, ILLIT's group name is derived from the phrase, 'I Will Be It' and is a group name that combines the autonomous and proactive will (I will) with the pronoun (It) that signifies something special. According to BELIFT LAB, depending on the verb between these two verbs, 'It' — as in, ILLIT — can become everything. The group made their debut on the 25th of March as a fie-member group following the withdrawal of Youngseo in early 2024. Similarly to NewJeans before them, ILLIT seems to be embracing the Tik-Tokification of Kpop through their mini, SUPER REAL ME. Which, just like NewJeans 'Get Up' EP, does not have a single track cross the 3-minute mark. Making the entire album equal a run-time of a little under ten minutes total.

Something else we have been witnessing with the post-HYBE groups within the label, is the privilege that more senior groups that either debuted under HYBE's former founding label of BigHit — such as BTS, or to a lesser extent, TXT — or joined the company through the acquisition of their labels such as SEVENTEEN — and formerly, GFRIEND — did not get to experience. This can be seen through the ILLIT's astronomical post-debut career trajectory. The group's debut album, SUPER REAL ME clearly showcased the privilege that younger HYBE groups often receive. This was witnessed during the group's first-week records. They became the highest-selling debut album of all time in South Korea while also shooting up to #16 on the Spotify Global Chart. Now moving on to the lead single, 'Magnetic' is a dreamy bedroom-pop single in a similar vein to PinkPantheress or NewJeans more recent releases, but with a more youthful sound to it. Aside from the lead single, I found myself enjoying the quirky-sounding 'Lucky Girl Syndrome' the most. My main criticism for this release — aside from the HYBE privilege — is the sheer lack of a song length to allow for an appropriate judgment of the group's discography. Hell, even Meng Meiqi's 2021 4-track SUFFERING EP was a whole three minutes longer than SUPER REAL ME despite the overall number of tracks remaining the same. Overall, it's a solid start, but I would hold off on my full judgment until we see them return with their follow-up release in the coming months. Did ILLIT live up to your expectations, and what are your thoughts on company privilege in the Kpop idol industry?





#3. J-HOPE - NEURON
BTS rapper and dancer J-Hope made his return with 'NEURON' this week! The lead single from his 6-track HOPE ON THE STREET VOL. 1 EP. Unlike his last release, the idol was unable to physically promote the release in person, as the BTS member is currently in the final stretch of his mandatory military service, which will officially end in October 2024. The idol has switched it up with this release by centring the album's theme around an old-school hip-hop genre. The lead single of HOPE ON THE STREET VOL. 1, 'NEURON', also happens to be dead-last on its track listing. It's an old-school hip-hop release that is a collaboration featuring two Korean Hip-Hop veterans, Yoon Mi-rae — of Yoon MiRae ft. Tiger JK & Bizzy/MFBTY, etc. — and Dynamic Duo's Gaeko. Through this release, J-hope and his collaborators discuss what motivates them the most throughout their lives to get their neurons running.

This song is also very personal to J-Hope as NEURON was actually the dance crew that J-Hope joined during his second year of middle school in Gwangju under the pseudonym of Smile Hoya. The group recently became active again in 2023 following an extensive extended hiatus and is actively promoting in the underground dance scene, as well as showing love to their former maknae Smile Hoya, now known as BTS' J-Hope! Now moving on to b-sides, there are two releases that I would like to highlight: the Benny Blanco/Nile Rodgers funky retro-sounding collaboration 'Lock/Unlock'. Which is a track that utilises the idol's vocals and is also one of my favourite vocal-based singles involving J-Hope since 2017's 'Spring Day'. The second single is a collab with LE SSERAFIM's HUH YUNJIN, 'I Don't Know' that mixes the idol's vocals and rapping with Yunjin's softer tone. Overall, while HOPE ON THE STREET VOL. 1 is a fantastic release, unlike BTS' other two rappers, who have seemed to have settled into a specific sound, it seems like — judging from his past two albums — J-Hope hasn't found his musical niche quite yet. This can be seen through his genre-hopping sound over the past three years of BTS Chapter 2 solo releases. Nevertheless, it's a great release, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes back with next in Chapter 2!





#4. JO1 - HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY
JO1 is back this week as our second Produce101-associated release of the week. The group — who recently celebrated their 5th anniversary in March — are back this week with a new single and performance video through 'Happy Unbirthday'. A single that was both written and produced by member Kawanishi Takumi — under the moniker TK — as the theme song for their JO1 in Wonderland! exhibition. The group has titled their new single, 'Happy Unbirthday' — taken from the expression popularized by the Mad Hatter within the Lewis Carrol children's novel, Alice in Wonderland — to complement the name of their exhibition, JO1 in Wonderland! The title of the song, however, is where the Lewis Carrol similarities end. The song itself doesn't hold any deep or symbolic relation to the children's tale. They have instead chosen to showcase their performance skills through a retro-inspired hype song whose lyrics — "March 4th you know it" — further works to celebrate the group's recent 5th anniversary. As for the performance video, I found that it was actively able to showcase the group's growth as performers, through their key dance moves throughout the chorus while also keeping consistent with their recent retro-sounding releases such as their 2023 hit "RadioVision". Are you as shocked as we are that it's been 5-years with JO1?

BY POLARIS_TAE


#1. Following last week's news that BTS' V's new single, 'FRI(END)S' had debuted at #16 on the official UK Singles Chart, we finally discovered just where on the US Billboard charts the idol had managed to rank! Following a week's worth of tracking, the BTS member managed to take 65th place on the Billboard Hot 100 with almost zero natural promotion. We congratulate the idol on another successful achievement!

#2. Now moving back to Korea and (G)I-DLE has done the impossible this week by managing to not just chart a B-side all the way up to the top of the Korean real-time charts, but also attaining a Perfect All-Kill in the process! This also marks the group's 4th consecutive all-kill following 'Tomboy', 'NXDE', 'QUEENCARD' & 'Fate'. Congrats!

BY POLARIS_TAE

For this week's H+ Station Chart update! SeolA's 'Without You' made its way back to the #1 spot this week, while Wendy's 'Wish you Hell & BIBI's 'Bam Yang Gang' made their debuts at #4 & #8 respectively. Make sure to check out our chart to see where all of your favourite songs ranked!

Our Social Media Team member chococo blessed us with a new artist interview from South Korean-based girl group X:IN this week. In the thread, they discussed topics such as their latest release, homesickness, and their future wishes! Make sure to check the interview out if you haven't already!


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This brings us to the end of another fantastic In Case You Missed It this week! Were there any stories or releases that you enjoyed this week? Or are you waiting for some future releases instead? As always, our staff teams — Social Media - Press, Blog Team & Awards — are actively seeking out new staff so feel free to apply to our teams if any of these positions interest you. Also, if you're not aware, we are active on both Twitter — now known as x.com — and Instagram, so feel free to follow us there if you would like to receive updates related to the website. We also accept feature and promo requests via our feature thread here. Make sure to sound off in the comments on what you enjoyed the most over the past week and we'll see you next time with another fantastic In Case You Missed It update!

GFX BY @bibbidi
FEATURED ARTISTS Kazuha (LE SSERAFIM), J-Hope, Iroha (ILLIT), Yonashiro Sho (JO1) & Sakurai Miu (ME:I)​

 

[Polaris_Tae]

Apologies for the delay. News was massive this week, and I had a lot to say about this week's releases

 

[RussianRoulette]

I didn’t realize Kazuha was with Lancôme now! She really fits the brand and the vibe, congrats to her!

I’m just curious if this means Krystal is no longer with Lancome? I’m pretty sure she was the previous face of Lancôme in South Korea?

 

[Jibang]

Thanks for the updates

 

[UMJI MOODS]

Was definitely an interesting week for news. Thanks for your updates.

 

[kimsguardian]

U U U U like it's magnetic!!
U U U U U U super ikkeullim!!

thanks for the recap!!

 

[Bellamy]

Thank you for the updates!!!
If Han So-hee just has stayed quiet