Sophia Laforteza will not join KATSEYE for the UK & European dates of their 2026 WILDWORLD tour as she takes a temporary hiatus to focus on her mental health, HYBE and Geffen confirm. The company says she is receiving medical support and that updates will follow while the band proceeds with scheduled shows
Hybe chairman Bang Si-hyuk will be referred to prosecutors on suspicion of deceiving investors and allegedly securing about 200 billion won in illegal gains, following a raid and months-long police probe. IVEs music video for I Am surpassed 400 million YouTube views, and the six-member group heads to Hong Kong this week as part of its 20-city Show What I Am world tour. BTSs Arirang world tour grossed over US$102.5 million in July to land at No. 2 on Billboards Top Tours chart, drawing 582,000 fans across eight July shows and bringing the tour to about US$433.2 million with over 2.3 million tickets sold. NCT will mark its 10th anniversary with a month-long Seoul takeover: Han River fountains will perform to songs by NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV, NCT Wish and NCT U; Seokchon Lake lights will glow a pearly champagne hue; costumes will feature at Seoul Fashion Week; a Neo Dimension exhibition opens Sept. 18 at Lotte World Adventure; and the festival will include a stage-costume exhibition, fashion show and a flea market of members items. ENHYPEN earned their first U.S. Billboard 200 No. 1. Stray Kids THIS THAT remains in the Billboard 200 top 10 while topping the World Albums chart, Girls Generation unit Hyorisu (HRS) will debut a two-track digital single Monday at 6 PM KST, ALPHA DRIVE ONE sold 1,139,747 copies in its first week, and KATSEYE member Sophia will not join the European and U.K. leg of The Wildworld Tour (Sept. 117) as she continues a medical-advised hiatus to focus on her mental health, Hybe x Geffen said. The group will carry on promotions with four members Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae while Sophia, who has missed recent events, remains on leave and will have her condition reassessed in September; fellow member Manon is also still on hiatus. E’LAST has disbanded after six years: E Entertainment announced the termination of exclusive contracts for Rano, Baekgyeul, Romin, Won Hyuk, Wonjun, and Yejun effective August 31, 2026, with several members posting farewell letters on Instagram.
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NCT will stage a monthlong, citywide festival across Seoul in September to mark its 10th anniversary, headlined by Banpo Han River’s Moonlight Rainbow Fountain shows choreographed to hits by NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV, NCT Wish and NCT U. The program includes a stage-costume exhibition and a curated runway tied to Seoul Fashion Week at Lotte World Tower with a fashion show and a flea market of members' stage outfits and personal items, a massive floating art balloon at Seokchon Lake (Sept. 3–27) with evening lighting bathing the waterfront in the group’s neon-green “Pearl Neo Champagne” color, and an immersive NEO DIMENSION retrospective opening Sept. 18
Hyorisu — Girls’ Generation members Hyoyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung — will debut a two-track digital single Monday at 6 PM KST: the title song “Skibidi” and B-side “Lowkey in Love,” with a performance video set to premiere on SMTOWN’s YouTube channel. “Skibidi” opens with house before shifting into hip-hop and carries a message about forging a new path, while “Lowkey in Love” is a retro-tinged dance-pop number; the unit grew out of Hyoyeon’s YouTube channel and previewed both songs live Aug. 22 at the CassCool Festival
ENHYPEN scored their first No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 as their eighth EP THE SIN : BLISS debuted atop the chart with 98,000 equivalent album units — including 92,000 in traditional sales and 6,000 streaming-equivalent units (about 6.91 million on-demand audio streams) — making them the ninth K-pop act to top the chart. Released Aug. 21 as the second installment in the group’s "The Sin" series and the first project since ENHYPEN reorganized as a six-member act following former member Heeseung’s departure in March (who now goes by Evan), the EP has surpassed 2.02 million cumulative sales and is the group’s seventh consecutive top-10 and tenth overall Billboard 200 entry
Stray Kids member Lee Know donated 100 million won (about $72,000) to World Vision on Aug. 28 to support flood relief in Nepal, earmarked for life‑saving aid and livelihood support including food and nutrition, temporary shelter, clean water and sanitation for affected children and families. He said he hopes the gift can be even the smallest source of strength for those suffering and relief workers, and his agency noted he has a history of giving — including a 2024 100 million‑won donation to World Vision’s global food crisis response, 2025 gifts to Samsung Medical Center and an animal rescue, and long‑running sponsorship through World Vision since 2014
Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of Hybe, will be referred to prosecutors this week on suspicion of deceiving investors into selling Hybe shares in 2019, with police alleging about 200 billion won in illegal gains; the probe followed a raid and months-long investigation
Yeonjun of Tomorrow X Together will release an online cover of Michael Bublé’s 2005 hit “Home” after performing it on the live show The Seasons; his solo EP No Labels: Part 02 recently reached No.16 on the Billboard 200
NCT will mark its 10th anniversary with a citywide takeover of Seoul: Han River fountains will perform to songs from NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV, NCT Wish and NCT U, Seokchon Lake lights will glow in a pearly champagne hue, costumes will feature at Seoul Fashion Week, and a 'Neo Dimension' exhibition opens Sept. 18 at Lotte World Adventure
Katseye member Sophia will not join the European and U.K. leg of The Wildworld Tour (Sept. 1–17) as she continues a medical-advised hiatus to focus on her mental health, Hybe x Geffen said. The group will carry on promotions with four members — Daniela, Lara, Megan and Yoonchae — while Sophia, who has missed recent events, remains on leave and will have her condition reassessed in September; fellow member Manon is also still on hiatus
LG Electronics debuted AI-Dol, a five-member virtual girl group created to promote its 2026 AI WashCombo, releasing the single "I Wash" and a viral teaser that borrows familiar K-pop girl-group visuals
BTS’s Arirang world tour grossed over US$102.5 million in July to land at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Tours chart, drawing 582,000 fans across eight July shows; the tour has now grossed about US$433.2 million and sold over 2.3 million tickets
Kim Yo Han, Leeteuk, Shindong, DAWN, Johnny, and Jisung compete in an individual final battle on ALL or NOTHING Episode 6 where only two of six will win the shows "prince" title; the episode airs Aug. 31 at 11:15 p.m. KST
JYP Entertainment confirmed that KickFlip is preparing new music with the goal of making a comeback in October, marking their first release about six months after April's mini album My First Kick
Sangwon of ALPHA DRIVE ONE will join BOYNEXTDOOR's Sungho as an MC on Music Core, with the pair set to begin hosting the show starting the September 5 broadcast; both artists shared excitement about their new hosting roles
Stray Kids' mini album THIS & THAT spent its third consecutive week in the Billboard 200 top 10, landing at No. 8 and earning a U.S. career-high 48,000 equivalent album units in its third week
Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon and Apink's Jeong Eun Ji will appear on next week's episode of The Manager, with Hyoyeon meeting Sooyoung and Yuri from the new unit HRS and Jeong Eun Ji celebrating with Apink—preview and air date (Sept. 5, 11:10 p.m. KST) have been released
Stray Kids’ mini album THIS & THAT spent a second consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart, with CORTIS’s GREENGREEN at No. 2 and ATEEZ’s GOLDEN HOUR: Part.5 at No. 3; BTS placed four albums on the list and TXT’s Yeonjun’s solo NO LABELS: PART 02 landed at No. 11
ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s second mini album UNBREAKABLE : 少年BEAST sold 1,139,747 copies in its first week (Aug 24–30), becoming the group's second album to surpass 1 million first-week sales following their debut mini EUPHORIA
