NCT News

All six members of NCT Dream — Haechan, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung — have renewed their exclusive contracts with SM Entertainment, confirming the subunit will continue as a full group, the agency said. SM described the decisions as reflecting deep trust and commitment as NCT marks its 10th anniversary; NCT Dream will hold fan meetings titled “THE SWEET DREAM HOTEL” on Aug. 22–23 with a livestream on Aug. 24, and their sixth EP Beat It Up became their tenth consecutive million-selling release; SM also said all NCT 127 members have renewed

NCT127 will run a Seoul pop-up store Aug. 25–Sept. 1 to celebrate its seventh album Blingy (out Aug. 24); the comeback features five members as Doyoung and Jungwoo complete military service, and the group begins its The Redline world tour on Sept. 18

NCT will mark its 10th anniversary with a Seoul Fashion Week collaboration from Sept. 4–6 at Lotte World Tower, featuring an exhibition of stage outfits from NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV and NCT Wish, a runway show on Sept. 6, and a charity flea market with proceeds donated to social causes

TWICE member Chaeyoung announced in a handwritten Instagram letter that she will leave JYP Entertainment to pursue solo projects but pledged to continue group activities, saying she will build her solo "Lil Fantasy" world — the title of her Sept. 2025 debut LP, which has drawn international acclaim — and has not yet disclosed a new agency as discussions are ongoing

Only 3.55% of K-pop groups ever sell 300,000 albums and just 42 groups cleared that industry break-even mark, a study of 1,182 debuting acts from 1996–2025 found. Nearly half of idol groups disappear within three years, and only eight acts have exceeded 10 million cumulative sales

BIGBANG’s 20th-anniversary listening event on Aug. 19 will stage drones, fireworks and a DJ set playing songs the group won’t perform — emblematic of K-pop’s move to turn pre-release album previews into ticketed spectacles. The Korea Times traces the trend from J-Hope’s closed 2022 listening session to large-scale fan preview events by Haechan, V8, Lim Young

NCT Wish’s Japanese single “Yo-i-don!/Boy Meets Girl” was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan after surpassing 250,000 shipments, marking the first platinum for the NCT subunit and following its Oricon daily debut

SM Entertainment confirmed its second-half lineup, including a solo EP from SHINee's Minho, an EP from WayV, NCT 127's upcoming LP 'Blingy,' and a single from Girls' Generation members Hyoyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung as the new unit HyoRiSoo, with additional Q4 releases and tours planned