K-pop Star Suga Becomes 3rd BTS Member To Begin Military Service In South Korea

BTS singer V has released three of his previous solo tracks on streaming platforms for the first time.On August 28, Big Hit Music shared that the idol’s solo tracks ‘Scenery’, ‘Winter Bear’ and ‘Snow Flower’ were now available via streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Prior to this, the three songs had only been available on SoundCloud and YouTube.BTS’ V first released ‘Scenery, his first self-composed track in January 2019, followed by ‘Winter Bear’ later that year.

Disney+ has scored the next breakout hit from Asia after “Squid Game.” Star-studded international espionage series “Moving” has become the most watched Korean original on Disney+ globally and Hulu in the U.S., based on hours streamed after seven days. In its first week since launch on Aug. 9, the series also became the most watched series on Disney+ across Asia Pacific, including in Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan – based on hours watched – and the biggest premiere on Disney+ in Korea to date, based on hours streamed in the first week since launch.

LOONA member Chuu in her contract lawsuit against Blockberry Creative.Today (August 17), several South Korean news outlets reported that the 23-year-old idol has won her lawsuit against the K-pop agency over her exclusive contract. Chuu had initially filed for a provisional injunction to suspend her contract with Blockberry in January 2022, which was accepted by the court.The 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Northern District Court has now officially nullified her contract with the agency.

LUN8 is one of the fast-rising boy bands on the K-pop scene, and we want Just Jared readers to exclusively get to know them even better!

Police in South Korea today said that 69 officials from theater chains including CGV, Lotte and Megabox, and from 24 film distributors, have been referred without detention to the prosecutor on charges of obstruction of business, local media reports. This follows an investigation that began in June into suspicious box office numbers. Police claim the accused were involved in fabricating figures to boost film rankings over the past five years.

RM has stated that boyband BTS will make their long-awaited return in 2025.Over the weekend on August 12, BTS’ RM hosted a livestream on the fan community platform Weverse where he opened up about the boyband’s plans for the future. Notably, BTS have been on an extended break since mid-2022 to “explore some solo projects”.During the livestream, RM spoke about how he recently spoke to Suga about the latter’s world tour and what he had learned from that experience.

The Masked Singer is huge!

TIFF has begun announcing their Conversation With… (ICW) series for this year’s fest with Oscar winner Pedro Almodóvar, Hong Kong actor Andy Lau and Concrete Utopia Korean stars Lee Byung-hun and ParkSeo-jun set to sit down for chats.

BTS member V has shared a new solo single called ‘Rainy Days’ – listen below.The stripped-back song serves as the latest preview of the South Korean singer’s debut solo album ‘Layover’, which is due for release on September 8 via Big Hit (pre-order/pre-save here).Opening with piano and iPhone sound effects, the track leans into the worlds of alt-pop and R&B, combining vintage percussion and modern electronic drum sounds across its three minutes.“Rainy days/ I’m thinkin’ ’bout you, what to say/ Wish I knew how to find the way/ Right back to you, on rainy days like/ Rainy days,” V sings in the first verse as he longs to be reunited with a romantic partner.Later, the artist expresses lingering feelings of loneliness while “staring at [his] phone” and hoping to “go back to that moment again“.The official music video, directed by Shin Dongle, follows a gloomy V going about his day on his own in his apartment. You can watch it above.Earlier this week, V shared the single ‘Love Me Again’ from his upcoming first album.V has worked with Min Hee-jin, the CEO of NewJeans’ label ADOR, on ‘Layover’, with Min leading the project, including elements such as the music, choreography and promotion style.

It’s so hard to say goodbye, but sadly, several K-pop groups are disbanding for good.

told the Los Angeles Times that attempts to arrange a meeting with Netflix — to demand that members be compensated with the same residual model as American members of SAG-AFTRA — have gone unanswered for months.“One of [Netflix’s] first priorities when entering the local market should be to establish some channel of communication with groups like us,” the country’s answer to Fran Drescher said.“But there’s no answer at all.”Residuals have recently been in the news as American actors and writers striking for fair compensation post their often insultingly meager checks, ranging from a single penny to a few dollars. As opposed to the royalties paid in broadcasting, residuals must be paid in perpetuity to actors in the United States, based on how many times their films and shows are streamed.

Suga is the next member of BTS preparing to begin his mandatory military service.

BTS‘s Suga were the cause of a recent commotion on a Seoul subway train.Yesterday evening (August 6), South Korean police received several reports from passengers on the Seoul Subway Line 9 express train to Gimpo airport. This included over 20 reports of people allegedly getting hurt, a riot, as well as a strange smell on the train, leading to an investigation by police and firefighters, per Yonhap News.According to SBS News, panicked passengers rushed out of the train upon its arrival at Sinnonhyeon station, causing at least seven passengers to suffer “cuts and bruises” in the evacuation.

BTS rapper Suga has begun preparations for his military enlistment.Today (August 7), Big Hit Music released a statement announcing that the rapper had terminated his enlistment postponement and is currently beginning the enlistment process.Under South Korean law, all able-bodied male citizens are to serve for 18-21 months by the age of 28. The BTS members had previously been granted exemptions to defer their enlistments until they turned 30 after receiving an Order of Cultural Merit in 2018 by then-president Moon Jae-in.“We would like to inform our fans that Suga has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” Big Hit Entertainment said in its statement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.” “Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative of $26.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

A Rochdale pub landlord has spoken of his surprise after Manchester City star Rodri called into his boozer this week.

There is so much K-pop excellence in 2023!

Perthshire scout groups waved off a dozen of their members on a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to South Korea on Monday, July 24.

Suga is making a special appearance!

ODD EYE CIRCLE are coming full (odd eye) circle.