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K-News

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Saturday, 25th December 2021

This month has been a bop for the K-pop industry with all the events and happenings taking a huge surge as the year 2021 nears its ending. Do you think you might have missed out on important news while trying to keep up with it all? Not to worry, we have brought you all of it summarized here; stay tuned until the end to know all that has happened in the world of K-pop this month!

Chaos unraveled last month as TXT came out with their first Japanese EP – 'Chaotic Wonderland', with their title song being '0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)' featuring Ikuta Lilas. The Japanese MOAs sure are extremely overjoyed after getting a belated Halloween present by their idols! TXT was not the only group surprising their fans, as THE BOYZ, known for their out of the world marvelous choreography, also made a comeback with their 3rd Single Album 'Maverick'. Unlike the cheerful summery vibes of their previous release Thrill-ing, they have opted for a moodier concept and change of pace for the title track 'Maverick'. 

2 AM also made a comeback with their 4th mini-album "Ballad 21 F/W" with the amazing title tracks 'Should've known' & 'No good in good-bye'. TWICE showed a new aspect by studying about love in their newest full-length album "Formula of Love: O+T=<3", doing experiments with love in their title track 'Scientist'. Monsta X also released their 10th mini-album "No Limit". TRI.BE released their special winter song 'Santa For You' while Stray Kids released their Holiday Special Single Album "Christmas Evel", bringing early Christmas vibes to us all! 

K-Pop Groups weren't the only ones making comebacks as Soloists also took over the industry with an uproar. Eric Nam released his 4th Korean mini-album 'The Other Side' with 'Paradise' serving as the title track. Younha came back with her 6th full album 'END THEORY' with the beautiful title track 'Stardust'. HwaSa is on a roll as she released her 2nd single album 'Guilty Pleasure' with the savage title track 'I'm a B'. ChungHa is back on stage with her special single album 'Killing Me' and Kai from EXO also returns with his 2nd mini-album 'Peaches', with the soft romantic title track 'Peaches'. Lee Seung Hwan released a new single 'How Could You' featuring SWJA. 

But enough about comebacks, let's bring some sizzling hot news your way now. Park Shin Hye and Choi Tae Joon are tying the knot and expecting a baby! The two actors started dating in late 2017 and went public with their relationship in March 2018.On November 23; their agencies SALT Entertainment and Santa Claus Entertainment announced that Park Shin Hye and Choi Tae Joon's wedding will be held privately on January 22, 2022 in Seoul. SALT Entertainment also revealed that Park Shin Hye is pregnant. The two actors each wrote letters on their fan cafés to share the news. Both the actors were pretty nervous while sharing this news to their fans, let's support them and pray for a healthy and happy married life for them!

Amongst all the happiness, there also has been sad news for BLINKS all over the world. Lisa has tested positive for Covid-19 as of November 24th, 2021. She has only recently returned from her trip to the United States. She had met up with the members after returning to Korea, but the other members have tested negative. Fans from everywhere are concerned and wish her a speedy recovery.

We have wonderful news for ARMYs who have been waiting for the 2022 GRAMMY Award Nominations. On November 23 local time, the Recording Academy officially announced this year's nominees for its annual Grammy Awards—and once again, BTS has earned a nod. Their smash hit "Butter" has been nominated for 2022 Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, marking BTS's second nomination in the category; last year, BTS snagged their first-ever nomination for "Dynamite." This year, BTS is up against fellow nominees Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (for "I Get a Kick Out of You"), Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco ("Lonely"), Coldplay ("Higher Power"), and Doja Cat featuring SZA ("Kiss Me More").

Now, let's talk about the rising power of girl groups and their dominance over the K-Pop industry. AESPA has beaten BLACKPINK and IU to become the highest-ranking female artist in the Brand Reputation Chart for all Korean singers in November 2021. On November 27th, the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute announced the charts of brand reputation rankings for all Korean singers in November. This is the result of an analysis of Korean singers' brand big data from October 25th to November 27th. According to the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, AESPA was the female artist that ranked highest in this chart, followed by IU and BLACKPINK. The fact that female singers dominated the top spots in the brand reputation rankings released in November is enough to show the effect girl groups have on the industry.

TWICE has become the first Korean Act to surpass 950,000 followers on LINE MUSIC. LINE MUSIC is one of the major and on-demand music streaming services in Japan.

TWICE is followed by BTS which has 930,000 followers and BIGBANG with 570,000 followers as of writing. TWICE is also the first Korean act to surpass 500,000 - 900,000 follower milestone. Meanwhile, TWICE's Nayeon has stolen the top spot for most viewed fancam for any female idol this year. Nayeon's "Alcohol-Free" (210610) 'Mcountdown fancam' is currently the most-viewed girl group fancam this year with 3.3 milliom views followed by AESPA's Winter (Next Level) and Karina's (Next Level) fan-cam.

Also as you all know IVE have just made their debut, with their song Eleven, the behind the scene videos were released soon after, but this video made a controversy, Wonder how? In the clip a lot of Indian fans believed that at one point some of the members of IVE were making fun of Indian classical dance and pop music. Yujin put her hand under Rei's chin and started moving it side to side, with Rei also moving her head. We then had Yujin, Rei and Wonyoung all of the three doing the same move. The scenes were captioned as 'dduru dduru du' which made fans think that maybe the members were singing the hook to the popular Punjabi song 'Tunak Tunak Tun'. However, the moves that they were doing are similar to a move in Indian classical dance form Bharatnatyam which takes years to master and is the national Dance Form of India. This got Indian fans enraged, because this can be seen as a disrespectful move towards their culture, we don't blame the members totally since they might not be doing this intentionally, but these type of incidents occurred many times and deserve apology, we are looking forward, what's coming next and hope the matter doesn't result in prolonged hate.

By the way, all of you must have watched Squid Game, haven't you? If not, then you surely must know about it. Squid Game is a Netflix Original series that has been trending a lot these days, and has been Netflix's no. 1 show. But Hellbound has surpassed Squid Game to become Netflix's number 1 show in just 24 hours of its release, an achievement that took Squid Game eight days. Hellbound is the newest Korean series from the world's leading streaming entertainment service. It explores a world swept by a supernatural phenomenon where executors from Hell appear condemning people to Hell. Following this, a new religious group called the New Truth emerges amidst this chaos, while others try to uncover the truth behind the series of events. Through this series, the filmmaker shows human weaknesses and fears and portrays how a variety of people would react to such a situation in the midst of chaos. This emotion charged and soul stirring series will surely take you on an adventurous and thrilling ride from the screen of your laptops, PCs and mobiles, it's not for the weak hearted, we've already warned you!

There was a new announcement from BIGHIT Music. 

Hello. This is BIGHIT Music. BTS member SUGA was confirmed with COVD-19 on Friday, December 24 during his self-quarantine after taking the PCR test immediately upon his return to Korea on Thursday, December 23. 

SUGA completed his second round of the COVID-19 vaccination in late August and is not presenting any symptoms as of today. He is currently administering self-care at home per the guidelines of the healthcare authorities. 

SUGA, who has had a number of personal engagements in the U.S. during BTS' official time off, had tested negative for the PCR test taken before traveling to the U.S., and began his self-quarantine after taking the PCR test upon his return to Korea. He received positive results during quarantine, and there was no contact with the other members. 

The company places the artists' health as our top priority, and we will do everything we can to aid SUGA in his speedy recovery. We will also diligently cooperate with the requests and guidelines of the healthcare authorities.

Army's are praying for his fast recovery. They all hope he gets well soon.

Merry Christmas Everyone! ❤️☃️

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