Author: Polaris_Tae

JANUARY: 

#1- To start the year, the contract dispute between the Loona members and their agency, Blockberry Creative (BBC) began to take off! Nine members of Loona officially filed lawsuits against BBC where they requested a termination of their exclusive contracts. Of these nine members, only four Loona members — Choerry, Heejin, Jinsol  Kim Lip — were able to successfully win their lawsuits. Then, the following month The two remaining Loona members who had not filed lawsuits, Vivi  Hyunjin officially filed an injunction seeking the termination of their contracts. In addition to these lawsuits, Blockberry Creative submitted a petition to Corea Entertainment Management Association (CEMA)  Korea Entertainment Producers' Association (KEPA) in an attempt to ban Chuu's entertainment activities within the Korean entertainment industry. Thankfully, they both denied their petition and Chuu has continued to be active within the entertainment industry. It wasn't until June that all of the LOONA members would officially leave Blockberry Creative.

#2- January also saw various new relationship announcements. Song Joongki took to his fancafe to reveal that he had married his girlfriend, Katy Louise Saunders. The actor also announced that the pair were also expecting their first child together. Their son was born in Rome on the 14th of June. Then in Japan, singer-songwriter Aimer took to Twitter (now known as x.com) that she had gotten married to music producer Tobinai Masahiro. Hyuna  Dawn were also rumoured to have gotten back together in January. However, as of now, nothing has been confirmed or denied regarding their relationship status.

FEBRUARY:

#1- Our biggest story in February was the acquisition dispute between SM Entertainment  Kakao against the formers founder and former Chairman Lee Soo-man. On the 7th of February, SM Entertainment and Kakao Corp. officially announced that they had signed a business agreement together. This business agreement would give the latter exclusive access to the distribution of SM artists' music, albums and related content, as well as open talks for a future co-produced group in the future. In addition to this agreement, Kakao had also — at the time — become SM Entertainment's largest shareholder after the purchase of 9.05% of the company's shares. Following this announcement, Lee Soo-man, who was the largest individual shareholder of SM Entertainment — at the time — announced that he would officially begin legal proceedings against SM Entertainment after the company had failed to consult him before making this decision. Following this, Lee Soo-man would approach HYBE in order to circumvent the acquisition of SM Entertainment by Kakao Corp. This was accomplished by allowing HYBE to acquire his 14.8% stake to officially become the largest shareholder of the company. This came shortly after HYBE America purchased the U.S. hip-hop label, Quality Control. In an official press release, HYBE shared that they are "aware of the concerns that fans, artists, employees, and shareholders of SM have, due to rumours and speculations around the company. HYBE fully respects the direction laid out in SM's 3.0 growth strategy, as well as the value and vision SM's employees and artists have created." Unfortunately for Lee Soo-man, Kakao's acquisition of SM proved to be a success, as it was announced in March that their purchase offer had been accepted. Along with Kakao's current stake of 4.9% in SM Entertainment, they were also required to purchase 35% more via their tender offer and were expected to take over HYBE's 14.8% stake in the company as well. As of the time of writing, HYBE still holds onto an 8.81% stake in SM Entertainment, while Kakao is the company's major shareholder with a 39.87% stake across their two companies (Kakao Corp.  Kakao Entertainment).

#2- SM Entertainment released its 3.0 growth strategy in the final weeks of February. In this strategy, they declared the four key strategies that they would be implementing through SM 3.0: an IP (Intellectual Property) strategy, a multi-production centre/label system-based system, a business strategy, and a global expansion and investment strategy. Through SM 3.0, SM Entertainment officially announced that various artists would be returning with group, unit, or solo activities throughout the year. They also announced that they would be working towards protecting their artists from online harassment and that NCT's infinite expansion would finally come to an end. The group would officially become a fixed unit following the debut of NCT NEW TEAM (NCT Tokyo) in 2023. The final seven group members would be determined in September through the pre-debut survival show, NCT UNIVERSE: LASTART. Following the conclusion of the program, the debut line-up was confirmed to consist of Sion, Riku, Yushi, Jungmin, Daeyoung, Ryo  Sakuya. It was later announced, however, that Jungmin had officially left the group and returned to his status as a trainee due to health concerns.

MARCH:
#1- We said goodbye to numerous celebrities in March as they prepared to undertake their mandatory military enlistment. Many celebrities bid us goodbye in March when their stage outfits transformed into military uniforms with combat boots. WINNER's Mino made his official enlistment on the 24th of March, Ong Seungwoo  BTS' J-Hope made their enlistments in April, while GOT7's Park Jinyoung officially enlisted on the 8th of May. Other notable enlistments included: Monsta X's Minhyuk, Exo's Kai, WINNER's leader Kang Seungyoon  N.Flying's Kim Jaehyun.

#2- Also in March, we also saw several artists announce their upcoming tour plans. South Korean rock group, Rolling Quartz toured the US in May, while NMIXX's NICE TO MIXX YOU tour took place from May to June throughout the US South East Asia. Then, moving onto world tours and RED VELVET, MAMAMOO  iKON all held global tours in 2023. MAMAMOO began the US leg on their MYCON tour in May, iKON's world tour, Take Off took place between May September, while RED VELVET greeted fans around the world from April to July through their R to V global concert tour.

APRIL:

#1- AKB48 announced that they would be dissolving the team structure in each of their Japanese sister groups to organize themselves into two separate units. Each 48G-associated group will now consist of two separate units: active members and research students. The research students team would consist of trainees yet to make their debut in an official capacity, while the main group line-up consists of all active 48 group members from their respective groups. The final team stages took place in August. Following this announcement, at least two prominent AKB48 members have chosen to graduate from the group, Honda Hitomi  Kashiwagi Yuki. Honda Hitomi will graduate in January 2024, while Kashiwagi Yuki will make her graduation in March after a whopping 17 years with the group.

#2- Following the damning revelation that Hook Entertainment had been embezzling Lee Seunggi's earnings and revenue from his music career for over 18 years, the Ministry of Sports, Culture Tourism passed an act named in the actor's honour, the 'Lee Seunggi Act'. As a result of this act, entertainment companies would be required to disclose earnings to their celebrity employees at least once a year or when requested, and the length of time that minors would be allowed to work per week would be substantially decreased based on their age, the ministry would be given the authority to investigate any claims of abuse and contracts are now required to include the length, settlement methods cost deduction methods prior to the initial signing of the contract. We would later see this policy officially wielded through Exo CBX's payment dispute with SM Entertainment later in the year.


The Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on the 28th of March following a prolonged cancer battle. He was 71 years old.

ASTRO's lead vocalist Moonbin died from an apparent suicide on the 19th of April. He was 25 years of age. The idol is survived by his parents, along with his younger sister, Moon Sua of Billlie.

MAY:
#1- We had two major contract disputes make it to the top of the headlines between May June! The first dispute involved Exo members Baekhyun, Chen  Xiumin. The three took legal action against SM Entertainment after the label blocked the artists from viewing their own financial accounts with the agency. The trio also further complained about the excessive duration of their individual contracts, which far exceeded the 7-year maximum length set by the Korean Fair Trade Commission following TVXQ's legal dispute. The group also filed a complaint to the Fair Trade Commission in relation to their complaint. The dispute only ramped up over the following three weeks with comments from SM and the three Exo members regarding their contractual dispute, while BigPlanetMade (BPM) also released a statement after being accused of interfering with legal discussions between SM Entertainment and the three complainants. The contractual dispute was finally solved during the final weeks of June when the company released a joint statement with the three Exo members. The statement shared, "We are glad to announce that SM and the three artists have resolved our differences and reached a mutually amicable settlement" and that "We will make negotiations and modifications to our contracts and further solidify our relationships." In regards to the supposed interference by BPM, the company shared that they had received a tip-off from a third party that they had been interfering with their artists, but that "thanks to the recent conversation, we learned that we misunderstood some parts. We are sorry to the people involved."

#3- Also in May, we saw various line-up alterations and announcements related to new and old groups alike. TEEN TOP restructured themselves into a four-member group after TOP MEDIA announced that the group's leader, CAP would be leaving the group after a series of controversial actions on a YouTube livestream. The idol's contract was later terminated with his agency. Then on the 24th of May, it was announced by SM Entertainment that Sungchan and Shotaro would be leaving NCT to re-debut in the company's new rookie boy group, RIIZE. Previously, the pair were expected to debut in NCT's 6th and final unit, NCT TOKYO. Now moving on to girl groups and BRAVE GIRLS revealed that they would be making their return under a new name, BB GIRLS after the group's prior disbandment announcement in February. Meanwhile, YG Entertainment officially revealed the full lineup of their upcoming girl group, BABYMONSTER. The group made their debut in November as a 6-member group consisting of Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Haram, Rora  Chiquita.


Trot singer Haesoo passed away on the 15th of May. She was 29 years old.

JUNE:
#1- In June, FIFTY FIFTY officially kicked off their legal dispute with their agency ATTRAKT. The four group members filed a lawsuit to nullify their contracts with the agency. This occurred following the revelation that Warner Music Korea had been courting the group members in an attempt to poach the group from ATTRAKT. Later it was shared that the group's producer, Siahan had committed forgery concerning the copyright ownership of the group's smash hit, 'Cupid' in an effort to line his own pockets. As of the time of writing, FIFTY FIFTY is effectively in limbo. The group's eldest member has returned to ATTRAKT after learning that she had been lied to and cheated out of her share of the royalties by THE GIVERS producer, Siahan. The remaining three members — Aran, Sio  Saena — have had their exclusive contracts terminated by ATTRAKT and lost their most recent appeal against the agency in Seoul's high court. As a result of this decision, ATTRAKT will be pursuing legal action against the trio.

#2- We had several announcements regarding health-related hiatuses in June. SHINee's Onew temporarily halted entertainment activities after being advised to do so by a health professional. As a result, the idol was unfortunately unable to participate in the group's 15th-anniversary concert album promotional activities. NCT's Johnny sustained a collarbone injury which required the idol to halt group activities while he worked to recover, while aespa's Giselle was unable to participate in the group's US activities due to poor health.

JULY:
#1- Various announcements related to upcoming concerts and events were revealed in July. STAYC  ENHYPEN kicked off their world tours in September and October respectively; while B.I began his Europe tour in September. Then moving on to events and LE SSERAFIM took part in the TMEA Music Festival in early July, while KBS Music Bank held Music Bank in Mexico with NewJeans, STAYC, AB6IX, ITZY, and more.

#2- Following Sungchan  Shotaro's exit from NCT, SM Entertainment took to social media to announce that they had plans on debuting, not just one, but two new boy groups by the end of the year! Firstly, Sungchan  Shotaro would be returning to the spotlight through their newest Korean boy group RIIZE. The group officially made its debut in September with the single, 'Get A Guitar'. Then later in the year, we would see the formation of NCT's final unit, tentatively named NCT NEW TEAM, which was formed via an idol debut competition show, NCT Universe: LASTART. The group has yet to make their official debut but, as of the time of writing, has released a pre-debut single, 'Hands Up' on the 19th of October.

AUGUST:
#1- In August, the fallout from the Johnny Kitagawa scandal continued following Kaouan Okamoto's revelations the BBC-led investigation earlier this year. The company officially announced the results of its internal investigation related to the multiple sexual abuse claims against the former agency head. The label, which was founded — and named after — the now-deceased businessman Johnny Kitagawa came under fire earlier in 2023 when it was shared through the media that the label had created an unsafe environment for its trainees and employees. This was discovered after substantial evidence was shared stating that Johnny Kitagawa himself had actively participated in the grooming and serial abuse of a multitude of young (often underage) trainees and artists under the label. The result of the company's internal investigation was revealed in August. The current head (at the time of the report's release) of Johnny's and Associates, Julie 'Keiko' Fukushima would step down from her official position as head of the agency, and the former Shonentai member and Jonny's artist, Noriyuki Higayashiyama would take over her position as CEO. This decision also came under some criticism as Noriyuki, similarly to Kitagawa, has also faced a series of abuse allegations on his own. It was shared that there were various abuse allegations levelled towards the new head as well.

Through the internal investigation, there was a series of recommendations put forward by the investigative body. It was recommended that Julie Keiko, Kitagawa's niece, and CEO at the time, should step down from her position as the head of the company to prevent another reoccurrence of gross negligence on behalf of the agency. The investigation officially determined that there had been a widespread period of abuse beginning in the 1950s all the way up to the 2010s, and that Kitagawa's sister had helped cover up for the agency founder. Later in the month, it was announced that Keiko had stepped down from her position as CEO and that Johnny Kitagawa would have his Guinness World Records purged from their Japanese website. In addition to this, the company would be changing its name to SMILE-UP following widespread criticisms that continuing to operate under the legacy and name of a serial abuser would be inappropriate and further tarnish the reputation of not just the management company, but would also cause their artists to lose out on opportunities in the future. Then in November, it was announced that Atsushi Fukuda, president of the consulting firm, Speedy assumed leadership of Johnny and Associates' new yet-to-be-named company as president. In total, over 400 people had filed complaints with the agency reporting that they had been abused by the Japanese businessman. Among them was former Kiss-My-Ft2 member, Iida Kyouhei. He shared that he had not actually quit the band to pursue an education — as he had originally stated — but rather that he had suffered from abuse at the hands of Kitagawa between the ages of 13 and 18.

#2- Numerous legacy SM artists began to depart from SM Entertainment throughout the month. Three SUPER JUNIOR members: Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Kyuhyun officially departed SM in search of new companies. Kyuhyun officially signed with Yoo Jae-suk's current agency, Antenna, while his fellow members Eunhyuk  Donghae set up a new agency, ODE Entertainment for the management of both their solo activities, as well as their SUPER JUNIOR DE schedules. Then in August, SNSD's Sunny officially departed from the company following the expiration of her contract. Each of the idols will continue to work with SM for their group schedules with SUPER JUNIOR  SNSD respectively.

SEPTEMBER:
#1- Earlier this year, Blockberry Creative announced via the media that they would be taking action against their former artists. Five LOONA members — Hyunjin, Vivi, Gowon, Hyeju  Yeojin — decided to promote under the title LOOSEMBLE. Following this decision, Blockberry Creative chose to pursue the group for copyright infringement. Then, in September, it was shared by the groups' legal representatives that they had officially won their case against Blockberry and that they would be keeping the rights to their name.

#2- BLACKPINK's contract renewals became a contentious issue throughout the second half of the year. In September, YG Entertainment announced that they were currently in discussions with the members regarding their upcoming contract renewals. It was later shared that only Rosé had decided to renew her contract with the agency despite the company reportedly offering a contract worth over $40 million USD to BLACKPINK's Lisa. It was later rumoured that BLACKPINK members Jisoo  Jennie would be establishing a one-man agency separate from YG to focus on their individual activities. As of the time of writing, YG has since stepped out to reveal the status of BLACKPINK and the group members' personal contract status with the company.

#3- HYBE shared a press release to announce that the remaining active BTS members would be announcing their upcoming enlistment plans before the conclusion of 2023. As of the time of writing, all of the remaining BTS members have since made their enlistments. BTS' Suga began his military enlistment on the 22nd of September as a public service worker, The idol was unable to serve as an active-duty soldier due to a prior shoulder injury that he sustained before his debut as an idol. The four remaining BTS members — RM, V, Jimin Jungkook — would officially make their enlistments in December. Then on the 20th of September, BTS' agency, BigHit Entertainment announced that all seven BTS members had opted to renew their contracts with the company. According to Daol Investment Securities, the initial down payment for the contract renewal is estimated to have a value of at least ₩21 billion KRW.

OCTOBER:
#1- The FIFTY FIFTY controversy began to wrap up during the final few months of the year. The group members released a series of statements on the 14th of October. We discovered that FIFTY FIFTY member Aran's health concerns were more severe than we first thought. The idol revealed that during the beginning of the year, she had contracted chronic cholangitis with polyps — which had the possibility of developing into cancer if left untreated — and further detailed that ATTRAKT had blocked her from receiving treatment up until April 2023. Then in another statement, Sio shared that she had undergone a strict dieting regime that had caused the idol to develop kidney-related health issues. Then in mid-October, it was shared that Keena — who is FIFTY FIFTY's eldest member and the member to train the longest at ATTRAKT — had officially withdrawn her case against ATTRAKT and its CEO after sharing that she had been grossly misled by their producer Sihan. The remaining three FIFTY FIFTY members remain in a legal battle against the agency and have since had their exclusive contracts terminated by the company. As of the time of writing, the three remaining members have lost their appeal in the Seoul High Court. ATTRAKT has shared their plans to continue FIFTY FIFTY around Keena through the addition of three new members. The company is also pursuing a legal case against the three former FIFTY FIFTY members for damages.

#2- While the year begins to wind down, we also had a few announcements related to the upcoming End Of Year awards shows. The Melon Music Awards announced that they will be holding their ceremony on the 2nd of December at Inspire Arena, South Korea. While the M-net Asian Music Awards were held on the 28th 29th of November at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, and the Golden Disk Awards will be held on the 6th of January in Jakarta. Meanwhile, MBC has shared that they have officially reconciled their differences against HYBE and their artists following the fallout from BTS' decision to forgo attending the annual MBC Gayo festival in 2019 in favour of attending and performing at New Year's Rockin' Eve in the U.S. This announcement has paved the way to allow not just BTS, but other HYBE artists to once again promote on MBC produced programs such as the end-of-year gayos. BUCK-TICK's Sakurai Atsushi sadly passed away from a brainstem haemorrhage on the 19th of October. He was 57 years old.

NOVEMBER:
#1- BIGBANG's leader G-Dragon found himself in some hot water recently when it was shared that the idol was being investigated under suspicion of drug use in November. This came about as a result of an ongoing criminal investigation against the now-deceased South Korean actor Lee Sung-kyun, who is known for his roles in the Oscar-winning film Parasite as well as for starring opposite IU in My Ahjussi. On the 25th of October, It was announced that the Idol had officially been booked on drug control charges on the suspicion of consuming a controlled substance. The idol was later tested for drugs and was cleared from all suspicions after the National Forensic Service officially announced that both his hair and nails had tested negative for drugs.

#2- Also in November, we saw several high-profile people receive sentencing as a result of various unrelated controversies. Former YG CEO, Yang Hyun-suk for his actions against Han Sohee. The former CEO had reportedly coerced and intimidated the former idol trainee, who was — at the time — a public interest informant. Meanwhile, former Exo member Kris Wu lost the appeal to his rape and mass indecency charges, while a former HYBE dance trainer has been fired from the company for fraud and embezzlement. The former employee has been reported to have extorted over 5 billion KRW from HYBE, his fellow co-workers, and business partners. He was using HYBE's name and reputation to promote investment towards discovering and producing new songs. It is unknown whether HYBE will be pursuing legal action against the former employee at this time.

#3- As the year came to a close, we also saw a series of group changes. To start, Jpop group FAKY shared that they would be suspending official group activities on the 13th of January. The members will either graduate from the group or begin to focus on their solo careers. Now moving on and two idols will be taking indefinite hiatuses from their respective groups, NAME's Jin Zihan  RIIZE's Seunghan. It was shared that NAME's Jin Zihan will be withdrawing from a variety program due to health reasons and, as a result, she will be unable to participate in any upcoming group activities as well. Then RIIZE member Seunghan has also announced that he'll be going on hiatus following a series of widespread controversies centred around the idol group member. Meanwhile, YG Entertainment officially shared that their rookie group, BABY MONSTER would be debuting one member short. The company revealed that Korean member, Ahyeon would be departing from the group before their official debut in November due to a series of personal reasons. However, YG still holds out hope for the trainee to rejoin the group in the future. BABY MONSTER officially made their debut on the 27th of November with the single 'Batter Up'.

K-Indie singer-songwriter Nahee passed away. She was 24 years old.

DECEMBER:
#1- We had five high-profile enlistments in December. For BTS, the remaining four members all enlisted for active-duty service in early December. RM  V enlisted together on the 11th of December, while Jimin  Jungkook enlisted the following day on the 12th. Earlier, it was reported that V would be joining a special ops division in the military that is an anti-terrorist department under the direct supervision of The Blue House which was later confirmed by the idol himself via weverse. Then on the 21st of December, we saw Exo's Sehun officially begin his military enlistment. This marks the final members of both Exo  BTS to begin their military service.

#2- We had some new updates to contract negotiations in December. Most notably with BLACKPINK. YG Entertainment shared that all of the BLACKPINK members had officially re-negotiated their contracts with the company to continue their group activities under YG. Then it was later shared by YG that they had lost the rights to manage the group members' solo careers and that the group members would be free to sign with new companies for the management of their solo activities. As a result, BLACKPINK's Jennie established her own agency, ODDATELIER for her future solo schedules. While on the topic of idol-established agencies, it has been shared that PENTAGON member Kino, who departed CUBE earlier this year, has created a one-man agency titled NAKED. Then moving onto the topic of moving to a new label, and LOONA member Yves has shared that she has signed on to a new company and is currently in the process of working on a new album.

South Korean actor Lee Sun-gyun of 'Parasite' 'My Ahjussi' passed away on the 27th of December. He was 48 years old.

Thanks for reading ~