K-Pop 2026 Preview

Who and what to expect in the headlines

View the Substack version of this piece here!

In no particular order, here are 12 of the people, places, and events that K-pop news readers can anticipate seeing and hearing a lot about this year.

#1: Heavy Hitters’ Comebacks
From EXO’s new album to MAMAMOO’s new tour to T.O.P.’s first solo comeback in over a decade, this year is PACKED with things to look forward to from established K-pop superstars! The most buzzed-about comeback of them all is BTS’s, their first since they all completed mandatory military enlistment. Their new album comes out March 20 and will be followed by a world tour. If the past is prologue - Live Nation’s CEO told Fast Money the site had one BILLION visitors the day that 2019 tickets went on sale - ticket demand will be enormous!

#2: TAEMIN
TAEMIN is poised to build on the career momentum in North America that he built during last year’s successful solo tour. He’ll have a one-night-only Vegas show at Dolby Live on January 16, perform as part of the Grammy Museum’s “Global Spin Series” on January 20, and perform at Coachella on April 11 and 18!

#3: The Grammys
On February 1, the Grammy Awards will be live at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles. Nominees this year include KATSEYE, ROSÉ, KPop Demon Hunters, and the Korean musical Maybe Happy Ending!

#4: New Lee Soo-man Business Moves 
In just a couple of months, former SM Entertainment head Lee Soo-man’s non-compete clause will expire. When that window, which was prompted by the sale of his HYBE stock, closes, he will once again be permitted to produce music in Korea. He will likely turn his attention there to keep promoting his latest focuses: AI and Gen Alpha-geared content. It will be particularly interesting to see if and how the promotion of who he is dubbing “Zalpha Pop” icons, A2O, changes; A2O Entertainment set up shop in Singapore during the noncompete clause’s active status.

#5: CORTIS on Allstar Weekend
CORTIS is set to be the first K-pop act to ever headline the NBA’s “Crossover Concert Series”! They’ll perform on the opening night of the four-day event, which starts February 12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

#6: Eric Nam
In an edition of Eric Nam’s newsletter sent out just before Christmas, he summarized his publicly quiet but actually busy 2025. He said he “wrote around 80 songs, executive produced for another artist,” and “spent much of [the] year transitioning teams and building something new from scratch again.” He somehow found the time to also film THREE movies and The Traitors season four (out now on Peacock)! Ideally, 2026 is the year fans get to see some of the many projects on which he spent 2025 working!

#7: AleXa Making History
On February 28, performing “Tongue Tied,” AleXa will be the first K-pop artist to ever compete in Sweden’s Melodifestivalen! The MASSIVELY popular event is a precursor to qualifying for Eurovision!

#8: HYBE’s Relentless Expansion
HYBE’s business strategy has been globe-spanning, to say the least! The company made waves last year in North America…

• Announcing a new Paramount Pictures and HYBE America movie (tentatively set to come out in early 2027)
• Mr. Bang speaking at the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum in New York on the topic of “Building Africa’s Sports & Entertainment Ecosystem”

… Latin America…

• Launching a new division of HYBE Latin America, Docemil Music
• Starting a new audition program with Telemundo in the summer
• Announcing the launch of S1ENTO RECORDS in early September
• Two of its leaders appearing as the only Korean entertainment executives on Billboard’s annual “Latin Power Players” list

… Japan…

• Backing a competition show that is searching for a Japanese member to complete a four-person girl group
• World Scout: The Final Piece will premiere exclusively on the Japanese streaming service ABEMA in early 2026, but with a 2026 debut plan also confirmed, K-pop and J-pop fans worldwide will get to see the new group soon enough!

… and more.

• Officially opening headquarters in India and China
• Announcing a co-management deal for Afrobeats icon Tyla, as part of a joint venture called NFO LLC

#9: Galaxy Corporation
G-DRAGON’s company made TONS of news last year. The company hit unicorn status (meaning it was valued at one trillion won) by December, beamed a music video into space in partnership with the KAIST Space Institute, held auditions for a virtual band, and reportedly started eyeing an India expansion.

#10: New Exhibitions
RM is curating an art exhibit for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art! Over 200 pieces, both from and outside of RM’s personal collection, will be on display from October 2026 through February 2027.

Photography exhibitions are also on the horizon, including a debut one from BLACKPINK’s JENNIE! “J2NNIS” is a fundraiser that is open in Seoul from January 16 through 29.

#11: KPop Demon Hunters - Yes, Still!
The marketing for the smash-hit Netflix film will likely keep going for the foreseeable future. Since the initial expectation was for the film to be a relatively niche favorite, the IP was not promptly applied to toys and other merchandise deals. This year, now that deals with the likes of Hasbro are official, that will change: Christmas presents, Halloween costumes, and other high-demand products will finally be ready on time! 

Further fueling the endurance of the KPop Demon Hunters hype are new releases beyond merchandise, including a confirmed sequel and just-released new versions of “Golden.” Plus, the voice actors are on a seemingly endless promotional streak! Just in January so far, the actors have been on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

#12: Much More from “Hallyuwood” 
Months after K-content powerhouse CJ ENM formed a partnership with the Academy Museum, the company struck a co-production deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. They made a related agreement to incorporate a TVing-designated hub into HBO MAX in 17 Asia Pacific markets. Netflix has stayed in on the action regarding Korean-language programming, too, and followed up a multi-year deal with CJ ENM subsidiary Studio Dragon with a new SBS deal.

In addition to ongoing KPop Demon Hunters hype, Netflix being home to K-dramas continues to pay dividends. Squid Game is still winning awards - most recently, a Critics Choice Award earlier this month - and remains one of the most-watched Netflix shows of all time. 

In other movie-related and TV-related news:

• BLACKPINK’s LISA is getting a solo documentary, made by Sony Music Vision (among others) and executive-produced by K-Pop Idols’s Sue Kim. LISA is also set to star in a new action-thriller, TYGO. Her entrance into the Extraction movie world was announced in early December. Those new projects, the fact she attended 2025’s Busan International Film Festival, and the fact she presented at the 2026 Golden Globes all point to LISA’s continued focus on movies.
• The Rose’s documentary, following its Tribeca Film Festival premiere, hits theaters worldwide on February 14.
• TVXQ!’s (aka TOHOSHINKI’s) Japanese dome shows celebrating their 20-year Japanese debut anniversary were filmed for a new concert movie, which comes out February 20.
• NCT’s YUTA’s new Japanese movie, Specials, premieres on March 6.
• Unnie, which has since been renamed Perfect Girl, is a psychological thriller that filmed last October and will star Billlie’s SIYOON!
• Earlier this month, SEVENTEEN’s JOSHUA signed with UTA for acting endeavors! 
• Stray Kids’ IMAX concert film hits theaters worldwide in early February! The film combines behind-the-scenes footage with performances from SoFi Stadium on the band’s “dominATE World Tour.” IMAX is on a hot streak, and more K-pop concert movies in IMAX will likely be announced as the year goes on. After all, Stray Kids’ concert movie sold over $1.4 million worth of tickets in under 24 hours!
  
• Lastly, K-POPS! finally has a release date: February 27!

 
Other Stories to Watch in 2026

• More co-ed groups? With the success of ALLDAY PROJECT and Dreamcatcher member SIYEON debuting in ChRocktikal, perhaps companies will warm up to the idea of making co-ed K-pop less rare. 
• K-pop in China: THE BOYZ, EPEX, Kep1er, LE SSERAFIM, and SOOJIN are just a handful of the K-pop artists whose China fan-meetings and/or concerts were cancelled in 2025, often for publicly vague reasons like “local circumstances” and “external factors.” Some events did occur as planned, but it seems like every time ties seem to warm between the Korean and Chinese entertainment worlds, saying so is framed as premature, if not inaccurate. (This is a long story short; I’ll go more into detail about the history of Hallyu in China in a future column.)
• The Korea Drama Festival will take place in Brazil. 
• A new TEO-produced variety show, tentatively called Manito Club, features JENNIE and will premiere in the first half of this year.
• A new puzzle game from SM Entertainment and Kakao, called SMiniz, will launch during the first quarter.
• The Goo Hara Act goes into effect, which allows for the revocation of inheritance rights if a caregiver is negligent prior to a child passing away.
• Apink’s Bomi and the producer Rado plan to get married this May!
• WANNA ONE are reuniting for a variety show during the first half of this year!

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