[Today’s K-pop] Ive did not blow off college festival: agency

Ive’s agency Starship Entertainment and Kyungpook National University are caught up in contentious dispute over the rookie sensation’s appearance at the school’s festival.

The school’s student association first announced the group’s scheduled gig had been canceled due to visa issues. The agency refuted Wednesday with a statement saying that there was a proposal, but nothing specific had been discussed and no contract was signed.

The association issued a rebuttal online soon after and said that it received verbal confirmation from an executive of Starship Entertainment at a face-to-face meeting, and its representative had wired the full amount for the girl group’s engagement.

The student body asserted it was understood as a contract since there not only was a verbal agreement, but also remittance, which could be corroborated with calls and transaction details.

Stray Kids add concert to Aussie tour

The band is resuming its second international tour from Nov. 12 starting in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tickets for its concerts in Australia, scheduled for February next year, sold out upon release, and the management company decided to add one each to shows in Melbourne and Sydney. This expands the tour to 34 concerts in total, spread across 16 cities around the world.

Meanwhile, the eight-piece act rolls out its “Maxident” EP on Friday. The album sold more than 2 million units in preorders a week before the release, easily surpassing the sales records of its 2 million-selling albums -- second studio album “Noeasy” and sixth EP “Oddinary.” The latter came out about seven months ago and claimed the top spot on Billboard 200.

SF9 to tour US from late November

SF9 will tour five cities in the US from Nov. 30, FNC Entertainment announced Wednesday.

Under the title "2022 SF9 Live Fantasy #4 Delight Tour," the band will perform in front of fans in the US for the first time in 3 1/2 years. It will first hold a concert in Seoul on Nov. 18 and fly over to New York, then hop around Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles.

In the meantime, the nonet is celebrating its sixth anniversary Thursday. All members renewed their contracts with the agency last year, but only six members participated in 11th EP “The Wave of 9” that came out in July, as Youngbin and Inseong are serving their mandatory military duty and Rowoon was shooting TV drama “Tomorrow.”

Boy band Kingdom returns confident with new member

Boy band Kingdom held a media showcase in Seoul on Wednesday for its fifth EP, “History of Kingdom: Part V. Louis.”

The seven bandmates exuded confidence, saying they firmly believed in their performances and the effect they would have on those watching.

The seven-track EP revolves around Louis, as each of its EPs is dedicated to one bandmate. He admitted that he felt even more pressure, since the previous EP had been very well-received.

“But I told myself to use it as a foothold, to push myself further,” he said.

The EP is the first since Hwon joined the team, after Chiwoo left in May due to personal reasons.

“It was not difficult to understand the narrative,” Hwon assured, adding that he was fascinated by the concept of seven kingdoms.

By Hwang You-mee
(glamazon@heraldcorp.com)