[Today’s K-pop] Seventeen cancels offline fan meet

Seventeen will not meet fans in person during its fifth fan meet “Seventeen in Carat Land,” agency Pledis Entertainment said Friday.

Through its official fandom channel Weverse, the company announced that it would cancel the in-person meet for the event after the social distancing guideline was strengthened as the country seeks to overcome another COVID-19 wave.

The 13-member group was originally planning to host the fan meet events in southern Seoul from Aug. 6-8, both off- and online, but will now only livestream it.

The band recently wrapped up promotions for its eighth EP, “Your Choice,” which sold over 1.36 million copies in the first week and became the group’s fourth million-seller, following the third LP "An Ode," seventh EP "Heng:garae" and special album ";[Semicolon]." The EP also hit No. 15 on Billboard 200, Seventeen’s first entry on the chart. 

IU chosen as face of Kakao’ webtoon platform 

IU was selected as the muse of Kakao Webtoon, the company announced Friday.

“Kakao Webtoon and IU are quite similar in that they both are icons of forward-thinking, not afraid to take challenges,” a Kakao Entertainment official said. The key words of the platform -- evolution, challenge and change -- can be equally applied to her.

The singer and actor will collaborate with the entertainment arm of Kakao Corp. starting with a commercial for the platform from later this month to promote the August launch.

“We’ve finished shooting (the commercial) under a peculiar concept that would show me in a different light than before,” she said.

Ateez Wooyoung’s cover performance draws 5m views 

Wooyoung of Ateez gathered 5 million views with a cover performance video, according to Mnet’s digital studio M2.

He was featured in the media’s artist of the month project last month and in the video that was uploaded on June 20, he covered Christopher’s “Bad,” with film noir- inspired choreography.

The clip landed atop YouTube’s list of videos trending worldwide upon release.

“I am grateful that many Ateenies liked it,  especially since many people put their efforts into it,” he said in a livestream on Twitter on Thursday, referring to the band’s official fandom.

“I was touched when the bandmates came to the filming site and want to thank them again,” he added.

Meanwhile, the eight-piece boy band put out “Summer Taste” on Wednesday as part of a Pepsi Korea campaign. The band has temporarily put all activities on hold after San tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

Super Junior’s Yesung to host online concert  

Yesung of Super Junior will hold an online event for fans next week, agency Label SJ announced Friday.

The veteran idol will broadcast live a special digital recital, named “Super Junior-Yesung Special Event -- I’ll Light Your Way,” through Naver’s V Live channel on July 25.

He said he chose the name of the event because he wants to be someone who can light the paths of his fans. He participated in all aspects of the event, from the design of poster to the stage and set list, which ranges from “Beautiful Night,” title track from his fourth solo EP that came out in May, to other solo songs as well as songs in Japanese.

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