[Today’s K-pop] EXO’s Baekhyun starts military service

Baekhyun of EXO shared photos of himself with close-shaven hair, bidding a temporary farewell to his fans Thursday. There also was a picture with bandmate Seho, who was touching his hair with a smile.

The veteran idol began his training the same day, which was also his birthday. The exact time and location were not announced. After three weeks of training, he will start his alternative duty as a public service worker, as he has hypothyroidism.

He first shared the news of his enlisting in April, saying, “I know how hard waiting is so instead of asking you to wait for me, I’d want to say I love you. I love you and like you.”

The singer put out his third solo EP “Bambi” in March that became his second million-seller as a solo artist. He also has a string of music releases in store that hopefully will fill up the void, he told fans in a livestream last week. He is the fifth member of the band to serve his military duty. EXO announced that it will return with new music in the first half of this year.

Astro’s Cha Eunwoo to host solo fan meet 

Cha Eunwoo of Astro will hold an online fan meeting on his own next month, agency Fantagio Entertainment said Thursday.

It will be a two-day event and on June 4, he will meet fans from around the world and on the next day, those from China. The first day’s meeting will be broadcast live and the second day’s platform will be announced next week. The idol will present special performances and play games with the viewers.

Cha has been gaining grounds both as a performer and an actor. He played the male lead in “True Beauty,” a TV adaptation of webtoon of the same name, that wrapped up in February. He then returned as the member of the boy band and successfully promoted its second studio album “All Yours” last month.

He will soon debut on the silver screen as well, having started shooting an action movie, tentatively titled “Decibel,” along with Kim Raewon and Lee Jongsuk.

G(I)-dle’s Yuqi to release solo music

Yuqi of G(I)-dle will come out with her first solo single, label Cube Entertainment announced Thursday.

The company uploaded an artwork teaser for the upcoming digital single, called “A Page,” showing a girl opening curtains in front of a big window. The short bob instantly reminds fans of Yuqi, who recently cut her long hair to chin length. 

She is one of the vocalists of the six-piece girl group that ranked high on global charts with just-released single “Last Dance.” This is the first time she is putting out a solo work since she debuted three years ago. The Beijing-born singer recently made news by topping the real-time chart on TikTok. She participated in the challenge for the winner of the second season of Produce 101 China and the short clip gathered over 90 million views. 

“A Page” will be unveiled on May 13.

BTS’ V tops Billboard global chart with solo gig

Fans of BTS’ V celebrated the third anniversary of his solo work “Singularity,” putting it on the top of Billboard’s world digital song sales chart.

It was the intro for the band’s third full-length album “Love Yourself: Tear” that came out in May 2018 and garnered a lot of attention from fans and ranked No. 3 on Billboard’s world digital song sales chart, No. 4 on iTunes chart. It also was the only song from a K-pop solo artist to be included in annual best songs lists by the New York Times, the Guardian and Los Angeles Times.

“Singularity” is reigning in the iTunes charts in 47 regions and became the 28th chart-topper from BTS. V’s another solo song “Inner Child” recorded No. 1 on Billboard’s world digital song sales chart in March and V is the only K-pop musician to achieve the feat with two solo tracks.

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