April saw major K-pop events: BTS's Tokyo Dome concert, BIGBANG's tour announcement, and NCT's Mark leaving SM Entertainment.
May/5/2026 12:10
From the withdrawal of SM idols and contract endings to BTS's Tokyo Dome performance and BIGBANG's new activity announcements, various events occurred in April. What was the most read article on Kstyle? Let's look back at the Korean entertainment industry through the 'April Article Rankings'.
Related Articles
According to Spotify, BTS’s 5th full album ARIRANG passed 5 billion cumulative streams as of the 14th, the most among 2026 releases. Every one of its 14 tracks topped 200 million streams, and the title track SWIM neared 1 billion. The album also set Billboard 200 records, including three straight weeks at No. 1.
Park Sae-mi suddenly announced that she will get married this week, posting wedding photos on SNS. She expressed affection for her groom-to-be, florist Kim Joon-young, and apologized for not being able to notify everyone personally. The couple, who met through a trainer, reportedly dated for about two years.
ABOUT MUSIC’s TikTok hashtag ranking placed BTS’s Jungkook at No. 5 with over 421 billion views, the highest among male solo artists. BTS topped the list overall, followed by Messi, Ronaldo, and Taylor Swift. Jungkook’s songs remain popular on TikTok, while BTS continues its world tour.
2PM’s Juno revealed that he once went about 12 days without being able to lie down in bed because of nonstop year-end schedules, including major music festivals, rehearsals, commercials, broadcasts, and recording. TWICE’s Sana shared similar stories of exhausting idol life.
At the Seoul Drama Awards 2026, writer Kim Eunsook won the top Golden Bird Award. K-dramas and performers including Ryu Seung-ryong, Im Ji-yeon, and RIIZE’s Anton were also honored. Jin Akanishi attended from Japan and received the Asia Star Award.
At the Seoul Drama Awards 2026 ceremony held on the afternoon of the 8th at KBS Hall in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, attendees included RIIZE’s Anton, Jin Akanishi, Yoon Ji-sung of Wanna One, Ku Gyo-hwan, Ryu Seung-ryong, Kim Nam-gil, Um Ki-joon, Lim Ji-yeon, Apink’s Jung Eun-ji, Han Go-eun, Moon Ji-hoon (Swings), Kim Min, Lee Jae-won, Park Gyeong-hye, Lee Dong-ha, Lee Yeo-reum, Choi Hyo-ju, writer Kim Eun-sook, Elizaveta Maksimova, Gladys Bay, Paulo Avelino, and announcer Lee Jae-eun.
iKON’s Donghyuk posted photos of stars currently serving in the military, including Kim Young Dae, MONSTA X’s I.M, SEVENTEEN’s Woozi, Kang Daniel, Baekho, Song Gun Hee, and Rowoon. They also shared dance videos to songs like “BAD” and “GENIE,” and had recently appeared at the 2026 Ground Forces Festival.
NCT’s Xiaojun will make his solo debut with his first mini album, Hey, Somebody, set for release on the 26th by SM Entertainment. The album will include five tracks, including Chinese and English versions of the title song. After years of group, collaboration, and OST work, attention is on his first solo album.
On Netflix’s “Kian’s Bizarre B&B 2,” 2PM’s Junho impressed Kian84 by smoothly handling a phone call in fluent English with a foreign guest. Already known for mastering Japanese, Junho also showed his English skills and drew attention for using three languages. The show ranked No. 1 in Korea and entered the Top 10 in several Asian countries.
Stray Kids announced they will not enter the next Grammy Awards, following BTS. The move comes as the Recording Academy keeps its new Asian pop music category, which has drawn criticism for potentially separating K-pop by region and language. Debate continues.
