Kim Jinhwan of iKON will debut as a solo musician on June 21, announced agency 143 Entertainment on Thursday.

The news came as a surprise to fans and according to the timetable poster, the solo album project will consist of two parts -- “Paradise” and “Blue Moon.” The second part will be unveiled on July 12.

Meanwhile, the band is in the middle of its international tour “Take Off” that started last month with a two-day concert in Seoul and will be held in more than 20 cities in Asia, Europe and North America. The bandmates flew to Osaka, Japan early Thursday.

Before kicking off the tour, it rolled out its third full album “Take Off” that sold over 120,000 copies in the first week, a record for the band.

Ily:1 to return next month

Ily:1 is gearing up to return with a new album in late July, according to agency FC ENM on Thursday.

It has been about six months since the six-member act put out its first EP “Dream of Ily:1.” The group debuted in April last year with the single “Love In Bloom.” Its second single “Que Sera Sera” from August 2022 and “Twinkle, Twinkle” from the first EP both ranked among top ten on Billboard’s world digital song sales chart.

Last month, it joined the lineup for KCON Japan 2023 and will perform at the 2023 Dream Concert in Japan this weekend.

fromis_9 opens pop-up store in Seoul

A pop-up store inspired by the first studio album from fromis_9 opened in Seoul on Thursday, announced agency Pledis Entertainment.

A house dedicated to LP “Unlock My World” features windows wrapped up with official photographs of the bandmates while inside is filled with merchandise and albums as well as photo booths and exhibits of costumes and more pictures.

Meanwhile, the eight members came in first place at a television music chart show Wednesday with “#menow,” main track from the LP. The music video for the song generated 10 million views on YouTube in 48 hours.

Oceanfromtheblue to tour Europe in September

Singer and songwriter Oceanfromtheblue will tour 14 cities in 11 European countries in September, announced agency Warner Music Korea on Thursday.

It will be his first tour in the region and will start in Munich, Germany on Sept. 5. The destinations include Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, Paris and final stop Madrid.

He brought out his namesake album in February, his first full-length album since he debuted five years ago. His previous EP “Messages” ranked No. 1 on Apple Music’s R＆B, Soul albums chart upon release last year.

In July, the R＆B musician will participate in BubblePop Festival in Barcelona, a mash-up of Asian art, fashion and K-pop.

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