‘reunion’ is rising as one of the key keywords of K-pop this year. Groups that had previously disbanded, such as 2NE1, Lovelyz, and GFriend, are garnering hot attention from fans in Korea and abroad by resuming team activities one after another.

2NE1, who officially reunited in October with their first full-group solo concert in 10 years, ‘Welcome Back in Seoul’, are busy with follow-up activities. After effectively disbanding in 2016, in their 7th year, they successfully reunited this year, 15 years after their debut, by joining hands with their ‘home’ YG Entertainment.

2NE1, who sold out their Seoul concert despite making a comeback after 8 years, will continue their Asian tour to Singapore, Bangkok, Macau, etc. until February of next year. The members‘ will to “stand on as many stages as possible” has also confirmed their appearance at the ‘2024 SBS Gayo Daejeon’ on the 25th. In March next year, they will release a limited edition LP containing their hit songs and live recordings from their Seoul concert.

The six-member girl group GFriend, which will celebrate their 10th debut anniversary in January next year, has also reunited after four years since disbandment. They will be holding their solo concert ‘Season of Memories’ for three days from January 17th to 19th next year at the Olympic Hall in Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Originally, the concert was scheduled to be held on the 18th and 19th, but tickets sold out in an instant, so an additional concert was added on the 17th.

The members, who were scattered to different agencies in 2021, are said to have come together to celebrate their 10th anniversary despite the difficult situation of aligning their schedules. This activity will be hosted by their former agency, Source Music. They have decided to release a new song as well as a concert. They plan to pre-release the new song on January 6th next year, followed by the release of a special album with the same name as the concert, ‘Season of Memories’.

The eight-member Lovelyz, who returned after three years, are also going smoothly in their team activities. They fired the starting signal for their reunion with their solo concert ‘Lovelyz 4 in Winter Wonderland’ in November, and will head to Tokyo in January next year. It will be their first concert in Japan in seven years. Member Kei is set to release his solo song ‘Winter Garden’ on the 19th, continuing his ‘two-track strategy’ of pursuing solo activities while also promoting as a group.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com