K-pop News Today (Nov 14, 2026): ATEEZ “UP” Hits 8.6 Million Views, KPop Demon Hunters Announce a World Tour, TXT Kick Off “STEAL THE WIND”

Honestly, my heart is full this morning. ATEEZ’s “UP” is finally out and flying, HUNTR/X are coming off the screen and onto real stages, TXT opened a brand-new world tour in Seoul, and aespa sang “Santa Baby” with Eartha Kitt herself. Here are the stories K-pop fans were talking about on Nov. 13, with MMA2026 starting tonight.

ATEEZ “UP” Rockets Past 8.6 Million MV Views in About 14 Hours

ATEEZ released their 15th mini album “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6” and title track “UP” on Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. KST, and the music video had 8,690,307 views on KQ ENTERTAINMENT’s official channel when we checked about 14 hours later. The five-track album (“UP,” “ANEMIA,” the pre-release “Drip,” “FAITH” and “Hollow Victory”) has lyrics co-written by HONGJOONG and MINGI on every track. TenAsia compared the MV to “Avengers”: the members break out of a concrete world built to box them in, MINGI’s rap verse sends the buildings spinning, and the video ends with SAN smashing through the last wall before the members walk off toward a road that climbs high above everyone else. According to TenAsia, most of those effects are hand-made CG, with AI effects used only in small amounts. ATEEZ have three No. 1s on the Billboard 200 and nine albums in a row in its top 10, so “UP” now chases a fourth. They brought the song to “Music Bank” the same evening. ATINY, this is the sound of a group refusing to slow down, and I love every second of it.

Sources: TenAsia, Nov. 13, Raon News, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGovymtCzvA

Also read: K-pop News Today (Nov 2, 2026): A2O LITE Win Inkigayo Again, BTS Wrap Up Brazil, IVE's First-Week Rebound

KPop Demon Hunters Announce the GOLDEN World Tour: 150+ Shows in About 50 Cities

Netflix and AEG Presents announced the “KPOP DEMON HUNTERS GOLDEN WORLD TOUR” on Nov. 13, Top Star News reported. It opens on June 5, 2027, at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, runs through 2028, and plans more than 150 shows in about 50 cities. After North American stops including Newark, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the European leg starts in Zurich on Sept. 1 and reaches London’s O2 Arena on Oct. 22 and 23. It’s built as an immersive show: Rumi, Mira and Zoey of HUNTR/X interact with the crowd through stage technology, the Saja Boys and Derpy the tiger appear too, and live performers handle the action and choreography. Asia-Pacific and Latin American dates, including any show in Korea, haven’t been announced yet. Presales start Nov. 18 (Mastercard) and Nov. 19 (“FOR THE FANS”), with general sales on Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. local time. The film has passed 670 million views and spent 63 weeks in a row in Netflix’s global top 10. The official tour video had 1,955 views about five hours after posting when we checked. Hearing “Golden” sung live in an arena is a dream I didn’t know I could book tickets for.

Sources: Top Star News, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

TXT Open Their “STEAL THE WIND” World Tour With Three Sold-Out Nights in Seoul

TOMORROW X TOGETHER opened their fifth world tour, “STEAL THE WIND,” at Seoul’s KSPO DOME on Nov. 13, the first tour since their “ACT” series, Top Star News reported. All three Seoul shows (Nov. 13 to 15) are sold out and are also streaming live on Weverse, and the tour continues to Macau, Fukuoka, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and a long list of North American cities. The same day at midnight, they dropped the first teaser for “Angel Bite,” the title track of their ninth mini album “PERFECT STORM,” out Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. KST. In it, the five members lie limp on a spinning playground merry-go-round while the music stays bright and bouncy, a contrast that fits a song about wanting to stay with someone even when life is a mess. SOOBIN and BEOMGYU wrote lyrics for the unit song “Touch the Sky.” The teaser had 1,169,095 views when we checked. MOA, what a way to start a tour week.

Sources: Top Star News, Nov. 13, Top Star News, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

aespa Sing “Santa Baby” With Eartha Kitt’s Original Vocals

aespa released “Santa Baby” on Nov. 13 at midnight KST, a duet built on Eartha Kitt’s actual 1953 recording with aespa’s voices added, Insight reported. The project lands ahead of Kitt’s 100th birthday on Jan. 17, with music IP company Primary Wave Music handling the artwork and final mix and SM Entertainment supporting aespa’s part. “My mother cared deeply about connecting generations and cultures through music,” said Kitt’s daughter, Kitt Shapiro. “I think she would have been thrilled to know her voice was joining such talented artists.” aespa said all four members listen to the original every holiday season, so adding their own color to it felt special. Next up, a Taku Takahashi (m-flo) remix of their Japanese title track “KISS N TELL” arrives on Nov. 20. MY, our holiday playlist just got a lot more elegant.

Sources: Insight, Nov. 13

TWS Win “Music Bank” With “Call My Name” (내 이름을 불러줘)

TWS took first place on KBS2’s “Music Bank” on Nov. 13 with “내 이름을 불러줘” (“Call My Name”), beating RESCENE’s “With” 9,857 points to 7,493, Top Star News reported. “We know how hard our 42 worked for this album, so this award means so much,” said JIHOON, and YOUNGJAE thanked 42 once more at the end. Their second single “TO US,” released Nov. 2, sold 825,360 copies in its first week on Hanteo, with 634,871 on day one alone, and the MV hit 10 million views in about three days. The MV had 18,227,261 views when we checked. 42, go celebrate your boys.

Sources: Top Star News, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

ILLIT Head to NHK “Kohaku” for a Third Straight Year, &TEAM for a Second

ILLIT and &TEAM will both perform on the 77th NHK “Kohaku Uta Gassen” on Dec. 31, their agencies said on Nov. 13, Celuv Media reported. ILLIT were first invited in 2024, before they had even released an official Japanese album, and now join a very short list: only three K-pop groups have been invited three years in a row, and ILLIT are the only K-pop act confirmed for this year so far. “Thanks to GLLIT’s support, we got another great opportunity,” the group said. On Apple Music’s Today’s Top 100: Japan (Nov. 11), “You’re Under Arrest” (체포하겠어) sits at No. 6 and “It’s Me” at No. 10, the only overseas act in the top 10. HYBE’s Japan-based group &TEAM return after their 2025 debut on the show, following a year in which their Korean mini album “Mark on Me” sold 1,357,357 copies in its first week on Hanteo and reached No. 20 on the Billboard 200. ILLIT also play NTV’s “Best Artist” on Nov. 28, where MINJU sings “I See the Light” from “Tangled” with Snow Man’s Raul, and Fuji TV’s “FNS Kayosai” on Dec. 2. The “You’re Under Arrest” MV had 29,173,970 views when we checked. GLLIT, New Year’s Eve plans: sorted.

Sources: Celuv Media, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

BESTie’s “Love Options” Revival Reaches All Three Network Music Shows

BESTie performed “연애의 조건” (“Love Options”) on KBS2’s “Music Bank” on Nov. 13, the first of three network music shows in three days, with MBC’s “Show! Music Core” on Nov. 14 and SBS’s “Inkigayo” on Nov. 15, @star1 reported. The 2013 song came back this July after a fan edit set it to Hearts2Hearts’ “Lemon Tang” choreography, and it has since climbed to a career-high No. 8 on Melon’s TOP100 and hit No. 1 on Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes in Taiwan (as of Nov. 11). The group, which wrapped up in 2018 and reunited this year, performed together on “Show! Music Core” on Oct. 31 for the first time in about 4,000 days. KBS’s official upload of the “Music Bank” stage had 1,349,934 views about 10 hours after airing when we checked. Thirteen years later, this song finally got the spotlight it always deserved.

Sources: @star1, Nov. 12, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

P1Harmony Set a Career-High First Week With 601,391 Copies of “BLOW UP”

P1Harmony’s 10th mini album “BLOW UP” sold 601,391 copies in its first week on Hanteo, the group’s best first-week number ever, TenAsia reported on Nov. 13. They sold more than 540,000 on release day (Nov. 6) alone and topped Circle Chart’s weekly retail album chart for Nov. 1 to 7. The album closes the hero storyline P1Harmony have told since debut, with the members returning as heroes for one last mission. The “BLOW UP” MV had 18,810,123 views when we checked. P1ece, your heroes just had their biggest week yet.

Sources: TenAsia, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

MMA2026 Starts Tonight: ILLIT, IVE, PLAVE and NCT 127 Preview Day-Two Stages

The 2026 Melon Music Awards run tonight and tomorrow (Nov. 14 and 15) at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, the first two-day MMA ever, and on Nov. 13 Kakao Entertainment previewed the 12 acts on day two, ZDNet Korea reported. ILLIT plan a chaotic “party” stage that follows “It’s Me” with a skit about arresting a mystery person, with someone stepping in for actor Song Kang from the MV. IVE prepared a reimagined set of their debut-era music, PLAVE a space-themed stage with a surprise for fans at the end, and NCT 127 a stage looking back on their 10 years. CORTIS, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, KiiiKiii, NCT WISH, LNGSHOT and more are also on the day-two list. The red carpet starts at 5 p.m. KST and the show at 6 p.m., streaming outside Korea on the 1theK and Melon YouTube channels.

Sources: ZDNet Korea, Nov. 13

tripleS and H1-KEY Drop New Music: “I Want You To Know” and “Unbelievable”

All 24 members of tripleS released “I Want You To Know” on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. KST, a Latin-rhythm electronic pop track where the melody passes from voice to voice, Ilgan Sports reported. It’s part 2 of their “ASSEMBLE26 LOVE&POP” project (part 1 sold about 567,600 copies in its first week), and fans first heard it live at the Toronto opener of their “ANDLESS in North America” tour on Nov. 11. H1-KEY followed at 6 p.m. with the digital single “Unbelievable,” their first comeback in about eight months and their first try at electronic pop, Raon News reported. The tripleS dance practice video had 84,285 views and the H1-KEY MV 7,338 when we checked. Two very different moods, one very good Friday.

Sources: Ilgan Sports, Nov. 13, Raon News, Nov. 13, YouTube views checked around 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 14

Tonight brings “Show! Music Core,” BESTie’s second network stage and day one of MMA2026, and TXT’s “PERFECT STORM” lands on Monday. Will ATEEZ pick up their first win for “UP” this weekend? I can’t wait to find out.

Featured photo: ATEEZ leader HONGJOONG points to the crowd on stage in New York, Aug. 3, 2024. Photo: pinkllamanade via YouTube/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized).