K-pop News Today (Oct 26, 2026): A2O LITE’s 4th Win, BABYMONSTER’s 31M, RIIZE ‘Insomnia’

A2O LITE ‘NEON’ Wins Inkigayo, Its 4th Music Show Trophy in 13 Days

A2O LITE took first place on SBS Inkigayo on Oct. 25 with “NEON,” scoring 6,060 points against NCT WISH’s “I SPY” (5,587) and SOYEON’s “Toesahalgeyeo” (4,056). That makes four music show wins (The Show, Show Champion, M Countdown, Inkigayo) since the group’s Oct. 13 debut, and “NEON” still sat at No. 1 on the Melon Top 100 at 4 a.m. KST on Oct. 26. The story fans kept sharing, though, was the producer: a clip of Lee Soo-man picking up the tab for an entire Seoul barbecue restaurant to celebrate went viral, and Girls’ Generation’s Sunny posted behind-the-scenes shots of her uncle coaching the choreography himself. A 74-year-old producer is now the group’s most effective marketing asset.

Sources: Isplus, Oct. 25, Top Star News, Oct. 25, Newsis, Oct. 25, Melon Top 100 (checked 4 a.m. KST, Oct. 26)

Also read: IU and BTS's Suga Both Sang Him. Who Was Kim Kwang-seok?

BTS Jimin Becomes Argentina’s “Hadita Tucumana” on the ARIRANG World Tour

BTS played La Plata’s Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona on the ARIRANG World Tour, and a single habit from the Oct. 23 show took over Argentine social media: Jimin’s sing-song Spanish reminded locals of the Tucumán accent, earning him the nickname “Hadita tucumana” (little fairy of Tucumán). Fan banners invited him to Tucumán’s lemon festival, and local broadcaster Canal 10 picked up the story. The tour’s Buenos Aires shows are also being screened live in cinemas, so the Argentina run reaches far beyond the stadium. Nothing beats a local in-joke for turning a tour stop into a national trend.

Sources: Star News, Oct. 25, Sports Donga, Oct. 25

BABYMONSTER ‘DESERVE’ MV Passes 31 Million Views

BABYMONSTER’s new digital single “DESERVE,” released Oct. 23, had 31,642,982 YouTube views on its official MV by 4:50 a.m. KST on Oct. 26. The group played its first “DESERVE” stage on MBC’s Show! Music Core on Oct. 24, and Sports Seoul called the vocal-first pop ballad a “provocative” choice in a market split between easy listening and maximal performance. Swapping hip-hop swagger for a breakup ballad was a gamble, and the view count says global fans bought in.

Sources: Isplus, Oct. 25, Sports Seoul, Oct. 25, YouTube views checked 4:50 a.m. KST, Oct. 26

RIIZE Drops ‘Insomnia’ at Midnight

RIIZE released the single “Insomnia” at 12 a.m. KST on Oct. 26, its first new music in about four months, following the second mini album “Do your dance.” The acoustic, guitar-led track is a sharp turn from the group’s dance-pop, and the members pitched it as a song for sleepless nights. The MV had 338,546 views within about five hours. A quiet acoustic song dropped at midnight, for fans who are awake at midnight, is a release slot that does its own marketing.

Sources: Herald Muse, Oct. 26, OSEN, Oct. 26, YouTube views checked 4:50 a.m. KST, Oct. 26

BLACKPINK Jisoo Announces Solo Single ‘ADDICTED’ for Oct. 30

Jisoo posted a dark, lightning-themed teaser for her new digital single “ADDICTED” on Oct. 25, setting a global release for 8 a.m. KST on Oct. 30 (7 p.m. EDT on Oct. 29). The teaser shows her peering through a glittering black curtain with “ADDICTED” and “JISOO” across the bottom. Her first solo album sold 1.17 million copies in its first week, and international K-pop outlets have already picked up the teaser. The U.S. evening release time is a clear sign of which market this single is chasing.

Source: Top Star News, Oct. 25

IVE Releases ‘Looks Can Kill’ Today, With a Laser Show on Seoul’s DDP

IVE’s mini album “Looks Can Kill” comes out on Oct. 26, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government is screening comeback visuals on the façade of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), with a laser and lighting show set to the new songs starting on release day. The pre-released title track’s MV, out Oct. 19, had 20,690,428 views by early Oct. 26, and the song was No. 20 on the Melon Top 100. When a city government builds a tourist attraction around your album release, the comeback is already a landmark.

Sources: Herald Corp, Oct. 25, Maeil Business, Oct. 25, YouTube and Melon checked 4-5 a.m. KST, Oct. 26

ATEEZ San’s ‘BAD’ Chest Dance Hits Prime Time as ‘Drip’ Climbs

San and Hongjoong appeared on MBC’s Omniscient Interfering View (aired Oct. 24), where Hongjoong said San is “filming ads in every category” thanks to the viral chest move from “BAD,” and that their schedule has roughly tripled. The show also previewed choreography from the new song “Drip,” whose pre-release MV had 12,478,125 views by early Oct. 26, while “BAD” was still No. 9 on the Melon Top 100. A single eight-count of choreography has turned into a full ad campaign, and the group is using it to launch the next song.

Sources: Money Today, Oct. 25, Sports Seoul, Oct. 25, YouTube and Melon checked 4-5 a.m. KST, Oct. 26

Crush and IU’s ‘Crackle’ MV Tops YouTube’s Daily Music Video Chart

Crush’s “Ppigeudeok (Crackle) (Feat. IU)” MV hit No. 1 on YouTube Korea’s daily popular music video chart and had passed 5.56 million views by 8 a.m. on Oct. 25, according to his label. By early Oct. 26 the official MV was at 6,580,412 views, and the song also charted on Instagram Reels’ rising audio list. The pairing of a solo R&B star and IU is pulling in both fanbases at once.

Sources: Sports Chosun, Oct. 25, Sports World, Oct. 26, YouTube checked 4:50 a.m. KST, Oct. 26

RESCENE Holds Three Melon Top 10 Spots Ahead of ‘PULSE’ Comeback

RESCENE had three songs in the Melon Top 100 top 10 at 4 a.m. KST on Oct. 26: “LOVE ATTACK” (No. 4), “Deja Vu” (No. 5) and their KARA remake “Pretty Girl” (No. 7). Their label confirmed the fourth mini album “PULSE,” led by the title track “With,” for Nov. 3. Korean media are calling them “the miracle of a small agency,” since the run started on YouTube rather than with a big promo budget, and November will show whether a new song can hold that momentum.

Sources: Segye Ilbo, Oct. 25, Melon Top 100 (checked 4 a.m. KST, Oct. 26)

TWS Sets Nov. 2 Comeback With ‘Call My Name’

TWS revealed the tracklist for its second single “TO US”: the title track “Nae Ireumeul Bulleojwo” (“Call My Name”) plus “WE UP” and “heavy,” with the release set for Nov. 2. Members Youngjae, Shinyu and Dohoon co-wrote the title track’s lyrics as a message to their fandom, 42. A title track addressed straight to the fandom works as a thank-you note and a streaming rally at the same time.

Source: Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 25