K-pop News Today (Nov 3, 2026): BIGBANG Make History in Sydney, TWS Return With ‘TO US’, RESCENE’s Comeback Day

Here’s a fan confession to start your Tuesday: I’ve been grinning since I read the Sydney headlines. BIGBANG became the first K-pop group to headline Sydney’s Accor Stadium, TWS and TREASURE both came back last night, and RESCENE return this evening with five older songs still sitting in the Melon TOP100. Here are the stories K-pop fans were talking about on Nov. 2.

BIGBANG Become the First K-pop Group to Headline Sydney’s Accor Stadium

BIGBANG played Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Oct. 31 on their 20th-anniversary world tour “XX : COSMOS,” and YG Entertainment said on Nov. 2 that they are the first K-pop group to headline the venue, a stadium that has hosted Taylor Swift and Coldplay. It was also their first solo concert in Sydney in 11 years, since 2015. The set opened with “FANTASTIC BABY,” “HANDS UP” and “TONIGHT,” ran through “LOSER,” “Haru Haru,” “Lies” and “BANG BANG BANG” along with solo stages, the new song “BiiiG” and fireworks. “We’re finally back. Thanks to V.I.P, we were able to reach our 20th anniversary,” the group told fans. Next up are two nights at Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium on Nov. 7 and 8 (the second added because of demand), part of a 39-show, 19-city tour, and “BiiiG” was at No. 30 on the Melon TOP100 when we checked. Twenty years in and still breaking first-time records: that’s the BIGBANG V.I.P have always believed in.

Sources: Yonhap, Nov. 2, JTBC, Nov. 2, Maxmovie, Nov. 2, Melon TOP100 (checked 4:53 a.m. KST, Nov. 3)

Also read: K-pop News Today (Oct 27, 2026): IVE's EP Drop, ILLIT 'You're Under Arrest', LISA's 59M

TWS Release ‘TO US’ and the ‘Call My Name’ MV

TWS released their second single album “TO US” on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. KST, with the title track “Call My Name” (“내 이름을 불러줘”) plus “WE UP” and “heavy.” The music video, shot around Yeouido and Hongdae, follows the six members through scenes of doubt and dares, including Hanjin climbing the outside wall of a building while the others cheer him on, before a crosswalk group dance at the climax. Shinyu, Dohoon and Youngjae co-wrote the lyrics, and Youngjae described the song as “an answer to 42’s call.” The MV had 1,529,029 views on HYBE LABELS about 11 hours after release, and the group starts music-show promotions on KBS’s “Music Bank” on Nov. 6. With youngest member Kyungmin now an adult too, the boys traded their school uniforms for a darker, grown-up look this time, and they did it with a song written straight to their fans.

Sources: Top Star News, Nov. 2, Sports Kyunghyang, Nov. 2, YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

RESCENE Return Today With ‘PULSE’ as Five of Their Songs Sit in the Melon TOP100

RESCENE (Woni, Liv, Minami, May and Zena) release their fourth mini album “PULSE” today, Nov. 3, at 6 p.m. KST, led by the title track “With,” a song about running toward the voice calling your name and finally meeting the person you have dreamed of. The five-track album is their first physical release in about a year, since “lip bomb” in November 2025. They arrive with momentum few groups have on comeback day: at 4:53 a.m. KST, “LOVE ATTACK” was No. 4 on the Melon TOP100, “Deja Vu” No. 7 and “Pretty Girl” No. 10, with “Runaway” (No. 48) and “Pinball” (No. 69) also on the chart. “LOVE ATTACK” reached No. 1 on Melon in July, almost two years after its 2024 release, and Zena’s Chuseok trot medley video passed 20 million views on Nov. 1. The “With” MV teaser had 1,740,590 views when we checked. A group that the internet fell in love with through variety clips now gets to show everyone what a brand-new RESCENE song sounds like.

Sources: Edaily, Nov. 2, Etoday, Nov. 2, Melon TOP100 (checked 4:53 a.m. KST, Nov. 3), YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

TREASURE Drop ‘SHOCK’ With a Nod to 1TYM’s ‘Hot 뜨거’

TREASURE released the digital single “SHOCK” on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. KST, an electronic hip-hop track with fast synths, a chant-like “Shock Shock!” hook and a late “Got 기세 기세 기세” build. The song interpolates “Hot 뜨거,” the signature hit of YG Entertainment’s own hip-hop pioneers 1TYM, and follows June’s fourth mini album “NEW WAV” and its title track “IF I.” “We want to give our fans a positive shock, like the title says,” the members said. The MV reached 5,372,848 views on the group’s official channel about 11 hours after release. Passing the YG hip-hop torch from 1TYM to TREASURE is the kind of lineage moment longtime YG fans live for.

Sources: Xportsnews, Nov. 2, OSEN, Nov. 2, YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

ILLIT Set a New First-Week High With ‘BREAK EVEN’

ILLIT’s fifth mini album “BREAK EVEN” sold 444,072 copies in its first week (Oct. 26 to Nov. 1), according to Hanteo Chart figures reported Nov. 2. That beats the 411,654 copies of their previous mini “MAMIHLAPINATAPAI” and is the group’s best first week yet, continuing a run of new highs with each album. The title track “You’re Under Arrest” (“체포하겠어”), with its whistle hook, has peaked at No. 3 on the Melon TOP100 and was at No. 5 when we checked, and the MV had 17,124,505 views. Every album bigger than the last: GLLIT have a lot to be proud of this week.

Sources: Sports World, Nov. 2, Melon TOP100 (checked 4:53 a.m. KST, Nov. 3), YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

BTS Played to 853,000 Fans Across Latin America

Big Hit Music’s final tally for the Latin American leg of BTS’s “ARIRANG” world tour, reported Nov. 2: 14 sold-out shows in five cities and 853,000 fans, from Bogotá on Oct. 2 through Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires to São Paulo on Oct. 31 (local time). It was BTS’s first full-group show in Colombia and Argentina, their first-ever visit to Peru, and a return to Chile and Brazil after nine and seven years. A survey in La Plata, where the Buenos Aires shows took place, found that 96% of the audience came from outside the city and more than 130,000 people visited for the first time. “What we received here moved us so much that we want to come back soon to give it back,” the members said. Asia is next, and ARMY there are already counting down.

Sources: Joy News 24, Nov. 2

MMA 2026 Goes Two Days on Nov. 14–15, and MAMA Heads to Osaka

The Melon Music Awards will run over two days for the first time this year, Nov. 14 and 15 at 6 p.m. KST at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome, with 26 acts performing: NCT DREAM, ATEEZ, YENA, RIIZE, TWS, RESCENE, Hearts2Hearts, I.O.I and aespa on day one, and IVE, KiiiKiii, CORTIS, NCT 127, PLAVE, NCT WISH, ILLIT and ALPHA DRIVE ONE on day two, among others. BTS, AKMU, I.O.I, IVE, ILLIT, KiiiKiii and CORTIS are nominated in all three main categories (Artist, Album and Best Song of the Year), and category voting runs until Nov. 13. The 2026 MAMA Awards follow on Nov. 20 and 21 at Kyocera Dome Osaka, where BIGBANG will perform on day two alongside a collaboration stage with the cartoon character Dooly. Two awards weekends in a row: fandoms, charge your phones.

Sources: Financial News, Nov. 2

SEVENTEEN’s JEONGHAN X JOSHUA Open Their First Unit Tour for 25,000 Fans

JEONGHAN X JOSHUA held “JOURNEY INTO [DREAMING]” at Incheon’s Inspire Arena from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, playing to about 25,000 people on site, with livestream viewers in 67 countries and regions. The duo performed every song from their first mini album “DREAMSCAPE,” reworked SEVENTEEN songs like “Rock with you” in unit style and surprised the crowd with “Very Nice,” while Jeonghan played keyboard and Joshua electric guitar. “It felt like a dream, just like the title,” Joshua said. “DREAMSCAPE” sold 804,949 copies in its first week and topped Oricon’s weekly album chart, and the tour continues at Saitama’s Belluna Dome on Nov. 21 and 22, then Macau, Taipei, Busan and Hong Kong. Two members, one stage, and CARAT still got the full SEVENTEEN warmth.

Sources: Etoday, Nov. 2, Newsis, Nov. 2

RIIZE’s ‘Insomnia’ Tops Melon’s Global K-Chart for a Full Week

RIIZE’s “Insomnia,” released Oct. 26, was No. 1 on Melon’s Global K-Chart (which combines Melon, Tencent Music and LINE MUSIC data) every day for seven days and also took the weekly top spot, according to results reported Nov. 2. In China it passed 500,000 yuan in digital sales on QQ Music for a double gold certification, and it hit No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart in seven regions including Argentina, Chile, Brazil and the Philippines. The acoustic, guitar-led song puts the members’ vocals front and center, and the MV had 13,652,147 views when we checked. A quieter song than BRIIZE are used to, and it still went No. 1: that’s a group trusting its voices.

Sources: Tenasia, Nov. 2, YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

j-hope’s ‘MONA LISA’ MV Passes 100 Million Views

The music video for j-hope’s digital single “MONA LISA” passed 100 million YouTube views at around 5:50 a.m. KST on Nov. 2, making it his fourth music video to reach the mark, and it stood at 100,281,992 when we checked. The hip-hop R&B track about losing your heart to someone irresistible is set in an art museum, with the sharp, fluid choreography fans love him for. A hundred million views while he is on the road with BTS: j-hope’s solo light keeps shining.

Sources: Insight, Nov. 2, MBC News, Nov. 2, YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

xikers Come Back With ‘DIENAMITE,’ Their First Self-Produced Title Track

xikers released their eighth mini album “ROUTE ZERO : The CALLING” on Nov. 2, five months after their last mini, with the punk-rock title track “DIENAMITE” and five more songs. Leader Minjae wrote, composed and arranged the title song, the first xikers title track he has produced himself, and explained that he twisted “dynamite” into “DIE” to say “let’s give the stage everything we have,” echoing their earlier title “DO or DIE.” The official MV had 1,124,647 views about 11 hours after release. Ten members, one guitar riff and a leader writing their anthem himself: roadys, this one’s for you.

Sources: Sidae Ilbo, Nov. 2, My Daily, Nov. 2, YouTube views checked 4:54 a.m. KST, Nov. 3

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RESCENE’s “With” drops at 6 p.m. tonight, TWS hit their first music show on Friday and BIGBANG land in Bangkok this weekend. I’ll be refreshing the charts with you. See you tomorrow.

Featured photo: BIGBANG’s G-Dragon at a photo call, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: K-POPIT (Tenasia) via YouTube/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized).