Kaleidoscope 2025: 6 Viral Events in the K-pop Industry This Year

KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

JAKARTA - The K-pop industry has always experienced ups and downs and reap new stories every year. Although this industry has successfully produced various new talents, it is not uncommon to be colored with new conflicts.

Starting from the new chapter of NewJeans with ADOR, EXO-CBX with SM Entertainment to the latest Ju Haknyeon with ONE HUNDRED agency.

In addition, various moments from the world of K-pop went viral and were discussed globally - proving that this industry always has its own place for music lovers.

Here are the 6 most talked about K-pop industry events this year:

NewJeans vs ADOR

The feud between NewJeans and ADOR entered a new phase. This year, ADOR, as the label of NewJeans, sued the court for the validity of the NewJeans member contract. They sued after the five members announced their group name, NJZ. The court granted the validity so that the members were not allowed to promote with another name. After a few months, Hyein and Haerin were confirmed to return to ADOR.

This week, ADOR announced that Hanni would return to ADOR along with Minji in the discussion stage. Even so, they stated that the exclusive contract with Danielle ended and they would sue Danielle's family for being the cause of misunderstandings between members and ADOR. The Danielle family itself has not responded to this.

CBX vs SM Entertainment

EXO-CBX or Chen, Baekhyun, Xiumin is still in conflict with their previous agency, SM Entertainment. After mutual lawsuits in 2024, CBX stated that they intend to join the EXO's new album promotion plan in 2026, but they said the agency asked for fees from individual results with unreasonable numbers.

The court also rejected CBX's lawsuit against SM regarding the unfair distribution of results. Then SM responded by stating that they were not paid by the CBX agency which was a requirement. SM also stated that EXO would start promotions from December.

Ju Haknyeon vs THE BOYZ vs ONE HUNDRED

Another one, Ju Haknyeon who was expelled from the group THE BOYZ by the agency ONE HUNDRED. Haknyeon was expelled after photos of him with former vulgar artists in Japan circulated on social media. Ju Haknyeon said the two were just good friends, but the agency said the action could harm THE BOYZ.

Ju Haknyeon also denied that he was a prostitute and planned to sue his agency. He accused his agency of unilaterally breaking up and asking for compensation with a large number.

KPop Demon Hunters

The KPop film Demon Hunters has shaken the world since its release last June. Directed by Maggie Kang, this animated film has managed to create a new pop culture until KPop is known worldwide. Starting from the story, the characters, the voice, this film has everything to be celebrated.

The film's soundtrack became the first film to perch on Billboard and compete with singers. KPop Demon Hunters also received five Grammy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations. Currently, the KPop Demon Hunters film is the most watched film on Netflix.

"Good Goodbye" Viral

Hwasa's latest song, Good Goodbye, went viral. Even though it was released some time ago, the momentum was found after she performed the song at the 2025 Blue Dragon Film Awards. At that time, actor Park Jeong Min who was the model for the music video came up on stage and imitated the music video which made netizens happy.

The song Good Goodbye has now reached number one on the South Korean music charts and has achieved Perfect All Kill repeatedly for being number one in various places.

EXO Returns to the Stage

According to SM's statement, EXO will return to the stage this December. Starting with the song First Snow, which regularly ranks on the music charts until EXO's return, they will hold a fan meeting. They also performed at the 2025 Melon Music Awards after 8 years of performing hit songs in a six-member format and received positive responses for consistency in appearance and voice.

EXO is also scheduled to release a new album titled REVERXE on January 19, 2026 with six members, namely Kai, Sehun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Suho, and Lay.