MANILA - Korean pop legends BIGBANG will be performing in this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, their agency confirmed Friday.
YG Entertainment posted a photo of the lineup for this year's music festival, with BIGBANG performing on April 10 and 17.
Korean hip-hop group Epik High will also perform in Coachella on April 12 and 19.
The group's upcoming performance in Coachella marks the end of their four-year hiatus as the members have fulfilled their military service.
Member T.O.P was discharged in July 2019, followed by G-Dragon in October, and Daesung and Taeyang in November.
BIGBANG was originally a 5-man group but member Seungri left the band and retired from the music industry in March after he was accused of sex bribery.
BIGBANG, which debuted in 2006, often topped the South Korean music charts and gained a huge following before members began to enter mandatory military service in 2017.
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SEOUL - K-pop star Jung Joon-young has been arrested, hours after he apologized for filming and distributing illicit sex videos, in a scandal that has rocked South Korea's entertainment industry.
The singer-songwriter last week admitted to filming himself having sex and sharing the footage without his partners' consent.
The videos of at least 10 women were shared through mobile chat rooms in 2015 with recipients including fellow K-pop star Seungri of BIGBANG.
The Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant late Thursday, hours after Jung appeared at a hearing and apologized for committing "unforgivable crimes", the South's Yonhap news agency reported.
"I am sorry. I made a big and inexcusable mistake, and I admit my guilt," he said.
"I will live my days repenting for the sins."
Following the hearing, the 30-year-old was led away in handcuffs and taken to a police station to await the court's decision on the warrant.
Jung announced his retirement from the entertainment industry last week and two other male singers have also quit after admitting they watched the illicit videos.
South Korea has been battling a growing epidemic of so-called "molka", or spycam videos -- mostly of women, secretly filmed by men in schools, toilets and offices.
"Revenge porn" -- videos taken of sexual relations without the partner's consent -- is believed to be equally widespread.
Thousands of women protested in Seoul last year on several occasions against the videos as part of the country's growing #MeToo movement.
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SEOUL -- South Korean police questioned two K-pop stars on Thursday as allegations of sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape rocked South Korea's music world and hit entertainment stocks.
The allegations against the boyish stars who epitomize an industry that has put South Korean pop culture on the global stage has triggered a blame game with accusations the business has neglected morality in the lust for fame and fortune.
Singer Lee Seung-hyun, 28, better known by the stage name Seungri, is suspected of paying for prostitutes for foreign businessmen to drum up investment in his business.
He denies any wrongdoing and said he would cooperate with a police investigation when he arrived at Seoul's Metropolitan Police Agency.
"I am sorry to the nation and everyone who has been hurt," Lee told reporters. He did not elaborate.
Police have said Lee, a member of the group Big Bang and nicknamed South Korea's "Great Gatsby" for his lavish lifestyle, is suspected of what is known as "sexual bribery."
Lee said on Monday he was leaving the entertainment industry to fight the accusations.
Another singer and television celebrity, Jung Joon-young, is also in trouble.
Jung admitted on Wednesday to having shared videos he secretly took while having sex with women. He appeared at the same police station earlier on Thursday to help police with an investigation into suspicions he distributed the videos.
Jung's agency, MAKEUS Entertainment, has terminated his contract and he has been barred from leaving the country while police question him.
Lawyers for Jung could not be reached for comment.
Lee and Jung were both members of online chat groups where secret sex tapes were shared, and men joked about drugging and raping women, according to the broadcaster SBS.
A third performer, Yong Jun-hyung, expressed remorse in a post on Instagram about watching a sex video shared by Jung, and making inappropriate comments on it.
"I was stupid," he said, while denying he made or shared any illegal recordings.
Yong's agency, Around US Entertainment, said he would quit the boyband Highlight "to prevent the group's reputation from being damaged."
K-pop had largely escaped scandals as South Korea's anti-sexual harassment #MeToo movement ensnared political, sports, and other figures.
But that's clearly changing.
'WALKING TIME BOMB'
Industry commentators have taken aim at the business managers, notorious for demanding the strictest of training regimes and controlling every aspect of young stars' lives.
The focus on finding the winning song and dance formula came at the cost of the performers' "moral education," said entertainment commentator Ha Jae-keun, adding that many companies covered up problems until it was too late.
"If the agencies do not give sufficient care to their stars, including education and stress management, they will end up raising walking time bombs," said another industry commentator, Kim Sung-soo.
The South Korean public is demanding action and selling shares in the industry.
A petition calling on the president to crack down on predatory and corrupt practices the scandals have exposed has gathered more than 200,000 signatures.
Shares of Lee's agency, YG Entertainment, fell more than 20 percent after his sex bribery scandal was first reported on Feb. 26, while shares of other top music companies have also taken hits.
YG said on Wednesday it would terminate Lee's contract at his request. A company source told Reuters the future of Big Bang as a group had not been decided.
But some fans are already walking away.
"What a scumbag. I am ashamed to say I used to be a Big Bang fan," said Jenny Eusden, an English teacher in South Korea.
"I just want people to know this is not OK."
Kaori Kuwabara, a 52-year-old Japanese fan of Big Bang, said YG Entertainment should explain.
"My friends told me that I should stop being a fan of K-pop," she said as she waited outside the company's office in Seoul, hoping to put her demand for answers to company officials.]\
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