[K-enter] IU to return to singing Cha Eun-woo to make special appearance

Time for our daily dose of K-enter news with Walter Lee.

Starting off with news on IU!

Superstar IU has announced her return to her main profession, music. On Monday, IU's agency, EDAM Entertainment, stated, "IU is preparing to make a comeback with a new album aimed for release in May", but that's not the only surprise as the agency went onto say, "Cha Eun-woo will be making a special cameo appearance in the music video for her new song."

The two previously worked together on a jewellery brand photoshoot, which sparked a connection between them. This upcoming album will be IU's first release in about a year and three months, following her 6th mini-album "The Winning", which came out in February last year.

IU recently received much praise for her role in the Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines."

Well, as a fan I can't wait for her music and I am sure we will cover it here on the Kulture Wave. Next up we have more K-pop news, what do you have for us?

Dates for NCT DREAM's fourth tour in 2025 have been officially announced. On Tuesday, a tour poster was unveiled through NCT DREAM's official social media channels, revealing when you can see the boys next for their "The Dream Show 4: Dream the Future" tour.

The group will kick off the tour with three concerts from July 10 to 12 at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The tour will then travel to seven cities: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, and Kuala Lumpur.

Last year, NCT DREAM successfully completed their third world tour, THE DREAM SHOW 3, which spanned 37 shows in 25 cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. The group is also set to return this July with a brand-new full-length album.

Lastly moving onto some K-movie news.

Director Hwang Byung-guk's crime thriller "Yadang: The Snitch" has overtaken Bong Joon-ho's Hollywood production "Mickey 17" to become the highest-grossing film of the year domestically. Not only that, on Monday, Yadang became the first R-rated Korean film, or film rated for adults only, to surpass 3 million viewers since "The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil" in 2019.

On Tuesday, distributor Plus M Entertainment reported that "Yadang" had drawn approximately 3.015 million viewers in total. This figure edges past "Mickey 17's" final audience count of around 3.013 million, which had previously held the top spot.

This is a great accomplishment for "Yadang" which has held its lead despite competition from major titles such as "Minecraft: The Movie", "Thunderbolts*" and "Holy Night: Demon Hunters".

Thanks for the K-enter news as always Walter. Stick around as we move on to Ari our AI anchor for more culture news.