IVE, Illit, RIIZE collide as October K-pop comeback race heats up

More than a dozen K-pop acts release new music in October, with IVE, ILLIT and RIIZE converging on Oct. 26. Earlier releases include KickFlip, NCT WISH, PLAVE, Xdinary Heroes and MEOVV on Oct. 12, followed by NMIXX, IVE, Lisa and BABYMONSTER. The month also features new projects from AND2BLE and XLOV.

ILLIT will release its fifth mini album, “BREAK EVEN,” at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26, following “It's Me,” which peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

IVE will release “Looks Can Kill” on Oct. 26 after a prerelease track on Oct. 19, marking its first album in about eight months.

RIIZE will release a prologue single on Oct. 26 ahead of its second full-length album, due next spring.

PLAVE began its first world tour, “KEEP IT MANIC,” at Incheon Munhak Stadium last month.

AND2BLE's debut album sold over 730,000 copies in its first week, while XLOV's “I, God” exceeded 200,000 first-week sales.

Published Oct 6, 2026 12:41 pm KST

Updated Oct 6, 2026 6:18 pm KST

NMIXX, BLACKPINK's Lisa, BABYMONSTER, NCT WISH also crowd packed month

K-pop girl group IVE / Courtesy of Starship Entertainment

The Asian Games and the Chuseok holiday have come and gone, and the air has finally turned crisp with the arrival of autumn, but K-pop's race to the top of the charts is running as hot as ever. October brings more than a dozen notable releases, building to a single day on Oct. 26 when three of the industry's biggest names put out new music at once.

Before then, the calendar fills with quick returns from rising groups, a virtual idol act fresh off its first stadium show and a new solo EP from BLACKPINK's Lisa.

BLACKPINK's Lisa poses with the Best Pop award for "Dream," featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 27. Reuters-Yonhap

KickFlip, one of JYP Entertainment's youngest boy groups, returns on Tuesday with the mini album "KICK OFF THE WALL Pt. 1," about six months after "My First Kick" in April. The eight-track album is led by the double title tracks "Puzzle Piece" and "Kick Off The Wall," featuring U.S. rapper iann dior, with every member taking part in writing all the songs.

Oct. 12 is the month's first crowded evening. NCT WISH of SM Entertainment releases its fourth mini album, "I SPY," with six tracks led by the title track of the same name. It comes about six months after the group's first full-length album, "Ode to Love," which made it a million seller for the third straight release.

K-pop boy band NCT WISH / Courtesy of SM Entertainment

Virtual boy group PLAVE arrives the same evening with its fifth mini album, "HYPERDRIVE," with the physical album following a day later. The quintet kicked off its first world tour, "KEEP IT MANIC," at Incheon Munhak Stadium last month.

JYP's rock band Xdinary Heroes also returns on Oct. 12 with the seven-track mini album "IMPULSE," led by "Obsessed with Youth." It is the band's first release since leader and drummer Gunil left the group . THE BLACK LABEL's girl group MEOVV joins the same day with the single "GO HARD," about four months after its second EP, "BITE NOW."

Sung Han-bin, formerly of project boy group ZEROBASEONE, makes his solo debut the same evening with his first EP, "DEAD:ALIVE," about three years after his debut.

K-pop girl group NMIXX / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment

Mid-month contenders

NMIXX releases its sixth EP, "Strange Muse," on Oct. 19. The six-track album is led by "Birthday Wish" and includes the group's first unit songs, with all six members credited as lyricists. The group will close its first world tour with encore shows at Inspire Arena in Incheon from Nov. 27-29.

Starship Entertainment's IVE also drops a prerelease track the same day ahead of its mini album "Looks Can Kill" on Oct. 26. It will be the group's first album in about eight months, since the full-length "REVIVE+" in February. Starship has built the release around a cinema concept, teasing it with projection mapping on Seoul high-rises and film-style posters across the Seongsu neighborhood.

BLACKPINK's Lisa follows on Oct. 23 with "PRESS PLAY," a six-track EP led by "SaWaDiKa," which came out early last month. That single was her first solo music since her first full-length album, "Alter Ego," in February 2025.

YG Entertainment's BABYMONSTER announced Tuesday that it will release a new song at 1 p.m. on Oct. 23. No further details beyond the date have been revealed. The release comes about four months after the digital single "SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA," as the group continues its second world tour, "CHOOM."

From left are K-pop girl group ILLIT members Yoona, Minju, Wonhee and Iroha. ILLIT has been active as a four-member group since June, when Moka halted activities to focus on her health. Courtesy of Belift Lab

HYBE's girl group Illit releases its fifth mini album, "BREAK EVEN," at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26. The title, according to Belift Lab, borrows the economic term for a state of neither loss nor gain, with the album built around a refusal to keep pouring effort into a relationship that gives nothing back. It follows "It's Me," which peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group warms up with encore concerts at Inspire Arena on Oct. 17 and 18.

IVE's "Looks Can Kill" lands the same day, as does a new release from RIIZE of SM Entertainment. The six-piece boy band will put out a prologue single for its second full-length album, which is due next spring. The group revealed the plan at its third-anniversary fan meeting at Inspire Arena in September, which drew about 23,000 fans over two days.

K-pop boy group RIIZE performs during its third-anniversary fan meeting, "Ch. RIIZE : ON AIR," at Inspire Arena in Incheon, Sept. 12. The two-day event drew about 23,000 fans, and a video played after the show revealed the group's upcoming plans. Courtesy of SM Entertainment

AND2BLE, which brings together four former ZEROBASEONE members, follows a day later with its second mini album, "Sequence 02: Attraction," on Oct. 27. The quintet's debut album, "Sequence 01: Curiosity," sold over 730,000 copies in its first week, ranking among the four highest first-week totals for a K-pop group's debut album.

Gender-free boy band XLOV closes the month on Oct. 28 with its third mini album, "i=!," about five months after "I, God" in May. "I, God" also sold over 200,000 copies in its first week, a personal best for the group, which debuted in January 2025.

十多组韩国流行音乐组合将于10月发布新歌，其中IVE、ILLIT和RIIZE将于10月26日同步发行。此前，KickFlip、NCT WISH、PLAVE、Xdinary Heroes和MEOVV已于10月12日发布新歌，随后NMIXX、IVE、Lisa和BABYMONSTER也将陆续推出新作。此外，AND2BLE和XLOV也将在本月发布新作品。

ILLIT 将于 10 月 26 日下午 6 点发行第五张迷你专辑《BREAK EVEN》，此前他们的单曲《It's Me》曾登上 Billboard Hot 100 排行榜第 38 位。

IVE 将于 10 月 26 日发行专辑《Looks Can Kill》，此前将于 10 月 19 日发布一首预热单曲，这将是他们近八个月以来的首张专辑。

RIIZE 将于 10 月 26 日发行首支单曲，为其明年春季即将发行的第二张完整专辑预热。

PLAVE 上个月在仁川文鹤体育场开始了其首次世界巡回演唱会“KEEP IT MANIC”。

AND2BLE 的首张专辑首周销量超过 73 万张，而 XLOV 的《I, God》首周销量超过 20 万张。

发布于2026年10月6日下午12:41（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年10月6日 下午6:18（韩国标准时间）

NMIXX、BLACKPINK的Lisa、BABYMONSTER、NCT WISH等艺人也在这个月人山人海。

韩国流行女子组合IVE / 图片由Starship Entertainment提供

亚运会和中秋节假期已然落幕，秋意渐浓，空气也终于变得清爽宜人，但K-pop的榜单争夺战却依然白热化。10月将有十几首重磅新歌发布，最终在10月26日这一天，三位业界巨星将同时推出全新作品。

在此之前，日程表上将排满新晋组合的快速回归、刚刚结束首场体育场演出的虚拟偶像组合以及 BLACKPINK 成员 Lisa 的全新个人迷你专辑。

9月27日，BLACKPINK成员Lisa在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶举行的2026年MTV音乐录影带大奖颁奖典礼上，手捧凭借歌曲《Dream》（与坂口健太郎合作）获得的“最佳流行音乐奖”奖杯。（路透社-韩联社）

JYP娱乐旗下最年轻的男子组合之一KickFlip将于周二携迷你专辑《KICK OFF THE WALL Pt. 1》回归，距离他们四月份发行的《My First Kick》已过去了大约六个月。这张包含八首歌曲的专辑以双主打歌《Puzzle Piece》和与美国说唱歌手iann dior合作的《Kick Off The Wall》为主打，所有歌曲均由成员参与创作。

10月12日是本月第一个热闹的夜晚。SM娱乐旗下的NCT WISH将发行第四张迷你专辑《I SPY》，共收录六首歌曲，主打歌也与专辑同名。这张专辑距离该组合的首张正规专辑《Ode to Love》发行约六个月，《Ode to Love》是他们连续第三张销量突破百万的专辑。

韩国男子组合NCT WISH / 图片由SM娱乐公司提供

虚拟男团PLAVE当晚携第五张迷你专辑《HYPERDRIVE》回归，实体专辑将于次日发行。这支五人组合上个月在仁川文鹤体育场开启了他们的首次世界巡回演唱会“KEEP IT MANIC”。

JYP旗下摇滚乐队Xdinary Heroes也将于10月12日携七首歌曲的迷你专辑《IMPULSE》回归，主打歌为《Obsessed with Youth》。这是乐队自队长兼鼓手Gunil离队后的首张作品。THE BLACK LABEL旗下的女子组合MEOVV也将于同日发行单曲《GO HARD》，距离她们的第二张迷你专辑《BITE NOW》发行已过去了约四个月。

曾是企划男团 ZEROBASEONE 成员的成韩彬，在出道约三年后，于当晚发行了他的首张迷你专辑《DEAD:ALIVE》，正式以个人身份出道。

韩国女子组合NMIXX / 图片由JYP娱乐公司​​提供

月中竞争者

NMIXX将于10月19日发行第六张迷你专辑《Strange Muse》。这张包含六首歌曲的专辑以《Birthday Wish》为主打歌，收录了组合的首支小分队歌曲，所有六位成员均参与了作词。组合将于11月27日至29日在仁川Inspire Arena举行安可演唱会，为她们的首次世界巡回演唱会画上圆满的句号。

Starship Entertainment旗下的女子组合IVE也于同一天发布了先行曲，为其将于10月26日发行的迷你专辑《Looks Can Kill》预热。这将是该组合自今年2月发行正规专辑《REVIVE+》以来，时隔约8个月的首张专辑。Starship此次以电影概念为主题进行宣传，通过在首尔摩天大楼上进行投影映射以及在圣水街区张贴电影风格海报等方式进行预热。

BLACKPINK成员Lisa将于10月23日发行迷你专辑《PRESS PLAY》，这张包含六首歌曲的迷你专辑主打歌《SaWaDiKa》已于上月初发行。这首单曲是她自2025年2月发行首张正规专辑《Alter Ego》以来，首次推出个人音乐作品。

YG娱乐旗下的BABYMONSTER周二宣布，将于10月23日下午1点发布新歌。除日期外，尚未公布更多细节。此次新歌发布距离上一首数位单曲《SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA》已过去约四个月，目前该组合正在进行第二次世界巡回演唱会“CHOOM”。

从左至右依次为韩国女子组合ILLIT成员允儿、珉周、元熙和Iroha。自六月Moka暂停活动专注于健康后，ILLIT一直以四人组合的形式活动。图片由Belift Lab提供

HYBE旗下女团Illit将于10月26日下午6点发行第五张迷你专辑《BREAK EVEN》。据Belift Lab介绍，专辑名“BREAK EVEN”借用了经济学术语，意指既无损失也无收益的状态，专辑的主题是拒绝在一段毫无回报的关系中继续付出。这张专辑是继曾登上Billboard Hot 100单曲榜第38位的《It's Me》之后推出的。Illit将于10月17日和18日在Inspire Arena举行加演演唱会，为新专辑预热。

IVE 的《Looks Can Kill》与 SM 娱乐旗下男团 RIIZE 的新歌将于同一天发行。这支六人男团将推出第二张正规专辑的序曲，该专辑预计将于明年春季发行。RIIZE 在九月份于 Inspire Arena 举办的三周年粉丝见面会上公布了这一计划，为期两天的见面会吸引了约 23,000 名粉丝。

韩国男子组合RIIZE于9月12日在仁川Inspire Arena举行出道三周年粉丝见面会“Ch. RIIZE : ON AIR”。为期两天的活动吸引了约23000名粉丝到场，演出结束后播放的视频公布了组合的未来计划。图片由SM娱乐公司提供。

由四位前 ZEROBASEONE 成员组成的 AND2BLE 于 10 月 27 日发行了第二张迷你专辑《Sequence 02: Attraction》，比第一张专辑晚一天。该五人组合的首张专辑《Sequence 01: Curiosity》首周销量超过 73 万张，位列 K-pop 组合出道专辑首周销量最高的四张专辑之一。

无性别男子组合 XLOV 将于 10 月 28 日发行第三张迷你专辑《i=!》，距离他们 5 月份发行的首张专辑《I, God》大约过去了五个月。《I, God》首周销量也突破了 20 万张，创下了该组合的个人最佳成绩。XLOV 于 2025 年 1 月出道。