JYP Entertainment issued a statement on the 1st that ITZY, which got a lot of attention all over the world will be having a debut in the Japanese music market with the help of Warner Music Japan."

Moreover, in response to the strong support from local fans, the Japanese digital album 'Watts ITZY' (Watts ITZY) was released at 00:00 on the 1st and the official Japanese site was opened. The album contains title songs that achieved 5 consecutive hits, starting with the debut song 'Dalla Dalla', 'ICy', 'Wannabe', 'Not Shay', and 'Mafia in the Morning'.  The news about ITZY 's Japanese debut will be available in a sequence that will be uploaded on their official site. While their first full-length album 'Crazy in Love', which will be released New news about ITZY's Japanese debut will be released sequentially through the official site, and the first full-length album 'Crazy in Love', which will be released on September 24, can also be found as a physical album locally.

Even before their Japanese debut, ITZY captured a lot of attention from several local media and also bagged the Twitter trend rankings.  Thus, 'Gets Who' which was released on April 30th achieved outstanding results that even place #6 on the Japanese Oricon Chart Weekly Album Ranking (2021.05.17~05.23) and placed #5 on the Billboard Japan Download Album Chart in May.

Additionally, ITZY increased the hype atmosphere for their comeback by releasing their scheduler image on their official SNS channel at 00:00 on the 1st in advance before the release of their first full album 'Crazy in Love' and the title song ' Loco' on the 24th. According to the scheduler, the events are as follows; spoiler live on the 5th, the opening trailer will be released on the 6th, the ' Loco' concept image will be uploaded from 7th to 9th, the new tracklist will be available on the 10th, the photobook preview can be found starting from the 13th to the 15th, and the b-side song 's' is readily available on the 16th and 17th. Open the concept image of 'Wife' (swipe). Next, the album spoiler will be released on the 20th, the music video teaser for 'Swipe' will be uploaded on the 21st, the music video teaser for the title song ' Loco' will be available on the 22nd and 23rd, and a comeback at '#OUTNOW' of Naver NOW. While they will open a show and meet the fans. Finally, on the 27 they will release their full music video for the b-side song 'Swipe'. ITZY celebrates the release of its first full-length album by teasing content that contains all its efforts and which will expectedly increase the satisfaction of domestic and foreign fans.

The new song ' Loco' was composed by the popular songwriting team, War of Stars * (GALACTIKA*), who also composed the group's representative song, and the hit songs 'Dalla Dala' and 'Wannabe'.  ITZY will release their newest album 'Crazy in Love' and the title song 'Loco' after about 5 months at 1 pm (00:00 EST) on the 24th, and has a goal for the music industry in the second half of 2021.

Seo Ye Ji is facing major backlash after her surprising appearance on SNL Korea 7.

On April 12, Seo Ye Ji made her long-awaited return to variety shows by guest-starring on Coupang Play's SNL Korea Season 7.

Before the show started, she made jaws drop by joking, "I'll gaslight the SNL crew and make it fun," referencing her own past controversies.

During the "Seo Ye GPT" segment, Seo Ye Ji played an AI that helped Kim Won Hoon nail a company presentation. She then made a sharp comment, saying, "The truly embarrassing thing is sitting quietly and being talked about behind your back. I've experienced that a lot," hinting at the criticism she’s faced.

In the "Eve Hair Salon" skit, Seo Ye Ji acted as a salon director and joked about her past "Kim Ddak Ddak" scandal, where she was accused of controlling her then-boyfriend Kim Jung Hyun. When a character mentioned her stiff neck, she responded, "It's firm," making everyone laugh but also stirring mixed feelings.

Fans were shocked to see Seo Ye Ji using her past scandals as comedy material, especially since it’s been eight years since her last variety show appearance. Many pointed out that joking about serious accusations like gaslighting and academic fraud might have gone too far.

The controversy over Seo Ye Ji’s education also came back into the spotlight. She had previously claimed she studied abroad in Spain, but in 2021 it was revealed she never actually attended the university she mentioned.

Her agency explained she was accepted but didn’t attend because of her career in Korea, but many netizens weren’t convinced.

On SNL Korea, Seo Ye Ji even played a character who lied about her past to impress a boyfriend, making fans think of her real-life academic background scandal.

After the episode aired, reactions online exploded. Some comments included, "Falsifying academic background is a crime," "This was too much," "It was funny though," "Let’s forgive it since it’s black comedy," and "Why was Seo Ye Ji the first guest?"

Seo Ye Ji’s bold jokes have definitely split public opinion, with some calling it brave and others saying it only reopened old wounds.

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