SM Entertainment girl group aespa will drop a new EP and boy band Riize will release a full-length album in the first half of this year, their agency said Tuesday.

K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment unveiled its roadmap for the first half of this year on the same day, teasing the releases of SM Entertainment artists’ special collaborative tracks and their individual albums as well.


To celebrate the 30th anniversary of its foundation, SM Entertainment will release a celebratory album, “The Culture, The Future,” on Friday. The album, led by “Thank You,” consists of 17 songs, most of which are SM Entertainment’s past hits remade by younger artists.

Riize’s remade version of TVXQ’s “Hug” (2004) and NCT Wish's take on Super Junior’s “Miracle” (2005) were preleased in January.

SM Entertainment also announced the schedules for its artists’ returns.

Girl group aespa will release an EP and boy band Riize will drop its first full-length album. NCT Wish is also set to release an EP, according to SM Entertainment.

The veteran boy band SHINee will release a new single and embark on a world tour. Boy band WayV is set to release an EP and embark on its first concert tour.

SM Entertainment’s rookie girl group Hearts2Hearts will make its debut with the single “The Chase” on Feb. 24 and release another single in the second quarter of this year.

Solo artists and unit groups are also set to come back.

Red Velvet’s Seulgi, NCT’s Ten and virtual singer naevis will release new music in March. EXO’s Kai and members Mark and Doyoung of NCT will release their solo albums afterward.

Super Junior’s unit group L.S.S. will drop a Japanese single, and Red Velvet’s unit duo Irene and Seulgi is set to return after five years with a new EP, according to SM Entertainment’s roadmap.

SM Entertainment’s agencywide concert series “SMTOWN Live,” which kicked off with two concerts in Seoul on Jan. 11 and 12, is set to continue in Mexico City on May 9, Los Angeles on May 11, followed by London on June 28 and two concerts in Tokyo on Aug. 9 and 10.

Jointly organized by SM Classics and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the “SM Classics Live 2025” will take place on Friday at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall in southern Seoul and on Saturday at the Lotte Concert Hall in southern Seoul.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]