2026 Is the Year of Rookie Boy Groups

After years of girl groups running K-pop, 2026 is shaping up to be the year boys take the industry back. SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and two of K-pop's most influential producers are all racing to debut new male acts simultaneously, a convergence that hasn't happened in more than a decade.

SM Entertainment: SMTR25 and the ‘Reply High School’ Playbook

SM Entertainment is introducing its new boy group through 15 trainees collectively known as SMTR25 (이에스엠티알25). The group is being unveiled gradually through Reply High School, a Mnet reality series that premiered February 13, 2026. Directed by Shin Hyo-jung of eggiscoming, the time-slip show places all 15 trainees inside a fictional school called Ujeong High, where they experience K-culture across three eras: the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

The 15 members confirmed so far: Hanbi, Songha, Daniel, Hyunjun, Hamin, Jaewon, Woolin, Nicholas, Kassho, Justin, Haruta, Sadaharu, Charlie, Kachin, and Tata. SM has also confirmed it will use artificial intelligence to help select songs for the group's debut activities, a first for the agency.

This will be SM's first new male act in three years, since RIIZE debuted in 2023. That group has since become one of the agency's most commercially successful recent acts. The pressure on SMTR25 is real, and the label knows it.

Lee Soo-man: His First Group Since NCT

Lee Soo-man (이수만) founded SM Entertainment in 1995 and built the training system behind H.O.T., TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, EXO, and NCT. When he sold his SM shares to HYBE in 2023, he agreed to a three-year non-compete clause barring him from operating in Korea. That restriction expired last month. He is now moving fast.

Lee’s new boy group, being prepared through A2O Entertainment, will consist mainly of Korean and Chinese members and is expected to debut in the first half of 2026, targeting both domestic and global audiences. An industry source told The Korea Herald: “The group will target not only the Korean market but also global audiences.”

For longtime SM fans, often called “Pink Bloods,” Lee’s return carries a specific weight. SM under current leadership has moved away from the musical identity Lee built. His new project is being watched as a direct response: proof that his era of idol-making still has legs. This will be his first new boy group since NCT debuted in 2016, making it one of the most anticipated launches in recent K-pop history.

For more background on Lee’s return to the industry, read our coverage of Lee Soo-man’s comeback to K-pop.

YG Entertainment: Six Years Since Treasure

YG Entertainment is also preparing a new boy group, its first since TREASURE debuted in 2020. Founder Yang Hyun-suk confirmed the plan in an official video published to YG’s YouTube channel on March 4, 2026, announcing the group is targeting a fall 2026 debut. No further details about members or concept have been disclosed.

YG has been unusually quiet on the boy group front since TREASURE. The six-year gap is the longest in the company’s history between male debut acts. While BIGBANG and BABYMONSTER dominate the agency’s 2026 calendar, the new boy group announcement signals that YG is building for the next decade, not just the next quarter.

ADOR vs. Ooak Records: A Rivalry Is Born

The subplot that makes 2026 genuinely fascinating is the Min Hee-jin angle. Min, the former CEO of ADOR and creative director behind NewJeans, had a very public and very messy falling out with HYBE in 2024. She is now running her own label, Ooak Records, and she is building a boy group there.

At the same time, ADOR itself has announced the “2026 Ador Boys Global Audition,” spanning 11 cities. Male applicants born after 2007 are eligible regardless of nationality or residence. ADOR has framed the search as discovery-focused, looking for raw talent over polished trainees, mirroring the approach used to form NewJeans. It is impossible to miss who they are implicitly competing against.

If both Min Hee-jin’s Ooak Records group and ADOR’s boy group debut around the same time in 2026 or 2027, the narrative writes itself. Two camps, one ideological split, same talent pool. K-pop has not had a rivalry story this compelling in years.

Why Now?

K-pop’s girl group era was not an accident. IVE, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, and BABYMONSTER collectively dominated charts and streaming from 2022 through 2025. Industry investment followed the returns. Boy groups that debuted in those years had a harder time breaking through a saturated market.

But the dynamics are shifting. BTS’s return from mandatory military service has reignited global demand for Korean male acts. Stray Kids and SEVENTEEN have held the fort, but neither SM nor YG has a new male flagship for the next generation. That gap is the opportunity every agency is now moving to fill.

The question is not whether 2026 produces a major new boy group. The question is which one breaks out first, and which of these industry titans proves they still know how to launch one.