2021 is definitely an exciting year for fans of 2nd generation K-Pop groups, especially for male groups with most of the members having completed their mandatory military service as many of them enlisted during the span of last 2 years, returning to their groups and resuming activities as a team.

Here are the much awaited comebacks from these 2nd gen K-Pop that we’ve been waiting for this year – most of the groups have been on hiatus in recent years with members enlisting and the rest continuing with solo or subunit projects.

1) Super Junior

Super Junior will be returning with their 10th studio album, “The Renaissance” on 16 March 2021, after their original scheduled comeback has been pushed back from December 2020, and again from February 2021. The group has recently celebrated their 15th anniversary, releasing a pre-release track ‘The Melody’ for the special occasion. Super Junior’s previous comeback was in October 2019 with “Time Slip”, following Kyuhyun’s completion of his military service in May 2019. (It took Super Junior 9 years for all members to complete their mandatory military service!)

 

2) SHINee

SHINee’s back – After more than 2 years of hiatus, SHINee is finally returning with a new album in February 2021! Not much details have been revealed about the upcoming comeback, but the members have been constantly updating fans on their schedules and activities, with the cheeky yet adorable maknae Taemin dropping spoilers every now and then. SHINee’s last comeback as a group was in 2018 with their 10th anniversary album series, “The Story of Light” trilogy and repackaged album “The Story of Light: Epilogue”. Onew, Key and Minho enlisted shortly after, and Minho’s recent discharge from the Marine Corps in December 2020 marked SHINee’s reunion.

Catch “The Ringtone: SHINee is Back” live broadcast on January 31st, 7PM KST on YouTube or V LIVE, where the group will also be performing their new song and giving spoilers about their upcoming album. *screams in shawol*

 

3) 2PM

With Junho’s upcoming military discharge in March 2021 – marking the completion of 2PM‘s military service, JYP Entertainment has revealed plans for a group comeback with all members this year. 2PM’s last comeback was back in September 2016 with “Gentleman’s Game”, before the members started fulfilling their mandatory military service.

 

4) Highlight

Dongwoon, the last member of Highlight to enlist, has been discharged from the military in December 2020. Comeback preparations are also underway for the group, in which the members have been updating their fans about them preparing for their upcoming album. Yoseob also revealed that Highlight is currently working on their comeback album on “King of Masked Singer” earlier this month. The group last release was in November 2018 with EP “Outro”, which was promoted without Doojoon who had enlisted a few months prior.

[Subbed] Dujun and Gikwang talking about their preparations for Highlight comeback

(do not reupload the video)#하이라이트 #윤두준 #이기광 pic.twitter.com/Kbkm7ZTzpM

— 남슈☆ Victon GA (@namsyuxx) January 15, 2021

 

Other Comebacks

Not much news have been announced for other groups, but hey, we’re still in January and there’s 11 more months to go. Other second generation K-Pop groups that are expected to make a comeback this year are TVXQ, BIGBANG (there are also news reports about G-Dragon preparing for his solo comeback), INFINITE and Apink (Namjoo hinted on a radio show that the group will be making a comeback on the first half of the year). What other groups’ comebacks will we be surprised with?

Meanwhile while waiting for further comeback news to drop, we can continue using this very relatable meme:

“Once COVID is over” is starting to sound a lot like “when _____ has a group comeback”

And do check out this 2nd generation K-pop groups playlist curated by SEVENTEEN‘s Seungkwan:

Take a trip down memory lane with Seungkwan’s “We Remember K-pop”