KATSEYE Lands in Seoul Today. 'Pinky Up' Already at a Career High — and the Korean Music Shows Haven't Started Yet.
KATSEYE touched down at Incheon International Airport Friday. The fan signing begins tomorrow at noon. By the time the group wraps its Korean music show schedule next week, "Pinky Up" could look very different on the charts.
The five-member group - Lara, Megan, Daniela, Sophia, and Yoonchae - arrives in Seoul on the back of its strongest chart performance to date. "Pinky Up," released April 9 and performed live for the first time at Coachella the following day, debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated April 25), No. 14 on the UK Official Singles Chart, and No. 18 on Spotify's Weekly Top Songs Global. All three are career highs. The group also performed at Coachella's Weekend 2 on April 17, drawing an estimated 60,000 fans at the Sahara Stage with a global YouTube livestream running simultaneously. Over the week of April 13-20, more than 7,000 pieces of TikTok content featuring "Pinky Up" were created daily, roughly 30 percent of that originating from the US.
The Korean leg matters because of what happened last year. "Gnarly," KATSEYE's previous single, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 92 before the group's Seoul music show appearances. After M Countdown, Music Bank, and Show! Music Core performances in May 2025, the single climbed. The pattern - Korean broadcast exposure driving US chart movement for a group built on the HYBE methodology - is the specific mechanism HYBE and Geffen are repeating. KATSEYE's label described the group's Korean music show strategy last year as the stage "that could most effectively realize new music, concepts, visuals, and performance." "Pinky Up" starts from a significantly higher floor than "Gnarly" did.
The group's Korean schedule runs through next week with the fan signing Saturday and multiple music program appearances to follow. "Pinky Up" will be included in KATSEYE's third EP, WILD, due August 14.
The one thing the Seoul schedule doesn't address is the question every piece of KATSEYE coverage has been circling since February: Manon Bannerman remains on hiatus. She did not appear in the "Pinky Up" music video, did not perform with the group at Coachella, and has removed KATSEYE from her Instagram bio. At Weekend 2 of Coachella on April 17, she appeared briefly onstage during PinkPantheress's set - alongside Zara Larsson, Janelle Monáe, and others - but did not sing. In a Weverse message, she said she is "healthy" and in "positive conversations" with HYBE and Geffen. Neither the label nor Bannerman has announced a return date.
The five members performing in Seoul this weekend will be the same five who played Coachella. HYBE and Geffen have not commented on whether Bannerman will rejoin before the WILD release in August.
