This year, it was announced in April that HYBE would debut a new girl group in conjunction with Source Music at some point this year. This girl group will be produced by former CEO Bang Si Hyuk and Min Hee Jin, who has worked with girl groups such as Girls' Generation, f(x), and Red Velvet.

On August 9, a report from the Korean news outlet Asian Economy drew notice as it published a statement from a HYBE official discussing the debut group's features. The official stated in the statement that they are ready to introduce a girl group in the fourth quarter. The actual date of their debut, the number of members, and the genre of music are all still unknown.

Another one of the lines, however, drew the attention of fans and other media outlets. According to the publication, the official compared the prospective group's talent to that of one of K-top Pop's names: BLACKPINK.

When it comes to K-Pop female groups, none are bigger or more well-known than BLACKPINK from YG Entertainment.  Nonetheless, with such a storied history, it appears that they will always be the ones to set the bar for new girl groups.

This comment from an unidentified HYBE official appears to have only been reported by The Asian Economy. Normally, something like that would be covered by a larger number of sites around the world, but it appears that the Asian Economy is the only one reporting on it.

There have been no formal remarks from the company revealing any details about the group's debut, in particular. HYBE is known for keeping its future goals a closely guarded secret.

Following the disbandment of their girl group GLAM in 2012 due to its members blackmailing popular actor Lee Byunghun of his infidelity, this is HYBE and Big Hit's first female group in almost ten years. Currently, HYBE has no girl groups in their lineup as GFriend had disbanded earlier this year.