aespa opened the summer of 2026 with the kind of debut week that reshapes a chart conversation: a brand-new studio album, nearly a million copies moved, and two #1 trophies in a single tracking period. Here is how Week 22 actually broke down.
aespa LEMONADE Week 22: 926K Copies and a Double Album Crown
aespa's LEMONADE debuted at #1 on both South Korea's Circle Album Chart and the Retail Album Chart in Week 22 (May 24–30, 2026), a double album crown for the title track from the group's second studio album. Released on May 29, 2026, LEMONADE recorded 926,543 physical copies on the main Album Chart during its tracking period , the figure that anchored its first-week lead.
Counting both formats together, the album reached 990,923 combined copies across its CD and Nemo editions, while the Retail side logged 321,596 copies on the Retail Album Chart and 335,530 on the Retail TOP50 . The same-week album runners-up were not the season's other headline acts: AND2BLE's "Sequence 01: Curiosity" placed second with 471,090 copies and XLOV's "I,God" third with 245,522 . Neither CORTIS nor BTS sat directly beneath aespa on the album chart that week.
| Circle Album Chart — Week 22 (May 24–30, 2026) | Artist | Weekly copies |
|---|---|---|
| #1 LEMONADE | aespa | 926,543 |
| #2 Sequence 01: Curiosity | AND2BLE | 471,090 |
| #3 I,God | XLOV | 245,522 |
For season context, LEMONADE's 926K first week ranks third among 2026's weekly album peaks. It trails CORTIS's GREENGREEN, which topped the weekly Circle Album Chart for the week ending May 9 (Week 19) with 1,468,919 sales, and BTS's ARIRANG, which led the week ending March 21 (Week 12) with 3,803,910 sales . In other words, CORTIS and BTS were each larger album-chart peaks earlier in the year rather than Week 22 runners-up — a distinction that shapes the rest of June's chart race.
CORTIS REDRED: When the Streaming Chart Told a Different Story
In the very week aespa swept the album side, CORTIS owned the listening side. During Circle Chart Week 22 (May 24–30, 2026), CORTIS took its own double crown — #1 on the Circle Digital Chart with a Circle Index of 18,323,046, and #1 on the Streaming Chart for a second consecutive week with "REDRED" (also styled RedRed), from the album GREENGREEN . The albums race and the streaming race were settled by two different artists in the same seven days, according to Zapzee.
That split widened in Week 24 (June 7–13). On the national Digital Chart, I.O.I's "Suddenly" led with 20,828,839 points, CORTIS's "REDRED" placed #2 with 19,460,045, and aespa's "LEMONADE" sat at #3 with 16,916,804 [4][8]. The takeaway matters: LEMONADE never actually led the domestic digital chart, even as it dominated album sales.
On aggregated rankings, the rivalry was tighter and more durable. Soompi's K-Pop Music Chart for June Week 3 — blending Circle, Hanteo, Apple Music Korea, Soompi Airplay, and YouTube data — placed LEMONADE at #1 with "REDRED" at #2 in its 8th consecutive charting week , making CORTIS the most persistent song-chart challenger aespa faced all season.
"On the aggregated weekly song chart, LEMONADE held #1 while REDRED stayed locked at #2 — the closest pursuit any title gave aespa across these June weeks," per Soompi's chart coverage.
That staying power had a foundation. CORTIS's GREENGREEN had already topped the weekly Circle Album Chart for the week ending May 9, 2026 (Week 19) with 1,468,919 weekly sales , giving REDRED's streaming run a strong physical base heading into June.
BTS SWIM: 10 Consecutive Weeks at the Global K-pop Chart Summit
While LEMONADE and REDRED traded positions on the domestic charts, BTS occupied a different competition entirely. In Week 22, "SWIM" from the ARIRANG album held the Circle Global K-pop Chart at #1 for a 10th consecutive week, the longest unbroken run of any act in this period . By Week 23, that streak extended to an 11th straight week, a measure of sustained international engagement no rival approached .
The ARIRANG era had already set the season's album ceiling earlier in 2026. BTS's ARIRANG topped the weekly Circle Album Chart for the week ending March 21 (Week 12) with 3,803,910 weekly copies, and led March on a monthly basis with 4,175,303 sales . Those totals dwarfed LEMONADE's 926,543 first-week figure, placing ARIRANG on a scale no other 2026 release matched.
Domestically, though, "SWIM" sat far lower. By mid-June it had settled to around #14 on Soompi's aggregated K-Pop Music Chart, which blends Circle, Hanteo, Apple Music Korea, airplay, and YouTube data . The mirror image held on the global side: LEMONADE entered the Circle Global K-pop Chart at only #28 in Week 22 . The two acts were effectively performing on separate planes — aespa dominant at home, BTS dominant across the international audience — rather than competing for the same chart position.
Weeks 23–25: How June's Chart Race Actually Settled
By June, the aespa–CORTIS storyline briefly lost the top of the chart entirely. In Week 23 (May 31–June 6), I.O.I's "Suddenly" swept a quadruple crown and TREASURE's 4th mini album [NEW WAV] took a double crown , momentarily breaking the split that had defined late May. New entries, not the headline acts, were setting the weekly pace.
Week 24 (June 7–13) reinforced that the field was deeper than the season's marquee names suggested. On the physical Albums Chart, BOYNEXTDOOR's HOME led with 899,442 copies , while the national Digital Chart settled into a tight order: I.O.I's "Suddenly" at #1 with 20,828,839 points, CORTIS's "REDRED" at #2 with 19,460,045, and aespa's "LEMONADE" at #3 with 16,916,804 . CORTIS's GREENGREEN also held the albums field at #3 with 139,964 copies that week.
By Week 25 (June 14–20), the familiar shape returned: "LEMONADE" reportedly reclaimed the weekly #1, with CORTIS's "REDRED" at #2 and ILLIT's "It's Me" at #3 — the same top-two order that anchored Soompi's aggregated June chart across multiple weeks. As Soompi's K-Pop Music Chart noted in its methodology, the ranking "incorporates digital data from Circle and Hanteo, Apple Music Korea, Soompi Airplay, and YouTube data," which is why "LEMONADE" and "REDRED" sat 1–2 even as I.O.I led individual weekly digital tallies .
The concrete takeaway: June's headline of "LEMONADE leads, CORTIS follows" was accurate on the aggregated song chart, but it flattened a genuinely competitive month. aespa owned the album-sales and aggregated-song story, CORTIS was the steadiest digital rival, BTS held the global audience — and I.O.I, TREASURE, and BOYNEXTDOOR each took a turn at the very top before the chart settled back into its dominant pairing.
Frequently asked questions
How many copies did aespa's LEMONADE sell in its first week on the Circle Chart?
aespa's LEMONADE sold 926,543 physical copies on the Circle Album Chart during Week 22 (May 24–30, 2026), or 990,923 when CD and Nemo editions are combined. The album debuted at #1 on both the Album Chart and the Retail Album Chart, and the 926,543 figure is corroborated by the Wikipedia list of 2026 Circle Album Chart number-ones.
Did CORTIS or aespa rank higher on the Circle Digital Chart in June 2026?
CORTIS ranked higher on the domestic Circle Digital Chart through this period. CORTIS led the Digital Chart in Week 22 with a Circle Index of 18,323,046, and in Week 24 (June 7–13) I.O.I's "Suddenly" held #1 with 20,828,839 points, CORTIS's "REDRED" placed #2 with 19,460,045, and aespa's "LEMONADE" sat at #3 with 16,916,804. LEMONADE never claimed the domestic digital top spot.
How long did BTS hold the Circle Global K-pop Chart #1 with SWIM?
BTS held the Circle Global K-pop Chart at #1 with "SWIM" for at least 11 consecutive weeks through early June 2026, extending from a 10th straight week in Week 22 to an 11th in Week 23. The group's "ARIRANG" album, which recorded 3,803,910 first-week copies in March 2026, anchored BTS's global engagement well ahead of other acts during this stretch.
What is the Circle Chart and how does it differ from Hanteo?
Circle Chart (formerly the Gaon Chart) is South Korea's government-affiliated official music chart, aggregating streaming, digital downloads, and physical album sales on a weekly and monthly basis. Hanteo is an independent real-time tracker used mainly to verify retail album sales as they happen. Circle also powers the Global K-pop Chart referenced internationally, which is why metrics such as BTS's 10–11-week run carry weight beyond Korea.
Which artists had the biggest Circle album sales weeks of 2026 so far?
BTS led with "ARIRANG" at 3,803,910 first-week copies in Week 12 (week ending March 21, 2026). CORTIS's "GREENGREEN" followed with 1,468,919 in Week 19 (week ending May 9, 2026), and aespa's "LEMONADE" ranked third at 926,543 in Week 22 (May 24–30, 2026), per the Circle Album Chart.
