NCT DREAM Enters Its Second Decade

Ten years since the launch of NCT DREAM as the young face of SM Entertainment’s bold NCT project, the band is marking its second decade with an action that has far-reaching implications beyond the signing of a contract renewal deal. According to an announcement made by SM Entertainment on August 20, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung renewed their exclusive contracts with the company, while Haechan who had already renewed his contract would still be a member of NCT DREAM.

There couldn’t be a more significant time for the band. NCT DREAM made its official debut on August 25, 2016, with the song Chewing Gum as an adolescent-oriented unit within the NCT project. This idea was quite straightforward; the band was meant to be a teenager unit until its members outgrew it. Over the years, that initial idea became one of the most striking stories of their career. It’s not just that the members grew up along with the band. They changed its very essence.

The transition is currently ongoing within the framework of a six-person team. Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung are the members that at present make up NCT DREAM. Mark, who was part of the original team and stayed connected with the group through its early days, has left the group. His exclusive contract with SM was terminated amicably on April 8, 2026, after some talks regarding his future plans, marking the end of his involvement with NCT, including NCT 127 and NCT DREAM.

It is crucial to note this. The August announcement did not return the original seven-person team back, neither does it mean that Mark has signed up for SM. It reveals something quite different and even more significant in terms of 2026: the remaining six members of NCT DREAM decided to go on together.

According to SM, the choice to renew was made possible due to the mutual trust they have formed with the members, along with their dedication to the group. It is important to note what is not said in the announcement. The exact period of time to which the new contract commitments apply has not been announced by the management company. Neither have the financial details of the contracts themselves. Thus, any claims about the members' commitment to work for the agency for an additional number of years cannot be considered true. What is certain is their willingness to remain with SM and perform as NCT DREAM.

For NCT DREAM, it means ending the decade during which their identity kept changing. The first two albums, Chewing Gum and We Young, embodied the vibrant energy of adolescence. We Go Up and BOOM marked the beginning of the group’s development into artists, and Ridin' saw NCT DREAM becoming more adult performers. But the final turn in the history of the group happened in 2021 with the release of Hot Sauce and Hello Future albums.

The next few years continued that trend. Glitch Mode, Beatbox, Candy, and ISTJ showcased a group that not only retained its brightness but had advanced their production and performances. With DREAM( )SCAPE in 2024, the range of emotions became even wider. The album touched upon the themes of confusion, difficulties and the feeling of disorientation during the youthful period with the help of the Smoothie song. The theme itself indicated a change in attitude towards youth by the group. The artists of NCT DREAM were no longer singing from the border between childhood and adolescence; they were now talking about adulthood from within it.

This development is accompanied by a strong commercial success. SM mentioned ISTJ as one of the biggest accomplishments of the group, saying that it has already sold 4.28 million copies and, at that time, it was the best-selling album of SM artists. In late 2025, the group also achieved a milestone of selling ten million albums in a row starting from Hot Sauce in 2021 and ending on Beat It Up.

Their development on stage has been equally impressive. NCT DREAM made its debut on tour in Europe in 2023 through its THE DREAM SHOW2: In A DREAM tour of London, Paris and Berlin. The London show was at the OVO Arena Wembley where the band played 29 songs and performed for almost three hours across various eras of their discography. This performance was not just an exhibition of their current songs but also a live testament of their evolution by putting together the excitement of the Chewing Gum era with the evolving mature sounds.

The scope continued to grow. THE DREAM SHOW 4: DREAM THE FUTURE was rolled out in 2025 and toured some key cities in Asia such as Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome, Bangkok Rajamangala National Stadium, Hong Kong Kai Tak Stadium, Jakarta International Stadium and the Taipei Dome. The last shows of the tour were done at Seoul KSPO DOME in March 2026. The development in their career is evident as NCT DREAM has gone from having an international fan base to operating on a significant tour infrastructure worldwide.

This path for the artist also situates the renewal within a broader moment for NCT as an institution. Last month, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Haechan extended their contracts with SM, ensuring that NCT 127 will have a future. Altogether, the two renewals indicate that NCT’s two most historic groups will enter their next phases with their current membership. Without confirmation from SM about their strategy, it would be too early to say what they are trying to do here, but the timing seems important.

However, in case of NCT DREAM, the background of the event should be looked at more personally, rather than institutionally. The group is celebrating its 10-year anniversary when the matter of its future is finally settled. The anniversary of the group will be celebrated on August 22 and 23 in INSPIRE ARENA with the theme The Sweet Dream Hotel.

There are already hints that the story will go beyond celebrations. NCT DREAM 2026 projects will see more activities from the group, which include a fan meeting and an album launch set for the fourth quarter of the year. Thus, the group is not going to start the next decade of their activities as a mere reminiscence of the past. It is already happening with new music and activities in the pipeline.

The creative path ahead is still deliberately left unanswered. Six-member formation is already well-established, but SM Entertainment has not officially stated how the band's creative output will change with Mark being no longer a part of the group. Also, there are no guaranteed terms of service for this renewal.

The things that can be said for certain are far more persuasive. NCT DREAM was born from the idea of the transience of adolescence, a group that was defined by the inevitability of its members growing up. Ten years later, NCT DREAM has become one of SM Entertainment's proven groups with a long record of sales, touring abroad, and an identity formed through time. Mark's departure has fundamentally changed the formation that came on the scene in 2016. However, the six members that have stayed have decided not to regard this transition as the end of the group.

Rather, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung have come to take NCT DREAM forward as a new phase of the group. This re-formation doesn't herald another ten years, nor does it mean anything that has been lost will be forgotten. It means something much less grand but much more profound than that: continuity in spite of change, as a group defined by their youth is ready to step into their second decade as a mature group with an uncertain future ahead of them.