All Apink members except Jung Eun-ji leave IST Entertainment, but group will remain active

NME

All members of K-pop girl group Apink apart from Jung Eun-ji have left their longtime agency IST Entertainment.

• READ MORE: Apink reflect on over a decade in the K-pop industry: “We are still standing strong”

On April 28, IST Entertainment released a statement announcing that Apink members Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo-mi, Kim Nam-joo and Oh Ha-young have left the agency. This marks the end of the four members’ partnership with the entertainment company, which began in 2011 upon the group’s debut.

Of the group’s five members, Jung Eun-ji was the only one to renew her contract with IST. However, the agency assured that Apink would be able to continue promoting as a five-member group.

“After long and careful discussions with the members of Apink upon the termination of their exclusive contract, Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo-mi, Kim Nam-joo and Oh Ha-young have decided to end the 12-year long journey with the agency that lasted since their debut, to pursue individual and mutual growth,” the agency’s staement said, as translated by Korea JoongAng Daily.

“Separate from the exclusive contracts, all members of Apink have a strong will to continue group activities and have strong affections towards the group. There will be no disbandment, and group activities will continue,” IST confirmed.

안녕하세요. IST엔터테인먼트입니다.

그룹 에이핑크의 향후 활동과 관련해 공식 입장을 전달드립니다. pic.twitter.com/QyHtUgjNzH

— IST ent (@ist_ent) April 28, 2023

It added that the four members have since signed with a new agency, Choi Creative Lab, which released a statement of its own, per SpoTV News: ”As all members have a strong will and affection for Apink’s activities, we promised to continue team activities without disbanding the group. We will cooperate with IST Entertainment in relation to Apink’s future activities.”

Earlier this month, Apink made a comeback with their tenth mini-album ‘SELF’ and its lead single ‘D N D’. The release marked their first music as a five-member group following the departure of original member Son Na-eun a year ago. Son had left Apink shortly after the release of their tenth anniversary special album ‘HORN’, which arrived in February 2022.

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