From 7 to 6, now APINK is a five-member group as Son Na-eun officially withdrew to become an actress
APINK now has to re-organize with Son Na-eun’s withdrawal.
Girl group APINK, which debuted as a seven-member group, will reorganize its lineup into a five-member group 11 years after its debut. APINK had enjoyed its heyday as a six-member group after Yoo-kyung left the team, and now it has to re-organize with Son Na-eun’s withdrawal.
IST Entertainment, APINK’s agency, said on April 8th, “APINK will continue its group activities by reorganizing its lineup into a five member group with Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo-mi, Jung Eun-ji, Kim Nam-joo, and Oh Ha-young, starting with the releasing schedule for the 11th anniversary of their debut.”
In addition, Son Na-eun said she will wrap up her group activities with APINK. “All six members and officials of the two companies met in person to share their opinions on the overall group activities, and after careful consideration, we made this decision recently,” the agency said. “As it is a conclusion made by both sides together, we want to respect the opinions of the members who chose to be considerate of each other.”
Since debuting with “I Don’t Know” in 2011, APINK has been loved by the public with numerous hits such as “Mr. Chu,” “NoNoNo,” and “Dumhdurum,” and successfully released its 10th anniversary special album “HORN” in February.
APINK was a seven-member group at the time of their debut. The group debuted with Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo-mi, Jung Eun-ji, Son Na-eun, Hong Yoo-kyung, Kim Nam-joo, and Oh Ha-young. Hong Yu-kyung left the team in 2013 for study and is currently active on YouTube.
APINK, which had been reorganized into a six-member group due to Hong Yu-kyung’s withdrawal, has since grown into a girl group representing Korea with many hit songs. The members also received a lot of love for their various activities, including variety and acting, as well as singing activities.
When the group released a special album for the 10th anniversary of its debut in February, rumors of the members’ discord arose as Son Na-eun did not participate in the activities. However, Son Na-eun made a post cheering for APINK’s activities on social media, proving that there was no discord.
However, two months later, on April 8, Son Na-eun officially left APINK. Son Na-eun said on her social media, “I’m leaving APINK, which I’ve been with for the past 11 years. APINK is a family where we have been together for a long time, so it was hard for me to decide after a lot of consideration and it was not an easy decision, but now I’m going to be another panda and support APINK.”
Son Na-eun said, “I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who made my teens and twenties the most dazzling and gave me a happy time. I think it’s a way for me to repay you by keeping the name of APINK’s Son Na-eun in my heart and showing you a better self so that I don’t feel ashamed of this name. Please love APINK a lot and I will cheer for you from the bottom of my heart,” she added.
Meanwhile, APINK will be reorganizing its lineup as a five-member group due to Son Na-eun’s withdrawal and is set to release a song for fans to commemorate its 11th anniversary on April 19th.
