Former AOA Member, Choa
Choa is a former member of the sexy and famous girl group, AOA. She debuted together with the other members in 2012. Choa’s position was main vocal, her vocal is widely known for its powerful and unique color. She is also famous for her visual, especially after she cut her hair short. In 2017, Choa decided to leave the group. Do you guys know what’s her reason?
Departure From AOA
In 2017, a shocking announcement was made by FNC Entertainment, that Choa decided to leave the group. Her departure came right after the confirmation of her relationship with her boyfriend and since then many people think that she left the group because she and her boyfriend were planning to get married.
Furthermore, many people thought that she was pregnant and that’s why she left the group, especially after a picture of her and her boyfriend in Japan leaked. However, these rumors are not true. Choa herself said that her reason for leaving the group has no connection with her relationship.
Choa said that she had expressed her desire to leave the group, to her agency, a year prior to her official departure. Even before she left, she had already taken a hiatus due to her depression and insomnia so it is strongly believed that her real reason was related to these issues, but then Choa reassured fans that she is getting treatment and getting better.
About the rumors and news surfacing on the internet, Choa finally spoke up and clarified her reasons for leaving the group, including the Japan trip she had with her boyfriend on her Instagram account. Here is what she posted as quoted from Allkpop:
“I know that the more you all show interest in me, the more rumors there will be. I am not pregnant, I did not get an abortion, nor am I leaving the group because of a marriage. There are a lot of celebrities who date publicly, and if I want to, I can just do the same and continue promoting, so I don’t know why my departure from the group is being associated with dating rumors.
I’m the type to not have very many friends, so it’s true that he has been a big strength to me recently. If we continue to build our relationship, there is nothing wrong with dating, so I will be as honest as necessary and will continue to have a budding relationship with him. I decided my departure after a lengthy amount of thought, so please do not associate it with other issues.
Up until now, they have been pressuring me by saying that they will make the photos go public, but now [that the photos are out], I feel rather relieved. I will add another photo to accompany the photos and articles from today and would like to explain myself.
It looks like I went on a couple vacation with just the two of us, but it was my first overseas trip with my older and younger sister. My younger sister, who is in her first year of middle school, likes to draw and likes animation, so I chose Japan in the hopes that the trip might help her future just a little bit.
I’m the only one who can speak broken Japanese, and it was our first family trip to Japan, so I had to be in charge of everything, but for me, who has never been to Japan other than for schedules, it was very difficult for me to reserve things in Japanese and find attractions, so I asked an acquaintance whom I’ve known for the past 3 years.
He led us as a guide on days when my family’s trip overlapped with his, and because on our way back, it was late and we had a lot of luggage, he helped us and bid us off, and that was when we were photographed, just the two of us.
Last time, during my first dating scandal, the reporter asked me about a situation where I was photographed with a phone camera, so I explained the above to them, so I can’t understand why they used such a scandalous headline, making it seem as if we went on a trip just the two of us.
Also, I have made known my inner thoughts about leaving the group to my label since a while back. Even last year, they asked me to think it through again while resting for a long time, so I did that. In the end, after asking my label CEO’s permission, I finally wrote my SNS post. Before I uploaded it, I shared the contents with my label and erased content that the label did not want to go up on the post.
My stance on my departure is the same as my SNS post from yesterday, and I hope that the controversies that have come up after my departing SNS post will not affect the [AOA] members negatively. I apologize once again for delivering bad news to you all and worrying you this morning.”
Recent Interaction with Other Members
It’s been a year since Choa left and AOA has returned with their first comeback without Choa with Bingle Bangle. For the first time as well, the members open up about Choa’s departure. Mina said that it’s her personal choice to leave the group and the members are all respecting it. She also said that they prepared their comeback excitedly and practiced hard for the fans so they felt no gap without one member, whenever they felt like something is missing, they would watch their old videos and practice hard.
Solo Activities and Latest News
After leaving AOA, Choa signed a contract with the Italian sportswear brand, Ellesse. This was also her first appearance after leaving the group. She made a fan signing event as a part of her contract with the brand in AK Plaza in Suwon. At the end of the event, fans were singing a song that made her cry.
Check out some photos of Choa at her fan signing event:
