All You Need to Know About KNK After One of Their Members You-jin Left
KNK is a boy group from South Korea that made a showcase debut on February 29th, 2016 and released their first official album on March 3rd, 2016. The group made a debut with five members, namely Ji-hun, as the leader, Seung-jun, You-jin, In-seong, and Hee-jun. KNK later released an album titled Knock, pronounced the same way as the name fo their group KNK. The group name itself has a meaning as 크나큰, or in Korean, it means “great” or “to be great”, and also initials of K-Pop Knock, which means they are the door to knock for K-Pop world with their music.
They performed the title track from their album at the China Music Awards in Macau on April 15th, 2016. Other than the full debut album, KNK released another two Extended Plays the same year when they made their stage debut. With all the hard work they did in 2016, they had been listed as one of “10 Best New K-Pop Groups in 2016” by Billboard.
After KNK got included in the “10 Best New K-Pop Groups in 2016” list by Billboard, they continued their hard work and even held their first solo concert and tour around Asia in 2017. KNK also made a debut in Japan, and they made an appearance in the show MixNine with all the band members during that same year.
KNK Member You-jin, Left the Group
The sad news hit the KNK fans, Tinker Bell, namely that You-jin has to leave the group. A statement was issued by KNK’s agency, YNB ENtertainment, on April 19th, 2018, saying that KNK’s amazing main vocalist, You-jin, has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder at the hospital, namely he has been diagnosed with panic disorder, which has rendered him unable to continue his career in the music industry, as a member of the band KNK. This is why he had to take leave from participating in KNK’s promotional activities and focus on recovering. In the meantime, the band continued promoting as a four-member band, namely Ji-hun, Seung-jun, In-seong, and Hee-jun.
On September 10th, 2018, You-jin reported that he has decided not to join KNK and leave the band by terminating the contract with the agency, YNB Entertainment. On Tinker Bell’s official fan cafe, You-jin wrote a message that he wrote himself that said:
“Hello, this is KNK’s Kim You-jin,
First of all, I want to say sorry to all the Tinker Bells that have been worried and waited for me. For these two years, I am so glad for my debut as the main vocalist of the band. I have been dreaming about it since I was a kid and I thought I want to do it better than anyone else.
While the thought has become burdensome for me, I became more frustrated with myself, and I faced some difficulties that have made me decide to leave the group.
I took the time to concentrate on my health’s treatment, however, it became really hard to stand and perform on stage. I would like to sincerely apologize to Tinker Bells and my fellow members of KNK because of this decision.
On our first anniversary letter that I wrote, it was a good time. To be with good people, it was a very happy thing.
Since the day of my debut, I have always been happy and thankful for having a great time during my activities.
I made a lot of promises to the Tinker Bells, and I am really sorry for not being able to fulfill them, I also apologize to the rest of the band members and the company personnel for not keeping my promises.
I will never forget your support.
To the Tinker Bells who have been supportive and have been cheering me all these times, and also to the KNK members, Seung-jun, In-seong, Ji-hun, Hee-jun, I would like to say sorry once again.
I will continue living my life without ever forgetting these incredible two years. I apologize to Tinker Bells that have waited until the end.
To the KNK members, who understood and backed my decision, please show some warm support and love for them.
I will also support them and pray for them.
Until this time, I sincerely want to say thank you.”
KNK Fans’ Reactions
After reading the letter that You-jin himself wrote in his own handwriting, fans didn’t expect him to apologize, since it’s nothing to be sorry about. Of course, with the news of You-jin leaving the group, Tinker Bell, KNK’s fandom, were shocked but couldn’t hope for anything but the best for their main vocalist, You-jin.
Even though they all wanted KNK to make the next stage comeback with five members in the band, since it is the best decision for You-jin and his health, all the fans of KNK wished for the best for him.
KNK Left YNB Entertainment
On September 10th, 2018, the same year when YNB Entertainment announced to fans that You-jin couldn’t continue his activity with KNK, it was reported that KNK have terminated their contract with the agency. Although KNK’s contract with YNB Entertainment hadn’t expired yet, they terminated it because YNB Entertainment had an internal problem with their management. So YNB Entertainment had to terminate their contract with KNK.
Nevertheless, KNK will still exist as a band and will move to another company. You-jin, however, who has been diagnosed with panic disorder, was unable to join the band and had to leave KNK for good.
After several months KNK left their agency, YNB Entertainment, and eventually found a new home under the care of 220 Entertainment. The group joined the company on January 2nd, 2019. Not only the four members of KNK joined 220 Entertainment, but additionally, a new member was introduced on December 19th, 2018, which is Lee Dong-won, who would also join the new agency and would start to promote this year.
