KARA
KARA is a girl-group that was formed by DSP Media in 2007. During its time promoting, the group was very popular in both Japan and Korea. KARA’s final lineup included Park Gyuri , Han Seungyeon, Goo Hara, and Heo Youngji. Members Nicole Jung and Kang Ji-young officially departed from the group in 2014, while Kim Sung-hee left in 2008. KARA originally started off as a quartet, making their debut with “Break It” in 2007, while displaying a strong female image and a mature R & B sound.
In 2014, Nicole Jung and Kang Jiyoung decided not to renew their contracts with DSP Media, thus leaving the group to pursue their own endeavors; Nicole debuted as a solo artist and Jiyoung became an actress in Japan. Following their departures, a Kara-titled reality show project was aired on TV to select new members to join the group. Seven trainees from DSP Media were part of the program. Heo Youngji, the winner of the competition, became the latest member to join the group.
However, in January, 2016, KARA was disbanded. According to the statement, Goo Hara, Han Seungyeon, and Park Gyuri’s contracts had expired and they were now no longer being represented by the agency. All of them decided to take on new opportunities, and DSP Media expressed how they fully respected and supported their new aspirations. With time still left on her contract, Heo Youngji remained under DSP Media as a solo artist. The agency is planning to do their best to help her succeed in developing in the future. All of KARA’s members currently focus on their respective careers.
WONDER GIRLS
Wonder Girls is a legendary girl-group that was formed in 2007 by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February, 2007, with the single “Irony”. The group started with five members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna’s departure in July, Yubin was added to the group, prior to the release of their debut studio album, The Wonder Years in 2007. In 2010, Sunmi left the group to pursue her own career and was replaced by Hyerim prior to the Korean & US releases the single “2 Different Tears”. In 2015, it was announced that Sunye and Sohee had decided to leave the group, while Sunmi would resume promotion with the remaining members.
In 2017, JYP Entertainment declared Wonder Girls disband. JYP said, “Hello, this is JYP Entertainment. We are announcing the Wonder Girls, after 10 years, it’s compared. The decision happened after much discussion among the members and with our agency. Yubin and Hyerim of Wonder Girls have re-signed with JYP Entertainment, and they will continue with music, acting, MCing, and other activities. Yeeun and Sunmi, after much deliberation, had decided to leave JYP Entertainment. As a thank you to all the fans of Wonder Girls over the past 10 years, the group will be releasing a digital final single on February 10, their 10th anniversary. Thank you to all the fans for being with us, JYP and Wonder Girls, for 10 years.”
The members of Wonder Girls left farewell messages for their fans in this video:
Yeeun: “It’s already been 10 years since we’ve been together. The moments that we laughed, cried, and were happy and sad together went on like a kaleidoscope. Thank you for giving us memories that we’ll take with us forever.”
Sunmi: “I have had a lot of things happened during these 10 years. To all the fans that supported us, trusted us, and waited for us, my heart aches, giving you sad news. I’m sorry, and thank you.”
Yubin: “To Wonderful, with your never ending support and trust, Wonder Girls was loved for 10 years. Always, with thanks, I will treasure all of our moments together.”
Hyerim: “Whenever you start to miss us, I hope that our songs, filled with memories, will be of comfort to you. Though it may be hard now, we’ll do our best to become a source of strength to you.”
All: “Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. We were so happy. Those days were like a dream. Remember us. We are Wonder Girls. “
NINE MUSES
Nine Muses is a girl-group that was formed by Star Empire Entertainment in 2010, with an admissions and graduation concept. The formation of Nine Muses was announced on March 26, 2010. In October, Jaekyung withdrew from Nine Muses to focus on her career in modeling and was replaced by Hyuna. During the single promotional period, the group was calling itself Star Empire Entertainment, as it would confuse people if Nine was a group with only seven members. A month later, the company confirmed that the group name was not changing, because they would add two new members to the future group, once again bringing the complement up to nine. On February 10, 2019, Star Empire released an official statement about Nine Muses in the fan cafe group, saying the girl-group would be disbanded.
Star Empire released a statement related to Nine Muses, saying, “Hello, this is Star Empire. We have had a lot of time with the Nine Muses members, and we have finally decided to end their group promotions. We apologize to MINE, who has been waiting for a while. On February 14th, 2019, at noon KST, they will release their digital single ‘REMEMBER’. On the 24th birthday and Nine Muses will end all official promotions. We thank the Nine members for being the best artist since August 12, 2010, and MINE, for always supporting and loving Nine Muses. The Nine Artists will promote as solo artists in various places. Please show the Nine Muses members support in their new start. Thank you.”
