K-pop Great Earthquake: JYP Boss Resigns, ENHYPE Popular Member Goes Solo

South Korean singer Park Jin-young (JYP), also the founder of “JYP Entertainment”, announced on the 10th that he is resigning as the company’s Inside Director, following his appointment last year as the Chairman of Korea’s “Public Culture Exchange Committee”. However, he will continue to serve as the chief producer of “JYP Entertainment”. This news came as a shock to the Korean entertainment industry, as it means he will no longer be directly involved in company affairs and will stay away from the core decision-making process.

Since September last year, Park Jin-young has been appointed as the chairman (ministerial level) of the presidential “Public Culture Exchange Committee”. In order to more fairly promote the nation’s K-pop industry globally, he chose to reduce his operational authority in the company to avoid conflicts of interest.

The name “JYP Entertainment” is actually an acronym derived from Park Jin-young’s English initials. Korean Wave stars such as “Wonder Girls”, Rain, “TWICE”, and “Stray Kids” were all created by Park Jin-young.

Lee Heeseung Reveals Details in Handwritten Letter

Additionally, ENHYPEN’s 24-year-old popular member HEESEUNG (Lee Heeseung) announced on the same day that he is leaving the group and will continue activities as a solo artist. ENHYPEN will continue as a six-member group. In a handwritten letter, HEESEUNG said: “I shared my creations with the company, and together we thought and discussed how best to present them to everyone. After a long period of deep consideration, I finally made up my mind to follow the path proposed by the company and meet ENGENEs (fandom name) again in a better way.”

ENHYPEN’s agency “BELIFT LAB” stated that it had discussed with the members about their envisioned futures and the direction of the group, and concluded that HEESEUNG’s musical aspirations are very clear, so it decided to respect his wishes. HEESEUNG will become independent from ENHYPEN, which will carry on as a six-member group. “We know this news may be difficult for fans to accept, but this decision was made for the future of both ENHYPEN and HEESEUNG. We hope you will understand.”

ZB1 Disbands as Planned

In addition, the limited-time group “ZEROBASEONE” (ZB1) originally planned to disband in March (with a prior two-month extension). Due to the heat of Lee Heeseung’s departure and Park Jin-young’s resignation, the news of the disbandment was somewhat overshadowed. After disbandment, the four Chinese members of “Yuehua Entertainment” left, while the remaining five will continue using the group name, sparking dissatisfaction among fans.

News source: Apple Daily News + Liberty Entertainment