K-pop Boy Band iKON to Leave YG Entertainment

By Ilin Mathew
December 30, 2022 13:28 +08

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The members of the K-pop boyband iKON will end their contract with the entertainment agency YG Entertainment. The record label shared the news through an official statement. According to the firm, all six members will leave the company.

The South Korean entertainment agency released an official statement about the idols' departure on Friday, December 30. The agency stated that Kim Jinhwan, Bobby, Song Yunhyeong, Goo Junhoe, Kim Donghyuk, and Jung Chanwoo would work together in the future and focus on various activities.

However, the singers have decided not to renew their exclusive contracts with the company. They will work together and communicate with their fans through their official social media channels. The K-pop idols will continue to communicate with their fan group iKONIC.

YG Entertainment thanked the boy group members for working with the agency since 2015 and wished them good luck. The record label also thanked the fan group for the love and support of the agency and the artist.

Here is the Complete Statement:

Hello, this is YG Entertainment.

We are informing you that after a long discussion with the iKON members (Kim Jinhwan, Bobby, Song Yunhyeong, Goo Junhoe, Kim Donghyuk, and Jung Chanwoo) about their future activities, out of respect for each other's opinions, we agreed to end our exclusive contract following the expiration of their contract period.

The six members of iKON will of course be continuing their activities as the group "iKON" in the future, and we are also letting you know that they will continue to communicate with iKONIC [iKON's fans] through their official social media accounts, including their official fan community Weverse, just as they are now.

We sincerely thank iKON, who has been with us as one of our agency's artists up until now. We are looking forward to their future activities in a wide variety of fields, and we will be cheering them on.

Additionally, we also thank the iKONIC who were together with us for iKON's journey. We ask that you continue to give the members your unchanging interest and encouragement as they prepare for a new start.

The K-Pop boy group debuted in 2015 as a seven-member band and leader B.I left the team in 2019.

Fans' Reactions

All #iKON members officially leave YG Entertainment as of December 30th, 2022. They will continue to use weverse to communicate with fans as "iKON". HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR iKON AND iKONIC!

Can I highlight this part "Apart from the end of the contract, all six members WILL ACT AS A GROUP: iKON. In addition, iKON WILL continuously interact with fans through their OFFICIAL channels"?? Did they buy their trademark???

Group iKON leaves YG after 7 years... Exclusive contract expiration. Currently, while looking for a new agency, they are reviewing a wide range of plans such as establishing a management company to maintain the team.

Jinhwan Bobby Yunhyeong Junhoe Donghyuk and Chanwoo left YGE but not iKON. They did not disband and are currently looking for agencies but they are still iKON and can come back as a group in the future.

YG is required to turn over all iKON's intellectual property (group name, fandom name, songs) to iKON themselves once ALL of them are left. If one member remains in the company, the company still owns the rights. In this case, none