The sudden demise of SHINee member Jonghyun on December 18 has left the entire Korean entertainment industry in shock. Ever since the news popped, the future of the boy band was in question. However, after a long silence, the rest of the SHINee members—Minho, Key, Taemin and Onew—have made their first public statements regarding the group's future plans.
The remaining four members have decided to go ahead with their upcoming activities as planned. The boys will begin with SHINee World The Best 2018 - From Now On concert in Tokyo and Osaka in February. The members uploaded handwritten letters on their official website to announce the decision to their fans.
Key thanked his fans and well-wishers for their support and revealed that he is slowly getting back into his daily routine. "I believe Jonghyun is still with us," he added. Key further thanked everyone for supporting SHINee's comeback.
"We are going ahead with the Japan concert as planned. I don't think it would be fair to give up everything. Even Jonghyun wouldn't want that to happen," he wrote. Key also mentioned that 2018 is SHINee's tenth anniversary and promised a great performance. "I love you all and thank you," he concluded.
Minho began the letter with how he is struggling to cope up with various emotions that he is currently undergoing in his life. " We are currently struggling to make the right decisions in our life. However, for now, we believe it would be best to go ahead with the promises that we made," he wrote and also incorporated the lyrics from SHINee's song "Honesty." He further concluded, "Jonghyun will be a part of all our future performances. Nothing can ever replace him. So we are worried about how we would prepare our performances fully for you."
In his letter, Onew spoke about how Jonghyun's mother encouraged the rest of the members not to quit or give up things. " I thought I cannot perform either, I know I have many shortcomings, but I will do my best for SHINee," he wrote and further added that Jonghyun will forever be a part of the group.
Taemin began the letter with how he wants to do his best for SHINee's future. "To be honest, at first I didn't have the confidence to perform. But I wanted to keep our promise to our fans, and I don't want to say goodbye to SHINee's members in the future," he wrote.
