Girl group April to disband, agency says

Girl group April [ILGAN SPORTS]

Girl group April is disbanding, its agency DSP Media said Friday.

“The agency and members decided that after many discussions, it would be best for the group to go its separate ways,” DSP Media said in a statement.

“Please support the six members in their new paths. Thank you again for cheering and supporting April for the past six years.”

April debuted in 2015 with the song “Dream Candy,” the lead track on EP “Dreaming.” The group had six members: Chaekyung, Chaewon, Naeun, Yena, Rachel and Jinsol.

The group has been embroiled in bullying accusations by someone claiming to be ex-member Lee Hyun-joo’s brother. The accuser wrote an online post in early 2021 claiming that the other members had bullied Lee, and that this was what made her leave the group in 2016.

At the time, DSP Media denied the allegations and threatened to take legal action against “everyone who claims they are Lee’s family member and uploads posts on online communities.”

A separate online post in March 2021 also accused member Naeun of being a bully in school. Early this month, Naeun dropped the case she had filed against the person who posted the comment, as a police investigation concluded that it was false information. The person sent a letter of apology to Naeun.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]