All nine members of Twice renew their contracts with JYP Entertainment

Album cover of EP ″TWICEcoaster : LANE 1″ showcasing nine members of girl group Twice [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

All nine members of Twice renewed their contracts with JYP Entertainment, according to the agency on Tuesday.

The recent announcement sets the girl group free from the "seven-year curse" of the K-pop industry, as many acts see members leave or even disband completely after their seven-year contracts terminate.

Oct. 20, 2022 marks Twice's seventh anniversary and the end of its first contract.

"Twice, which played a decisive role in establishing the status of K-pop agency JYP, and JYP, who has been a strong supporter of the girl group's growth as a representative female K-pop act, agreed to renew the contract with confidence," the agency said in a statement.

Twice debuted with the EP “The Story Begins” (2015) with the lead song “Like Ooh-Ahh.” The group became widely popular with the song “Cheer Up” (2016) and has since released hits like “TT” (2016), “Feel Special” (2019) and “Alcohol-Free” (2021). The group's members are Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu.

Member Nayeon became the first member of the group to start solo activities. She released her EP “Im Nayeon” last month. On Sunday, the EP reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest rank achieved by a solo K-pop artist on the chart.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]