Girl group Loona to release first new album without Chuu in January

Poster of girl group Loona's upcoming album "The Origin Album '0'" [BLOCKBERRY CREATIVE]

Girl group Loona will return to the K-pop scene on Jan. 3, according to its entertainment agency Blockberry Creative on Tuesday.

The new album titled "The Origin Album '0'" will be Loona's first release since the agency expelled the now-former member Chuu from the group in November.

Chuu was kicked out of the group in November after the singer became embroiled in legal disputes with Blockberry Creative at the beginning of the year. Chuu partially won a lawsuit to nullify her exclusive contract in March.

Blockberry Creative has claimed that Chuu was verbally abusive and misused her fame against the staff. Chuu denied these allegations, and many of her fans supported and defended her.

Loona debuted in 2018 with the EP “[+ +]” pronounced "plus plus." The group currently consists of members Haseul, Vivi, Yves, JinSoul, Kim Lip, Heejin, Hyunjin, Go Won, Choerry, Olivia Hye and Yeojin. It is known for its hits "Hi High" (2018), "Why Not?" (2020) and "PTT (Paint The Town)" (2021).

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