Five UP10TION members leave agency, but will remain 7-member group

Boy band UP10TION during its debut in 2015 [TOP MEDIA]

Five members of the boy band UP10TION — Kuhn, Kogyeo, Bitto, Sunyoul and Gyujin — will be leaving TOP Media upon the termination of their exclusive contract but will stay members of the band, the agency announced Tuesday.

The agency also announced the departure of Lee Jin-hyuk, also known as Wei. Lee debuted in 2015 as a member of UP10TION, but has halted group activities since going solo in 2019.

The agency said that the boy band will remain as a seven-member group, with the five aforementioned members leaving the agency and Hwanhee and Xiao, who will remain with the agency.

The agency said it will continue to support the band when the members decide to hold activities together, despite being signed with different agencies.

Kim Woo-seok and Lee Jin-Hyuk — both still technically members of the band, according to the agency, though not a part of the seven — will not be a part of the boy band’s future activities, as both singers have halted their activities in the boy band since launching solo music careers.

Lee and the five members uploaded pictures of hand-written letters to their fans on Tuesday on the agency's official website.

“I’m still scared and quivering as I am leaving the company that I’ve worked for 13 years, since I was in my second year of middle school,” Lee wrote. “The love I received [from fans] from the age of 20 has been the biggest strength and driving force for the members and myself.”

"Please look forward to the new activities of our members and myself," Sunyool wrote.

Hwanhee and Xiao are currently starring as contestants on cable network Mnet’s audition program “Boys Planet.”

UP10TION debuted in 2015 as a 10-member boy band with its first EP, "Top Secret." Kim Woo-seok and Lee Jin-hyuk took a break from their group activities after participating in Mnet's audition program "Produce X 101" in 2019 and starting solo activities later the same year. Another member, Jinhoo, left the group in 2020 due to health issues, and the band continued its activities as a seven-member group, releasing its second full-length album in 2021 and two new EPs in 2022.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]