Kep1er’s Yeseo on leaving the group: “We will always stay as nine”
Kep1er member Yeseo has opened up about her thoughts on having to leave the K-pop girl group next month.
Last month, Kep1er’s labels WAKEONE and Swing Entertainment announced that seven of the girl group’s nine members had agreed to extend their contracts as a group. The remaining two members, Mashiro and Yeseo from 143 Entertainment, will “conclude their activities” and leave Kep1er following the girl group’s upcoming concert.
Kep1er was formed in 2021 through the idol competition series Girls Planet 999, and made their debut with the mini-album ‘First Impact’ in January 2022. The group’s original contract through the series was only for two years and six months, and is due to expire this July.
Yeseo has since opened up about the move to leave Kep1er during a press showcase for the girl group’s last release as a nine-member group, the full-length album, ‘Kep1going On’. “I just hope you remember that we will always stay as nine siblings,” the K-pop singer said, per Korea JoongAng Daily.
“I tried my best, for [our fanbase] Kep1ian, for everyone,” the Kep1er member added. “Our album activities were possible thanks to the trust we have on each other.”
Elsewhere during the press conference, the other members of Kep1er also spoke about their contract extensions, with Yujin saying: “We’ve had such meaningful [time] since Girls Planet 999 […] we wanted to renew our contract so we could continue under the Kep1er name.”
Meanwhile, Chaehyun added that even though Mashiro and Yeseo are leaving, the group will “consider ourselves as a nine-member group in the times to come” after having “built a deep bond among ourselves”.
In other K-pop news, KCON Los Angeles 2024 has announced the first artist line-up for its upcoming event in July, featuring ENHYPEN, NMIXX, BIBI and more.
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Puah Ziwei
NME
