Just recently, Jessica Jung of K-pop group, Girls' Generation revealed via her Weibo account that she was "forced out" of the group. The news has caused shock and disbelief among K-pop fans around the world.
SM Entertainment, the girl group's talent agency released a statement on the same day confirming Jessica's statement that she is out from the group. However, SM said that they will continue supporting and managing Jessica's individual activities.
According to the statement released by the agency, SM and the group's members "tried to figure out a way that Girls' Generation's activities can continue in the best possible direction" despite Jung's request to halt the promotions due to her personal situation.
It mentioned that due to Jessica's move to launch her own fashion line, "it has come to a point where the team could not be maintained."
"From here on, our agency will continue to support and manage the 8-member Girls' Generation and Jessica's individual activities," SM's statement reads.
Moreover, the events have left K-pop fans linking the controversy to the so-called "second generation girl group curse." According to KpopStarz, the second generation of K-pop girl groups went through many changes in the past few years, with members leaving and being changed as well as other issues between artists and their agency.
Other notable girl groups linked to the so-called "curse" are KARA and Wonder Girls, which debuted along with Girls' Generation in 2007. They are called the "second generation of girl groups" because they came after the first generation of idol groups such as Fink.L and S.E.S.
KARA has already gone through two member changes since their debut as a 4-member group. Their lead singer Kim Sung Hee left the group in 2008 and was replaced by two new members. After two years, three members had a dispute with their agency and even reached legal proceedings. And just this year, two of the members did not renew their contracts prompting the agency to hold an audition program to find a new member.
Wonder Girls, on the other hand, experienced major member changes even during their song debut. HyunA left the girl group and was replaced by Youbin. After the huge success of their songs, another member, Sunmi left the group and the group welcomed new member Hyerim. After that, leader Sunye got married and decided to take a hiatus while Sohee did not renew her contract and moved to another agency to focus on acting.
In the case of Girls' Generation, this is the first time they are faced with such issue in their seven successful years in the K-pop industry. This is why the news prompted an overwhelming response from the huge fan base of the group.
According to KpopStarz, shortly after SM's statement release, tweets with the hashtag #StayStrongSNSD flooded the Twitter community and instantly become a trending topic worldwide.
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