By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila
Bulletin
Korean girl group
KARA will be left with only three members with the departure of Nicole and
Jiyoung.
Nicole officially
left KARA today with the expiration of her exclusive contract under DSP Media,
the group’s agency.
 |
| Nicole (left) and Jiyoung (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com) |
DSP Media, KARA’s
agency, said in a notice last Jan. 14 that Nicole, who was a member of KARA for
seven years, will terminate her contract with the agency on Jan. 16.
The agency asked the
public to continue supporting Nicole despite that she’s no longer a member of
KARA.
Nicole will
reportedly go to the US to start taking lessons in preparation for her solo
career.
Last October, Nicole
expressed her desire to stay with KARA despite that she would not renew her
contract with DSP Media.
She said she didn’t
want to renew her contract in order to pursue her personal career goals.
With her leaving, DSP
Media said the remaining KARA members will focus on individual acting
activities and releasing a new album.
Jiyoung, the youngest
member, has also informed DSP Media that she will be leaving KARA when her
contract expires in April.
Negotiations between
Jiyoung and DSP Media were ongoing but Jiyoung was firm on her position to
pursue an acting career and study abroad.
With this, KARA will
have Gyuri, Hara and Seungyeon as remaining members. The three renewed their
contract for another two years.
In January 2011,
Nicole, Hara, Jiyoung and Seungyeon said they would file a court case to
terminate their contract with DSP Media over alleged unfair income distribution
and backbreaking schedules.
Hara withdrew from
the planned lawsuit and days later, KARA and DSP reached a temporary agreement
for the girl group to continue their activities so as not to derail their
careers.
A month later,
Nicole, Jiyoung and Seungyeon filed the case with the Seoul Central District
Court.
The members and DSP
Media reached an agreement to resolve the issues in April 2011 and KARA
continued their activities as five members.
Link to
my original article on Manila Bulletin online
To contact the
author, send email to sangchusan(at)gmail.com
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