Chaeyoung, a member of TWICE, one of South Korea’s best known K-pop girl groups, is leaving JYP Entertainment while continuing to perform with the group and pursuing her own music. JYP Entertainment, one of South Korea’s major music agencies, formed TWICE in 2015 and has managed the group throughout its rise from a domestic hit act into an internationally recognized K-pop brand.
The arrangement is what makes Chaeyoung’s decision more significant than a routine change of management. TWICE does not have to break apart simply because individual members want careers outside the company that created the group. Chaeyoung can retain the audience and identity she built through TWICE while developing music independently, giving JYP the separate challenge of keeping one of its most valuable group brands active even as it no longer manages every member’s individual career.
That matters beyond the group’s fan base because K-pop has become increasingly tied to international touring, music distribution, advertising and other entertainment businesses.
TWICE’s situation shows how an established Korean pop group can remain commercially active even as the relationship between its members and original agency becomes less centralized. For companies working with K-pop acts overseas, the value of a group can therefore depend increasingly on whether its members and multiple management companies can coordinate activities rather than on whether every artist remains signed to the same agency.
Chaeyoung announced her departure in a handwritten letter posted on social media on Aug. 13. She said she wanted ONCE, the official name of TWICE’s fan community, to hear the news directly from her and said she plans to develop her own musical activities through what she calls her “Lil Fantasy” world.
She thanked JYP and the other TWICE members for supporting her during the 14 years she spent with the company. At the same time, she made clear that her departure from JYP would not end her activities with TWICE.
Chaeyoung said the group remains the foundation of the career that allowed her to build a large following. She said she hopes both her work as a TWICE member and her music under Lil Fantasy can continue becoming an important part of listeners’ lives.
She also promised to grow through the new challenge and asked fans to continue watching what she does next.
Chaeyoung is not the first TWICE member to separate her individual career from JYP.
Jeongyeon recently left the company and signed an exclusive contract with Baro Entertainment, a South Korean talent agency that also represents her older sister, actress Gong Seung-yeon. Other TWICE members are still discussing contract renewals with JYP.
TWICE debuted in 2015 and became one of the leading acts of the K-pop expansion, releasing songs including “Like Ooh-Ahh,” “Cheer Up,” “Fancy,” “Feel Special” and “Dance the Night Away.” The group has built a sizable following both in South Korea and overseas.
Chaeyoung’s departure now adds another layer to TWICE’s next phase. Rather than choosing between a solo career and the group that made her famous, she is attempting to do both. How successfully TWICE maintains group activities as more members establish careers outside JYP could offer an early indication of how some of K-pop’s most established acts manage life beyond the traditional single-agency model.
