After 7 months of promoting as a group, JBJ’s contract came to an end and they had to disband on April 30th, 2018. It would seem that they couldn’t extend or renew their contract, but JBJ did receive praise and achievement for their work, especially works such as “Fantasy” and “My Flower.” Other than their achievements, JBJ left their fans worried and curious regarding the past controversies that members had been involved in, during their promotions. One of their members, Yong-guk, also known as Long-guo, caused a scandal while actively promoting with his band. Let’s get ready to check out the article below and find the truth about the controversy surrounding JBJ’s Yong-guk!
Official Disbandment
On March 14th, 2018, an official statement was released from JBJ’s agency regarding the expiration of the contract on April 30th, 2018. The management said that they are already going through a long discussion and have already come to a decision in terms of the final status of the boy band that had signed with the company, JBJ. After 7 months of promotion, the representative from JBJ’s agency said, “We are really thankful to the JBJ fans who supported them from the start and until the very last. Through this statement, we would like to express our apologies but also our gratitude to everyone who has supported and encouraged the members of JBJ on their journey toward reaching and achieving their dreams.” The statement was released after they had discussed the issue with the members, staff, and agency personnel, and a decision about their contract had been made. Many opinions had to change, involved parties had to be reminded that every member has his own path and journey that he would like to follow, and everyone must prioritize what’s most important to him for reaching another level in life. JBJ also responded to the news about their disbandment by saying, “We couldn’t hide our feelings for now as we got sad and nervous for our career in the future but eventually, we should accept every possibility in the future for our individual work. At this moment, the only way to survive is to work harder although we have different dreams. Seeing all the support we have received so far, we are so thankful for the fans that encourage us to do our best.” In the end, JBJ also promised to work hard and improve their skills in the future. The boy band, mostly known for their single “Everyday,” asked the fans to continue with their support for them for every individual member who will pursue a career in entertainment again in the future. On April 20th, 2018, JBJ released their last music video titled “Just Be Stars.” Although the news about their disbandment was heartbreaking, in this final farewell song they made a beautiful scene by showing the band’s activities from their debut up until now and they also added a farewell message from every member.
After their last music video, before officially disbanding, had been released, JBJ held a concert, titled “Epilogue,” that made the entire audience, all of their fans, and even each of the members shed tears, brought about by the realiziation that this is their final concert and it will be the last time they perform ont he stage together as JBJ. As reported from Korea Boo, here is the translation of JBJ’s last farewell message to their fans relayed on their “Epilogue” concert: “Our fans always worked hard for us. Even when we made a comeback during the coldest weather, the fans came to see us even though it must’ve been hard. Thank you for always loving us. I’m sincerely grateful for our Joyfuls who came to meet us until the very end. Thank you.” — Kwon Hyun-bin. “I was able to promote as an idol and right now it seems indescribable… I hope everyone will welcome us and support us no matter what path we walk… I’ve tried so many new things and it was so fun. I’ll never forget this experience. Thank you.” — Kim Dong-han. “As we’ve said before, there’s always an end to a beginning, so I’ll say my goodbyes today. Our Joyfuls… I’m sorry… No matter what everyone is doing… Just as you’ve always cheered us on, we will continue to cheer you on wherever we are. Our members have worked hard until today, and our JBJ staff have worked hard as well. They’ve always missed seeing our performance because they were busy working backstage, but to see them watching us right now… It makes me realize that it truly is the end. I’ve been very happy thanks to the Joyfuls. Thank you.” — Kim Sang-gyun. “Thank you for allowing, not just me, but all six of us to debut… I pray it won’t be our last encounter. Thank you.” — Kim Yong-guk “I’ve been so happy over the past 7 months thanks to everyone. I want to continue on with our members… I want to sing and dance in front of everyone. I want to be with our helpful staff forever. I want to continue to show this side of myself to all my friends and family who have cheered me on so far. Thank you for everything. I’ll miss you. The six of us will continue to work hard in our separate paths, so I hope you’ll continue to cheer us on and be with us. I said this yesterday too, but I’ll never forget this moment. I hope you won’t forget it either. Thank you so much.” — Takada Kenta. “First of all, the six members have gone through so much, as well as our staff. I’m sorry. I don’t think this is the end! I will continue to believe that if you call our names at any time, we’ll be able to come together just like today. Thank you.” — Noh Tae-hyun. It must be hard for them to leave each other due to the expiration of their contract but it’s the best choice for them to continue with their individual career paths and come back stronger in the future. As reported by Soompi, it is true that the relationship between JBJ members is still going well. It was reported that JBJ members reunited again and went out for dinner after their contract ended.
A post shared by 김상균 (@8eomatom) on May 18, 2018 at 7:52am PDT One of the members of JBJ, Kim Sang-gyun, took a photo of them during the reunion dinner on May 18th, 2018, and uploaded it on his personal Instagram account. Their expressions actually show that they have missed each other and are very happy to meet again.
A post shared by 권현빈 (@komurola) on May 18, 2018 at 7:55am PDT In addition, another JBJ member, Kim Yong-guk also shared his happiness to meet his colleagues again by uploading a picture of them from the same event with the caption written, “My precious colleagues, I will always cheer you on! Guk-ie hyung [referring to Kim Yong-guk] who left first, I will see you soon!” As reported from Soompi, each member of JBJ has returned to his respective agency and has already started his individual activities. Details about their future solo activities, after JBJ’s disbandment, has already been revealed. Keep reading to find out details about the future activities of each member! Kim Sang-gyun appeared on the scene again as a member of ToppDogg, a band that later changed their name to XENO-T. However, he left the group to participate as a contestant in season 2 of Produce 101. After JBJ disbanded, he returned to his former agency, Hunus Entertainment, and the representative of the agency released an official statement that Kim Sang-gyun will not join XENO-T and promote with the group. Later on, there was news that Kim Sang-gyun and his bandmate, Takada Kenta, will be cast members of web drama titled Barefoot Diva and they were reported to be playing the main roles. Apart from that, Kim Sang-gyun also made an official FanCafe and a personal account on Twitter, Facebook. He has also appeared in an interview, together with Takada Kenta, for Innerview, adding JBJ’s “Call Your Name” in the background to greet their fans, the Joyfuls. During the interview, they talked about the 7-month promotion with the band and how they felt throughout the journey. Kwon Hyun-bin has actually left the dorm after JBJ disbanded and appeared on various scheduled activities to promote himself. Although he has been reported as the first member who left JBJ, that doesn’t mean he has a bad relationship with the other members. When JBJ members held a V-Live, Kwon Hyun-bin watched them through the live streaming and interacted through Instagram. Takada Kenta went on a short trip to Japan with his bandmate, Kim Dong-han, a few days after JBJ disbanded, since they were both allowed to go on a short break and didn’t have any scheduled activities yet. A few moments later, Takada was reported to be one of the cast members of SBS’ web drama, Barefoot Diva, with his other fellow bandmate, Kim Sang-gyun. Not only they appear in the dama together, but they will also promote as a band together. On August 16th, 2018, Takada Kenta and Kim Sang-gyun appeared on V-Live and they announced their future plans to debut as a band. Through the live broadcasting, V-Live, Kenta and Sang-gyun revealed their new band name JBJ95, saying that the name was chosen from ideas by their fans. Sang-gyun explained that the name derived from their previous band, JBJ, which holds precious and unforgettable memories in their life, and they added 95 because they were born the same year, namely 1995. Kenta and Sang-gyun explained that they will promote with this band project which is a permanent one and their debut album would be released in October 2018, with an official music video titled “HOME.”
Kim Yong-guk, also known as Jin Long-guo, was known as the member of JBJ who left the dorm after they disbanded. The latest updated news about Kim Yong-guk is regarding the time when he was sick and had to take a break from his activities. Kim Yong-guk once debuted as a duo before joining JBJ and many of his fans assumed that they will continue to promote as a duo with another trainee from his agency, Choon Entertainment. The latest updated news about Kim Yong-guk was in May 2018. He was chosen to be one of the MCs of The Show, together with NCT Dream’s Jeno and CLC’s Ye-eun. A representative from the TV program said that the 3 MCs have strong chemistry among each other and it represented a new combination as they all have a fresh image of teenagers. At the end of May 2018, Kim Yong-guk was scheduled to make a solo debut with the single “Clover.” The solo single features female rapper & hip-hop singer, Yoon Mi-rae.
On July 31st, 2018, Kim Yong-guk had other activities while promoting with the duo, with his label mate from Choon Entertainment, Shi-hyun. The duo’s name is Longguo & Shihyun (용국 & 시현). Longguo & Shihyun both participated as contestants in season 2 of Produce 101 and debuted with the song titled “the.the.the.”
The last member of JBJ, that there are updates after they disbanded, is Kim Dong-han. He took a break, after JBJ disbanded, and went to Japan with Takada Kenta for a short trip. On June 19th, 2018, Kim Dong-han announced the news about his debut as a solo artist.
Kim Dong-han made his solo debut with the release of an EP titled D-Day in June 2018 and his very first single music video was titled “Sunset.” Kim Dong-han made another comeback with the next EP titled D-Night, released in October 2018, backed up with the release of a new music video titled “Good Night Kiss.”
