LOONA’s agency announces indefinite postponement of group's comeback
A week after it announced LOONA's 2023 comeback, BlockberryCreatives has confirmed that it is postponing the group's return indefinitely.
The South Korean record label initially announced on Dec. 12 that the 11-piece girl group is making a comeback with an album titled The Origin on Jan. 3, 2023.
On Dec. 2022, the company put out a bulletin on LOONA's fancafe spotted by local entertainment portal Soompi.
The statement reads, "We have decided that [LOONA’s] comeback activities would be meaningless when various concerns about the members’ circumstances are not yet sorted out. Therefore, it has been decided that LOONA’s “The Origin Album [0],” which was diligently prepared by 11 members and scheduled to be released on January 3, 2023, will be postponed indefinitely."
These unresolved issues, according to BlockberryCreatives, include the income it has been earning from the group which, however, does not equate to their efforts and expenses.
"LOONA is a project that took a lot of effort over a long period of time. As it was a major long-term project that required a lot of investment and money compared to typical idol groups, the results that appeared on the surface often did not match with our efforts," the agency wrote.
"After LOONA was planned and formed, [the group] needed endless costs that were not easy for a small/mid-sized company to handle, but we endured this because we of course believed it was up to the agency to handle the costs of upfront investment."
The agency went on to explain its removal of Chuu from the group last Nov. 25, noting that it was caused by the member's change in behavior. Previously, BlockberryCreatives said that Chuu uses "violent language" and exhibits "misuse of power toward staff."
"Although we wanted all the members to go forward together as one, unfortunately against our expectations, the behavior of a former member began to change," the agency continued.
"Due to this, the agency accepted the risk of upfront investment, and we came to an agreement to a change in the contract details for the sake of the future ahead, and we tried to protect LOONA with whatever method possible, but as everyone knows, we reached an unfortunate conclusion."
Chuu, for her part, responded to the issue via Instagram Story, thanking her fans for their support and assuring them that she didn't do anything "shameful."
"We will definitely make an environment in which fans can all happily cheer on LOONA," BlockberryCreatives said.
"We sincerely [apologize] once again to everyone, and we ask that you support LOONA’s continuing dream and future," the record label concluded.
LOONA is an 11-member girl group that debuted in 2016 under BlockBerryCreative. Some of its popular songs are Heart Attack and PTT (Paint The Town).