Golden Child‘s Lee Dae-yeol → Bong Jae-hyun leaving Woollim... Only Lee Jang-jun and Hong Joo-chan remaining [Comprehensive]

Just four months after the group Golden Child was reorganized into a 7-member group due to the departure of members, they are facing an even bigger ‘rush of departures’. News has been delivered that the exclusive contracts of five members, Lee Dae-yeol, Y, Bae Seung-min, Bong Jae-hyun, and Kim Dong-hyun, have ended. Golden Child, which debuted as an 11-member group in 2017, is now left with only two members, Lee Jang-jun and Hong Joo-chan, remaining with their current agency.

On the 27th, the agency Woollim Entertainment announced, “The exclusive contracts of Golden Child members Lee Dae-yeol, Y, Bae Seung-min, Bong Jae-hyun, and Kim Dong-hyun will end on December 31. We have had a long and in-depth discussion with the members of Golden Child about their individual futures and the direction of their activities, and after sufficient conversation, we have agreed to terminate our exclusive contracts.”

They said, “We would like to thank Golden Child for always working with a sincere attitude, presenting various music from 2017 to the present. We will sincerely cheer on the future that awaits the members of Golden Child. We would also like to thank the fans who have always been with Golden Child.” They continued, “We ask for your continued support and love for the members of Golden Child who are taking their first steps forward.”

Golden Child was reorganized as a 10-member group in 2018 when member Park Jae-seok left the group due to health reasons. In August of this year, TAG, Kim Ji-beom, and Choi Bo-min also left the group when their contracts fell through. Golden Child announced a new start as a 7-member group and held a year-end fan concert. The fan concerts held in Tokyo, Japan on the 30th of last month, Osaka on the 1st of this month, and Seoul on the 7th and 8th were effectively the last activities as a group.


[Woollim Entertainment’s full statement]

Hello.
This is Woollim Entertainment.

First, we would like to thank the fans who have always loved Golden Child.

The exclusive contracts of Golden Child members Lee Dae-yeol, Y, Bae Seung-min, Bong Jae-hyun, and Kim Dong-hyun will end on December 31st. We have had a long and in-depth discussion with the Golden Child members about their individual futures and directions in life, and after sufficient conversation, we have agreed to end the exclusive contracts.

We would like to thank Golden Child for always working with a sincere attitude, presenting various music since 2017 until now. We will sincerely cheer on the future that awaits the Golden Child members. We would like to thank the fans who have always been with Golden Child.

We ask for your continued support and love for the Golden Child members who are taking their first steps forward.

Thank you.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com