7 K-pop idols who quit their groups soon after debuting: besides Le Sserafim’s Kim Garam, Hyuna, Somin, Jiin, Jisun, Seunghee and Junhyeok all departed early too

Aug 3 , 2022

Cho Seung-hee, Junhyeok, Hyuna, Somin and Jang Hyeri all moved on from their K-pop groups very quickly. Photos: @seunghee91_63, @hyunah_aa, @somin_jeon0822, @s2._.hyerii/Instagram; Wikipedia

Hybe, the brains behind BTS, launched Le Sserafim earlier this year, but Kim Garam was riddled in bullying scandals, leading to a hiatus and subsequent departure

Hyuna left Wonder Girls for health reasons, then joined 4Minute, Somin was with April for only 3 months, but did Junhyeok really leave Day6 because of a relationship with a fan?

Kim Garam has been officially removed from Le Sserafim following her alleged bullying. Garam debuted with Hybe’s girl group in May and was soon caught in a whirlwind of scandals that saw netizens sparing her no mercy.

After months of confusion about what would happen to Garam – with her agency even putting her on a hiatus the same month the group debuted – Source Music confirmed in a statement on July 20 that it had decided to terminate its contract with the star. This makes Garam the idol to leave a group the fastest after a debut, per Geo News.

But Garam isn’t the first in K-pop showbiz to leave a group so quickly. Here are five more cases … and the reasons behind their swift departures.

1. April’s Somin

Somin is a member of K-pop group Kard. Photo: @somin_jeon0822/Instagram

While Somin is now known for being a member of Kard, she was actually part of a girl group called April before entering the popular mixed-gender group. Somin debuted with April in 2015 but, three months after its debut song Dream Candy came out, she left the group, per K-pop Starz.

Somin left girl group April within three months of her debut. Photo: @dspapril/Instagram

According to Koreaboo, Somin has no regrets. “I’m very happy I had the opportunity to be with the members I have now,” she said.

Theories from netizens floated around online stating that Somin didn’t like the concept DSP (the music label) had for April, hence she took off to explore her options. After joining Kard, her image changed from cute to bold and her genre of music took a complete turn with a mix of reggae-style, hip-hop songs.