On June 30, 2026, Brand New Music confirmed that vocalist Lee Eunsang is leaving boy group YOUNITE after more than a year on health hiatus, and that he will instead prepare solo activities. The agency said YOUNITE will continue as a seven member team.
The news that “YOUNITE Eunsang leaves group” might have sounded routine on paper, but the reaction was anything but. Fans who waited 13 months with almost no updates are calling the way his exit was handled “unforgivable,” turning a quiet statement into a flashpoint in a larger K pop debate.
YOUNITE’s Eunsang Leaves Group After 13 Months On Hiatus
In its notice, Brand New Music explained that Eunsang had taken an extended break from activities starting around May 2025 due to health issues. The company said he had “a sufficient period of rest” and that, after “long and deep discussions” with Eunsang and the members, they agreed on his departure.
The statement thanked fans for prioritizing his health and asked them to keep supporting both Eunsang and YOUNITE in their separate paths. No specific schedule has been announced for his solo work, but the label made clear that group promotions will move forward with seven members.
On the surface, it followed the familiar script: health, careful talks, mutual decision, future activities. For many fans, the real problem was everything that happened, or did not happen, during the 13 months in between.
Why Fans Call The Exit “Unforgivable”
International fans on X pointed out that Eunsang disappeared from schedules in May 2025 with only a brief explanation about health, then stayed offstage for over a year with little public detail. When the company finally spoke again, it was to confirm he was gone.
Some posts, compiled by Korean outlets, described it as the “worst day” of their lives as fans. One wrote that the company could “go to the deepest place in hell,” a level of anger aimed squarely at the agency, not at Eunsang, for keeping supporters in the dark.
The sense of betrayal centers on trust. A “health hiatus” usually gives fans hope that an idol will recover and return. When that silence ends with a short message saying he had already decided to leave, many feel their patience and emotional investment were taken for granted.
From Heeseung To Haknyeon, A Bigger Boy Group Problem
Eunsang’s case lands in the middle of a wider backlash over how boy group exits are handled. In March, ENHYPEN’s Heeseung left to pursue a solo career under BELIFT LAB after what the label called “in depth discussions,” while ENHYPEN continued as six members.
Angry fans went so far as to flood South Korea’s National Pension Service, which owns a 7.54 percent stake in HYBE, with more than 1,500 emails in about two hours. NPS chairman Kim Sung joo said users on X had shared its support center numbers to protest Heeseung’s removal, forcing the fund to clarify that it does not control member lineups.
- Eunsang: health hiatus, then a sudden departure framed as mutual.
- Heeseung: a center member goes solo, fans pressure a pension fund.
- Ju Haknyeon: says he never agreed to leave THE BOYZ at all.
In 2025, Ju Haknyeon posted that he had “never left the team and have never agreed to the termination” of his contract, denying illegal behavior and claiming his agency demanded over 200 million KRW in compensation. His company responded that his removal was legal under a clause about “acts that damage the dignity of the artist.”
Many fans now see a pattern across these stories: vague language about “mutual” decisions or “dignity,” long stretches of silence, then sudden exits that reshape groups they have supported for years. That gap between polished statements and how these departures feel in real time is exactly where the word “unforgivable” is taking hold.