Pop Singer Quits Group to 'Health Issues'

She withdrew prior to the act's official debut this month.

By Ashley Turner

K-pop agency YG Entertainment announced Wednesday that its upcoming new girl group, BabyMonster, will have one fewer member than initially planned. The announcement was made soon after News1 reported that the former BabyMonster member Ahyeon had stepped down from the group due to "personal reasons" and would not debut with them, per Korea JoongAng Daily.

"Ahyeon has decided to take some time to rest due to health issues," the agency said in a press release. "We feel sad to not be able to show Ahyeon as BabyMonster," it said. "But we promise to provide her with all resources so that she may return in her best condition."

Ahyeon was the second member officially shown to the public on Jan. 16, 2023. She had been training at YG for four years and was accepted in December 2018. Considered the group's "all-arounder," YG music executive Yang Hyunsuk reportedly described her as "a warrior that has many weapons."

This month, YG Entertainment announced that BabyMonster will make their debut as a seven-member girl group on Nov. 27 after postponing the debut date by two months compared with the original September debut date. The postponement was due to considerations related to the debut track, according to a statement from YG Entertainment in October. 

'We paid careful attention in selecting the title track in order to repay with the best result. Consequently, the [girl group's] debut was slightly delayed from September as we originally informed, and we ask for [fans'] understanding,' the representative said.

Ruka, Chiquita, Haram, Pharita, Rora, and Asa – a group consisting of two Korean, two Thai, and two Japanese members – are scheduled to debut in the near future. In recent days, the agency has been releasing the photographs of the members one by one, and it has shared pictures of Asa and Chiquita so far.

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Within 52 days of their YouTube channel's creation on Dec. 28, 2022, BabyMonster's YouTube channel surpassed one million subscribers, and within 129 days, they reached two million subscribers, becoming the fastest girl group ever to achieve this feat. In May, BABYMONSTER released their pre-debut track "Dream," which subsequently topped the Billboard Hot Trending Songs chart.

BabyMonster is the first new girl group under YG Entertainment in seven years after Blackpink debuted in 2016, as well as the agency's first new band in three years after Treasure debuted in 2020.

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