The K-Pop Industry is a land full of opportunities for those who want to pursue their music career and become an idol. However, this is an incredibly rigorous field with a massive amount of sacrifice. Besides a few famous names, many disbanded after a few months of working, making them some of the K-pop groups with the shortest active life in K-pop history.
1. X1
Stepping out from the survival show, Produce 101, X1 was considered one of the best boy bands of Gen 3 after they debuted in 2019 with the album “Quantum Leap.” However, things started to go downhill for them when speculations of vote-rigging activities erupted. The program’s director and chief producer were accused of manipulating the voting results favouring certain contestants. The member’s management company finally announced the band’s disbandment after failing to reach an agreement about the group’s future.
2. I.O.I
I.O.I was one of the most talented girl groups debuting in 2016 with the song "Dream Girls. They had attracted an enormous amount of attention when competing in the survival show. Yet, they disbanded after just ten months of working together. Since the girl group's debut in January 2016, YMC Entertainment had clearly stated that I.O.I would only be active for one year, resulting in I.O.I members receiving only one-year contracts, which ended in January 2017, which led to the disbandment of the group.
3. Yellow Bee
Yellow Bee debuted in the year 2017 with the song "Hiccup" under Addiction Entertainment. After two and a half years of active work life, the agency announced that Yellow Bee would be disbanded in 2020. During the announcement, the agency blamed the disbandment on one of the members of the group and her public love life. However, shortly after the announcement, former member Ari posted a message on Instagram stating all the wrongdoings of the company, which also included sexual and mental assault.
4. The Ark
The Ark debuted in the year 2015 under Music K Entertainment. Except for two members of the group, Minju and Euna, who were already famous, the rest didn’t get much attention. Also, unfortunately, their main vocalist Yujin developed vocal cord nodules, which led her to leave the group. And while in search of a new vocalist, Music K decided that it was better to disband the group in March 2016.
5. Khan
After leaving Music K, Euna and Minju from The Ark debuted as a two-member group in 2018 as Khan. Although they received lots of love for their debut song, they could not keep up with the industry and had the same fate as The Ark. They disbanded in March 2020.
6. A.KOR
A.KOR debuted in the year 2014 under DooRi Public. Even before their debut, A.KOR was infamous for the song that their rapper, Kemy, had written. The song was disrespectful towards the blackjack community. Thus, after three years of a career, A.KOR was disbanded in 2017.
7. ANS
ANS started as a five-member group in 2019. However, after each comeback, they added a new member to the group, which resulted in a total of eight members in the group. However, the group called for disbandment in 2020. Claims of bullying were made by the youngest member of the group. However, all the other members denied this allegation.
8. MASC
In October 2020, four years after its debut in 2016, MASC announced its decision to disband. The main reason behind the group’s disbandment was physical assault. The group started as a four-member group but later, four more members were added to the group, and one of the previous members physically assaulted one of the new members, which led to a lot of drama within the group. They finally decided to part ways in 2020.
9. Chi Chi
They debuted as a seven-member group in 2011. Right after their debut, they made a scandalous statement saying that they aim to take down the national girl group SNSD and become the No.1 girl group. They received a lot of backlashe for the statement. They also received a lot of criticism regarding their performance. After a year of little to no fame, they decided to quietly disband.
10. Bob Girls
They debuted in 2014 as a four-member girl group under Chrome Entertainment. They came up with two singles, “No Way” and “Oh My Boy.” However, one of their members, Jina, had to leave the group due to encephalitis. Due to this, the group ended up disbanding in early 2015.
