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Why did Son Naeun really leave Apink? Member exits group before 11th anniversary

Fans wonder how scheduling conflicts can get so bad that Naeun had to ultimately leave Apink ahead of their 11th Anniversary

So many hearts are broken by Apink’s now-former member Son Naeun’s decision to leave the girl group after spending 11 years with them. Apink debuted in 2011 and the six-member girl group made it big as a second-gen girl group. The IST Entertainment (then Play M Entertainment) girl group had a lot going on for them as they were ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary since its debut in 2021 with a special album for fans. But, a fake controversy around Apink’s leader Chorong ruined their plans, and Pandas as well as members of Apink had to wait for a whole year to clear the air.

With the scandal finally being resolved as of January 2022 and Chorong free of all charges, fans were glad to see that the girl group was finally able to release their 10th Anniversary album, ‘Horn’ in 2022, a year after the anniversary. This also started a new issue for member Son Naeun who had already signed with YG Entertainment's subsidiary YG Stage for her acting gigs. Naeun’s schedule forced her to stay out of ‘Horn’ promotions and the rest of Apink went ahead with promotions without her. But now, it seems like days ahead of their upcoming comeback, Naeun has finally big farewell to the girl group that raised her.

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Naeun announces her exit from Apink

In a media report that was released sources claimed that YG Entertainment and their exclusive artist contract with Son Naeun was the reason why the singer was missing from many promotions for Apink. It was also revealed that Naeun was asked to exit Apink before joining YG Entertainment in May 2021. Naeun’s response to YG Entertainment has fans emotional because she said, “How can I leave the group that raised me?” when asked to leave Apink. On April 8, days ahead of Apink’s 11th Anniversary comeback, Naeun finally put an end to fans’ incessant questions and announced her exit from Apink.

Without stating an actual reason, Naeun bid farewell as a member of Apink and started her journey as a Panda (fan of Apink) to support her former members. Chorong, the leader of Apink, also addressed fans after Naeun’s exit and stated that she was sad about the sudden news but reassured fans that the remaining five members of Apink will try their best to fill the void left after Naeun’s departure. Fans on the other hand believe that Naeun’s exit was much more than a scheduling conflict.

Did Naeun leave because IST and YG Entertainment clashed?

While no other reason aside from “scheduling conflicts” has been claimed to be the reason for Naeun’s exit from Apink, fans believe that it is much more than just that. While there have been former groups that have made it work with some members signing with different labels and still being a part of their groups. The best example of this is 2PM’s Ok Taecyeon who, while being a part of the boy group managed his acting projects under a different label after his exit from JYP Entertainment.

Now fans believe that the internal clash between labels IST Entertainment and YG Entertainment is the real reason for Naeun’s exit from Apink. It is also alleged by fans that Naeun may have exited the girl group way before this announcement and was only releasing her note to fans so that Pandas stop asking questions about Naeun’s absence. One fan said, “Naeun was with them for 11 YEARS, for them to push ot5 in our faces and let naeun go is a ridiculous thing to ask fans to do. naeun will always be an apink member to EVERYONE, I don't care what yg or ist says." One more fan said, "Schedule conflicts" what sense does that even make? apink comes back once a year AT MOST with like barely any promotion period. I can assure you that yg could have squeezed that in naeun's schedule somehow. f**k yg AND ist fr."

'They didn't even f**king try'

One fan wondered, "When will apink’s and naeun’s contracts with ist and yg stage end btw?" and another said, "Ot5 will end in 2024. Naeun contract on yg stage will end in 2026 or 2027 ( depends if she signed with 5 or 6 years contract with them)." One fan speculated, "Maybe Naeun announced that she left Apink before their 11th anniv so that us pandas would not question where's Naeun and why she's not included in the fansong. Just like what we did on the promotions of dilemma. Because we keep on asking questions like that, maybe she got tired."

One fan concluded, "I'm guessing the main reason why naeun left the group is cause ist and yge couldn't make an agreement." One fan said, "NO. THEY SHOULD’VE LET NAEUN TO PROMOTE DILEMMA WITH APINK FIRST THEN LET NAEUN LEFT AFTER THAT WHY DID THEY MAKE NAEUN LAST COMEBACK WAS DUHMDURUM? I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THAT WE WILL NEVER GET DILEMMA OT6 VERSION." One more fan compared, "Naeun left the group and i expected a 2pm situation where despite different companies they could still be a group but apparently i was wrong why does the universe hate women."

Another angry fan said, "If the scheduling is the reason why Naeun left Apink then what the f**k kind of contract did they agree on?" One more fan said, "using conflict in schedule as the reason why naeun left apink is the most bulls**t thing to me.....naeun is a singer, a model and an actress during her days in the group but suddenly she can't adjust her schedule now? they didn't even f**king try."