WONDER GIRLS’s SunMi withdraws from group; Hong Kong newcomer is added

2010-01-25, 07:54 Sina Entertainment

Sina Entertainment wire. Beijing time January 25 morning news. According to Korean media reports, South Korean girl group WONDER GIRLS’s ‘Nobody’ was a hit throughout Asia & also achieved pretty good results in America. But at the height of their popularity, team member SunMi announced she is withdrawing from the group to continue with her studies. After SunMi’s departure, JYP China will arrange for the Hong Kong-originating, longtime-groomed Hui Lin (pinyin name) to replace her position.

A WONDER GIRLS manager revealed that SunMi expressed her wish to live like a normal person, as well as to pass the college entrance exams, before re-considering her entertainment career. JYP Entertainment, after discussing with SunMi & her family, decided to respect SunMi’s decision.

The manager also said that, even though WONDERGIRLS’s profile continues to rise globally, SunMi has been constantly uncomfortable about the future. She was constantly worried about having the radiant prospects in front of her abruptly ending. To prepare for it, she decided to temporarily cease all entertainment activities & resume her studies.

A JYP Entertainment manager said that, although SunMi is leaving WONDER GIRLS for now, it doesn’t mean a permanent exit from the group, nor is she terminating her contract with the company. When SunMi feels time is ripe for a comeback, JYP Entertainment will assist her as extensively as before. To these, SunMi indicated that during the period of preparing for the college entrance examinations, she will take time out to continue rehearsing her singing & dancing at the company.

After SunMi’s withdrawal, JYP Entertainment will promote newcomer Hui Lin (Lim) to take over from her. Hui Lin is born in Hong Kong, like SunMi in the year 1992. Fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese & Korean, she was a newcomer who had been groomed to be part of the company’s plan to establish a China WONDER GIRLS.

It is learned that, after finishing American commitments by the end of February, SunMi will stop all entertainment activities. Hui Lin shall then formally replace her to become a new group member.

“In early March, she will return to South Korea, to focus on her studies.” — part of JYP statement, mentioned in Huanqiu.com

“Hui Lin was a trainee preparing for the Chinese version of WONDER GIRLS. When SunMi abruptly [intends to] break off her activities, we selected her to replace SunMi. Hui Lin knows several languages, so there is absolutely no worries about any language barrieraffecting her development in Korea. Moreover, having undergone a long period of training, her singing & dancing strengths are excellent. Also, [she's] very agreeable with WONDER GIRLS’s cute-sexy image.”

“Hui Lin will officially join WONDER GIRLS to begin its activities at the start of March. At the appointed time, WONDER GIRLS shall then release its first album in America.”

English Korean news portal:

Sunmi to Quit Wonder Girls

Sunmi of Korea’s top girl band Wonder Girls is to take a break from show business in March and go back to school. The 18-year old will be seamlessly replaced by Hyelim, who has been trained up in the JYP Entertainment stable for the past three years. She is reportedly fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

“After long deliberation and discussion among Sunmi and her family, the members of the Wonder Girls, and the company, we finally concluded that Sunmi will quit as a member of the Wonder Girls and return to Korea and to school,” JYP said in a press release. “The company will support her return to show business if she wishes to do so after going to university.”

To WonderFul, FAN*tastics and whom is concerned for Sunmi,

Forwarded through WGSpectacle, we have information on how Korean WonderFul will be dealing with Sunmi’s departure.

The three major korean fan sites (ByulHa in WG, Wonder Girls World, and Wonder Holic) gathered all together to discuss about this situation.
Since the situation is ambiguous, we asked for a conference with JYPE with us WonderFul
First, we want a clear explanation of Sunmi’s postponing of her career
- we want to know when was this decided, and if JYPE discussed with her enough. We will ask Sunmi’s possibility of coming back as Wonder Girls.

Second, we want a clearification about the new member and her status in Wonder Girls
- we want to know if she’s a permenant member or not; what will happen the new member when Sunmi is coming back.

Third, we are to request a time with Sunmi with her fans
- Because Wonder Girls were active in America, the last time the fans got to spend their time with her was Seoul Concert at March, 2009.
Also, since Sunmi’s return is uncertain, we think that JYPE should agree with this request.
If JYPE does not agree with this request, we will ask them a video message from Sunmi.

Fourth, we want JYPE to change their attitude toward Korean WonderFul
- We know that Wonder Girls are active in America, but since Korea is there motherland, we think we, Korean Wonderfuls, should be treated as a basic part of Wonder Girls.
JYPE wrote an important announcement only in English without officially notifying to Korean WonderFul.
We want an aplogy from JYPE for their disrespct to Korean WonderFul.

We will try hard to contact with JYPE, and We will treat this very seriously.
Some people are talking about boycotts and strikes, please resist these forms of act because we are trying hard to negotiate with JYPE.

ByulHa in Wonder Girls fan cafe – http://cafe.daum.net/wg070210
Wonder Girls World fan cafe – http://cafe.daum.net/wondercuty
Wonder Holic – http://wonderholic.com

With due respect, I urge for both WonderFul & FAN*tastics to resist acting rashly everyone’s actions may come in the way of negotiations with JYPE. Please resist from any form of boycott and strikes.

WonderfulsWorld will support Korean WonderFuls, namely (ByulHa in WG, Wonder Girls World, and Wonder Holic) with their negotiations with JYPE as well as further developments that may come in future.

JYP Entertainment revealed that they could not stop Sunmi due to legal reasons. The main reason is the Fair Trade Commission’s standard contract, which JYPE accepted in November of last year. As the new contract terms enforce, artists with exclusive contracts, now have a greater level of decision making authority.

A JYPE associate said:

If it was before the new contract policies, we couldn’t even imagine Sunmi’s withdrawal from the group. If it was up to us, we would’ve stopped Sunmi. The artists have more personal freedom now.

The standard contract enforces that the artists have a voice. The artists can speak to their management about how they’re feeling at anytime and the management has to listen. The company also has to pay attention to their artists’ physical and emotional health. After they accepted this standard contract, JYPE started to agree with their artists on specific schedules and demands. This is why they had to accept Sunmi’s request when staying in America became too much for her to handle.

JYPE also explained why they had to add an additional member:

The Wonder Girls are slowly getting to be known as a 5-member group in America. If they turn into a 4-member group all of a sudden, it would hinder their promotions.

Wonderfuls in Korea are feeling very disappointed and feel they deserve to know the truth. A representative of the Wonder Girls’ fan club said:

I’m still confused and shocked by Sunmi’s withdrawal. The fact that JYPE announced this big news on their American website and not their official fan cafe makes me really upset. We’ve been waiting for sincere answers from JYPE but haven’t received anything. We also requested a meeting but got turned down.

Fans are still shocked over this entire situation and the Wonderfuls in Korea have requested four things from JYPE:

First, we want a clear explanation of Sunmi’s postponement of her career
- We want to know when this was decided and if JYPE discussed this topic with her enough. We also want to know about Sunmi’s possibility of coming back as a Wonder Girl.

Second, we want clarification on the new member and her status in the Wonder Girls
- We want to know if she’s a permenant member or not; what will happen to the new member when Sunmi decides to come back.

Third, we want to request time with Sunmi and her fans
- Because the Wonder Girls were active in America, the last time the fans were able to spend their time with her was at the Seoul Concert in March of 2009. Also, since Sunmi’s return is uncertain, we think that JYPE should agree to this request. If JYPE does not agree with this request, we will ask them for a video message from Sunmi.