Hybe’s new girl group I’ll-It to debut as 5-piece without Youngseo

Youngseo, a former member of I'll-It (Belift Lab)

I’ll-It, the soon-to-launch girl group from the K-pop powerhouse Hybe’s subsidiary Belift Lab, will debut as a five-piece instead of a sextet as announced earlier.

Such change comes as one of the members, Youngseo, has left the agency.

“Following in-depth discussions about future activities, Belift Lab and Youngseo have come to a mutual agreement to terminate the exclusive contract,” announced Belift Lab on the fan communication platform Weverse on Friday.

“I’ll-It will be debuting as a five-member group. We are committed to fully supporting I’ll-It’s debut and subsequent engagements.”

I’ll-It is a group that originally consisted of six finalists of the JTBC’s K-pop idol survival program, “R U Next?”

The finalists were Wonhee, Minju, Iroha, Moka, Yuna and Younseo.

Youngseo was the second-most popular trainee among the 22 participants in the program.

Many of those looking forward to I’ll-It’s debut expressed disappointment.

“She is the reason I started watching ‘R U Next?’ and why I kept looking forward to their debut. I’ll still support the group but always miss Youngseo,” “Youngseo was one of my top picks from ‘R U Next?’ I am going to miss her so much,” fan posts on Weverse read.

“This mutual decision has been made after careful consideration, honoring the artist’s wishes. We kindly ask for no unwarranted speculations or misunderstandings,” said the agency.

I'll-It is set to debut in the first half of this year.

By Hong Yoo(yoohong@heraldcorp.com)