Former GFRIEND Leader Sowon Confirms That The Group Didn’t Know They Were Disbanding
When GFRIEND‘s disbandment was announced last year in late May, it came as a shock to the K-Pop community. With their success at seemingly an all-time high after the release of “MAGO”, fans had expected the group to continue to make waves in the K-Pop industry with their newfound popularity.
Buddies (GFRIEND’s fans) were left reeling after the announcement, which came only a few days before the members’ contracts with Source Music expired on May 22, 2021. It was especially unexpected since the girl group had planned events that had to be cancelled after the announcement was made.
A short while ago, former GFRIEND member (and now-VIVIZ member) SinB opened up about how the group had been told about their disbandment a month before it was announced, and how hard it was on them, especially since they were unable to tell fans.
Now, former leader Sowon has also opened up about the difficulty that came with such a sudden and unexpected disbandment. Though she has moved on to IOK Company, where she will be promoting as an actress under her birth name Kim Sojeong, it’s clear that the memories of last year are still painful for her.
In an interview with magazine Big Issue, she discusses how hard it was for her and her fellow members to cope with the news, and how long it has taken her to adjust.
Big Issue: You spent eight years of your life, since you were 21 years old, as GFRIEND. It must not be easy bidding farewell to that era.
Sowon: Well, my groupmates and I don’t see this as complete disbandment. It’s true that I had trouble processing what happened. The news came out of the blue. I’ve always thought I’d like to pursue a career in acting, but I never thought I’d be able to do it right away. After the disbandment, I felt heartbroken for a while. But I have to move on, I have to keep going down my own path. So I couldn’t stay heartbroken for too long. It did take me some time to logically understand what happened, though. Now that it has been over a year, my groupmates and I have all accepted it and gotten used to [not being together]. To be honest, I think I had the most difficulty adjusting to the whole thing.
While it will always be sad and disheartening that GFRIEND disbanded at such an unexpected time, we wish all the best for Sowon and the other former members in their future careers.
