Creator Of T-ARA Says He Won’t Allow Them To Keep Their Name Because They’re “Greedy”

The CEO of MBK Entertainment, Kim Kwang Soo, revealed he will not let T-ARA’s members keep their group name.

While Kim Kwang Soo said he wasn’t greedy for the name “T-ARA”, he didn’t want to let the members have the group name he and the company worked so hard to make household.

“I don’t have any greed for the name T-ARA. I also don’t have any plans of choosing new members to debut under the name T-ARA. I just want to keep and protect the name.

Can I not keep the signs of the hard work our company put in to make the name T-ARA known to the public?”

— Kim Kwang Soo

The original 6 members of T-ARA (Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon, Boram, Soyeon, Qri) were hand-picked by Kim Kwang Soo himself. Boram and Soyeon left MBK Entertainment in March 2017 while the other 4 left earlier this month.

Kim Kwang Soo elaborated on why he will not let the members keep the T-ara name.

“Everything with T-ARA started with the name. After choosing the group name, I chose the members and the group was formed.

It’s not something that’s owned just by the 4 members [who recently left MBK]. It’s something that belongs to the agency and everyone who has worked with the group.”

— Kim Kwang Soo

Popular groups SG Wannabe and Davichi were also once under MBK Entertainment, but many pointed out that they were allowed to keep their group names when they both left for B2M Entertainment.

According to Kim Kwang Soo, the difference in circumstance was caused by the T-ARA members’ greed.

“When SG Wannabe and Davichi left for another company, we allowed them to keep their group name. They respectfully asked me to let them keep their group name, and I gave my permission.

T-ARA could have done the same, but some of the members were greedy for it and behaved differently from what they usually show. We’ve worked together for 10 years now, so I am upset at that.”

— Kim Kwang Soo