Kapanlagi.com - SM Entertainment is known as one of the largest entertainment agencies in South Korea. They have produced a number of popular idols around the world and have nurtured talented stars, from singers to actresses.
However, like any agency, SM has its shortcomings that have led some of its artists to decide to terminate or not renew their contracts. Here are the talented artists who were once nurtured by SM and chose to pursue their careers at other agencies. Who are they?
jtl and Moon Hee Joon © Special
H.O.T. can be considered the idol of the first generation that created fandom culture and became popular outside of Korea. Formed in 1996, they achieved great success and were very popular in their time. Unfortunately, in 2001, Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony Ahn, and Lee Jae Won decided to leave SM due to disagreement with the contract offer. The three then formed jtl.
The leader of H.O.T., Moon Hee Jun, managed to stay at SM after his group disbanded. He left the agency in 2003 after establishing his own agency, PS Entertainment. The only member of H.O.T. who has remained until now is Kangta.
S.E.S © SM Entertainment
S.E.S is the first girl group produced by SM that debuted in 1997 and was a huge success at that time. Unfortunately, Bada, Eugene, and Shoo only lasted five years and disbanded at the end of 2002. The reason was that they disagreed with SM, which wanted to contract all three as individuals, not as a group.
Bada left SM to pursue a solo career in 2003. Eugene then focused more on acting but also had success as a solo singer. Shoo stayed with SM until 2006 and participated in several SM Town concerts before leaving the agency.
© SM Entertainment
Park Hee Von and Seo Hyun Jin debuted in the girl group M.I.L.K. along with two other members, Bomi and Yumi. Unfortunately, the group disbanded in 2003 after Yumi left. M.I.L.K is a girl group formed by BM Entertainment, sister label of SM.
Park Hee Von and Seo Hyun Jin are now known as actresses. Park Hee Von plays the mother of Ji Eun Tak in Goblin while Seo Hyun Jin is a regular lead actress in cool dramas like Oh Hae Young Again, Romantic Doctor Kim, and The Beauty Inside. There is no news about Bomi and Yumi now.
(credit: Shinhwa Company)
SM debuted Shinhwa in 1998. They struggled at the beginning of their debut, but Eric and the others achieved success with their second album a year later. They decided to leave SM in 2003 after their contract expired, then joined Good Entertainment, and the members began to be active in their individual careers.
Now Shinhwa has its own company, Shinhwa Company, since 2012. Eric and Minwoo act as CEOs, while the other members hold shares.
(credit: soompi.com)
Jang Nara joined SM as an actress and singer in 2001. She quickly became famous in her time thanks to her cute face, and 2002 was even referred to as 'the year of Jang Nara' due to her successful album, high-rated dramas, and various advertisements she starred in. Jang Nara is now with the agency created by her own father.
(credit: Istimewa)
Fly To The Sky is a duo with beautiful voices consisting of Hwanhee and Brian Joo. Formed in 1999, they left SM in 2004 after their contract expired. After that, both joined PFull Entertainment because they believed that joining a smaller agency would allow them to focus more on music without having to pay attention only to commercial aspects.
(credit: kpopping.com)
Sugar is a girl group formed by Star World that debuted in 2002 and promoted together with SM. The group consists of four members: Ayumi Lee, Park Soo Jin, Hwang Jung Eum, and Hyeseung. In 2014, Hwang Jung Eum left Sugar to focus more on the entertainment world. She was then replaced by Lee Harin.
Park Soo Jin left Sugar in 2016 to focus on her acting career and is now married to Bae Yong Joon. Ayumi Lee briefly became a singer under SM after Sugar disbanded, but she has since moved to another agency. Meanwhile, the current whereabouts of Hyeseung and Lee Harin are unknown.
(credit: SMTOWN)
Shinvi debuted in 2001 under Cid.K Entertainment, a sub-label of SM Entertainment. Their album production and promotion were all done with SM. Unfortunately, Shinvi only lasted for a year.
Member Soojin managed to stay at SM until 2008 after Shinvi disbanded. Sangeun became a solo singer and musical artist. Yoona is now a lawyer.
(credit: Wikipedia)
Hyun Jin Young can be considered the first artist to join SM in 1990. He is known as one of the people who introduced hip hop music in Korea. He decided to leave SM in 1993.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
TRAX is a band that debuted under SM in 2004. Initially, they consisted of four members. One of them, Rose, better known by his real name Noh Min Woo, left SM in 2006 to focus on acting. He filed a lawsuit against SM over his 17-year contract with the agency, which he felt hindered his career in 2015 and lost. Another member, Attack, left TRAX and SM in 2008.
TRAX was left with two members, Jay and Jungmo , for many years. They briefly became three after DJ Ginjo joined in 2018. Jay and Jungmo announced their departure from SM in April 2019 after their 15-year contract ended. DJ Ginjo is now with ScreaM Records, a sub-label of SM.
(credit: CJeS Entertainment)
TVXQ is one of the best boybands in K-Pop history. Debuting in 2003, they were not only a huge success in Korea but also incredibly popular in Japan. Unfortunately, amidst their success, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu decided to sue SM because they felt their contracts were too long.
After being taken to court, TVXQ officially continued their activities as a duo since 2010.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
At the end of 2009, after Super Junior achieved success with the single Sorry Sorry, the member from China, Hangeng, decided to sue SM Entertainment to terminate his contract and stop his activities as a member of Suju and Super Junior-M. Since then, Hangeng has returned and continued his activities in China.
Kim Ki Bum decided to take a break from his activities with Super Junior in 2009 to focus on his acting career. After a long absence, Ki Bum eventually left SM in 2015.
(credit: JTBC)
For those who don't know, actor Yoon Park joined SM Entertainment at the beginning of his career. He left SM in 2013 and joined JYP Entertainment until 2021. Now, the 35-year-old actor is under the agency H& Entertainment.
Yoon Park is known for his acting in WHAT HAPPEN TO MY FAMILY?, BEAUTIFUL LOVE WONDERFUL LIFE, FORECASTING LOVE AND WEATHER and others.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
In 2010, SM formed SM The Ballad which consisted of Cho Kyuhyun, Jay from ex TRAX, the late Jonghyun SHINee, and Jino who at that time was the only one who had not debuted in a group. Jino's name was mentioned as a potential member of EXO, but since then there has been no news about him.
Now he is a member of the boyband PENTAGON that debuted under CUBE Entertainment in 2016 with the stage name Jinho and serves as the main vocalist.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
SM formed the beautiful duo Isak N Jiyeon in 2002, which lasted only 2 years. Jiyeon then changed her stage name to Lina and joined the SM-created girl group, CSJH The Grace in 2004. Meanwhile, Isak chose to become an actress and radio DJ, leaving SM in 2012. To this day, Isak, who has German blood, is still active as a radio DJ.
(credit: SMTOWN)
In the midst of EXO's peak popularity, Kris, who was then the leader of EXO-M, filed a lawsuit against SM to terminate his contract in May 2014 citing health reasons, unfair profit distribution, feeling unfree, and being treated like a commodity. Kris is currently serving a sentence for a case of rape and sexual abuse of minors.
In October 2014, Luhan also filed a similar lawsuit citing health reasons and feeling treated differently from other EXO members from Korea. He is now a successful singer and actor in his home country.
After being absent during EXO's promotion of the album EXODUS, Tao also filed a lawsuit against SM in August 2016. Tao's father stated that he wanted his son to be healthier and receive support for his individual career. He is now pursuing a career as a soloist and actor under the stage name Z.Tao and has his own agency, Z.Tao Studio.
Lay also announced that he would leave SM Entertainment after his contract ended in April 2022. However, he emphasized that he still remains a member of EXO. In addition to being a top actor and soloist, Lay is also the CEO of his own agency, Chromosom Entertainment, and maintains a good relationship with SM.
(credit: Special)
It cannot be denied that Girls Generation or SNSD is the most successful and popular girlband from SM. Unfortunately, in September 2014, Jessica Jung was announced to have left the group and SM for reasons that remain a mystery to this day, and SNSD would continue to be active with only 8 members.
In October 2017, SM announced that Tiffany, Sooyoung, and Seohyun decided not to renew their contracts with them but would still remain part of SNSD. Tiffany is now a solo singer with the stage name Tiffany Young and is active in various musicals, variety shows in music, and has just participated in the drama REBORN RICH. Meanwhile, Seohyun and Sooyoung are focusing on acting.
(credit: Special)
CSJH The Grace is a girlband from SM consisting of four members that debuted in 2004 but then went on hiatus for years. Stephanie, known as the main dancer, left SM in 2016 and joined Mafia Records.
Dana and Sunday, who were once a subunit Dana & Sunday, left SM in 2021 after 19 years with the agency. Meanwhile, Lina is now known as a musical actress and has two children from her marriage to actor Jang Seung Jo.
(credit: Special)
In addition to K-Pop idols, SM Entertainment also has several beautiful actresses. One of them is Go Ara, known for her stunning beauty. Unfortunately, in early 2017, she decided to leave SM after 17 years with the company. Go Ara is now an actress under the agency King Kong by Starship.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
In addition to BoA, SM has a beautiful-voiced soloist from China, Zhang Liyin. She was also a member of the second generation of SM The Ballad in 2014 and almost debuted with SNSD.
After a long absence, Zhang Liyin announced via social media in February 2017 that her contract with SM was coming to an end and she decided to return to China. In August 2017, she was recorded as part of the artists at the agency Show City Times.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
Ji Hansol was introduced as part of SM The Rookies in 2013 and has had many fans since then. He participated in a show for NCT, but Hansol left SM due to delays in his debut. He took part in the show The Unit and debuted in the group for the winners of that show, UNB. Now Hansol is part of the boy band New Kidd, which officially debuted in April 2019 as the main dancer.
(credit: Special)
In addition to male trainees, SM The Rookies also introduced their female talents. Herin was introduced as a member of SM The Rookies in 2015 and is known to have left the agency in 2017 when she participated in the Idol School program. Unfortunately, Herin failed to debut with the girl group fromis_9, a group formed for the winners of the Idol School show.
Yiyang, who is from China, was introduced as a member of SM The Rookies in 2016. She is known to have left SM in 2018 after participating in a show in China.
When aespa was introduced to the public, many wondered about the fate of the female trainees who were previously introduced as SM Rookies. Before aespa debuted, two members of SM Rookies, Koeun and Hina, were found to have Instagram accounts, indicating they had left SM (during their time as trainees at SM, they were prohibited from having social media accounts). According to smtown.fandom.com, the three of them left SM in 2020.
Meanwhile, Lami, who was previously reported to have left SM, has now debuted as an actress at the agency. She has just acted in the drama OH YOUNG SHIM.
(credit: Special)
Henry Lau debuted as a member of Super Junior-M in 2008. In addition to being a member of Suju-M, Henry is also active as a solo singer, composer, and variety show star. He announced his departure from SM in April 2018. Until now, he is still active in music, acting, and more.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
On September 1, 2020, Amber announced through her social media that she would not be renewing her contract with SM. Four days later, SM also informed that Luna would not be renewing her contract with the agency.
On October 12, 2020, it was Krystal's turn to officially leave SM. She then joined H& Entertainment and is now better known as a drama and film actress.
Victoria had announced that she was leaving SM on Instagram in 2020. However, SM denied this and stated that they were still in discussions regarding her contract. It was only on April 9, 2021, that SM officially announced that Victoria was no longer their artist.
Although all members of f(x) have left SM, Luna denied that the group, which popularized the songs Red Light and 4 Walls, has disbanded.
(credit: Special)
Lee Yeon Hee is one of the actresses who has been under SM for a long time. The star of the drama EAST OF EDEN has been with SM for 19 years. However, in 2020, she decided not to renew her contract and chose to join VAST Entertainment owned by Hyun Bin.
(credit: tvN)
Actor Ki Do Hoon left SM in 2021 after six years under the agency. He is known for his acting in dramas ARTHDAL CHRONICLES, CATCH THE GHOST, ONCE AGAIN to JINXED AT FIRST. He also once modeled in the MV of Indonesian singer Rossa for the song Masih.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
Lee Soo Man has long been known as the founder of SM Entertainment. After stepping down from the CEO position, he chose to become a production team member whose contract expired at the end of 2022. Lee Soo Man had intended to sue the SM management team for not consulting with him as the largest shareholder regarding the agency's future plans. He then decided to sell all of his shares to HYBE.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
On Friday (14/7/2023), three members of Super Junior, namely Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun, announced that they would not be extending their contracts individually. However, the three will not leave Super Junior and will continue to be active with the boy group that has made their name. Only for individual matters, they will no longer be managed by SM.
Yoo Young Jin
Yoo Young Jin has long been known as the main producer at SM Entertainment, having produced a number of hit songs such as Sorry Sorry, Ring Ding Dong, I Got A Boy, MAMA, Next Level, and others. Yoo Young Jin decided to leave SM after Lee Soo Man chose to leave first. He also expressed his support for Lee Soo Man's decision.
Kim Min Jong (credit: SM Entertainment)
Senior actor Kim Min Jong decided to leave SM in July 2023 after 17 years with the agency. Kim Min Jong is known for his roles in A GENTLEMAN'S DIGNITY, ATHENA: GODDES OF WAR, MRS COPS to VAGABOND.
Sunny Girls Generation (credit: SM Entertainment)
Sunny Girls Generation announced on August 8, 2023, that she is leaving SM Entertainment, just a few days after the group's 16th anniversary. Sunny herself wrote a touching letter to her fans when announcing this decision.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
D.O. EXO decided not to renew his individual contract with SM Entertainment. He also chose to establish Company SooSoo together with Nam Kyungsoo, his trusted person since starting his career in the entertainment industry. Nevertheless, his matters with EXO will still be handled by SM Entertainment.
EXO-CBX (credit: SM Entertainment)
After filing a lawsuit against SM last year, at the beginning of 2024, three EXO members, namely Xiuimin, Baekhyun, and Chen, decided that their individual careers would no longer be with SM Entertainment. These three idols, who are also part of EXO-CBX, joined INB100, which is Baekhyun's own agency.
Onew and Taemin (credit: Special)
After his contract with SM ended, Taemin decided to join Big Planet Made Entertainment or BPM. His friend from SM, Ha Sung Woon, is also here.
Meanwhile, Onew has just announced that he has joined GRIFFIN Entertainment, a newly established agency. Onew signed an exclusive contract with this new agency.
(credit: SM Entertainment)
On October 15, 2024, SM Entertainment terminated the contract with Taeil after he was involved in a sexual harassment case and had to be tried for this issue. Taeil will also definitely be removed from NCT.
On April 4, 2025, SM announced that the contracts of Wendy and Yeri with them have ended. Both will leave SM but will still be members of Red Velvet even though they will later be active with other agencies.
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