Seven Kep1er members extend contracts, Mashiro and Yeseo to leave group

nme.com:

Kep1er will continue on as a seven-member group, with Mashiro and Yeseo set to leave after the girl group’s “project term” expires.Today (May 30), Kep1er’s labels WAKEONE and Swing Entertainment announced that seven of the girl group’s nine members – namely Yujin, Xiaoting, Chaehyun, Dayeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih and Youngeun – had agreed to extend their contracts as a group.Kep1er was formed in 2021 through the idol competition series Girls Planet 999, and made their debut with the mini-album ‘First Impact’ in January 2022.

The group’s original contract through the series was only for two years and six months, and is due to expire this July.The remaining two members, singers Mashiro and Yeseo from 143 Entertainment, will “conclude their activities” and leave Kep1er following the girl group’s upcoming concert, WAKEONE and Swing Entertainment said, saying that the decision came after “extensive discussion and consensus”.The confirmation that Ke1per will continue as a seven-member group comes about two weeks after 143 Entertainment announced that “no decision [had] been made” regarding the futures of Mashiro and Yeseo as members of the group.Meanwhile, the girl group will release their first studio album ‘Kep1going On’ next week on June 3.

The record will also notably be their final release as a seven-member group, with Mashiro and Yeseo set to leave just a month after.In other K-pop news, LOONA member Yves has officially made her solo debut with the release of her first mini-album ‘Loop’.