Kangin exits Super Junior

MANILA, Philippines – Korean pop star Kangin announced on Thursday, July 11, that he’s officially leaving Super Junior. 

According to Allkpop, Kangin made the announcement on Instagram after going silent on the social media platform for over 8 months.  

“It’s really been a long time since I’ve delivered news to you all. My heart is heavy as the news I have is not good news, but after a long debate, I am writing to you. As of this moment, I plan to let go of the name ‘Super Junior’, a name I had for a very long time.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 강인 (@kanginnim) on Jul 10, 2019 at 9:02pm PDT

“I’ve always felt nothing but feelings of apology toward my members,” he said, according to Allkpop’s translation of the post, which was written in hangul. 

Here’s the rest of his post, according to Allkpop: 

I’ve always felt that I needed to come to this decision as soon as possible, but due to the kind hearts of those who cheer me on unchangingly as well as my label’s staff despite my faults, I was not able to summon the courage, and I also felt that I was not in a situation where I could decide anything blindly on my own.

However, due to my own problems, I had to watch my members suffer misfortunes that they should not have had to face, and I’ve come to the decision that I cannot delay it any longer.

More than anything, I am full of apology toward E.L.F for the overflowing love that you always sent me for the past 14 years.

This may be too late, but even as I let go of the name ‘Super Junior’ and begin walking on my own, I will always remember these feelings of gratitude and apology.

I want to sincerely say thank you to my members and my label’s staff for respecting me until the end.

I will cheer for the success of Super Junior forever. Thank you.

His management, Label SJ, confirmed the news as well.

“We have decided to respect Kangin’s decision to leave the group voluntarily. This does not affect his exclusive contract with the company; however, nothing has been decided regarding his future promotions,” they told media.  

Kangin, whose full name is Kim Young-woon, debuted with Super Junior in 2005 under SM Entertainment. Label SJ was established especially for Super Junior. 

Since his debut, the 34-year-old has found himself in several controversies. In 2009, he was involved in a fight. The same year, he was caught in a hit-and-run incident while under the influence of alcohol. He had another hit-and-run incident in 2016, also under the influence of alcohol. – Rappler.com