K-pop has always had a complicated relationship with permanence. Groups form on survival shows with fixed end dates, contracts run for years without public disclosure, and fanbases are built around rosters that can change with a single label announcement. In 2026, those changes have arrived in an unusually compressed window. From January to July, four significant departures — or group splits — have reshaped some of the industry’s most prominent acts, most recent of which is NCT and WayV’s WinWin. Here is the updated list of every departure so far.
Heeseung leaves ENHYPEN: March 10, 2026
The year’s first major departure came from ENHYPEN, with rather jarring timing. On March 10, label Belift Lab announced that Heeseung, the group’s oldest member at 24, main vocalist and one of its most visible performers, would be leaving to pursue a solo career. He would stay under Belift Lab — a HYBE subsidiary — but conclude his activities as part of the group. ENHYPEN would continue as six members.
The announcement came two months after ENHYPEN’s seventh mini-album The Sin: Vanish debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 1.65 million copies on its first day, which made it somewhat difficult to stomach .
Heeseung has since redebuted as soloist EVAN.
Four members depart ZEROBASEONE: March 15, 2026
ZEROBASEONE was always a project group with a fixed lifespan. Formed through Mnet’s survival show Boys Planet in 2023, the nine-member act was originally contracted for two and a half years, with activities scheduled to conclude in January 2026. All nine members agreed to extend by two months, and on March 15, the group held its final show as a full lineup at Seoul’s KSPO Dome. The night ended with each member exiting through a lone blue door built for the occasion; subtlety was clearly not the goal.
Four members — Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyuvin, and Han Yujin — returned to their home agency YH Entertainment, with reports in March confirming they were preparing to debut as a new group with a fifth member, under the name N Double (later revised to AND2BLE). They debuted in May to breakout success, selling more than 731,000 physical copies of their debut EP Sequence 01: Curiosity in their first week.
The remaining five members Kim Ji-woong, Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae-rae, and Park Gun-wook, continued under WakeOne as a reconfigured ZEROBASEONE.
Mark leaves NCT, NCT 127, and NCT Dream: April 8, 2026
Of all the departures this year, Mark’s was perhaps the most unexpected. SM Entertainment announced on April 3 that Mark Lee, one of NCT’s founding members and its most consistent presence across multiple sub-units, would conclude his exclusive contract on April 8, exactly ten years after his debut. He would depart NCT, NCT 127, and NCT Dream simultaneously. NCT 127 would continue with seven members, NCT Dream with six.
Mark had debuted in 2016 across three units in the same year — NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream — and remained active across all of them as the group expanded to 25 members across six sub-units. His solo debut album, The Firstfruit, had arrived in April 2025, suggesting a transition was being planned. Still, the announcement caught fans off guard. “I truly believe that our hearts have better sight than our eyes,” Mark wrote in a handwritten statement shared on Instagram, “and what my heart sees right now isn’t a closing door but rather an opening one.” On June 3, he announced his own label, Upper Room.
Ten’s contract with SM Entertainment ends: April 8, 2026
Ten’s case slightly complicates the year’s departure count, because it isn’t quite a full departure. Ten’s announcement came three days after Mark’s; SM Entertainment confirmed his exclusive contract would also end on April 8, with one key distinction: Ten wasn’t leaving NCT or WayV at all, just the label’s direct management of his solo career.
“Following careful and extensive discussions regarding TEN’s future direction, we have reached a mutual understanding to conclude his exclusive contract with SM Entertainment, effective April 8,” the agency said, adding that it would “continue to stay in close communication to explore opportunities for TEN to participate in WayV and NCT activities, where possible.” Ten, who debuted alongside Mark in NCT U’s original 2016 lineup before joining WayV in 2019, wrote on Instagram, “As I approach my 10th anniversary, I’ve found myself wanting to take on new challenges, explore new possibilities, and discover new versions of myself.”
On July 6, Ten launched Illimnt, his own creative company spanning music, fashion, and content while still promoting with NCT and WayV under SM. It’s a structure other K-pop stars have used to split solo ambition from group loyalty: BLACKPINK’s members run their own labels while staying in the group, and Ten’s arrangement seems a version of the same idea, minus the “hybrid” label if you want to lose the buzzword entirely.
WinWin leaves NCT and WayV: July 9, 2026
SM Entertainment announced on July 8 that WinWin’s exclusive contract had come to an end, effective July 9, concluding his activities as a member of NCT and its sub-units, including WayV. WinWin debuted with NCT 127 in 2016 and joined WayV when the Chinese sub-unit launched in 2019, making him one of the group’s longest-serving members alongside Mark, whose departure preceded his by three months.
In practice, WinWin had been absent from WayV promotions for some time, having established his own studio in China in 2021 and focused increasingly on acting and variety work there. His departure, while formally announced today, had been building for years in the background. In a letter shared on Instagram following the announcement, WinWin wrote: “From 2016 to 2026 — 10 years have passed by so fast… even though time has passed, those small but precious memories have always been my greatest source of strength.”
With both Mark and WinWin now gone, the NCT that debuted in 2016 looks considerably different.
Why So Many KPop Idol Departures?
Things are different for the tightly controlled industry that is KPop. Although idol contracts remain ironclad (as seen by the backlash to NewJeans’ attempts to leave), there are now more options for idols who choose not to renew once their contract period is up.
The general path is for idols to hunker down and compromise in groups to debut and make an identity, before striking out on their own. As the Korea Herald pointed out in April, the creator economy boom has meant enormous financial incentive for those who already have an established audience, meaning idols who choose to leave no longer need to rely solely on their agencies for financial influx.
With five months left in the year, this piece will be updated if any more idols leave their groups following WINWIN’s departure.
