Even after numerous years of training with often no guarantee of ever going on stage, there are many instances of members of an idol group leaving the team for various reasons. Being that idol groups have anywhere from three to as many as over ten members, constant replacement of members is often unavoidable. Let us look at the most typical reasons that result in quitting the team.

Conflict With Management

During the early years of K-pop in the 90s, there were many cases in which conflicts with idol group's management company resulted in a member quitting the team. Most frequent reasons cited were unfair compensation and disagreement in contract renewal process. The most infamous case is TVXQ who debuted in 2004 to become the most successful idol group in history. In 2009, Yoochun, Junsu and Jaejoong left SM Entertainment due to financial disagreements and the legal battle between them which lasted over three years finally came to an end last November.

Health and Academic Reasons

Girl group members, especially, cite health and academic reasons upon leaving the team. Wonder Girls' Sun Mi left the team after announcing that she will be focusing on school, shortly after the success of "Nobody" when it broke Billboard's Hot 100.

Solo Debut

Now a former After School member, Ga Hee was the leader of After School from the start. After holding a 'graduation' concert in Tokyo dome, Ga Hee officially became a solo artist and is also building an acting career.

Controversies

Jay Park is the most well-known case of a mounting controversy leading to an inevitable exit. Stemming from a controversial post he wrote on his SNS in 2009, Jay Park ended up leaving 2PM. After an extended hiatus, he came back as a solo artist.

Internal Conflict

T-ARA's Hwa Young left T-ARA last summer in the midst of speculations that she was bullied by other members of the team. Hwang Jung Eum, who was a member of Sugar, confessed years later that her quitting was due to conflict with other members.