They used to say that they would never break up.

KARA can't say that anymore, because Nicole and Jiyoung have confirmed that they will leave KARA as soon as their contract expires. Nicole's contract has already ended on the 16th of January, while Jiyoung's contract is due to expire in April. KARA is now a 3-member group, so how will they change?

One thing that will not change, no matter how many members are left, is the name "KARA". DSP Media, KARA's management company, confirmed over and over that KARA will never disappear. However, they said, with keeping the name KARA many interesting possibilities arise with the departure of the two members.

DSP Media's wish is to bolster the team with new talent around the original members Hara, Gyuri, and Seungyeon. They're calling this project "NEW KARA", and it is their plan A.

Adding a new member or members is not a new thing to KARA. Before they exploded onto the J-Pop scene, KARA was a four-member group. They lost a member in Sunghee but though open auditions were able to add Hara and Jiyoung to the team.

One entertainment industry professional stated, "Although it's not exactly the same situation, DSP has proven that they can bolster a core group with new talent and make it even better. This situation may prove to be even better for KARA going forth."

DSP Media is expected to go about this in one of two ways. They will either bring up a trainee or two from their pool of talented trainees, or they will once again have open auditions for members. It's projected that they will add at most two members. They can either revert to their original four-member lineup or their more recognizable five-member lineup.

Plan B is, of course, staying as the 3-piece group that is now KARA. Each individual members of KARA are top stars in Korea and Japan, so there is no reason to think that they cannot continue their career with just the three members. This might be more stable than adding new talent into the group.

Their status in the Japanese market projects to not change at all. An entertainment industry professional stated, "Hara is the most popular one among the five members, so whether they have 3 or 5 members, as long as they retain Hara, they should be fine for the time being."

This is where the "new" KARA begins. They don't have anything scheduled for the first half of 2014, which means that their decision and the results of that decision will be known to us in the second half of the year. A DSP Media representative stated, "No decisions will be made until April when Jiyoung leaves. KARA members will focus on individual careers for the time being. We ask our fans to not get discouraged but bear with us during this process"