On April 21, High Up Entertainment (STAYC’s company) debuted a new group called Unchild with their debut single, We Are Unchild. The group consisted of six members: Yeeun, Ako, Heekie, Haeun, Evon, and Tina. Shortly after their debut, on June 12, High Up announced that member Heekie would be going on a temporary hiatus due to health reasons and that Unchild would continue performing as a five-member group. In the same statement, the company already announced that she would not participate in the group’s upcoming comeback, which was scheduled for the second half of the year. On July 28, the group celebrated 100 days since their debut. Then, on August 19, they announced their comeback with their second digital single, Ting Ting, scheduled for release on September 2. Preparations for the comeback seemed to be proceeding normally, with content on YouTube and TikTok being regularly updated. On August 23, Unchild attended the TIMA (Tencent Music International Awards) in Hong Kong and performed there.
However, on August 24, High Up suddenly released a statement saying that Unchild’s upcoming comeback would be indefinitely postponed due to “internal circumstances.” People immediately became a little suspicious, but since unexpected setbacks can happen, it didn’t seem particularly worrying at the time. The biggest problem is that after that statement, the group simply vanished. They completely disappeared from social media and have been inactive everywhere ever since. No TikTok videos, no YouTube updates, no messages on social media, absolutely nothing.
But the strangest part to me is that there isn’t a single clue, explanation, rumor, or even educated speculation about what could be happening with Unchild. I know they’re a new group, so there isn’t much interest in covering them. However, after almost 30 days without any trace, I would have expected at least a few media reports about the situation, even if it were something that fans would have to put two and two together to connect to the group. The only recent news I could find involving a K-pop group potentially facing problems was about an idol who debuted in February and lost a case against their original company. But since Unchild debuted in April, that clearly wasn’t about them.
I’ve also seen some comments comparing Unchild’s situation to BADVILLAIN’s disappearance. However, as much as BADVILLAIN seemingly disappeared, we at least know what happened around the group: 100 CEO was literally arrested, and all, or almost all, of the company’s artists reportedly terminated their contracts. So there was an obvious external situation that could explain why the group suddenly became inactive.
With Unchild, there’s just… nothing. No reports about problems at High Up (I can’t 100% confirm this with certainty, but it appears that STAYC the only other group under High Up has continued with their activities and promotions as scheduled), no rumors about the members, no apparent legal dispute, no explanation for the postponement, and no indication of why a comeback that had already been announced and was only days away was suddenly postponed indefinitely. They performed at TIMA on August 23, High Up announced the postponement on August 24, and then the group essentially disappeared.
I am now questioning if I am overthinking about this, is this something that has happened before to any other K-pop group and I am not aware of?
submitted by /u/OkPin6505
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