SEOUL, May 2 — Fans of (G)I-DLE were full of speculations after the K-pop girl group marked its seventh debut anniversary today.
The group announced that it will now drop the (G) from its name, after years of confusion among Korean and international fans on how to pronounce the word.
The five-member group — comprising Soyeon, Minnie, Miyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua — will now be known as i-dle.
It also announced that a special mini album would be released today, followed by its eighth mini album on May 19.
To accompany the announcement, i-dle dropped a teaser video titled “for (G),” a black-and-white clip featuring a remixed version of its 2018 debut single “LATATA”.
Many fans of the group, called Neverland, however expressed their hope that former member Soojin will return — citing imagery from the clip, such as the coffin, and the focus on the vocalist’s line in the video.
Fans also backed their theory by pointing out how i-dle’s new logo features an asterisk — but with only five points, which they suggested signifying the absence of Soojin.
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Soojin left (G)I-DLE for a solo career after a five-month hiatus in 2021 due to bullying allegations from former classmates. She was later found to be innocent, but her contract was terminated nonetheless by its agency, CUBE Entertainment.
