U-Kiss member Ki-bum says was asked to leave group

Kim Ki-bum [Official U-Kiss website]

Korean idol Ki-bum of boy band U-Kiss, who caused a stir earlier in the day with news that he has decided to quit from the group to focus on his personal business, has revealed that he was actually asked to leave the group by his agency.

Through a posting on his official Twitter website and Cyworld today saying, the 20-year-old singer wrote, "Hello, this is Ki-bum from U-Kiss. Let's me rephrase that, I am Ki-bum who used to be a member of U-Kiss. I finally got the courage to write this after having pushed it back for two months. First of all, I want to start off by saying that as of February 2011, I agreed with my agency to have my exclusive contract terminated."

He then went onto explain how the agency wanted to replace him for a new member and accordingly, requested him to agree to end his contract with them. "I think this is completely different from how many people think I want to focus on my doll company... Or that I lost interest in U-Kiss."

"I am very upset about parting from the group but I also respect the agency's decision to replace me since I have a lot of shortcomings. I am thankful that I was given a chance to learn many things and meet many people, especially the members of U-Kiss, even though this is in a way was a one-sided decision."

The singer ended the posting by expressing his gratitude to those fans of his who have always shown their support in whatever he does.

Ki-bum, the younger brother of SS501 member Kim Hyung-joon, made his debut as one of the members of boy band U-Kiss (Ubiquitous Korean International Super Star) in September 2008. They have produced several hit songs including "Round and Round," "What," "Manmanhani" and "Shut Up."

They have also branched out into the music market in Japan, holding their first solo concert in Japan which was attended by over 3,000 fans late last year.

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Reporter : Lucia Hong luciahong@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@