Where are Nicole and Jiyoung headed to after leaving KARA?

Nicole and Jiyoung both confirmed that they were leaving KARA when their contract expires. Nicole's contract has already expired, and she has announced plans to go back to the U.S. to pursue her degree. Jiyoung is also expected to travel to the U.S. after her contract expires in April to pursue an acting career and to learn English.

However, many entertainment industry professionals are skeptical of Nicole and Jiyoung's real motives. They have attempted to disband once before with another member, Seungyeon, by requesting that DSP Media, KARA's management company, grant a rescission of their original contract. The rumor at the time was that a friend of Nicole's mother, who happens to be a Korean pop media mogul, wanted to take the three members to form a new group under different management. The view among professionals, therefore, is that Jiyoung and Nicole would not be leaving DSP Media and KARA without having some kind of plan already in motion.

A close associate of KARA and DSP Media let it be known that Nicole and Jiyoung's claims that they are leaving to the U.S. to further their education is just their way of playing the media. They have actually been fielding various offers from different entertainment companies. They are most interested in signing with MARUHAN, a Japanese Pachinko giant.

MARUHAN, a company created by Korean-Japanese mogul Han Chang Woo, operates over 260 Pachinko parlors all over Japan with revenues upwards of $33 billion. They employ over fifteen thousand employees. One of their main interests is bringing and strengthening the Hallyu phenomena in Japan. They are planning on building a K-Pop themed "Hallyu Town" plaza in Osaka. As the Pachinko business begins to wind down, they are looking various other avenues to expand their business, and one of their top interests is K-Pop. Being that KARA is one of the main Hallyu stars in Japan, it's only natural that MARUHAN reaches out to Nicole and Jiyoung upon hearing of their expiring contracts. MARUHAN, for their part, strongly denied such allegations.

However, as we can see from how Junsu, Jaejoong, and Yoochun left TVXQ to form JYJ with C-JeS Entertainment after their departure, it is not a reach to think that Nicole and Jiyoung would make a comeback as a duet. The only problem is that there is a big chance that they will not be signed by a Korean management company because of the recent drop in value of the Japanese Yen. If a Japanese company signs them, it will undoubtedly be a Japanese media giant with huge financial backing like MARUHAN. It'll be interesting to see how they will make a comeback into the K-Pop scene.