TEMPEST Hwarang to Undergo Hiatus After 'Clubbing' Issue — What Will Happen to Group's Comeback?

Hwarang has temporarily halted all of his upcoming activities with TEMPEST, according to Yuehua Entertainment.

Here are the details.

TEMPEST Hwarang to Halt All Schedules, Yuehua Gives Updates on Group's Comeback

On March 6, Yuehua Entertainment released an official statement declaring Hwarang's hiatus.

In the statement, Yuehua revealed that the company had engaged in an in-depth discussion with Hwarang, and eventually concluded that the idol would be stopping all his official schedules tentatively.

The reason for the hiatus was due to the idol's "clubbing" controversy, which was addressed by Yuehua earlier on February 20. The agency also revealed that TEMPEST would be promoting their upcoming fifth mini album "TEMPEST Voyage" as a six-membered group without Hwarang.

To conclude the statement, Yuehua asked to refrain from spreading baseless accusations and encouraged fans to support TEMPEST in their comeback.

Read the agency's full statement below:

"Hello. This is Yuehua Entertainment.

This is an announcement regarding the upcoming activities of TEMPEST. In light of the issues surrounding Hwarang's personal life that were revealed on social media, we decided to hold a thorough discussion with him regarding his activities.

Hwarang was unable to restore trust during this situation, and with this in mind, it was decided that carrying on activities as a full group would be difficult. After carefully considering which step to take, we decided to temporarily halt Hwarang's activities with the group.

The activities for TEMPEST's 5th mini album 'TEMPEST Voyage' will be performed with six members excluding Hwarang. We ask for your kind understanding in advance, that the footage and content filmed beforehand will include Hwarang.

Once again, we send our sincerest apologies for this abrupt news, which caused concern to those who support the group. We ask everyone to refrain from making groundless accusations and criticism. Please show support for TEMPEST in their activities for 'TEMPEST Voyage.'

We will give our utmost best in supporting TEMPEST.

Thank you."

In an online community, netizens were frustrated with the agency's decision to release a statement regarding the issue and exclude Hwarang from TEMPEST's activities.

• "Because he went clubbing?"
• "Isn't he a grown adult? Why are they writing a statement regarding clubbing as if he took drugs or something?"
• "They're not even withdrawing him, so why write a statement like this? Even if he withdrew, how will he continue to promote as a celebrity with a statement like that?"
• "Yuehua really sharpens their knives every time they release a statement, they make it so hard for them to recover from any controversies, their statements are way too scary."
• "So they weren't able to communicate and resolve the issue with him?"
• "They'll draw in even more speculations with a statement like that."
• "Isn't the company going too far with their statement?"

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Written by Riely Miller