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On Wednesday, August 23, the agency of the upcoming debut group, Fantasy Boys, released a statement expressing that the group will go forward with their debut without Yoo Jun-won. Funky Studio and Pocketdol Studio, through their statement, revealed that Yoo Jun-won's parents demanded higher pay for their son given his first-rank position in the reality survival show through which the group was formed.
However, since it was against the conditions to distribute the group's profit unfairly, the company rejected the demands after proper and clear explanations. Regardless, his parents made Jun-won leave the group twice without any permission taken from the company. The same has naturally snowballed into the unauthorized departure of the idol, therefore making Fantasy Boys an eleven-member K-pop boy group.
Fantasy Boys to function as an eleven-member system following the unauthorized departure of Yoo Jun-won, group's agency announces
Fantasy Boys was a 2023 reality show organized by MBC TV through the months of March to June, which resulted in the final lineup of twelve members who'll be debuting together in a group with a synonymous name to the show.
The contestants who bagged the top twelve spots were Yoo Jun-won, Kim Gyu-rae, Hong Seong-min, Oh Hyeon-tae, Lee Han-bin, Ling Qi, Kang Min-seo, Hikari, K-Soul, Kim Woo-seok, Hikaru, and Kaedan.
Among these twelve winners, Yoo Jun-won not only bagged the first rank in the show but also earned the title of the leader of the to-debut group. However, it comes to many's disappointment that the talented contestant won't be a part of Fantasy Boys henceforth. Here's the statement released by the two agencies, Funky Studio and Pocketdol Studio, that are collaboratively managing the group:
Fantasy Boys is a group that was created by voting from viewers in a survival program aiming to debut. We sincerely apologize for not being able to be together with the 12 people who were created by the viewers. Right after the program ended, we discussed the contract with Yoo Jun-won and his parents more than a dozen times.
The statement continued,
Despite the fact that the contract was written according to the standard terms and conditions established and recommended by the Fair Trade Commission, Yoo Jun-won's parents compared him with other members and demanded an increase in the profit-sharing rate under the pretext of ranking first in the program, and requested we modify the contract.
They concluded their statement by expressing that,
If we adjust the profit distribution rate differently from other members with the final vote ranking, equity issues may arise, so we fully explained why we couldn't do that. However, Yoo Jun-won's parents made Yoo Jun Won leave without permission twice and at the time we notified him that he would not be able to join the team in the end.
Additionally, the statement also expressed their apologies for the inconvenience that surfaces and requested fans to express their unchanging love and support to the other eleven members who'll be debuting soon.
While it is unfortunate that the best-performing member will not be able to make his Fantasy Boys debut due to an unanticipated and unavoidable series of events, fans wish to see the idol continue his musical career elsewhere.
