Apink’s Son Na-eun leaves the K-pop girl group after nearly 11 years (NME)

Son Na-eun has personally revealed that she has left K-pop girl group Apink.

On April 8, the 28-year-old idol and actress broke the new on Instagram through a handwritten letter, where she shared more about her departure from the group. Son leaving Apink marks the end of her nearly 11-year-run as a member of the K-pop girl group.

“I made this difficult decision after a lot of debate, and though it wasn’t an easy decision, I plan to become a Panda (Apink’s official fanbase) and cheer on Apink starting from now on,” wrote Son, as translated by Soompi. She went on to thank her ex-bandmates and former agency IST Entertainment, as well as her fans.

“I will engrave the name ‘Apink’s Son Na-eun’ in my heart, and I think showing you better things in the future, so that I don’t bring shame to that name, is one way I can repay you,” she added.

The news comes close to a year after Son departed the group’s longtime agency, IST Entertainment (formerly known as Play M Entertainment) and signed with YG Entertainment. The star had remained part of the group, including for their February special album ‘HORN’, though she did not participate in promotional activities due to “scheduling conflicts”.

Apink’s leader Park Cho-rong has since also penned a letter addressing son’s departure. The idol shared that the members of the group have made “numerous sacrifices” over the years to keep the group together. “Since we know that so well about each other, this is a decision we’ve made after really thinking about what is best for each other,” she wrote.

“Please trust this once that our members are always worried about Pandas and have always prioritised Apink. Let’s cherish our past pretty memories and I hope we can make new happy memories together,” wrote Park, along with an apology to their fans.