What was the announcement like? We will discuss it in this article, so stay tuned!
L’s Departure From Woolim Entertainment
On August 19th, 2019, L posted a lengthy handwritten letter announcing his departure from Woolim Entertainment in which he had stayed for 10 years as a member of Infinite. The following is what he posted on his Instagram. “Hello, this is Kim Myung Soo… L. I want to bow my head in apology for greeting you for the first time in a while with this unfortunate news, and I want to express gratitude for always giving me warm support. My heart feels heavy at the thought that this news that I am going to share might be hurtful to INSPIRIT, who have always given me generous love. With last week as the end, my contract with Woollim has expired. I made a difficult decision after a lot of thought. After long deliberation, I decided to stand on my own. I felt that I need a new challenge in my life, and I am now going to start the new challenge. While being in Woollim for a long period of 10 years since my trainee days through my debut until now, I felt and learned a lot as I grew up. I think time passes very quickly. All moments spent together with INSPIRIT after debuting as INFINITE have been happy times. Our INFINITE members, who I have spent all of those times together with, all of those times were happy because of the members. I want to once again express my gratitude and our promise that we will always be together. It is difficult to describe in words how much strength the INFINITE members and INSPIRIT have given me since our debut until now. Although we may be together in somewhat different forms and ways than before, there is no change in the trust that we will support each other and be together. Also, head Lee Jung Yeop, vice president Lee Ji Young, and all Woollim family who have allowed me to have unforgettable and valuable times and happiness, as much as you have supported me, I will work hard with a grateful heart to greet you after improving further. In addition, I can continue with the INFINITE members, and I am going to do my best to be with the members at any place when I am needed. Again and again, I sincerely thank INSPIRIT, who have believed in me and given me warm and great love. I will work my hardest to greet you soon with greater improvement. Thank you for reading this long letter until the end.” – From Kim Myung Soo (Translated by Soompi) L did not state that he will be leaving INFINITE, he is just leaving Woollim Entertainment. His letter is written in an open-ended tone stating that he will be there for INFINITE when they need him.
Woollim Entertainment also released a statement regarding L’s departure from the agency and INFINITE’s future plans. “Hello. This is Woollim Entertainment. First of all, we express sincere gratitude to the fans who cherish and love the group INFINITE. Our exclusive contract with INFINITE member L (Kim Myung Soo), who has been with us for the past nine years, ended on August 18th, 2019 (contract expiration date). Recently, ahead of his exclusive contract expiration, we had in-depth discussions with our artist L (Kim Myung Soo) for a long time, and after careful discussion, the decision was made to not renew the contract. L (Kim Myung Soo) [debuted] as a member of the group INFINITE in 2010, and he put his full effort into activities in diverse fields. We express our sincere gratitude to L (Kim Myung Soo), who has been together with us for a long time of nine years since 2010. We ask that you show continuous love to L (Kim Myung Soo), and we will be sincerely cheering on his future. In addition, as the members have strong determination about group activities, INFINITE’s disbandment is not being considered at all. Regarding the direction of INFINITE’s future activities, they will be carried out after sufficient discussion in the future as there are members currently serving in the military.” (Translated by Soompi)
INFINITE’s L Accused Of Plagiarising Another Idol’s Letter
After seeing his hand-written letter stating his departure from Woolim Entertainment, netizens suspected that L copied the letter from another idol and their departure letter. According to Koreaboo, though fans were initially touched by the letter, some people noticed how some lines in the letter were precisely the same as Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun‘s farewell letter when she announced she was leaving SM Entertainment. Six lines were allegedly copied from Seohyun’s letter.
— 탱니토 (@taengnito) August 19, 2019 As fans further analyzed his farewell letter, they found more lines copied from other idols’ letters to fans. Each highlighted section is from a different idol. Mint refers to lines copied from Bang Yongguk (former B.A.P), orange refers to Lee Gaeun (former After School), pink refers to Yookyung (former AOA), Green refers to Jimin (former 15&), blue relates to Hoya (former INFINITE), and yellow refers to Seohyun. People noticed how the lines were directly lifted, only changed to refer to Woollim or INFINITE. Here are the lines he allegedly took from Bang Yongguk’s letter. This letter was written to announce his withdrawal from the group after he chose not to renew his contract with the agency. “I would like to bow my head and apologize for delivering such regretful news.” and “It is difficult for me to put into words how the B.A.P members and BABY’s gave me strength from my debut until now.” Here are the lines he allegedly took from Lee Gaeun. She wrote this letter after news broke out that she would be leaving Pledis Entertainment and graduate from After School. “Also, I want to thank everyone for cheering me warmly. The time spent with the fans after debuting with After School felt like a dream and it was a joyful time.” Here are the lines he allegedly took from Yookyung. She wrote this letter after withdrawing from FNC Entertainment and AOA. “My heart feels a bit heavy because I don’t know if this news will bring sadness.” Here are the lines he allegedly stole from Jimin. She wrote this letter after it was announced that she would be leaving JYP Entertainment. “For these long 7 years – middle school, high school, and up to adulthood – I felt, I learned, and I grew up a lot by being in JYP.” And finally, here is the line he allegedly stole from Hoya. He wrote this letter after news broke out that he would not be renewing his contract with Woollim Entertainment and would be leaving INFINITE. There are some who are disappointed with him for copying a few sentences from other idols, but there are also those who don’t care about that and consider the whole thing really funny. Even some of them are really impressed with netizens who have noticed and found similarities in each sentence and call them detectives because they have checked every sentence that L wrote in his letter. And here are some of their reactions on Twitter. “Tbh, I’m so disappointed in Myung-soo for his letter, and I do find it hilarious, but it’s actually annoying that people are like ‘he’s not sincere to his fans!’ or ‘fans shouldn’t bias someone like that,’ as if that letter is the only thing that can prove his sincerity to fans.” [StarBlossomDY] “This is so embarrassing, Myung-soo should have not written a letter if he was just going to copy off others, it makes him look so insincere and fake.” [elvisbyaoa] “lmao at supposedly plagiarizing the goodbye letter of Myung-soo. That was so extra. Y’all are great detectives.” [soolgiIlhoon] “SKJDHSKJHSJKHJS Myung-soo truly, an idol copying others’ letters for a resignation letter :-(” [AHKKINDA] “Not going to speak on the letter problem but maaan, Infinite was a group I followed for years with Myung-soo as one of my ultimate biases so the news was a little sad ngl.” [gracefulsun_] “I was sad that Myung-soo left Woolim Entertainment, then I saw his goodbye letter controversy and I’m still laughing jsgdjsh boi actually worked hard and read at least 6 different letters to pick the best lines though!1!!!!” [seungjjanggu] “So, I’ve seen many hate comments about this letter thing. But isn’t it so good to see your favs wise words are using to heal other fans? I think it’s so lovely to see someone’s word can make people feel at ease. So stop this hating – love and support each other.” [parampampam00] “I’m dead at Myung-soo plagiarizing his farewell letter and expecting not to get caught.” [squishyhosh] What is your reaction to his departure from Woolim Entertainment? Please, kindly share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.
