JYP Entertainment announced on Oct. 28 that Stray Kids member Woojin is leaving the band in a long statement: “Hello, this is JYP Entertainment. Woojin, who has been a Stray Kids member, has left the group due to personal reasons and we have canceled his exclusive contract. We apologize for causing concerns with this sudden news. Because of this, Stray Kids’ mini-album Cle:LEVANTER, originally scheduled for November 25th, has been pushed back to December 9th. We apologize once again to the fans who have been waiting for a while. We ask for your support to Woojin, who will be walking a new road, and ask for STAYs’ warm support for the 8 Stray Kids members who will be walking toward their dream again.”
After the news was announced, Woojin immediately began trending on Twitter. Fans started the hashtag “ThankYouWoojin” to show their love for the Stray Kids singer and sound off about the shocking news. “I still don’t know how to handle this,” one fan tweeted, “My eyes are hurt because of crying all day. my heart breaks into pieces. I can’t smile like I used to but thank you Woojin. thank you for all the years you’ve spent with us. I will always love you. #ThankYouWoojin.”
Another fan wrote, “I keep reloading and it really hurts, wow this is not a dream #WeLoveYouWoojin #ThankYouWoojin Stray Kids will always be nine or none.”
https://twitter.com/AliieJ_Os/status/1188779803509317632
The K-Pop group started out with 9 members. In the wake of Woojin’s departure, the remaining 8 members — Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N — will continue on. Woojin will be so missed and we wish him luck in his future endeavors!