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| Boy band X1 announced its disbandment five months after its debut. Courtesy of Swing Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop boy band X1 announced its disbandment Monday following the vote-rigging scandal of Mnet, which aired an audition program last summer to launch the project group.
The members' management companies including Play M, Yue Hua, Woollim and Starship decided on disbandment after failing to reach an agreement about the group's future, a PR agency representing X1 said in a statement.
In May, Mnet premiered the fourth season of "Produce 101," the cable channel's flagship audition program for idol trainees that gave birth to K-pop acts I.O.I, Wanna One and IZ*ONE.
Through multiple rounds of voting, 11 contestants ― Kim Yo-han, Kim Woo-seok, Han Seung-woo, Song Hyeong-jun, Cho Seung-youn, Son Dong-pyo, Lee Han-gyul, Nam Do-hyon, Cha Jun-ho, Kang Min-hee and Lee Eun-sang ― were singled out as X1 members. They debuted in August with the album "Quantum Leap" and enjoyed popularity until the vote-fixing scandal erupted.
The program's director Ahn Joon-young and chief producer Kim Yong-bum were accused of manipulating the voting results in favor of certain contestants. The two were arrested in November and indicted in December on fraud and business obstruction charges.
Agencies also allegedly treated Ahn to entertainment at an adult entertainment establishment in Gangnam more than 40 times until July.
Mnet's operator CJ ENM made an official apology last week, saying it would support and compensate the affected contestants.
Meanwhile, the cable channel revealed it had been positively reviewing IZ*ONE's career resumption. The 12-piece girl band, formed on the third season of "Produce 101," has been on a hiatus since last year due to the scandal.
