IZ*ONE to disband next month; prison sentence for 'Produce 101' director confirmed

Korean-Japanese project group IZ*ONE / Courtesy of Swing Entertainment, Off The Record

By Dong Sun-hwa

Korean-Japanese project group IZ*ONE, which consists of 12 finalists from the third season of Mnet's fan-voted competition show “Produce 101,” will be disbanded in April.

On Wednesday, Mnet announced the breakup of the group ― which has been hit hard by the cable channel's vote-fixing scandal.

“IZ*ONE, which debuted with the album COLOR*IZ in 2018 and has become a pan-Asian girl band, will wrap up its musical activities, as planned, this April,” it said in a statement. “We are thankful to the members for having done a great job and will continue to support them.”

Mnet added IZ*ONE will hold its two final concerts, titled “ONE, THE STORY,” online on March 13 and 14.

In 2019, Mnet was mired in a vote-rigging scandal involving Ahn Joon-young, director of all four seasons of “Produce 101.” He was accused of manipulating voting results in favor of certain contenders and taking bribes from some K-pop labels that fielded the contestants for “Produce 101.”

On Thursday, Seoul Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that put Ahn behind bars for two years. He was also ordered to pay a forfeiture of 37 million won ($33,000).

After the scandal erupted in 2019, Mnet said: “We sincerely apologize for raising a stink. We will take responsibility to the end and compensate the victims.”

Nonetheless, project boy band X1, which was formed out of the 2019 fourth season of “Produce 101,” disbanded only a few months after its debut due to the scandal. IZ*ONE also had been on hiatus for a while, but resumed its career in 2020 despite some criticisms.

IZ*ONE has nine Korean and three Japanese members. It basked in popularity thanks to the success of songs including “Violeta” (2019) and “Secret Story of the Swan” (2020).