Project girl group IZ*ONE to disband next month

IZ*ONE, a project girl group that debuted through a reality audition TV show, will disband next month as planned.

"IZ*ONE's project will wrap up in April as planned," said music channel Mnet that had aired the series as well as the act's management agencies.

Swing Entertainment and Off the Record said they had discussed other possibilities with the management agencies of the 12 members, promising to continue to support the members in their careers.

With the disbandment, the Korean-Japanese girl group will be wrapping up its group career 2 1/2 years after its debut. The members will be managed by their respective agencies.

One of their last schedules as IZ*ONE will be a two-day online concert titled "ONE, The Story," scheduled for the coming weekend.

IZ*ONE was formed through the Mnet audition show "Produce 48" that was co-produced with Yasushi Akimoto, the producer behind Japanese girl group AKB48.

The group, which debuted in October 2018 with EP "COLOR*IZ," has been popular in the two Asian countries based on the fandom they built while appearing on the reality series.

Their first studio album and third EP released here had even set fresh records for a local girl group's first-week album sales.

IZ*ONE, however, faced public scrutiny after the audition series was found to have been mired in a vote-rigging scandal involving Mnet producer Ahn Joon-young.

In November, the Seoul High Court even disclosed the names of 12 victims whose ranking were changed due to the manipulation scheme. The list included two "Produce 48" participants. (Yonhap)