(G)I-DLE‘s Yuqi has opened up about the girl group’s bond and the hardships she faced while promoting on her own in China previously.

In a recent interview with Dazed Korea, the five-piece spoke about their latest album ‘I Never Die’ and its hit title track ‘Tomboy’, during which Chinese member Yuqi had shared more about the indispensable bond among the group’s members.

“I realised how difficult it is to promote alone while [doing so] in China during [(G)I-DLE’s] break,” she said, as translated by Soompi. Yuqi had been based in China for the better part of 2021 as a soloist, during which she had also participated as a contestant on the Chinese music survival series Explosion Stage: Stage Boom.

After returning to South Korea late last year, Yuqi revealed that she felt best when her fellow members of (G)I-DLE were all together as a team. “We need to stay together to survive,” she concluded. “I think this phrase suits (G)I-DLE the best.”

Elsewhere in the interview, bandmate Soyeon also touched on her thoughts on the commercial success of ‘Tomboy’. “I think we experienced a syndrome this time. I hope that we won’t stop in the future either,” she said. “I want to keep moving forward.”

‘I Never Die’, the group’s first-ever studio album, was first released last month, and was their first project since former member Soojin had departed from the group in August 2021.

At the time, CUBE Entertainment did not name any explicit reasons for the idol’s departure, but also apologised for “having caused concern through the controversy associated with [Soojin]”.

Earlier this month, CUBE Entertainment released a statement notifying the public of the official termination of Soojin’s contract, six months after her departure from (G)I-DLE.