SHINee member Taemin and Onew will reportedly leave SM Entertainment sometime this year after their contracts with the K-pop agency expire.

Yesterday (March 5), South Korean news outlets SpoTV News and YTN reported in separate stories that SHINee members Taemin and Onew would be leaving SM Entertainment following the expiration of their contracts. The duo have been with the K-pop agency since 2008, when they debuted as members of SHINee.

SM Entertainment has since responded to the reports, saying that while “future plans remain unconfirmed” for the pair, they are “actively considering various options”, per The Korea Times. The company also confirmed that Taemin’s contract with the agency will expire this month.

Notably, SM Entertainment also stated that SHINee will continue their group activities under the company “without change” while negotiations regarding individual contracts continue, per Newsen via Soompi. “We are positively discussing with Minho and Key about not only group activities but also individual activities,” it added.

According to Sports World, Taemin is reportedly exploring signing with Big Planet Made, home to VIVIZ, Lee Mu-jin and more. However, the label has said that it has “not made any definitive decisions” regarding a potential contract, per The Korea Times.

In other news, D.O of K-pop boyband EXO left SM Entertainment after 11 years back with the label in November 2023, following the expiration of his contract. Meanwhile, bandmate Baekhyun launched his own agency called INB100 and signed bandmates Chen and Xiumin in January 2024, where the trio will “start anew” and carry out their “solo activities”.

Notably, Baekhyun, Chen and Xiumin were the three members of EXO who had filed to terminate their contracts with SM Entertainment in June 2023. The trio late dropped the suit after reportedly revolving their differences with K-pop agency over what was described as a “misunderstanding”.