K-pop idols Shotaro and Sungchan have addressed their recently announced departures from NCT.

Yesterday (May 24), SM Entertainment announced that Shotaro and Sungchan would be leaving K-pop boyband NCT after three years with the group. The entertainment agency later revealed plans to re-debut the pair in a new boyband, alongside SMROOKIES members Eunseok and Seunghan.

Shotaro and Sungchan have since addressed their departures from NCT in new handwritten letters. On Instagram, Shotaro thanked fans for their support during his time in NCT and spoke about how he has grown during his time with the group.

“I want to say thank you so much to the fans who have supported me up until now. What gave me the most strength for my promotions as NCT was just the existence of our fans,” he wrote, as translated by Soompi.

“I also want to thank my members, who have cherished me like family from when I joined up until now,” he added. “I believe that all the precious experiences I learned from my promotions with NCT will be my strength to become an artist that you are all proud and unashamed of in my future activities.”

The singer also teased his upcoming re-debut as part of SM Entertainment’s new boyband, saying: “I will return “soon” with an even cooler image so please wait a little bit.” Read Shotaro’s full letter here.

Meanwhile, Sungchan shared his letter on the fan community platform Bubble, where he wrote about how it was “tremendous honour to be with you for these three happy years and I consider it a precious memory”.

“I believe that it was my members and fans who helped me when I was lost in that unfamiliar time a few years ago,” he added. “I was able to learn and gain a lot while promoting”

SM Entertainment had first hinted at its plans to debut a new boy group earlier this month, when it released a music line-up preview of its plans for the third quarter of 2023.