Rocky Departs from Astro with Heartfelt Letter, Upset Fans Point Fingers at Agency for Group's Disarray

Astro, a South Korean band that just celebrated its seventh anniversary, will now perform as a five-piece ensemble. Rocky left the band's management company, Fantagio, after his contract with the company expired. Fantagio further revealed that the remaining five members of Astro will carry on with their endeavors as a group while "focusing on unit and solo activities for the time being." Sanha, Moonbin, Cha Eun-woo, and JinJin all had their Fantagio contracts renewed in December. After his return from his service in the military, MJ will talk about his contract extension.

"First, we would like to sincerely thank all the fans who offer ASTRO their love and support," stated the Fantagio announcement. Rocky, who has been a member of ASTRO with us for the past seven years, and I had a lengthy conversation, and it was agreed that he will be leaving both his exclusive contract with our agency and his activities as a member of ASTRO. We genuinely appreciate Rocky for giving his all for a long period as an ASTRO member, and we will support Rocky going forward. We also appreciate all of the admirers who have followed Rocky and supported him, and we kindly ask that you continue to do so while he pursues his dreams.

Future ASTRO will consist of five members, and along with Fantagio, the members will first concentrate on unit and solo activities. We intend to aggressively provide them with our unwavering support so that can actively participate in a range of activities. We kindly urge that you continue to show great interest in and support for the ASTRO members. I'm grateful.

Rocky also wrote a letter to followers with the following message: "I'm welcoming fans after a while. I apologise for not having good news for everyone, but I felt it was important for arohas (the fanbase's name) to know this information, which is why I am sending this letter. My 14-year relationship with Fantagio will come to an end, and I'll stop working with Astro. He referred to his time as Astro's Rocky as "valuable" and felt that his team was his greatest asset. No matter where I am, I will always love the memories I have of the Arohas and the members.

The news has disturbed some fans. Astro's one dance break will never be the same without Rocky as centre, Astro always appears powerful when they're complete as six, a fan who posted a video of their performances commented. Several others blamed the agency, saying things like, "Rocky mentioned he's still ASTRO presumably to let us know it wasn't his decision to leave the group. Unless he explicitly states so, I will never think he desired this. When Rocky decided to quit the firm, one person said, "Why do I feel that Fantagio did not even offer him a chance to stay in Astro.Either you stayed in both or you left both. Because of this, Rocky's caption read "I Still," suggesting that, given the option, he would have remained in the group.