Reblogged By:De De Tillman;  K-Pop – K-Drama;  Celebrity Blogger

Source: Koreaboo – 10Asia

Media: Koreaboo –  10Asia

Posted: Wednesday October 1, 2014 @ 9:39 p.m PST

On September 2014, Girls’ Generation became a group of 8, following steps of other recent girl-group member departures such as KARA and Wonder Girls.

Idols have been on an upward trend as of late, with the global power of Hallyu spreading across the world. From concerts in the US to Europe, there’s no doubt that K-Pop is a major trend. But now the first global wave of K-Pop is going through the hardest times of its history, and Girls’ Generation just joined the row.

While the very first idols of Korea in 1990’s suffered break-ups after 5 years, the 2nd generation of idols are seeing a massive loss of members.

Wonder Girls went through several member losses and recruitments, starting withHyuna, Sunmi, and now Sunye and Sohee. Although new recruits have been made, Wonder Girls never stood up again like their past, and after Sunye’s pregnancy and Sohee’s change in career to acting, the future of Wonder Girls seems quite bleak.

Kara recently made a new start after recruting their new member Youngji. Similar to Wonder Girls, Kara also faced departure of two core members, Kang Jiyoung andNicole Jung (Edit: KARA also lost member Kim Sunghee in 2008, 1 year after their debut). The remaining members and DSP Entertainment soon decided to recruit a new member through reality programmed audition, and eventually chose Youngji.

Although the two groups are not as popular as they used to be, they are definitely trying new methods. Wonder Girls is now focusing on Solo performances of the members, with Sunmi and Yenny successfully standing up as solo artists. Kara on the other hand is gaining positive responses with the recruit of their new member Youngji.

What will Girls’ Generation show us? The news of Jessica leaving the group surely was shocking, but nonetheless Girls’ Generation is still commencing their activities without her. The biggest issues Girls’ Generation faces is the absence of Jessica’s powerful vocals, which were key points in numerous Girls’ Generation songs.

What does this mean for the future of both the remaining members and departed members?

* Note: minor additions and changes were made by Koreaboo.