TWICE’s Jihyo is starting a new chapter. In a handwritten letter posted to her Instagram on October 21, she shared that her time with JYP Entertainment has come to an end after 21 years, a journey that started when she was still a child.
As her first step, she has set up her own company, EMITHAUS. She explained that “emit” means to express or release, and said she hopes the company will be a place where she can freely explore possibilities she hasn’t discovered in herself yet.
Fans don’t need to worry about TWICE. Jihyo was clear that leaving JYP doesn’t mean leaving the group, and that she’ll keep standing on stage with her members. “TWICE is an irreplaceable part of my life,” she wrote. According to Yonhap, she plans to pursue her solo music career under EMITHAUS while continuing TWICE activities.
Jihyo had been with JYP since she joined as a trainee, years before TWICE debuted in 2015. She is the third TWICE member to officially leave the agency, after Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung.