Currently, all major music platforms in Korea, such as Genie, Bugs, Melon, and even Naver, the largest information search platform in Korea, have scrubbed all information regarding Hwarang as a member of TEMPEST.
When searching for the group’s name on these platforms, only six members are listed: Hanbin, Hyungseob, Hyuk, Eunchan, LEWW, and Taerae.
Though Yuehua, the group’s management company, hasn’t issued an official statement, this implicitly confirms that TEMPEST now comprises only six members.
On March 6th, Yuehua Entertainment announced the temporary suspension of Hwarang’s activities.
The agency stated, “Hwarang has been engaged in deep discussions with our company regarding his future activities in light of recent personal privacy issues revealed through social media.” They added, “During this process, Hwarang failed to regain trust, and our company deemed it difficult to continue full team activities in such circumstances.”
Consequently, TEMPEST’s fifth mini-album, ‘TEMPEST Voyage,’ set to release on March 11th, will proceed with a lineup of six members: Hanbin, Hyungseob, Hyuk, Eunchan, LEW, and Taerae.
Even in TEMPEST’s official Twitter header photo, there’s no trace of Hwarang. Initially, the photo included all seven members, including Hwarang, but after the official statement was released, Hwarang’s image vanished.