TWICE Enters Second Renewal Cycle With Several Members Expected to Leave JYP

TWICE is navigating its second full contract renewal cycle, and the shape it is taking looks different from 2022. Reports indicate that four members, Jihyo, Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu, are likely to leave JYP Entertainment as individual clients while remaining part of the group, a split-agency arrangement that has precedent in Korean pop but would be a first for TWICE.

The pattern emerging across the nine members appears to reflect where each is in her solo career ambitions. Jihyo, who joined JYP as a trainee in 2005 and debuted as TWICE's leader and main vocalist in 2015, is reportedly planning to establish her own single-artist agency to manage her solo activities directly. Jeongyeon has met with VARO Entertainment, the agency that also represents her older sister, actress Gong Seungyeon, though VARO has stated that nothing has been finalized regarding an exclusive contract. Chaeyoung is said to have met with other agencies as well, with reports noting her interest in expanding into fashion and art. Tzuyu, meanwhile, is reported to have agreed with JYP that she will not sign an individual exclusive contract with the label, though she will continue with TWICE's full-group activities.

On the other side of the roster, Nayeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, and Dahyun are expected to remain with JYP Entertainment on individual contracts.

JYP's official position has been measured throughout. The company said it is "currently in a period of contract renewal discussions" and will provide updates once matters are confirmed, a response it has repeated consistently as each report has emerged.

The arrangement being discussed, where members sign with separate agencies for solo management while JYP coordinates group-level activities, is not new to the label. TWICE's label senior group 2PM has operated under a similar structure for years, with individual members managed by different companies while the group convenes for tours and releases under JYP's coordination umbrella. That model has worked well enough that the industry has come to treat it as a viable long-term format for groups past their initial contract cycle.

For TWICE, the timing comes after a period of considerable momentum. The group's 'THIS IS TWICE FOR' world tour, which ran from July 2025 through a Seoul encore in July 2026, covered 44 regions across 81 shows over roughly a year. The North American leg alone, spanning 35 shows across 20 cities, drew approximately 550,000 attendees, a record for a K-pop girl group in that market. The tour also included three shows at Tokyo's National Olympic Stadium, making TWICE the first overseas artist to headline that venue for a solo run, with a combined audience of 240,000 for those dates.

That level of commercial performance gives the group real leverage in structuring what comes next. A split-management model, if it holds, would let members pursue acting, solo music, or other projects through agencies with specific expertise in those areas, while preserving the group's draw as a live and recording act. Whether JYP can coordinate that across multiple management structures without friction is the more practical question, and one that only the next phase of negotiations will answer.