[Hanteo News = Reporter JUNG JUNHWA] First-generation girl group Fin.K.L is moving as one team again.

 

Gemstone E&M announced on the 21st that it is preparing full-group activities for Fin.K.L with all four members: LEE HYORI, OK JOOHYUN, LEE JIN, and SUNG YURI. It will be the first time in about 21 years that the four members will begin full-fledged activities under the name Fin.K.L since their 2005 digital single ‘Forever Fin.K.L.’

 

The agency defined this move not as a one-off reunion, but as a new beginning for sustained activities, and said it will gradually present various activities so that the group can create new moments with fans who have waited for a long time. However, whether it will be an album or a concert, and when it will take place, has not yet been revealed.

 

Fin.K.L, which debuted in May 1998 with its 1st album ‘Blue Rain,’ divided the era of first-generation girl groups together with S.E.S. by releasing a string of hits including ‘To My Boyfriend,’ ‘Eternal Love,’ ‘Now,’ and ‘Forever.’ Starting with an innocent image, the group went on to pull off powerful and mature concepts, and became the first female group to win a Grand Prize at a music awards ceremony, securing both popularity with the public and a strong fandom.

 

After their 4th full-length album in 2002, the members went their separate ways and established themselves in their respective fields as a solo singer and broadcaster (LEE HYORI), a musical actress (OK JOOHYUN), and actresses (LEE JIN and SUNG YURI). The fact that they remained “a team that paused activities” without ever officially declaring disbandment paradoxically became the force that kept the name Fin.K.L alive for a long time.

 

This is not the first time the four members have reunited. In 2019, they reunited after 14 years on JTBC’s variety show ‘Camping Club’ and released the new song ‘Like the Song That Remains’ to mark their 21st debut anniversary. Produced by KIM HYUNCHUL with lyrics written by the members themselves, the song topped the real-time charts on Bugs, Naver, and Soribada on the morning after its release. At the same time, it stayed in the 20s on Melon. This means the power of nostalgia was clear, but that power was delivered at different temperatures across platforms. Above all, that reunion was a special project that began with the broadcast and ended with the broadcast. This is also why this announcement particularly emphasizes “continuity.”

 

Looking back, there had been several signals. In April, all the members attended the funeral after the passing of LEE HYORI’s father, and in June, OK JOOHYUN posted a photo of the four members together on SNS. On August 14, photos of OK JOOHYUN, LEE JIN, and SUNG YURI doing yoga poses side by side were posted on the account for the yoga studio LEE HYORI operates in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul. It was also a notable change that LEE JIN, who had spent nearly 10 years in New York in the U.S. after getting married in 2016, has been staying in Korea this year and frequently appearing with the members. The timing of the physical distance between the four members narrowing and the full-group announcement matched exactly.

 

The moves of Gemstone E&M, which is in charge of planning and operating these activities, are also worth watching. The company is home to god members DANNY AHN, SON HOYOUNG, and KIM TAEWOO, and has carried out business that ties together performances, content, and commerce by using god as one IP. It secured strategic investment in April this year, and in June, announced plans to establish an affiliate, “Gemstone Live,” dedicated to performances, tours, festivals, and fan platforms. Its specialty lies in combining performances with MD, exhibitions, pop-up stores, and kit albums, as seen in its theme park-style project commemorating 10,000 days since god’s debut.

 

If Fin.K.L becomes the second “legend IP” after god, the center of gravity of its activities is also likely to be placed more on performances and fan experiences than on competing on music charts. It is also worth noting that the operating structure will be more complex, as the four members’ respective agencies and affiliated parties will have to move together.

 

The market trend is favorable. The keyword running through this year’s music scene has undoubtedly been reunions. I.O.I, which reunited to mark its 10th debut anniversary, topped Melon TOP100 in May with ‘Suddenly,’ while BIGBANG announced its full-group return on the Coachella stage in April before embarking on a world tour in August. SeeYa released a full-length album for its 20th debut anniversary, Secret released a full-group EP after 12 years, and Click-B held a full-group concert for the first time in 11 years.

 

This is the background behind the analysis that reunions, once called “summoning memories,” have established themselves as “performance-driven reunions” proven through results in music and concerts. There is also the precedent of S.E.S., Fin.K.L’s rival, reuniting with a special album and concert from late 2016 to early the following year for its 20th debut anniversary. The fact that fans who supported Fin.K.L as teenagers are now in their 40s, the demographic with the strongest purchasing power, also cannot be ignored.

 

As high as expectations are, the tasks ahead are also clear. The first is what they will show. As the agency itself used the expression “Fin.K.L of 2026,” the success or failure of these activities will depend on how they persuade audiences with the music and stage of the four members as they are now, beyond simply recreating hit songs. The different temperatures across platforms shown by the 2019 new song suggest that nostalgia alone is not enough to draw in new listeners.

 

The second is time. The schedules of the four members are all different: OK JOOHYUN is active on the musical stage, LEE HYORI balances broadcasting and running a yoga studio, SUNG YURI has continued acting activities, and LEE JIN is resuming activities after a long hiatus. The fact that the only wording given was “gradually,” instead of a schedule, does not seem unrelated to these circumstances.

 

On the other hand, there is also the view that the 21-year gap itself is the narrative. Because the team stopped at the moment it shone the brightest, simply showing the time the members have lived through and their relationship with one another as it is may be enough content in itself. The experience of 2019’s ‘Camping Club,’ which generated greater buzz through the four members’ conversations and relationships than through music, lends weight to this view.

 

Fin.K.L has passed through 21 years without declaring disbandment. During that time, K-POP became a massive industry, and reunions changed from nostalgia trips into a business model. Whether this full-group return ends as a single journey into memory, or becomes a case showing that a first-generation girl group can also return in the present tense, will be determined the moment the first result is revealed. What is clear is that the name Fin.K.L still has the power to summon an era. The remaining question now is what that name can say in this era.