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[Herald Muse=Reporter Park Seohyun]“Like the old saying, ‘When Wannables gather, Wanna One gathers too’ — we’re back together. This is just the beginning for Wanna One.”
At Sangam-dong, where they first faced fans nine years ago, the chant “Wannable” rose again.
On the Mnet Plus reality series Wanna One High: Back to Base, the members appeared in school uniforms that harked back to their early days. Even the rain couldn’t silence the roar or the tide of light sticks; for many in the crowd, it felt like the clock had been turned back.
Familiar cars rolled up, and the managers and security who once escorted them were back on hand, recreating the Zero Base-era atmosphere from seven years prior. Having first burst onto the scene under the watch of the so-called “national producers” in 2017, the reunited members stirred vivid memories of that bright, tumultuous moment in K-pop history.
After seven and nine years apart, respectively, Wanna One and I.O.I — groups that electrified South Korea a decade ago — announced reunions.
Wanna One is reconnecting with fans through Mnet Plus’s Wanna One High: Back to Base and released the OST “WE WANNA GO.” It’s their first official track in about four years since the special song “B-Side” in January 2022, and it showcased the group’s still-tight vocal blend.
I.O.I plans to release its third mini-album, I.O.I : LOOP, on the 19th, and will mark its 10th anniversary with concerts at Seoul’s Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium from the 29th to the 31st, kicking off an Asia tour.
The reunions carry extra weight because they were driven largely by the members themselves. Wanna One’s Kim Jae-hwan told Herald Muse that the idea surfaced in their group chat and members personally reached out to people to make it happen. Kang Daniel, who is serving in the military, and Lai Kuanlin, who has moved back home to begin a second career as a director, were unable to join in person but sent heartfelt messages through the reality show, underscoring enduring bonds. Lai’s tattoo of the group’s debut date, “August 7,” moved many fans, especially given his decision to step away from the spotlight.
I.O.I had attempted reunions several times before but was repeatedly stymied by scheduling conflicts and other obstacles. This time, aside from Kang Mina — who couldn’t participate because of prior commitments — the members’ voluntary efforts made it possible. Jeon Somi recently recounted on a broadcast that the members even drafted their own agreement promising “if rehearsal schedules are set, we’ll prioritize team activities over individual plans” and brought it to the producers. That resolve helped turn nostalgia into action.
For a long time, many considered reunions for Wanna One and I.O.I impossible. The Produce 101 series that formed both groups was engulfed by vote-rigging allegations, and producers Ahn Jun-young and Kim Yong-beom were given prison sentences. The scandal sent shockwaves through the industry. As a consequence, X1, which debuted in August 2019, disbanded after less than half a year.
Still, the reunions were made possible by the arc of these time-limited groups — both had finished at the top of the charts, and fans’ nostalgia and longing intensified over time.
Shifts in members’ circumstances helped, too. Immediately after the groups disbanded, members pursued solo careers as singers and actors, making coordinated scheduling difficult. As each built a foothold in their individual careers, the logistics of a reunion became more feasible. Park Ji-hoon, for example, reached a new peak with the film The Man Who Lives With the King, joining the rare club of actors whose films drew 10 million viewers and sparking a new wave of attention. In short, the timing aligned: individual success and sustained fandom generated momentum for a comeback.
In an 18-month run, Wanna One sold more than 3.5 million albums across five releases and generated roughly 100 billion KRW (approximately 75 million USD). At the time, they were grouped informally with EXO and BTS as part of the era’s defining boy-band trio.
I.O.I made a similarly outsized impact in its nine months with hits such as “Dream Girls,” “Very Very Very,” and “So Na Gi.” Despite short activity windows, both groups posted exceptional results and continue to command attention after reuniting.
In today’s K-pop market, where breaking a new group has become harder, proven IPs with established fandoms and name recognition are increasingly valuable. Industry observers say this trend is reshaping the market and renewing interest in project groups.
An industry source told Herald Muse that K-pop has entered an “IP longevity era,” in which revenue streams stretch beyond album sales to concerts, merchandise, pop-up stores and OTT content, and added that “whereas the past focused on continually creating new teams, the competitive edge now lies in how long you can leverage an IP that already has fandom and a narrative.”
The source added, “Labels spend several billion KRW (roughly several million USD) to, in some cases, tens of billions of KRW (roughly tens of millions of USD) to launch a new idol globally — a risky investment with no guaranteed return. In that context, groups like Wanna One and I.O.I, which already have proven fandom and buzz, are stable assets that can deliver strong engagement and profitability simply by restarting.”
The industry is also changing how it runs project groups. Where once a contract’s end meant a natural disbandment, companies are now considering activity extensions, seasonal formats and long-term IP strategies. Kep1er and ZeroBaseOne, for example, chose to continue activities with member reshuffles rather than disband. And unlike traditional project groups that operated around two years, some acts born from survival shows have moved toward long-term models: ENHYPEN and IZ*ONE’s successor groups signed seven-year exclusive contracts with their agencies, effectively functioning as permanent groups.
Meanwhile, AHOF — formed through SBS’s Universe League — is reportedly discussing a shift to a long-term contract after an initial four-year term. An industry insider observed that “today, the end of a project group often feels more like the close of a season than a disbandment,” and that the market is increasingly designing IP life-extension strategies from the audition phase onward.
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