Jihyo has ended her 21-year run with JYP Entertainment and launched her own agency, Emithaus, in a move that marks a major shift in how one of Twice's most prominent members will manage her career. The 29-year-old leader of the group said on Wednesday, Oct 21, that the decision was about taking control of the years ahead, not closing the door on what came before.
That is why the announcement landed now. Jihyo said her journey with JYP, which began when she was eight years old, was coming to a close after years that included a decade as a trainee before Twice's debut in 2015. She described the change as less a break with the past than a choice about how she wants to live and work from here, adding that she would approach future decisions with greater care and responsibility.
Her note also addressed the question fans were bound to ask: leaving JYP Entertainment does not mean leaving Twice. Jihyo said Twice remains an irreplaceable and precious part of her life and said she hopes to keep standing on stage with the other members for a long time. The line matters because her departure changes the business side of her career without altering the group identity that made her known in the first place.
That split between agency and group is becoming a familiar pattern around Twice. Jeongyeon has joined Varo Entertainment to pursue acting, while Chaeyoung is working on her Lil Fantasy project, and the status of the remaining six members' solo contracts has still to be revealed. Emithaus is now the new center of Jihyo's individual work, but the practical scope of the agency and how it will handle future activities have not been spelled out.
For now, the clearest answer is the one Jihyo gave herself: she is changing the structure around her career, not the bond with Twice. The unresolved part is how much of her next chapter will be directed through Emithaus and how much will continue through the group that has followed her from childhood to the present.
