As the clock of the group I.O.I, stopped for 9 years, starts ticking again, the memories of fans trapped in 2016 come alive as well.
I.O.I (Nayoung, Sejeong, Sohye, Chungha, Chaeyeon, Jeon Somi, Yoo Jung, Doyeon, Yeonjung) released its 10th debut anniversary album and third mini-album “I.O.I : LOOP” on May 19 and began its reunion activities for good.
The initial atmosphere is good. The title song “Suddenly” entered at 42nd place on the TOP100 chart of the music platform Melon on May 20 at 8 AM KST, and the music video also surpassed 1 million views on YouTube only 20 hours after its publication, placing 5th in trending music.
As it is a new work presented after 9 years by a group that enjoyed great popularity at the time of its formation, public opinion is also favorable. Saying that a song that fits well with I.O.I, reunited after 10 years, was born, reactions saying they immersed themselves in the song are following one after another.
Along with this, the word that appears particularly often among fans’ reactions is “nostalgia”. It is as if listening to I.O.I’s “Suddenly” revived a nostalgic emotion, like a return 10 years back.
Of course, the year 2026 is a year where nostalgia and cultural trends toward the year 2016 appear in a striking manner, to the point that the expression “2026 is the new 2016 (2026년은 새로운 2016년)” was born since the beginning of the year.
However, the fact that people feel particularly nostalgic emotions and memories toward I.O.I goes beyond a simple retro trend and lies in the specificity that the group I.O.I possesses.
First of all, I.O.I is a group whose activity period was extremely short. Mnet’s “Produce 101”, where I.O.I was formed, is a monumental work that triggered the K-pop survival audition boom in the Korean music world, but as it was the first trial case of an unprecedented method consisting of gathering trainees from multiple agencies to form a single group, it was a period when specific textbooks or activity policies were not established.
For this reason, I.O.I‘s official activity period was only about 8 months, and the records published during that time were limited to two mini-albums and two singles. In addition, the first single “Whatta man” was a 7-member unit song without SEJEONG, MINA, YEONJUNG and CHAEYEON, and the second single “소나기” was released in January 2017 just before the end of the group’s activities, which did not allow for any particular activities to be conducted.
Comparing with Wanna One, formed through season 2 of “Produce 101”, which released 4 mini-albums and 1 regular album, including a repackage and a special album for about 1 year and 5 months, and IZ*ONE, born from “Produce 48”, which published 3 singles, 4 mini-albums and 2 regular albums in Korea and Japan for 2 years and 6 months, I.O.I‘s activity period was extremely short.
This is the reason why I.O.I fans express reactions about “Suddenly” by saying:
“It is as if the end of I.O.I, which could not end properly in 2016, is finally concluding now”.
Moreover, the fact that most members experienced failure as singers after the disbandment of I.O.I adds emotion to this reunion. Indeed, PRISTIN, GUGUDAN, DIA, WEKI MEKI, etc., to which the members of I.O.I belonged, all disbanded, and WJSN, which is holding on alone, is focusing more on the solo activities of each member.
Furthermore, KIM SEJEONG or JUNG CHAEYEON, etc., are now making themselves known more as actresses than as singers, and CHUNGHA, who had deployed an impressive activity as a solo singer, is also going through a period of stagnation recently. At most, only JEON SOMI continues to maintain her presence consistently as a singer.
This is why the reunion of I.O.I naturally draws a narrative of a dramatic nature, where “the members of a K-pop group having obtained great popularity scattered and experienced failure, then gather again after a long time has passed to find their glory era again”.
The immersion provided by such a narrative arouses the empathy of fans from the era of 2016, becoming a great force for I.O.I‘s reunion activities.
More than anything, the reunion of I.O.I is also something that the members wished for first. An official well-informed of I.O.I news explained: “Even after the disbandment of I.O.I, the members continued to communicate regularly and showed a strong will for a reunion for several years”, adding: “However, it was not easy to coordinate respective schedules or agency situations, so it was continuously pushed back. This year, there was the clear justification of the 10th anniversary, which allowed the reunion to be realized”.
Like these words, the possibility of a reunion of I.O.I has been regularly mentioned since 2019, two years after the disbandment, and in 2021, they conducted a special live broadcast to celebrate the 5th anniversary of their debut, displaying their unchanged friendship.
Thus, as the members actively came forward first for the reunion, it is evaluated that the narrative I.O.I possesses naturally gains even more force.
A person “A” from the music industry stated: “I.O.I is a group that presented the original model of survival audition programs that are taken for granted today, so it is a group whose very existence has a major meaning”, adding: “Such a group achieved its reunion under the impulse of the members after the disbandment. The emotion and deep moving that fans receive can only be great”.
She continued by saying: “It is also important to have created a precedent of reunion. This means that other groups from audition programs now have a justification to do the same”, adding: “Of course, as the situations of each group and each member are different, we cannot know if it will actually lead to a reunion, but the simple fact of having created a case that did not exist can be considered a turning point”.
I.O.I will organize its Asian tour “2026 I.O.I Concert Tour: LOOP” which will visit Thailand and Hong Kong, starting with a concert at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium of the Olympic Park in the Songpa District in Seoul on the 29th.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS I.O.I
