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there's a lot of misinformation surrounding his departure and i think it's important to distinguish what he's actually said from speculations about his intentions the first misconception is that he suddenly decided to leave in 2023: 2023 was when he publicly confirmed that he had withdrawn but the circumstances surrounding his departure go back several years in june 2017, following his scandal, he released a handwritten apology in which he specifically mentioned the members, his agency, his family and his fans he expressed shame over his actions and believed he had hurt the people around him, so the idea that his guilt only appeared as a convenient explanation in 2025 isn't consistent with what he was publicly expressing back in 2017 his military service, subsequent hiatus and changing career plans also need to be considered: in february 2022, yg announced that his exclusive contract had ended after 16 years importantly, they also stated that he had discussed expanding his individual activities with the members and could still participate in group activities when circumstances allowed so leaving yg and officially leaving the group weren't initially presented as the same thing then in march 2022, he gave an interview to prestige hong kong in which he openly questioned his future with the group he discussed wanting to pursue his own musical identity and suggested that his time as a member might be coming to an end when he finally confirmed his departure in may 2023, he specifically said that he had already withdrawn and had been entering a new chapter of his life since the previous year so he wasn't announcing a spontaneous decision made in 2023 his january 2025 interviews provided the clearest explanation: he said he'd been telling the company and members for years that he wanted to leave because he believed his past actions had caused considerable damage to the group he felt ashamed of potentially bringing further controversy upon them and believed he should bear the consequences of his mistakes individually he also confirmed that he'd approached still life as his final group project: this also explains why he reacted to reunion related posts the way he did he has also consistently expressed support for the members: in january 2025, he said he'd watched their mama performance and was rooting for them more recently, in september 2026, he reiterated that he intends to continue as a solo artist while supporting their future activities none of us can independently verify another person's private feelings and guilt doesn't have to be the only factor behind his decision his desire for artistic independence was also something he openly discussed and is often glossed over, calling his explanation a pr statement simply because he didn't leave in 2017 is bullshit the public evidence supports a departure that developed over several years i think it's fair to discuss his choices critically, but it's equally important not to dismiss his own explanations or invent private conflicts without evidence i'll leave you with linked sources so you can read everything yourself chronologically: june 2017: his handwritten apology (soompi.com/article/993631wpp…) february 2022: yg's official announcement (soompi.com/article/1511763wp…) march 2022: his interview about the group's future (nme.com/news/music/t-o-p-fut…) june 2023: confirmation that he'd already withdrawn (soompi.com/article/1591152wp…) january 2025: his detailed korean interview about guilt and the members (sports.khan.co.kr/article/20…) january 2025: sbs english reporting on why he left (news.sbs.co.kr/amp/news.amp?…) september 2026: his latest comments about supporting the group as a solo artist (news.sbs.co.kr/amp/news.amp?…)

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