Shine, scandal, survival define K-pop boy band PENTAGON's 1st decade

PENTAGON is marking its 10th debut anniversary with a reunion project after members split across different agencies and contracts expired. The group’s comeback includes the new song Coward, its first in nearly three years, and a 101010 anniversary tour that begins in Osaka on Oct. 1. The lineup excludes Yan An and Yuto, while the project is organized by NAKED, the label founded by member Kino.

PENTAGON debuted on Oct. 10, 2016, and its 10th anniversary concert in Seoul is set for Oct. 10, exactly 10 years later.

Coward was released last Friday and is the group’s first new song in nearly three years.

Kino oversaw the production of Coward and contributed to its composition and lyrics with writers and producers including Kim Eana, Baek Eun-byul and PAAK.

The anniversary lineup includes Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, Shinwon, Yeo One, Kino and Wooseok, while Yan An and Yuto are not participating.

PENTAGON will open its 101010 anniversary tour in Osaka on Oct. 1 before continuing to Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong.

Published Sep 17, 2026 7:00 am KST

After reality scattered its members, group returns as septet under member-run label

K-pop boy band PENTAGON / Captured from PENTAGON's official X account

In 2023, seven years after debuting as the leader of K-pop boy band PENTAGON, returned to trainee status. He competed alongside aspiring male idols on Mnet’s audition program “Boys Planet” for a place in a new project group as his own group’s contracts with Cube Entertainment approached their end.

Three years later, he is back onstage with six fellow PENTAGON members for the group’s 10th debut anniversary.

PENTAGON, which debuted on Oct. 10, 2016, has reunited for an anniversary project organized by NAKED, the label founded by member Kino. It comes after the participating members left the company that formed the group and pursued careers under separate agencies.

The group’s first decade illustrates how uncertain success can remain for a K-pop act, even one recognized for producing its own music. Its breakthrough arrived a year and a half after debut, only for a dating controversy to disrupt its momentum months later. Its first music show victory took four years, while military service and expiring contracts eventually scattered the members.

That PENTAGON has regrouped under an arrangement led by one of its own members gives the anniversary significance beyond nostalgia.

“Coward,” released last Friday, is the group’s first new song in nearly three years. Kino oversaw its production and contributed to its composition and lyrics alongside writers and producers including Kim Eana, Baek Eun-byul and PAAK.

PENTAGON will follow the release with its “101010” anniversary tour, opening in Osaka on Oct. 1 before continuing to Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong. Its second Seoul concert falls on Oct. 10, exactly 10 years after the group’s debut.

The anniversary lineup consists of Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, Shinwon, Yeo One, Kino and Wooseok. Yan An and Yuto, the group’s Chinese and Japanese members, respectively, are not participating, although neither has been formally announced as having left PENTAGON.

K-pop boy band PENTAGON, then a 10-member group, poses during a media showcase for its sixth EP, "Positive," at BlueSquare Theater in Yongsan District, Seoul, April 2, 2018, the day the album and its title track "Shine" were released. Newsis

Cube, which had built its reputation with major K-pop acts including BEAST, 4Minute and BTOB, introduced PENTAGON through the 2016 Mnet competition program “Pentagon Maker,” four years after launching BTOB.

E’Dawn, Shinwon and Yan An were eliminated during the program, but the members persuaded the company to debut all 10 contestants together, Hui had told The Korea Times at the group’s debut showcase.

10-member boy band Pentagon debuts

In 2017, Cube placed PENTAGON members Hui and E’Dawn in the coed project trio Triple H alongside HyunA, one of the company's biggest solo stars.

Hui also established himself as a songwriter outside the group, contributing to songs for Mnet’s “Produce 101 Season 2” and its winning act, Wanna One.

PENTAGON’s public breakthrough ultimately came in April 2018 with “Shine,” co-written by Hui and E’Dawn. Nearly a month after its release, the track entered the Melon Top 100, one of Korea’s leading music charts. It later peaked at No. 27 on the Gaon Digital Chart and No. 6 on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart.

Just four months later, however, E’Dawn and HyunA confirmed that they were in a relationship after Cube initially denied reports that the two Triple H members were dating. The company subsequently canceled the trio’s remaining activities and removed E’Dawn from PENTAGON’s scheduled promotions.

The following month, the agency announced that it would expel the pair, citing an "irreparable loss of trust." HyunA left Cube in October, while E’Dawn departed from both the company and PENTAGON in November.

PENTAGON continued as a nine-member group but struggled to turn the attention generated by “Shine” into sustained momentum. It secured its first music show trophy in October 2020 with “Daisy,” four years after its debut.

K-pop singers HyunA, right, and DAWN, formerly PENTAGON's E'Dawn, pose during a joint showcase for their singles "Flower Shower" and "Money" at Blue Square in Yongsan District, Seoul, Nov. 5, 2019. The two left Cube Entertainment in 2018 after going public with their relationship and signed with PSY's P Nation in early 2019. They released the joint EP "1+1=1" in 2021, left the agency in August 2022 and announced their breakup that November. Newsis

Survival, reinvention

The group’s uncertain position became especially visible in 2023, when Hui joined “Boys Planet” under his legal name, Lee Hoe-taek.

Then 29, he competed against trainees who had yet to debut despite being an established idol and songwriter. Hui ultimately placed 13th, missing a place in the nine-member project group ZEROBASEONE.

Months later, PENTAGON’s contracts with Cube began to expire. Yeo One, Yan An, Yuto, Kino and Wooseok left in October 2023, followed by Hongseok that November. Jinho and Hui ended their contracts in 2025, while Shinwon’s concluded after his mandatory military service.

The departing members maintained that PENTAGON had not disbanded. Continuing group activities, however, became more complicated as they joined different agencies and pursued separate careers.

Members of PENTAGON pose in a group profile photo released Aug. 7 as part of its 10th anniversary project. Captured from PENTAGON's official X account

Seven members finally performed together at the Hanteo Music Awards in February, marking their first group appearance in nearly three years. The reunion laid the groundwork for the anniversary project now being coordinated by NAKED.

According to NAKED, “Coward” is about finding the courage to face someone deeply missed after years apart, hinting that its lyrics can also be read as a message for the fans who stayed.

PENTAGON enters its second decade without its original lineup, the company that created it or any guarantee of future activities. For a group whose career has repeatedly required it to begin again, reaching its 10th anniversary is less a celebration of uninterrupted success than an act of survival.

Three years after Hui stood before judges seeking another chance to debut, PENTAGON is no longer waiting for an audition program or its former agency to grant it one.

PENTAGON在成员们因合约到期、各自加入不同经纪公司而分散发展后，为庆祝出道十周年，推出了重组企划。此次回归将发布时隔近三年的新歌《Coward》，并于10月1日在大阪开启名为“101010”的十周年巡回演唱会。此次回归阵容不包括颜安和裕斗，而企划则由成员Kino创立的厂牌NAKED负责策划。

PENTAGON 于 2016 年 10 月 10 日出道，其 10 周年首尔演唱会定于 10 年前的 10 月 10 日举行。

《懦夫》于上周五发行，是该组合近三年来的第一首新歌。

Kino 负责监督《懦夫》的制作，并与 Kim Eana、Baek Eun-byul 和 PAAK 等词曲作者和制作人一起参与了作曲和作词。

周年纪念阵容包括Jinho、Hui、Hongseok、Shinwon、Yeo One、Kino和Wooseok，而Yan An和Yuto没有参加。

PENTAGON 将于 10 月 1 日在大阪开启其 101010 周年巡回演唱会，之后将前往东京、首尔和香港。

发布于2026年9月17日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

在现实生活中成员们分崩离析之后，该组合以七人组的形式回归，并由成员自主运营。

韩国男子组合 PENTAGON / 图片来自 PENTAGON 官方 X 账号

2023年，在以韩国流行男团PENTAGON队长身份出道七年后，他重返练习生行列。由于他所在的组合与Cube娱乐的合约即将到期，他与其他怀揣梦想的男偶像一起参加了Mnet的选秀节目《Boys Planet》，争取加入一个新企划组合。

三年后，他与 PENTAGON 的六位成员一起重返舞台，庆祝组合出道十周年。

于2016年10月10日出道的PENTAGON组合，为了纪念出道周年，由成员Kino创立的厂牌NAKED策划重聚。此前，参与此次重聚的成员们已离开组建该组合的公司，各自在不同的经纪公司发展事业。

这个组合出道十年的经历展现了K-pop组合的成功之路依然充满不确定性，即便他们以自主制作音乐而闻名。出道一年半后，他们迎来了事业的突破，但几个月后，一场恋爱风波又打断了他们的发展势头。他们花了四年时间才赢得首个音乐节目冠军，而兵役和合约到期最终导致成员们分道扬镳。

五角大楼在一名成员的领导下重组，这使得周年纪念的意义超越了怀旧。

上周五发布的《懦夫》是该组合近三年来的首支新歌。Kino负责歌曲的制作，并与金伊娜、白恩星和PAAK等词曲作者及制作人共同参与了作曲和作词。

PENTAGON将紧随新专辑发行后，开启“101010”周年巡回演唱会，首站将于10月1日在大阪举行，随后前往东京、首尔和香港。首尔站的第二场演唱会定于10月10日举行，恰好是该组合出道十周年纪念日。

周年纪念阵容包括Jinho、Hui、Hongseok、Shinwon、Yeo One、Kino和Wooseok。组合的中国成员Yan An和日本成员Yuto将不会参加，尽管两人尚未正式宣布退出PENTAGON。

2018年4月2日，韩国男子组合PENTAGON（当时为10人组合）在首尔龙山区BlueSquare剧场举行第六张迷你专辑《Positive》的媒体发布会，当天该专辑及其主打歌《Shine》正式发行。

Cube娱乐公司曾凭借BEAST、4Minute和BTOB等韩国流行音乐组合建立起声誉，在推出BTOB四年后，于2016年通过Mnet的选秀节目“Pentagon Maker”推出了PENTAGON。

E'Dawn、Shinwon 和 Yan An 在节目中被淘汰，但成员们说服公司让所有 10 名参赛者一起出道，Hui 在组合的出道展示会上告诉《韩国时报》。

十人男子组合Pentagon出道

2017 年，Cube 将 PENTAGON 成员 Hui 和 E'Dawn 安排到男女混合企划组合 Triple H 中，与公司旗下最知名的独唱歌手之一泫雅一起出演。

Hui 也确立了自己在组合之外的作曲家地位，为 Mnet 的“Produce 101 第二季”及其冠军组合 Wanna One 创作歌曲。

PENTAGON的公众突破最终在2018年4月到来，当时他们推出了由Hui和E'Dawn共同创作的歌曲《Shine》。这首歌发行近一个月后便进入了韩国主流音乐排行榜之一的Melon Top 100。之后，它在Gaon数字榜上最高排名第27位，并在Billboard世界数字歌曲销量榜上最高排名第6位。

然而，仅仅四个月后，E'Dawn和泫雅就公开承认了恋情。此前，Cube娱乐公司曾否认这两位Triple H成员正在交往的传闻。随后，公司取消了三人剩余的活动，并将E'Dawn从PENTAGON的既定宣传活动中移除。

次月，该经纪公司宣布将两人除名，理由是“信任已彻底丧失”。泫雅于10月离开Cube娱乐，而E'Dawn则于11月同时离开了该公司和PENTAGON娱乐。

PENTAGON以九人组合的形式继续发展，但未能将《Shine》带来的关注度转化为持续的增长势头。出道四年后，他们凭借《Daisy》于2020年10月获得了首个音乐节目冠军。

2019年11月5日，韩国流行歌手泫雅（右）和DAWN（原PENTAGON成员E'Dawn）在首尔龙山区Blue Square举行单曲《Flower Shower》和《Money》的联合发布会。两人于2018年公开恋情后离开Cube娱乐公司，并于2019年初签约PSY的P Nation娱乐公司。他们于2021年发行了合作迷你专辑《1+1=1》，于2022年8月离开该公司，并于同年11月宣布分手。

生存，重塑

该组合的不确定地位在 2023 年变得尤为明显，当时 Hui 以本名 Lee Hoe-taek 加入“Boys Planet”。

当时29岁的他，虽然已经是位知名的偶像和词曲创作人，却要与尚未出道的练习生们同台竞技。最终，Hui排名第13，未能入选九人限定组合ZEROBASEONE。

几个月后，PENTAGON与Cube娱乐的合约开始陆续到期。Yeo One、严安、Yuto、Kino和禹硕于2023年10月离队，洪硕则于同年11月离开。Jinho和Hui的合约于2025年到期，而Shinwon的合约则在服完兵役后结束。

离职成员坚称五角大楼并未解散。然而，随着他们加入不同的机构并追求各自的职业生涯，继续开展团体活动变得更加复杂。

PENTAGON成员于8月7日公开了一张团体照，作为其出道十周年纪念企划的一部分。图片来自PENTAGON官方X账号。

今年二月，七位成员终于在Hanteo音乐奖颁奖典礼上同台演出，这是她们近三年来的首次团体亮相。此次重聚也为NAKED目前正在筹备的周年纪念企划奠定了基础。

据 NAKED 称，《懦夫》讲述的是多年分离后，鼓起勇气面对深深思念的人，暗示其歌词也可以被解读为写给留下来的粉丝的信息。

PENTAGON乐队步入第二个十年，但成员已全部离队，创建乐队的公司也已解散，未来活动也无法保证。对于一个职业生涯屡次被迫重头再来的组合来说，迎来十周年与其说是庆祝一路走来的辉煌成就，不如说是一场生存之战。

三年前，Hui站在评委面前寻求再次出道的机会，如今，PENTAGON 不再等待选秀节目或其前经纪公司给予他们机会。