Beloved Group’s Discouraging Announcement Fuels Disbandment Fears — Company Releases Statement
In December 2023, Mnet announced a new survival show titled Build Up : Vocal Boy Group Survivor. The show was focused on creating a “vocal” boy group, and included 40 idols and trainees competing.
The final four that made the group debuted as B.D.U. and includes M.O.N.T‘s Bitsaeon, CIX‘s Seunghun, ONE PACT‘s Jay Chang, and Kim Minseo.
B.D.U. officially debuted on Jun 26, 2024 with Wishpool, releasing a Christmas single about 6 months later.
Since then, there have not been any releases from the group, something worrying as they were announced to have a two year contract.
The concerns were only worsened when the already delayed fan-kit merchandise was announced to be cancelled. The fanclub was originally announced last year and was delayed to December.
Omg the bdu fankit is cancelled 💀 pic.twitter.com/FHyhlAhlAw
— 🍮 (@shppoppo) May 14, 2025
With the long pause in activities, and this recent announcement, many felt that disbandment might be imminent. Some also commented on the poor treatment that they say the group has faced.
Looks like mnet wants to get rid of those groups formed through their nugu survival shows and spare the staff and space for they new group from BP2 https://t.co/p8qXmvRoc0
— Vi💭 (@vicarolly) May 14, 2025
sad about what's happening to bdu with orca. the promised prizes of the winner weren't all given. only the prize money and kcon. like where's the ost? the fankit was cancelled. what happened to the tour money? their 2 year contract is almost over, and we only got the debut album.
— zel⚡️ (@senucix) May 14, 2025
??? BDU really is MNET's forgotten and lost child. https://t.co/VnuyVjhrIL
— dotdotllama 💎VVS IS VANNER FANDOM💎 (@dotdotllama) May 14, 2025
imagine working hard & fighting for the debut spot in that survival show then getting treated like this https://t.co/047HFVDOtd
— 포에버영 ♡ FIXBAER 🧸 (@sodubaejy) May 14, 2025
As a result of the concerns, Orca Music, the agency handling their promotions shared a statement.
In a statement to TenAsia, the company acknowledged fans’ concerns, sharing that it was hard to coordinate schedules as the members who had already debuted in other groups had activities.
B.D.U has a condition in their two-year contract requiring them to release a set number of albums. Since the members are also active in other groups, coordinating schedules has not been easy.
— Orca Music
The compay also directly addressed disbandment concerns, saying that the group will resume activities in August or September, in addition to management changes.
This situation did not occur with disbandment in mind. There was an issue with the production company due to quantity matters. Starting from August or September, the group will resume activities with the members who are available, and an album release is also planned. We’ve also recently reinforced our management team, so we plan to ramp up promotions.
— Orca Music
Hopefully, these statements will reassure fans that the group will get their promised rewards for winning the survival show.
