K-pop stars Kang Daniel, TWICE’s Jihyo break up after 1 year and 3 months

K-pop stars Kang Daniel and Jihyo of girl group TWICE, both 23 years old, have called it quits after being in a relationship for one year and three months.

This is according to an exclusive report published on Nov. 10 by Korean entertainment news site Dispatch.

Kang Daniel and Jihyo met through an acquaintance in 2018, the report said. At the time, Kang Daniel was still working as the center of 11-member K-pop boy band Wanna One, which disbanded at the end of 2018 after the members’ contract expired. He launched his solo career after Wanna One.

On Aug. 5, 2019, the two stars confirmed that they were dating. However, the two were busy with their careers to keep the love going.

A source told Dispatch that “both of them had clear goals. As they were focused on working on their albums, the number of meetings decreased. It appears that they thought work is more important now.”

Jihyo and TWICE are currently busy promoting their new album “Eyes Wide Open” while Kang Daniel is preparing a new album.

When it was confirmed in August 2019 that the two K-pop stars were dating, Kang Daniel issued an apology to fans.

“First of all, I sincerely apologize to fans who felt surprised to hear the unexpected news this morning. Surely, for a whole day, everyone could not do anything, and I was even more worried to think whether I myself said these words too late,” he wrote in a letter posted on his fan cafe, according to Star News.

Their relationship became public just less than two weeks after Kang Daniel debuted as a solo artist with the release of his album “Color on Me” on July 25.

In the letter, he told fans that he is “very sorry for being unable to inform everyone in advance as well as saying this in a space which is supposed to be filled with stories of mine and yours. To be able to walk on a solo path like today, I had to go through lots of things. Sometimes, I was almost exhausted, but no one else but the fans themselves kept me strong.”