NCT’s Mark Lee will be leaving NCT and SM Entertainment.
On April 3, SM Entertainment announced that the agency and Mark reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract as of April 8, at which point, the artist will leave NCT, which includes NCT Dream and NCT 127. Mark went on his personal Instagram account to write a handwritten letter in both Korean and English.
An excerpt from Mark’s note in Korean can be read below, translated by Soompi:
I know this may feel very sudden to everyone… But in fact, ever since my trainee days—or maybe even before that—I’ve always carried a dream in my heart. I dreamed of traveling around with just an acoustic guitar, busking on the streets, and I loved writing in English so much that I even wanted to become a writer. I was too young to fully understand that dream clearly or picture it perfectly in my head, but because I loved music and the stage, I auditioned in Canada 14 years ago, and at SM, I began my musical journey for the first time as part of NCT…
After spending 10 years seeing and experiencing the world at its fullest and going on the best journey, I think I naturally began to wonder: what is the best dream I can possibly dream? What is the greatest work and purpose I can have, living my life as a person named Mark? And since this is the time when my 10-year contract is coming to an end, I awakened every sense I’d been carrying in my heart and thought about it for a long time. In the end, I found myself truly curious about what the exact, fully realized shape of that dream might be—and I wanted to dive in and devote myself to it properly. I think I’ve come to truly want to find, clearly and for real, what my music—or my “fruit”—will be and how I can bring it into fruition in this world and to make that happen no matter what.
He continued on to profusely thank the fans, known as Czennies, his members, and SM Entertainment for all of the love and support they’ve shown him over the years.
The English note was considerably shorter but no less sincere: “If I had ever done something right to have gained your trust over the last decade, I hope you believe me when I say that I’m not doing this just for fun.” He ended the note by saying, “I’m truly and always thinking about you guys..and I’ll really be working very very hard to make it all make sense. Love you all so much… See you.”
Mark made a splash on the K-Pop scene as a member of the pre-debut team SM Rookies before making his official debut as a member of the NCT sub-unit called NCT U on April 9, 2016. He then debuted in the second sub-unit called NCT 127 on July 10, 2016. Mark joined a third sub-unit called NCT Dream on August 24, 2016. Three years later, he joined a “supergroup” created by SM which pulled in members from various SM boybands called SuperM. He had his debut solo studio album released on April 7, 2025 called “The Firstfruit,” which won “Album of the Year” at the 2025 Jupiter Music Awards. He was also nominated for “Artist of the Year” at the 2025 MAMA Awards.
Best of luck to Mark!
Source: Instagram
