I.O.I is a nine-member project girl group comprising Im Na-young, Chungha, Kim Se-jung, Jung Chae-yeon, Kim So-hye, Yoo Yeon-jung, Choi Yoo-jung, Kim Do-yeon, and Jeon So-mi. The group was formed in 2016 through *Produce 101*, a survival competition series on cable broadcaster Mnet in which viewers voted to select their preferred line-up. Though originally constituted with eleven members (later reduced to nine for most activities), the group left a lasting impression despite a scheduled run of barely a year before disbanding. Among the various acts produced by the *Produce 101* franchise, I.O.I is one of a handful—alongside boy group Wanna One—to have concluded its activities without significant controversy.

Origin and growth

From the outset, I.O.I was regarded as a group that combined public appeal with genuine talent. Even within its brief initial run, the group claimed the top spot on a music broadcast programme at its final performance and collected three rookie awards—a tidy send-off by any measure. Yet the disbandment was widely lamented: Mnet's management shortcomings and the competing commercial interests of nine separate talent agencies made it impossible to sustain the group as a unified act, a frustration that lingered among fans for years.

After going their separate ways, the members built distinct careers. Jeon So-mi became a solo artist of considerable profile; Chungha pursued an eclectic solo catalogue; Kim Se-jung, Jung Chae-yeon, Yoo Yeon-jung and others developed careers through their respective groups or as solo performers. Reports suggest that discussions about a reunion began during the production of Chungha's album *STRESS*.

The comeback

On 23rd February this year, Swing Entertainment—the agency overseeing I.O.I's tenth-anniversary project—confirmed a nine-member reunion, with Kang Mi-na and Zhou Jieqiong absent. The announcement made I.O.I the first group from the *Produce 101* franchise to stage an official full-group reunion and comeback.

On 19th May, I.O.I returned with its third mini-album, *I.O.I: LOOP*, some nine years after its previous release. The lead single, "Gapjagi" ("Suddenly"), is a synth-pop track about memories and longing that arrive without warning. The album also includes a pre-release track, "Smile Goodbye (Recorded in 2016)", produced by Jay B of GOT7, which incorporates the members' actual vocal recordings from 2016—a device that symbolically bridges the group's past and present.

The commercial results rewrote the record books. Despite returning more than a decade after debut, the group reached number one on Melon, South Korea's dominant music streaming platform, and claimed first place on a terrestrial music broadcast programme. In doing so, I.O.I became only the second third-generation girl group to top the Melon chart in the 2020s, the third girl group ever to win a music broadcast award more than ten years after debut, and the first girl group to achieve a "triple crown"—three consecutive wins on a single music broadcast show—with a single track.

From 29th to 31st May, the group held a standalone concert, *2026 I.O.I Concert Tour: LOOP*, at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, marking the opening leg of an Asian tour. The members subsequently appeared together on the MBC entertainment programme *My Little Old Boy*, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their comeback and concert preparations before wrapping up their domestic promotional schedule.

The road ahead

The central question now is whether this reunion can evolve into something more than a one-off event. With all nine members signed to different agencies, any attempt to sustain regular group activities will run directly into the same structural problem that cut short I.O.I's original run: the difficulty of aligning the schedules and commercial interests of multiple competing managements.

The early signs, however, are encouraging. The members have each grown considerably in the years apart, and together they appear stronger as a collective than they were at debut. Tracks such as "Smile Goodbye" demonstrate a capacity to speak to both long-standing fans and newer audiences. As the Asian tour continues, the question of whether this reunion can become a regular fixture—even once every few years—is the next thing worth watching.