'Tardy' new girl group comes under scanner; agency rushes to defend IOI band

YMC Entertainment issues statement saying the group reached the venue way before scheduled time.

YMC Entertainment has released an official statement in defence of 11-member girl band accused of not being punctual.

The K Pop IOI band, which was scheduled to perform at Sejong University at 10 pm, was more than an hour late for their performance. The girls were set for the first act, but due to their delayed arrival, senior group Epik High opened the show.

While many speculated that the newly formed band was late due to their variety show recording forJTBC's 'Late Marriage', YMC Entertainment countered that the group reached the venue way before time.

"The arrival time that the event coordinator asked of us was 10:30 PM KST. IOI arrived at the site earlier than this given time, and went on stage after accepting the coordinators' requests to host a photo time with the university students," a note from the agency read.

On the other hand, the event coordinators also said: "If IOI had been late, we would have filed a report ourselves. They were not tardy, and because there was a delay in the process of preparing for the stage due to the large number of members, Epik High took to the stage first after agreement between the two teams."

IOI or Ideal Of Idol is a newly formed band which debuted a week back with a mini album 'Dream Girls'. The girls are expected to actively promote four albums, either as a whole or as sub-units, over the next 10 months.