We've seen it happen time and time again in Western pop culture, and K-pop is certainly no exception: a member of an exceedingly popular boy band or girl group breaks away, becoming successful in their own right as a solo star.

From 2NE1's Minzy and CL to Girls' Generation's Jessica — and, well, just about every other member — to 2PM's Jay Park, plenty of members of Korean idol groups pursue solo ventures, either as side projects in between group promotions or after abandoning their groups altogether. In some cases, their agencies abandoned them first — but look who's having the last laugh.

Scroll through the gallery to see who's joined the steadily growing ranks of solo stars over the years in Korean pop.

K-pop Idols Who Went Solo From Their Groups

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