Entertainment agency Fantagio, home to boy band Astro and girl group Weki Meki, will launch a boy band in the first half of this year.

“We are aiming for a debut in the first half of this year. The exact debut date will be announced once it is confirmed,” said the agency in a statement released on Wednesday.

The upcoming boy band will be the first to make its debut under Fantagio since Astro in 2016.

Astro debuted with six members: MJ, JinJin, Moonbin, Rocky, Sanha and Cha Eun-woo. The boy band is best known for the songs “Crazy Sexy Cool” (2017), “Blue Flame” (2019), “Knock” (2020) and “One” (2021). Rocky, now known by his real name Park Min-hyuk, left the boy band after his contract with the agency was terminated in February. With Cha Eun-woo actively pursuing his acting career and subunit duo Moonbin and Sanha holding its mini-concert tour, the group is currently focusing more on individual and subunit activities.

The eight-member girl group Weki Meki made its debut in 2017 with two members from the project girl group I.O.I — Choi Yoojung and Kim Doyeon. The group released a total of five EPs, including lead tracks “I don’t like your girlfriend” (2017), “Crush” (2018) and “Siesta” (2021), but has been inactive in terms of music releases since 2021.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]