Wonder Girls Leader to Become Long-Term Missionary in Haiti

Sun-ye and husband James Park.

Rumors of an impending breakup of once wildly popular girl group The Wonder Girls hit a fever pitch this week as leader Sun-ye said she plans to serve as a missionary to Haiti for five years.

“My husband and I have decided to spend the next five years in Haiti from this July conducting missionary outreach projects,” she said, in a statement.

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Sun-ye said her fellow group members as well as her label, JYP Entertainment, “understand my decision and have given me their full support.” She added, “I hope I can pay them back for all the trust they’ve put in me.”

The announcement sparked speculation that the group would break up but JYP Entertainment said this was not the case.

“We will coordinate the members’ schedules or arrange other activities so that Sun-ye can remain with the band, even though she will be staying in Haiti,” the statement said.

Sun-ye met her husband, Korean Canadian James Park, while serving on a weeklong missionary trip to Haiti in 2011. The couple married in January 2013 and had a daughter in October 2013.

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