BoA might be retiring in 2025. Maybe. Possibly. Oh, it was typo? Okay. But, what if...?

So, BoA casually posted an Instagram story alluding to her possible retirement. Which she then followed up to clarify was a typo. Which was then followed up with another story where she reassured fans that her contract with SM Entertainment runs until December 2025 and that until then, she’ll keep doing as she’s been doing. Then she scrubbed her Instagram account.

Misunderstandings? A stunt for a new release? An announcement not related to a retirement? Just antics?

Who the hell knows.

But it’s left fans concerned. People are confused. And unfortunately, all of this shit has gotten more attention than the song BoA had released mere days before.

But if BoA did choose to retire at the end of 2025, I wouldn’t blame her.

I wish my ass could retire at 38.

For years now, BoA has not been getting a decent enough return for what she puts out in K-pop. Her Japanese career on the other hand, is a WHOLE ‘nother story.

As nice of a soundbite as ‘I don’t do this for the sales, the money or the accolades’ may sound for some acts—these things do matter in an industry where they are a measure of who your music is reaching and the name of the game is sales to generate money. And in BoA’s case, not only is she dealing with her music underperforming, but she’s also a woman approaching 40 in an industry which ages women out when they start approaching 30. And every day she’s dealing with younger fans saying she’s old and washed up for still releasing music, despite he music being good. Some of her best, in fact. So why should BoA even keep bothering?

Girl. Retire, yes. Live your life. Renew the SM contract, for what!?

BoA’s Instagram posts may have been purely reactionary, following a post where she called out those who had been commenting on her appearance, something which spiked following her appearance on the Korean drama Marry My Husband, where everybody was dragging BoA’s acting and her face.

As is the case with many other countries—especially in this day and age—South Korea is known for being very image focused and it’s common for people to get cosmetic procedures done at a very early age. If you look at the face of a K-pop star 2–4 years into their career versus how they looked when they were a trainee, there’s a likelihood their whole face is different. Not just ‘grew into their features’ different. But ‘Visits to Dr. Hwang’s surgery’ different.

Everybody can do whatever they want with their own bodies. But this doesn’t make it any less concerning when you see people’s appearances changing in a certain way. BoA being in this period of her career where she is being aged out could possibly be resulting in the choices she’s making to her appearance. BoA’s face has looked noticeably different to me ever since the release of “Better”. But she looks REALLY different now, to a point where sometimes I’ll see an image of her and she looks unrecognizable to me. So if her retiring from K-pop would be better for her mental well-being and her own perception of her image, then I’m all for her stepping away from K-pop.

If BoA has made up her mind to retire, I support her fully. K-pop is cutthroat when things are going well, let alone when you are having to deal with other shit. Also, BoA’s had a pretty rough few years. Starting with that whole sleeping tablets scandal mess, which scuppered her 20th anniversary rollout, and things haven’t really been the same for her since. And then there was the loss of her brother in 2021—who was the reason she ended up at SM Entertainment in the first place.

But it’s also become really clear that SM Entertainment don’t know what to do with BoA. She is an anomaly. BoA is one of the very few acts from an early generation of K-pop who has continually been active. And K-pop is not only an industry which favours ‘the young’, but an industry which moves fast and isn’t used to having an act stick around for as long as BoA has. So, BoA only knows how to do what she’s always done, and she’s doing it the best she’s ever done it. The problem is, that the market isn’t really caring for it, because they feel BoA is past her sell-by date. She is seen as a relic of an old era. But then you also have SM Entertainment, who don’t know how to package or market BoA to this audience who don’t hold her with the same reverence as older audiences once did—key word being ‘older’—because those audiences are older now and not as locked into K-pop as they once were. It’s a reminder of how K-pop’s target demographic is teens and tweens, and it seems to have really locked into this more and more over the years. There just isn’t much of a market in K-pop for older listeners.

GOT the Beat was clearly an attempt at trying to make BoA appeal to a younger audience, but it didn’t work. Terrible music and image aside, GOT the Beat was still just BoA as the lead of a group, for all of the wrong reasons and in a package which just didn’t make sense. Of course this wasn’t going to change perceptions of BoA. Having TVXQ and BoA form a trio would have made more sense and started a conversation about providing a space for ‘older’ K-pop stars. But again, this is all unchartered waters and SM don’t know what they’re doing with anything at the moment. So who know how this would have turned.

If BoA retires, it would be unfortunate, because it feels like she’s being pushed out by the industry that made her, that she in part also made huge contributions to. But this is the unfortunate thing about show business. 

I can’t think of any career progressive reason as to why BoA should choose to renew her SM contract. The only thing SM is truly giving BoA at the moment is security and familiarity, because SM and K-pop is all BoA has known for most of her life. But to have to deal with continually being side-lined, putting up with toxic comments from netizens and also staying in a company where Lee Soo-man—her biggest champion and founder of SM—is no longer there and has also completely trashed his own reputation!? There are more reasons for BoA to not renew her contract than there are reasons for her to renew it. But I’d like to think that if BoA did choose to retire, that she wouldn’t pull a Namie Amuro and just disappear. But instead, still be open to making odd special appearances here and there.

BoA has kinda New Game Plussed K-pop anyway. The only thing I think would be a shame if she retired, is that she’d be doing do when her Japanese career is in such a dire state. It would have been nice to have gotten a really strong Japanese album release from her before she retired. And there’s still time for her to do that. But I’m not holding my breath for it. And if BoA chooses not to release another Japanese album, then The Greatest is good enough and very fitting for a final Japanese release.

---

💿 BoA album / EP reviews: 🇯🇵: Listen to My Heart | Outgrow | The Face | Identity | The Greatest | 🇰🇷: Hurricane Venus | Kiss My Lips | One Shot, Two Shot | Woman | Starry Night | Better | Forgive Me