Kibum hadn't been active as a Super Junior member since something like 2009. Yet for all intents and purposes, he was still technically a member of the group, even though he hadn't been in a single promotion and was literally 100% on the acting market. There were no lawsuits, no contract terminations, no shenanigans, just the joke of an excuse that he was still "a Super Junior member that we would welcome back anytime." I'd be willing to bet that he had no intentions of coming back to the group, and indeed since his contract ended his Instagram post sure sounded happy he was no longer with the company.
Now we look to Sulli. Sulli's case is probably most similar to Kibum's, in that she hasn't really been active with the group and didn't seem to care much about her future in f(x). Sulli was the reason "Red Light" promotions cut short and the whole attitude debate along with her dating Choiza didn't really put her in the best of lights for fans. There was speculation she'd leave the group eventually and that turned out to be true. To this credit she was treated the same way as Kibum. While her hiatus wasn't as concrete as Kibum's, she was still listed as a member up until the announcement of her departure.
As for Jessica, Tao, Kris, and Luhan (those "lazy" foreigners), They're different in the sense that they had definitely wanted to stay in the group, but have individual activities (or more of such) on the side. Jessica with BLANC, and the EXO boys with overseas activities in China. Ms. Jung still expected to be a Girls' Generation member while maintaining her fashion line and either S.M. or the other members (or both) were against. We'll never know the truth, but again when you look at what happened with Kibum and his status, I don't get why the same couldn't have applied to Jessica. What's even more bizarre is that for a short period after, she remained under S.M.'s management before they finally let her go. As for the Kris / Luhan / Tao trio, health conditions were also cited a la Han Geng's lawsuit, so to me this looks like following a sunbae's footsteps in this regard but again without the full story it's difficult to say. Supposedly Chinese queen Victoria also has separate promotions in China, so I find difficult to believe that something worked out with her and not for the Chinese EXO trio. I'd imagine the key difference being that the EXO members wanted nothing to do with the group anymore due to health / schedule concerns.
The aftermath of all this? Super Junior will continue as if nothing happened because in reality, nothing did happen. They have been promoting with slightly different rosters for years now and "Devil" showed they're still good. Girls' Generation have trekked along with Jessica for almost a year now and in my eyes have redeemed themselves in terms of music, with a capable "Lion Heart" album. Losing Jessica has freed up line distribution, giving other members like Sooyoung and Yuri more chance to shine. EXO has watched the months go by, losing a member every so often. The quality in their music certainly hasn't decreased, and most of the main talent is still there, but the pressure is on Lay as the only remaining Chinese member. Eyes will be on him like a hawk for who knows how long. As for f(x), Sulli contributed very little to their music, so losing her would ideally give Amber and Victoria some more lines, which is perfect in my book. Her status as the team visual is also highly questionable what with Krystal and Victoria existing. To be honest, f(x) is probably better without her. In the end, S.M. still can't be trusted. The company only has SHINee and Red Velvet that can boast a (mostly) problem-free journey, and RV is but a little over a year old. Time will truly tell for S.M.
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