I.O.I on The Manager Ep. 402: LOOP Concert Backstage and First Manager Younghye's Return

Search "ioi the manager" and you land on a single June 2026 broadcast: the reunited K-pop project group I.O.I appearing on MBC's long-running manager-observation program during their 10th-anniversary comeback. Here is exactly what that episode is — and what it is not.

What 'I.O.I on The Manager' Actually Is

"I.O.I on The Manager" refers to episode 402 of MBC's The Manager (전지적 참견 시점, "Point of Omniscient Interfering"), which aired June 13, 2026 at 11:10 PM KST. The show follows Korean celebrities through the eyes of their managers, and this episode trained that lens on the staff behind I.O.I's 10th-anniversary reunion project. It is not a standalone I.O.I documentary — the runtime is shared with a separate segment on Choi Ji-ho ("Chungju Girl") and her fellow Chungju City official Jang Yeon-joo.source

For viewers outside Korea, the episode is distributed internationally via Apple TV, where the U.S. listing catalogs it as Season 1, Episode 402, released June 13, 2026, with a 1 hour 34 minute runtime, Korean audio, and English, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles.

What makes this more than a routine variety appearance is the episode's chosen angle: logistical labor. According to iMBC's coverage, the broadcast depicts the group's return to the stage after nine years and the coordination it required — reuniting nine members now signed to nine separate agencies, wrangled by staff drawn from across those different companies. In other words, The Manager uses its manager-observation format to show the support infrastructure that made the reunion possible, not just the performance itself.

What Episode 402 Captured Backstage

Episode 402 of The Manager devoted its I.O.I segment to material that never aired during the original LOOP concert broadcast: unreleased rehearsal footage and a nine-person waiting-room scene shot before the members took the stage . The episode aired June 13, 2026 at 11:10 PM KST, and Apple TV lists the internationally distributed cut as a 1 hour 34 minute program with Korean audio and English, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles .

The concert finale anchored the segment. Cameras caught members visibly moved to tears on stage and fans crying in the audience, recorded in real time rather than staged in post-production . The show's manager-observation lens meant those reactions were framed as the payoff of months of coordination behind the reunion, not just a performance clip.

After the concert, the episode followed the group to a barbecue MT — a group trip — that carried its own turn. The gathering featured an emotional surprise guest who was not disclosed in any pre-air promotional material, a reveal the broadcast held back until the episode itself . Keeping the guest off the promo rollout let the format do what it does best: document an unscripted reunion moment as it happened.

On the production side, the featured managers in the I.O.I portion were Park Geun-hong and Go Jun-hee, both named in MBC's official episode title for episode 402 . Their presence is what tethers the segment to the program's premise — the reunion is observed through the people managing it, not narrated from the members' point of view alone.

MBC's promotional framing leaned on nostalgia to draw viewers, spotlighting the return of two signature I.O.I stages, "Pick Me" and "Downpour," as key episode draws . "Pick Me" is the survival-show theme that introduced the group in 2016, so its reappearance nine years later functioned as both a setlist highlight and a marketing hook for the episode. Between the unreleased rehearsals, the finale, and the post-show trip, episode 402 assembled a fuller backstage record of the LOOP reunion than the concert broadcast alone had shown.

The Nine Members Who Appeared — and the Two Who Did Not

Nine of I.O.I's original eleven members took part in the 2026 reunion documented by episode 402: Lim Nayoung, Kim Chungha, Kim Se-jeong, Jung Chaeyeon, Kim Sohye, Yoo Yeonjung, Choi Yoojung, Kim Doyeon, and Jeon Somi . That nine-person configuration is what the show, the LOOP album, and the concert all reflect — not the full lineup that debuted in 2016. Official iMBC coverage confirmed the same nine names in its concert and broadcast reporting .

I.O.I was originally an eleven-member project girl group assembled through Mnet's survival series Produce 101, debuting on May 4, 2016 with the mini-album Chrysalis before disbanding on January 29, 2017 . The nine-member lineup confirmed for the 2026 reunion does not include Zhou Jieqiong (Kyulkyung) or Kang Mina . Pre-event reporting had listed Zhou Jieqiong among those preparing for the reunion; she does not appear in the confirmed lineup published from March 2026 onward, and no official explanation for her withdrawal was published. Kang Mina is reported absent due to acting commitments; no agency issued a formal contractual statement .source

A recurring theme in iMBC's coverage is that the reunion required staff from nine separate companies to coordinate members who are now signed to different agencies — a logistical detail that underlines why a full eleven-person return was difficult to arrange . Public reporting confirmed the nine participants but did not publish a verified, member-by-member roster of current 2026 agency names, so the table below tracks each of the original eleven and their reunion status rather than asserting affiliations that were not officially stated.

The distinction matters for fans reading anniversary coverage: I.O.I's original public identity was built on eleven members, and the 2026 project — the episode, the album, and the tour — represents a nine-member configuration rather than a complete reformation of the debut lineup .

The Surprise Guest: First Manager Younghye Returns

The episode's most manager-specific payoff arrived at the post-concert barbecue MT, where the surprise guest turned out to be Younghye — identified in the broadcast as the manager who looked after I.O.I during their original 2016 promotional period . In a program built entirely around the manager-observation format, bringing back the person who first looked after the members nine years earlier is the clearest expression of why "the manager" means more here than just the show's title.

Younghye is not a new face to the program. She had previously appeared on The Manager as the food-attentive manager of singer Tei, which makes her reappearance a deliberate callback within the show's own history rather than a one-off cameo . For longtime viewers, seeing the same manager return in a different context — this time reconnecting with the group she once cared for — layers the reunion with a second sense of continuity that the format is uniquely positioned to capture.

Her original role with I.O.I centered on the unglamorous logistics that keep a touring group running: handling the members' meals and day-to-day care during the roughly one-year period the eleven-member lineup was active in 2016 . The episode uses that specific detail — who fed nine teenagers between schedules — to reconstruct the support infrastructure that surrounded the group when it debuted, rather than treating the reunion as purely a matter of which idols returned to the stage.

That framing is what gives the broadcast its double meaning for fans who followed I.O.I from the beginning. The reunion documented in episode 402 is not only a reunion of members now signed to different agencies; it is also a reunion of the staff who built the group's early routines. MBC's episode 402 places Younghye's return at the emotional center of the MT segment, tying her presence to memories from nine years earlier and to the members' shared history .

Reading the segment this way clarifies why the anniversary project resonated beyond nostalgia for the songs. The nine members returned to a stage they had not shared in years, but the episode quietly argues that a group is also its crew — the managers, meal-planners, and coordinators whose work rarely appears on camera. By reintroducing the first person in that chain, The Manager reconstructs the full picture of what "I.O.I" meant in 2016, not just the eleven names on the poster.

The LOOP Concert: Seoul Dates, Venues, and Ticket Details

The broadcast footage came from a real, ticketed run: the "2026 I.O.I Concert Tour: LOOP" at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, staged across three nights on May 29 at 8PM, May 30 at 6PM, and May 31 at 5PM KST . Seoul ticketing opened March 26, 2026, and demand was framed by the anniversary reunion rather than a standard comeback promotion . Pricing was tiered at KRW 165,000 for R seats and KRW 154,000 for S seats, VAT included, with a purchase limit of two tickets per person per show and an age restriction of 7 and older .source

The tour did not end in Seoul. After the three Jamsil shows, LOOP continued to Bangkok on June 6 and Hong Kong on June 20–21 . That timeline matters for how the episode landed: The Manager episode 402 aired June 13, 2026, meaning the broadcast reached viewers while the Hong Kong dates were still upcoming rather than after the tour had fully wrapped. The show functioned as a mid-tour document, not a retrospective closing note.

Publicly available reporting details the Seoul pricing structure but does not publish confirmed venue names or ticket tiers for the Bangkok and Hong Kong legs, so those cells are left open rather than filled with estimates . For fans tracking the schedule, the practical takeaway is a compact three-city routing over roughly three weeks, anchored by the Seoul run that supplied the rehearsal, backstage, and finale footage viewers later saw on air.

I.O.I : LOOP — First New Music in Nine Years

The Seoul run and its broadcast footage were built around new material: I.O.I : LOOP, the group's third mini-album, released on May 19, 2026 at 6PM KST via Mnet Plus . The record runs six tracks across roughly 20 minutes, with copyright held by Swing Entertainment, and it is the group's first collaborative release since their 2017 disbandment — a nine-year gap between projects . For a nine-member configuration drawn from members now signed to different agencies, a coordinated studio release is the concrete anchor that the anniversary concert and The Manager segment were promoting.

The lead single is "갑자기 (Suddenly)," a synth-pop track, and it was not the first thing fans heard from the campaign. A pre-release, "Goodbye With A Smile (Recorded in 2016)," dropped on May 4, 2026 . As its title states, that song was originally recorded in 2016 during the group's active period but never released at the time, so the 2026 comeback opened by surfacing a track that had sat unheard for nearly a decade — a framing that fits the reunion's overall backward-looking, memory-driven tone.

The rollout also included a formal fandom identity. The group announced a new fan name, "Angdungie," directed at supporters who had followed them since the 2016 debut . Naming a fandom in 2026 — something the original one-year project never formally settled — signals that the LOOP cycle was treated as a defined campaign with its own audience, not an incidental one-off.

One performance metric circulated around the concert but warrants caution. iMBC's coverage reported that "Suddenly" reached No. 1 on a music chart on the day of the concert . The excerpted official article did not name which chart, and no primary chart source was published alongside the claim, so the No. 1 benchmark should be treated as unverified pending confirmation from the chart operator itself. Readers tracking the comeback's commercial performance can note the reported result while waiting for a named, primary source.

Taken together, the LOOP release, its 2016-era pre-release, and the new fandom name form the recorded core of the reunion — the material that turned an anniversary event into an actual discography entry.

Is I.O.I Permanently Back? What the Members Said On Air

I.O.I is not confirmed to be permanently back — the on-air comments about staying together are personal sentiment, not a contractual announcement. As of June 2026, no official source confirms a new long-term contract, a fourth release, or permanent group reactivation beyond the LOOP project . What episode 402 documents is a 10th-anniversary reunion campaign, not a restart.

The most-quoted moment came when members reflected on the concert finale. iMBC's coverage reports Kim Se-jeong saying she does not feel the group's togetherness will end here, with Lim Nayoung responding that she hoped they could be together forever . Both lines are emotional reactions captured in the moment, not statements about a signed future.

"I do not feel I.O.I's togetherness will end here," — Kim Se-jeong, on MBC's The Manager episode 402 (source: iMBC coverage via RRI).

Reading those lines as a comeback declaration overstates what the broadcast shows. The nine members are currently signed to different agencies, and iMBC framed the reunion itself as the coordinated work of staff from nine separate companies . That logistical reality is why a durable, ongoing group schedule cannot be assumed from sentiment alone.

The defined scope of the 2026 return is concrete and bounded: the I.O.I : LOOP mini-album released May 19, 2026, and the LOOP concert tour running from Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul (May 29–31) to Bangkok on June 6 and Hong Kong on June 20–21 . Everything currently announced ends there.

The accurate takeaway: episode 402 preserves a milestone reunion and its concert aftermath, and the members clearly want to keep the door open — but wanting is not the same as a booked calendar. Until Swing Entertainment or the members' individual agencies announce a new contract or release, treat I.O.I's 2026 activity as a finite anniversary project, not a permanent return.

Frequently asked questions

What episode of The Manager features I.O.I?

I.O.I appears in episode 402 of MBC's 전지적 참견 시점 (international title The Manager), which aired June 13, 2026 at 11:10 PM KST with a runtime of 1 hr 34 min . It is a standard manager-observation episode, so the I.O.I segment shares the broadcast with a separate Chungju-Girl/Choi Ji-ho segment rather than being a standalone special. The internationally distributed version is listed on Apple TV as Season 1, Episode 402, with Korean audio and English, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles in the U.S. listing .

Which I.O.I members appeared on The Manager in 2026?

Nine members appeared: Lim Nayoung, Kim Chungha, Kim Se-jeong, Jung Chaeyeon, Kim Sohye, Yoo Yeonjung, Choi Yoojung, Kim Doyeon, and Jeon Somi . This is a nine-member configuration of a group that originally debuted with eleven members. The two not in the confirmed 2026 lineup were Zhou Jieqiong (Kyulkyung) and Kang Mina . Zhou Jieqiong had been listed in pre-event coverage as preparing for the reunion but does not appear in the confirmed lineup; no official explanation was published. Kang Mina is reported absent due to acting commitments, with no official contractual statement .

Who is the surprise guest manager in the I.O.I episode of The Manager?

The surprise guest is Younghye, identified in the broadcast as the manager who looked after I.O.I during their 2016 promotional period . She joined the post-concert barbecue MT (group trip) to reunite with the members over memories from nine years earlier. Younghye had also previously appeared on The Manager as the food-savvy manager of singer Tei, which is why the episode leans on the show's manager lens to revisit the original support team behind the group.

What is I.O.I's LOOP album and when was it released?

I.O.I : LOOP is the group's third mini-album — six tracks, roughly 20 minutes, released May 19, 2026 under Swing Entertainment as its first collaborative release in over nine years . The lead single is "갑자기 (Suddenly)," a synth-pop track, and a pre-release song, "Goodbye With A Smile (Recorded in 2016)" — originally recorded in 2016 but previously unreleased — dropped May 4 . The group also introduced a new fandom name, "Angdungie," for fans who had followed them since 2016.

Is I.O.I officially reuniting permanently after The Manager episode?

Not confirmed. On air, members voiced personal hopes — Kim Se-jeong said she does not feel their togetherness ends here, and Lim Nayoung responded that she hoped they could stay together forever . But no official source has announced a new long-term contract, further album, or permanent restart beyond the LOOP project as of June 2026 . The accurate reading is a finite anniversary project, not a confirmed permanent return.

Watch / Sources

• Apple TV — The Manager Season 1, Episode 402 (June 13, 2026)
• MBC Official VOD — The Manager Episode 402: I.O.I ♥ Park Geun-hong, Go Jun-hee
• MBC YouTube — I.O.I welcoming Manager Younghye (June 13, 2026 broadcast clip)
• Korea Herald — I.O.I 10th anniversary LOOP comeback (pre-event coverage)
• iMBC via RRI — I.O.I 10-year reunion on The Manager
• Star News Korea — I.O.I 2026 reunion lineup confirmed

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This article was written using information collected and analyzed by NAMANE's in-house K-pop research AI engine. We use AI technology to bring you faster, broader coverage, and in the process some details may occasionally differ from the latest facts. For important information such as dates, venues, and prices, please double-check with official sources.