Boy band Astro is set to debut a new subunit named ZooniZini on Aug. 13, agency Fantagio said Tuesday.

Comprised of members MJ and Jinjin, the subunit will release its first EP “DICE” the same day.


MJ has the main vocalist role within Astro. He released the solo album “Happy Virus” in 2021 and has participated in the soundtracks for television drama series like KBS’s “My Only One” (2018-19), Channel A’s “Eccentric! Chef Moon” (2020) and KBS’s “Dare to Love Me” (2024).

Jinjin is the leader and main rapper of Astro. He has released several self-composed songs through the “Jin Lab” project such as “Good Enough” (2024), “For Me” (2024), “You” (2024) and “Runaway” (2024).

The pair are also active as musical actors. MJ appeared in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” (2020) and “Jack the Ripper” (2021-22) and Jinjin was in “Dream High” (2023) and “Crash Landing on You” (2024).

Astro debuted in 2016 with the EP “Spring Up.” The band has four members: MJ, Jinjin, Cha Eun-woo and Yoon San-ha.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]