Mark Lee Is Leaving NCT — His Leo Sun Birth Chart Explains Why It Had to Be Now
Mark Lee announced his departure from NCT and SM Entertainment after a decade. His Leo Sun conjunct the North Node and a cluster of exact transits tell the astrological story behind the timing.
Photo: Wendy Wei / Pexels · Pexels License
By Sera Vane·April 3, 2026AI-assisted, editor-reviewed
After a decade as K-pop's most versatile performer — rapper, singer, songwriter, the member who seemed to be everywhere at once — Mark Lee posted a handwritten letter to fans on April 3, 2026, announcing his departure from NCT and SM Entertainment. The contract ends April 8. He wants to travel with an acoustic guitar. He wants to busk. He wants to write in English, maybe become an author. For the Leo Sun who spent his entire adult life inside one of the most demanding group structures in pop music, the pull toward solo identity was always a matter of when, not if.
Not publicly verified (noon chart used — no rising sign or house data)
Key Transit
Uranus sextile Mercury (exact within 0.3°)
What's Happening
SM Entertainment confirmed on April 3, 2026, that Mark Lee's exclusive contract will conclude on April 8, following what the agency described as "a long period of careful and thoughtful discussion." Mark will exit all NCT sub-units — NCT 127 continues as seven members (Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Haechan), while NCT Dream moves forward with six (Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung).
In his letter to Czennies — NCT's fandom — Mark wrote that after ten years of experiencing the world "at its fullest" through NCT, he began to feel "a deep pull toward something more personal." He described a lifelong dream of traveling with just an acoustic guitar, busking on streets worldwide, and expressed a desire to write in English and possibly become an author. The tone was grateful, clear-eyed, and unmistakably final.
The Natal Chart
A Leo Sun Conjunct the North Node
Mark's Sun at 10° Leo sits within three degrees of his North Node at 12° Leo. The North Node represents the direction of growth the chart points toward — what feels unfamiliar but ultimately fulfilling. When it's conjunct the Sun, the person's fundamental identity is the growth path. For Mark, being himself — visibly, boldly, on his own terms — isn't just a personality trait. It's the evolutionary mandate of the chart. Ten years inside a rotating roster of sub-units is a remarkable feat of discipline for someone whose chart is essentially screaming stand alone.
His Moon in Aries reinforces this. The Moon describes emotional needs — what you require to feel safe and whole. Aries Moon needs autonomy the way fire needs oxygen. It's the emotional signature of someone who processes feelings by moving forward, not by committee. Combined with a Leo Sun, this is a person whose internal emotional compass always points toward independence, even when the external structure requires collaboration.
Mercury Retrograde in Cancer and the Handwritten Letter
Mark was born with Mercury retrograde at 29° Cancer — the final degree, which astrologers call an anaretic degree, a point of urgency and mastery. Mercury rules communication, and in Cancer it communicates through feeling, memory, and emotional truth. The retrograde means the processing happens internally first; the public statement comes only after long private deliberation. That handwritten letter — reflective, nostalgic, deeply personal — is textbook late-Cancer Mercury retrograde. He didn't issue a press release. He wrote by hand, in the language of emotion.
Mars in Scorpio and Venus Retrograde in Virgo
His drive planet, Mars, sits at 12° Scorpio — the sign of Mars's traditional rulership, where it operates with maximum intensity. Mars in Scorpio doesn't do anything halfway. It commits totally or walks away entirely. There's no casual exit with this placement; when Mark leaves, it's a clean break rooted in deep conviction, not a negotiation. That same all-or-nothing energy shows up in other music artists with earth-sign depth — the difference is Mars in Scorpio doesn't look back.
Venus retrograde at 4° Virgo forms a tight trine — the flowing, supportive angle — to natal Jupiter at 4° Taurus. Venus-Jupiter trines in earth signs create a deep sense of what constitutes genuine value versus manufactured worth. Mark's Venus doesn't chase spectacle; it quietly assesses whether something meets an internal standard of authenticity. When that standard stops being met, Venus retrograde people typically withdraw inward before making their move. Sound familiar?
The Transit Picture
Uranus Sextile Mercury: The Announcement Transit
The headline transit right now is transiting Uranus at 29° Taurus forming a near-exact sextile to Mark's natal Mercury at 29° Cancer. A sextile is the aspect of opportunity — a door opening, not a wall breaking. When Uranus touches Mercury, it rewires how someone communicates and thinks. The orb here is less than a third of a degree, making this one of the tightest transits in his chart right now. This is the "I need to say something I've been thinking for a long time" transit. It doesn't cause the decision — it creates the exact conditions where the announcement becomes not just possible but inevitable. The handwritten letter, the public declaration of new creative ambitions, the clarity of someone who's clearly been processing this privately for months — all of it carries Uranus-Mercury's fingerprint.
Venus Trine Venus, Venus Conjunct Jupiter
Transiting Venus at 5° Taurus is forming a near-exact trine to Mark's natal Venus at 4° Virgo while simultaneously conjunct his natal Jupiter at 4° Taurus. When your current Venus harmonizes with your birth Venus, you feel aligned with your own values. It's the transit equivalent of looking in the mirror and recognizing yourself for the first time in a while. The Venus-Jupiter conjunction adds expansion to that recognition. Jupiter doesn't just support what Venus wants — it amplifies it. Mark isn't just leaving; he's leaving with optimism, with a vision of what comes next that feels genuinely bigger and more authentic than what he's leaving behind. When someone walks away from a decade-long career into a new creative era, the Venus-Jupiter signature is often present.
Pluto Square Jupiter: The Transformation of Success
Transiting Pluto at 5° Aquarius is squaring Mark's natal Jupiter at 4° Taurus. A square is the aspect of friction — productive friction, the kind that forces change. Pluto square Jupiter fundamentally transforms what someone believes about growth, success, and what "making it" means. For a K-pop idol who debuted at 16 and spent ten years inside one of the industry's biggest machine operations, this transit is asking: what does success look like when you strip away the infrastructure, the group identity, the label? Pluto doesn't accept shallow answers. The fact that Mark's answer is "an acoustic guitar and a bus ticket" tells you everything about how deeply this transit has already worked through his system.
Jupiter Square Moon and the Emotional Restlessness
Transiting Jupiter at 15° Cancer is squaring Mark's natal Moon at 14° Aries. Jupiter-Moon squares amplify emotional restlessness — the feeling that your current emotional container is too small. For an Aries Moon, that restlessness manifests as an overwhelming need to break free, to move, to start something new. This transit has been building for weeks, and the departure announcement lands at its peak.
What This Means
The structural support for all of this comes from transiting Saturn at 5° Aries forming a trine to Mark's natal Pluto at 7° Sagittarius. Pluto transits strip things down, but Saturn trine Pluto rebuilds with discipline. This isn't a chaotic exit — it's an architecturally sound one. Mark clearly has a plan, or at least a clear enough vision that the uncertainty doesn't frighten him. The Neptune sextile — transiting Neptune at 2° Aries sextiling his natal Neptune at 2° Aquarius — adds a spiritual dimension. This is a generational transit that hits everyone born around 1999, but in combination with the rest of Mark's transit picture, it suggests that the pull he described isn't just career ambiguity. It's a genuine spiritual reckoning with identity and purpose. He's not just asking "what do I want to do?" He's asking "who am I when I'm not performing?"
Here's what makes this chart story so compelling: Mark's Sun conjunct North Node in Leo was always the loudest signal in his natal chart. Leo is the sign of creative self-expression, of the individual voice that refuses to be part of a chorus forever. The North Node conjunction means the chart itself is oriented toward that individuation. Everything Mark described in his letter — busking alone, writing in English, finding the "complete and true form" of his original dream — is the North Node in Leo speaking clearly.
The K-pop idol system is, structurally, a Saturn-heavy environment: rigid schedules, group choreography, company-managed identities, limited solo expression. Mark's chart, with its fire-dominant Sun-Moon combination and Mars in the most determined sign in the zodiac, was always going to find that structure increasingly unbearable as he matured past his mid-twenties. That he lasted a full decade is a testament to the Taurus patience in his Jupiter-Saturn placements and the Cancer-rooted emotional loyalty of his Mercury. But the transits of April 2026 have made the cost of staying higher than the cost of leaving. And for a Leo Sun conjunct the North Node, that's the only calculation that ever mattered.
Whether Mark finds what he's looking for on the streets with an acoustic guitar or pivots into something none of us are expecting, the chart suggests the timing is right. Not just astrologically convenient — structurally inevitable. Like hip-hop's philosopher king walking away from a label at the peak, Mark's departure isn't about what he's losing. It's about who he's becoming.
What is Mark Lee's zodiac sign?
Mark Lee was born on August 2, 1999, making him a Leo Sun with a Moon in Aries. This fire-sign combination gives him both the performer's need for self-expression and the emotional drive for independence that's evident in his departure from NCT after ten years.
Why is Mark Lee leaving NCT and SM Entertainment?
SM Entertainment confirmed a mutual agreement to end Mark's exclusive contract effective April 8, 2026, after ten years. Mark wrote that he felt a deep pull toward something more personal and wants to pursue busking, solo music with an acoustic guitar, and writing in English.
What does Mark Lee's birth chart say about his NCT departure?
Mark's Leo Sun conjunct his North Node in Leo points toward individual creative expression as his life direction. Current transits, especially Uranus sextile his natal Mercury and Pluto square his natal Jupiter, create conditions for sudden announcements and fundamental redefinitions of success.
Does astrology explain the timing of Mark Lee's departure?
The timing aligns with several near-exact transits hitting Mark's chart simultaneously: transiting Uranus within 0.3 degrees of his natal Mercury triggers communication breakthroughs, Venus trining his natal Venus creates values alignment, and Jupiter squaring his Moon amplifies emotional restlessness. These peaked in early April 2026.
What is Mark Lee's moon sign?
Mark Lee's Moon is in Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. An Aries Moon processes emotions through action and forward movement rather than deliberation. This placement explains his instinct to pursue independence and new beginnings rather than negotiate a modified role within NCT.
