Sulli of the girl group f(x) has decided to temporarily leave the entertainment industry, her agency SM Entertainment announced on Friday.

“Sulli has been suffering from endless rumors and malicious comments on the Internet. She is determined to stay out of the entertainment scene for a while,” the agency wrote on its official homepage.

“To protect the artist, we have decided to minimize Sulli’s entertainment activities and let her take some time off,” the agency added.

SM also wrote that Sulli’s girl group, f(x), will no longer put on promotional performances for its recent album “Red Light,” making their performance last week on “Inkigayo” the last one.

The other members -- Krystal, Victoria, Amber and Luna -- will pursue individual projects instead. They will also proceed with f(x)’s SMTOWN concert on Aug. 15 and its overseas promotions without Sulli.

By Kim Min-jin, Intern reporter (minjin103@heraldcorp.com)