LE SSERAFIM's Yunjin Almost Gave Up On Being A K-Pop Idol—Here's What Happened And What Made Her Stay

LE SSERAFIM‘s Yunjin was once a prominent contestant on Mnet‘s survival program Produce 48 (2018). Known for her outstanding visuals and vocal talent, she gained a loyal fanbase that waited for her debut after she was eliminated from the show at rank 26.

After years of radio silence, this finally happened in 2022 when she debuted in LE SSERAFIM.

In the group’s recently released documentary, “The World is My Oyster,” it was revealed that this nearly did not happen. Yunjin was recently on the verge of giving up her dream of being a K-Pop idol. She had left her previous company, PLEDIS Entertainment, and moved to the U.S. before returning to Korea for HYBE.

She mentioned being demotivated by the people around her when she was a trainee. The compliments that were once easy to gain became sparse as time passed.

At first, since I was working hard, I got lots of compliments and I was told I was improving so much. But as time passed, it turned from, ‘She works hard’ to ‘She works hard but lacks appeal.’

— Yunjin

Worst of all, she was not able to debut even after being a trainee for five years. She was constantly being told it would happen only for the plans to fall through. This ultimately made her decide that enough was enough and it would be better to live as a normal person.

Her decision was reversed, however, as soon as she received a call from HYBE. They reached out to her with an offer to join their soon-to-debut girl group.

[They said] ‘There’s a team we’re planning on making and we want you to be part of it.’ I heard something along those lines and it felt really strange.

— Yunjin

The offer came from the right company at the right time. She chose to return to South Korea to sing instead of pursuing higher education abroad.

Actually I’d been receiving calls from companies, from other companies as well, but I was just planning on going back to school. I thought I had nothing left to do with K-Pop. But strangely, as soon as I heard that, my heart was already in Korea.

— Yunjin

The moment she was invited to be a member of LE SSERAFIM, she knew that her desire to be a K-Pop idol was not yet gone.

Since I missed my last opportunity, I really wanted to do well. This time with LE SSERAFIM.

— Yunjin

Though the preparation period was tough to say the least, Yunjin soon surpassed expectations and retrieved her lost confidence.

At one point while filming the “FEARLESS” music video, she couldn’t help but express her awe at finally reaching her goal. From the time she joined Produce 48 until her official debut, it took four long years.