Feeling nostalgic? Wondering where your favorite idols of disbanded second gen Kpop girl groups are right now? We’ve got you covered. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see what these idols have been up to since their groups stopped being active.
SISTAR
The (eternal) summer queens of k-pop, Sistar was (and is still) known for two things: Having summer releases that consistently ranked at the top of the charts and having all their title tracks peak at number 1 in the said charts. Sistar disbanded in 2017, much to the heartbreak of the fans, and they are one of the very few groups that had proper disbandment, complete with the company’s (Starship Entertainment) official statement, a proper final send-off single, and a tour of music shows for their final stages. As there was nothing onerous or hateful about the group’s disbandment, either among the members or between the company and the members, fans still hold out some hope that a reunion will happen in the near future. In fact, Hyolyn and Dasom released a collaboration single in the summer of 2021, aptly titled Summer or Summer.
So, what are the four queens of summer up to now?
Hyolyn – SISTAR’s main vocal has not had a day of rest since the group’s disbandment, releasing solar material every year, including the controversial hit Dally (which she performed in the 2018 KBS Drama Awards, and audiences claimed she was “butt naked), Say My Name, and her latest No Thanks. She has also entered reality competitions one after another, in 2021’s Double Trouble, which she won, and the second season of Queendom, where she also started out strong but eventually ended up in fourth place. She manages her own career under her one-woman agency Bridz.
Bora – Ever the relatable personality, SISTAR’s main rapper had an eventful career after the group’s disbandment. She has continued to appear in variety shows such as Produce 48, where she appeared as a Special MC, Unnie’s Beauty Carpool which she co-hosted with SNSD’s Hyoyeon, Happy Beauty Day, and this year’s Sisters Run – Witch Fitness Basketball Club. She debuted in film in 2019’s Sunkist Family and also continued to act on the small screen, notably in Doctor Romantic 2, Only One Person, and Hit Up! Hit Up! Bora has been under two agencies since leaving Starship – Hook immediately after Sistar’s disbandment and KeyEast since 2020.
Soyou – Sistar’s other main vocal has also managed to remain in the spotlight since her group’s disbandment. She was the last member to stay in Starship, debuting as a solo artist under the label in 2017. She has since then released three EPs: Re:Born, Re:Fresh, and Day & Night, the latter released under her new label BPM (home to Viviz, Huh Gak, Ha Sungwon, and Lee Mujin, among others), where she transferred after opting not to renew her Starship contract in September 2021. Her TV career has also been active, having appeared as a mentor in the last two Produce 101 seasons and hosted various variety shows.
Dasom – Sistar’s maknae has always been the actress of the group and her acting career has continued after Sistar’s disbandment. She has appeared in the dramas Band of Sisters, he is Psychometric, an episode in KBS Drama Special, and Was It Love? Since Sistar’s disbandment, her career has been managed by King Kong, which is still a Starship subsidiary. In June 2021, she decided not to renew with the agency and signed with a new agency, Story J Company (the agency of Seo Inguk, Go Jun, and Kim Taehee, aka Rain’s wife) a couple of months later.
Jewelry
Jewelry is one of those groups that gradually disintegrated as the members left the company (in this case, the notorious Star Empire) one by one. In 2014, it was revealed that Eunjung’s contract had expired and she would be leaving the group. Before the year ended, Baby J also revealed that she will be leaving Jewelry as her contract expired last August. It was also revealed that Semi would not renew her contract after it expired in November. Finally, on January 7, 2015, the group was officially confirmed as disbanded by Star Empire Entertainment.
Jungah – Jungah has continued with her career in acting after leaving Star Empire in 2013. She has appeared in dramas such as Leverage and The Secret of My Love after signing with Jellyfish Entertainment. She also got married in 2016 and gave birth to her first child after two years.
Minah – Minah has been living the life of a “normal” private citizen for quite some time now. While she used to appear in television dramas in the mid-2010s, her public appearances have been confined to a few guest appearances on talk shows and variety programs since then. She married her boyfriend, a CEO of a fitness center, who is 6 years older than her in 2020. She was also pregnant at that time and finally gave birth in 2021. Her SNS post about suffering from hyperventilation and falling to the ground in their house a few months ago had people speculating whether she is suffering from abuse.
Inyoung – Otherwise known as Elly, Inyoung continued her career in music even after leaving Star Empire. In fact, she returned to the agency four years after leaving it and released more music with them. These days, she is more active in variety shows, where she has made appearances in programs such as Call Center of Love, Mama the Idol, and We are a Family.
Eunjung – Early this year, Eunjung got married to music producer Kei Lim. Jungah, Inyoung, and Baby G were witnesses to the event.
Baby G – After leaving Star Empire in 2014, Baby G continued activities in various projects, such as Mnet‘s Show Me The Money 5 and Unpretty Rapstar 3. However, she confessed that she hasn’t been able to obtain any jobs in entertainment since then, so she’s been working at a café for minimum wage. She has been regularly updating her Instagram account (@__juyunhaaaa) but there haven’t been a lot of singing activities documented.
Semi – After her contract expired with Star Emire Semi reverted to her birth name Yoon Jinsol and appeared in numerous TV dramas such as Radio Romance, Welcome to Waikiki, and Witch’s Love. She was also reported to have signed with Kings Entertainment in 2019, but there hasn’t been much news about her activities until this year when she participated in the youth-oriented drama Dear.M.
Yewon – Yewon signed to Jellyfish Entertainment since leaving Stra Empire in 2016. Since then, she has appeared in TV dramas like What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, Feel Good to Die, Class of Lies, and She Knows Everything. She transferred to a new agency, Andmarq (agency of Park Jinjoo and Lee Joobeen, among others) in May of 2022.
Kara
Here is one group that was ubiquitous during its peak and had a tinge of tragedy after its disbandment. The cracks in the group started showing in 2014 when Nicole and Jiyoung decided not to renew their contracts with DSP Media thus leaving the group to pursue their own endeavors. Following their departures, a reality show titled Kara Project was aired on TV to select members to join the group. Seven trainees from DSP Media took part in the program. The winner of the competition was Heo Youngji who became the latest and eventually the last member to join the group.
On January 15, 2016, Kara disbanded after DSP Media announced that the contracts with Gyuri, Seungyeon, and Hara expired and they decided not to renew their contracts. Although members Gyuri and Youngji have mentioned the possibility of a reunion, no further updates have been released. Also, Hara’s demise in 2019 has quashed any possibility of a reunion with all members. Although, on June 11, 2022, former Kara members Gyuri, Seungyeon, Nicole, Jiyoung and Youngji reunited for a group photoshoot which was shared on each of their Instagram accounts. This sparked rumors of a comeback, however, no announcement was made. They may lack one member forever, but then we should be okay with anything we can get, eh?
Nicole – The erstwhile main rival of Tiffany when it comes to the title Korea’s American Girlfriend, Nicole was Kara’s maknae who opted not to renew her contract with DSP Entertainment at the start of 2014. She eventually debuted as a solo artist in both Korea and Japan in 2014 and 2016, respectively. She is set to have a comeback in Korea via a single entitled You.F.O under her new entertainment label JWK Entertainment. She was signed under B2M after deciding not to renew with DSP until the company’s closure in 2017.
Gyuri – Since Kara’s disbandment in 2016, Gyuri has mostly focused on an acting career. She has also been in the news for other reasons such as her high-profile romance with an heir to a construction industry company, which ended in 2021.
Seungyeon – On the music front, Seungyeon has been more active in Japan, releasing EPs there since 2017. She has also sung in k-drama OSTs, though, which is the extent of her activities in the Korean music industry. She has been more active on television, as she signed to Inyeon Entertainment in 2018 and was cast in the fantasy romance drama About Time. She then took on the leading role in travel romance drama Twelve Nights the same year. A couple of years later, she switched to a new agency, YGX Entertainment. In 2021, Han appeared in comedy horror film Show Me the Ghost as Yeji. She won Fantastic Actor Jury’s Special Mention Award for her performance at 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
Jiyoung – After leaving Kara, Jiyoung focused on expanding both her music and acting careers in Japan with the agency Sweet Power. She made her first appearance in the 19th Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show in the Saitama Super Arena. Her first acting job was the live-action of Hell Teacher Nube, where she played the heroine, Yukime. She has also released a number of EPs in Nihongo. Her activities in Korea were mostly acting projects as she participated in movies and TV dramas. She has also switched agencies from KeyEast to ELRIS Entertainment only this year.
Youngji – Youngji is the only Kara member who has stayed with DSP even after all other members have signed on to other agencies. In fact, she renewed her contract with the company again in April. Since her group’s “hiatus”, Youngji has released solo material, acted in a couple of TV dramas, and hosted a number of variety programs and web shows as well.
Has our roundup of idol updates satisfied you or are you pining for more updates on other idols? Stay tuned for more updates in the future!