“Business Proposal” star Kim Sejeong: Went through 2 disbandments, once ignored by a junior idol for this upsetting reason
Kim Sejeong is gaining more popularity as an actress, but she has experienced lots of difficulties as an idol singer.
Shooting to fame as the runner-up of Produce 101 and a member of I.O.I
Idol-turned actress Kim Sejeong was born in 1996 and made her debut in the entertainment industry in 2016. She rose to fame after participating in the 1st season of Mnet’s survival show Produce 101 as a contestant. Kim Sejeong excellently made it into the final lineup at 2nd place and debuted in the project girl group I.O.I. With her sweet, lovely visuals and powerful vocals, Sejeong won the hearts of many fans.
Despite having both visuals and talent, Sejeong has gone through many difficulties throughout her career as a Kpop idol. I.O.I sadly had the shortest contract for a Produce group, so Sejeong was only active in I.O.I for 8 months from 2016-2017.
I.O.I achieved much success and attracted many fans after they debuted, but the group still had to eventually disband in 2017, causing much regret to fans and the public. After parting ways, I.O.I members, including Sejeong, returned to their original management agencies to start or continue activities in their long-term groups.
Failing to maintain her popularity as an idol after debuting in gugudan
When she was active in I.O.I, Sejeong also debuted as a member of gugudan in June 2016. gugudan was Sejeong’s official group managed by Jellyfish. When gugudan first debuted, the group attracted keen attention thanks to the presence of 2 I.O.I members, Sejeong and Mina, and was once expected to become an outstanding 3rd generation girl group.
However, after that, gugudan was gradually left behind in a fiercely competitive Kpop market despite having 2 famous members. Due to the lack of outstanding achievements, the group was quickly “abandoned” by the company with their last comeback in November 2018, and they announced their official disbandment on December 31, 2020.
The complete difference from when working with I.O.I and gugudan was also shared by Sejeong on the show “Knowing Brothers“. When her name became famous with I.O.I, she was greeted everywhere by her hoobae. But everything changed when I.O.I disbanded. No longer as popular as before, the female idol began to be “ignored” by her hoobae.
Sejeong once shared, “An upsetting thing once happened. When I was promoting as I.O.I, a junior who greeted me by saying, ‘Oh hello, sunbaenim,’ then ignored me when I promoted again as gugudan. You shouldn’t be like that. I can’t say who it is, but popularity isn’t everything.”
After gugudan disbanded, Sejeong continued to pursue her passion for singing as a solo artist. Despite having a rather rough music career, the former I.O.I member is doing very well as an actress through many works that leave good impression on the audience. With good acting ability, Sejeong is believed to become one of the potential young actresses in the future.
