YUNAH smiles shyly as she enters. She talks—sometimes excitedly, sometimes matter-of-factly—about how she was able to “R.U.N,” nonstop, through five years of growing pains. Now, standing poised at the next starting line, she knows she’s done everything she can to prepare herself to chase after her new goal—with a friend called positivity by her side as always.
The photoshoot today was sport-themed, but the hidden truth is that you’re not athletically inclined. (laughs)
YUNAH: Actually I got a lot of compliments during it that the theme really suited me. I’m actually pretty bad at sports. When I was in a race with six people, I came in fourth. (laughs) When I told people that story, nobody could believe it. They laughed really hard. But I’m tall, so I’m pretty confident when it comes to playing catch, and luckily they used a ball for a prop. (laughs)
The mood surrounding the shoot was lively thanks to that. Actually, I heard that you were scouted while you were in middle school drama club.
YUNAH: I wanted to join artsy clubs like drama and band when I was in middle school. I ended up joining the drama club and was pretty serious about it. I even went to city- and province-wide competitions. It was at one of those provincial competitions where I was scouted.
You said you were in the choir in elementary school. Have you always enjoyed being on stage?
YUNAH: Ever since I was young, I’ve loved singing and dancing in front of an audience. It felt really rewarding to see my friends cheering for me from the audience when I was in talent shows in elementary school. I also loved watching performances, so I cheered hard for my friends’ shows, too. (laughs)
Did you also enjoy watching K-pop artists perform?
YUNAH: Yes. (laughs) I was a fan of K-pop even before I became a trainee. I always watched K-pop artists’ performances when I was little and I still love to.
It sounds like you’ve always been the life of the party, even as a kid.
YUNAH: Not much has changed about me between when I was in school and now. I think I’ve become a bit calmer since joining the label, though. When I was younger, I was really emotional, too. Like, if my friend started crying, I’d start crying too, and I was always there to comfort them. (laughs) I feel like I was the outgoing, sociable, funny person in my friend group.
You and WONHEE seem to have a lot of fun breaking into imaginary scenarios together. (laughs)
YUNAH: (laughs) Yes, WONHEE and I share almost the exact same sense of humor, so we do a lot of skits in the room. Just the other day, she just suddenly cried out, “Ah, it’s YUNAH’s mom!” I played along with it, like, “Oh, WONHEE’s mom—is that you? How’s WONHEE doing?” And then she was immediately like, “You know, I heard YUNAH’s looking even better these days! Good news for you!” And it kept going on like that. (laughs)
In your SUPER REAL ME film, the word you chose to describe yourself was “positive.”
YUNAH: When I think positive thoughts, it feels like my self-confidence soars—like having that mindset gives me the strength to feel confident and helps me grow. Anyway, you get energy from being around upbeat and positive people, right? I hope me being there makes people around me feel happy. To me, positivity is like my friend—a friend who plays a big part in shaping who I am. (laughs)
I bet it can be hard to maintain a positive outlook like that all the time, though.
YUNAH: My motto is, “time heals all,” which applies to when I’m feeling down. I find I’ll feel positive again just by spending some time doing small, simple things. I want to listen to some music that matches my mood. Now I wanna watch a funny show. (laughs) Doing things I love, or whatever it is I happen to want to do right at that moment, helps me bounce back quickly.
On R U Next? you said, “I used to fake having confidence because I didn’t have any, but acting confident actually ended up instilling confidence in me for real.” Was there something that caused you to decide to build up your self-confidence?
YUNAH: I was 19 when I was on R U Next? and I knew I had to be confident to reach my goal. I was really serious about debuting at that point. When you’ve been in training for five years, you can’t just go home after your first performance. I’m really competitive, so I wanted to put on a confident performance for the audience, and that’s what led me to go into R U Next? with that kind of determination.
On the show, JEEMIN said, “Thank you for bringing out my confidence.” It seems like you don’t just make yourself confident but can inspire it in others too.
YUNAH: JEEMIN’s got nothing to feel unconfident about as far as I’m concerned. I know everyone’s got their shortcomings, but they’ve got strengths for that same reason. JEEMIN is really good at dancing and expressing herself through facial expressions. It was heartbreaking to see someone as talented as her having low self-esteem. A lot of other people on the show lacked confidence, too, but I kept telling them, “You’re doing great. You should be proud of your talents.”
It must have meant a lot to them to hear you say such kind words. Do you tend to spend a lot of time reflecting on your own strengths?
YUNAH: Umm, honestly, I inevitably end up thinking more about my flaws than my strengths. I think you need to take an objective look at yourself in order to take care of your flaws and build on your strengths, so I’ll never say something like, I’m not good enough at this, or, I really know myself well and I’m just not good enough at this, in front of others. I guess I don’t say anything bad about myself that’ll make me feel less confident when I’m in front of others. I might not come out and say the areas I’m weak in, but deep down, I think I recognize where I need improvement more than anyone, and I try harder than anyone else, too. I feel accomplished whenever I can see myself making progress, and I actually end up feeling more confident in the process. (laughs)
You’re such a perfectionist that, when you were rehearsing for your performance of “Across the universe” during round four of R U Next?, you cried because you were so determined to do a good job.
YUNAH: Yes. That’s why I almost never let people see my weaknesses. But round four felt like the moment where I hit a wall. It was the first time I talked to anyone about what I was struggling with. That’s when my teammates found out I have that side of me. The consolation and advice I got at that moment really helped bring me back to a healthy mindset.
But the judges actually had great things to say about you that round. In your 50 Questions video, you even mentioned that round four was “the happiest moment of your life.” Seeing your fans for the first time must have felt special, too.
YUNAH: That was my very first time seeing any fans. Actually, only my performance of “Bad Girl Good Girl” was aired on the show, so I was worried viewers might get the impression that that tough image is all there is to me. I was worried none of the people who came to watch would be fans of mine. But it turns out I worried for nothing, because I heard my fans cheering, “YUNAH, you’re so pretty!” and “YUNAH, you’re amazing!” Since the image for “Across the universe” was a complete 180 from round one, there were comments like, “I knew she was a good dancer after seeing round one, but she sings, too?” Looking back now, choosing “Across the universe” was a really good decision.
When you were the last person to be named as a member of ILLIT, you got up and said, “I want to thank my family for always patiently supporting me these past five years.” How did your family react when you first became a trainee?
YUNAH: When I first told them I wanted to be a trainee, my mom was against it. She said, “I can’t send you down an uncertain path like that.” At first, she thought I’d give up really quick, but as I continued on with training, she must have thought, I guess she’s doing well. Eventually, she trusted in my potential and in the label. (laughs) During R U Next?, she said, “It’s okay if you don’t make it, YUNAH. It’s already amazing that you’ve stuck it out these past five years. You’ve learned and gained so much that’s going to help you out in life just going through this process, so don’t worry.”
Would you say that R U Next? was a turning point for you that helped you discover new things about yourself?
YUNAH: I think so, yes. I discovered good points about myself that I wasn’t even aware of, and most importantly, I got a lot better at expressing myself, including through facial expressions. Before that, I was really nervous being on camera or in front of other people, but my survival instincts kicked in and helped me uncover my hidden strengths. (laughs) I got better at singing and dancing, but I think my expressions and my confidence improved more than anything.
On R U Next? you worked with different themes each round and became known for your ability to really grasp and convey different concepts through your use of facial expressions. Your expressions in all the videos related to SUPER REAL ME are eye-catching, too.
YUNAH: “Magnetic,” as well as all the other songs, are really cute and playful. I made sure to keep smiling throughout the performances to really get that refreshing vibe across. I worked hard so I could match that aspect of the album, and I’m glad if it showed. (laughs)
“Magnetic” does have a playful melody, but the choreography looks quite challenging. What was your main focus while rehearsing for your debut performance?
YUNAH: Keeping up my facial expressions. The first time I danced to “Magnetic,” I was shocked by how physically demanding it was. (laughs) I wanted to see how far into the song I could keep smiling while doing the choreography, which led me to focus on my facial expressions. And I worked hard so I could receive good feedback on my singing and dancing. When you raise your cheekbones, you can hear the mood go up in your voice too, so I recorded my vocals with that elevated mood with a smile on my face, and I also paid close attention to the fine details and key points of the choreography while practicing that.
There’s lots of parts in your choreography where you’re doing a pair choreography with MOKA.
YUNAH: There’s parts where we dance together in both “Magnetic” and “Lucky Girl Syndrome.” We thought a lot about how to work in the chemistry we have together. We were concentrating on the dance moves at first but it made our parts together look unnatural, even though we’re really close in real life. The solution turned out to be making lots of eye contact. MOKA’s next to me during the intro to “Magnetic,” and we dance together during the bridge. We practiced making eye contact whenever that part came up, and soon we could read the emotions in each other’s eyes even though it’s just for a split second. It made me feel like our emotions were becoming in sync.
One line in “Magnetic”—“S and N, polar opposites / But that’s what pulls us in”—reminds me of you and MINJU, who are ENFP and ISTP, respectively.
YUNAH: MINJU and I are really different when it comes to our taste in food, and like our MBTIs show, our extrovert and introvert energy is completely different. You’d probably need at least 10 MINJUs to reach my energy level. But aside from that, we get along well, especially when we’re talking together, and we specifically say things to make each other laugh—we’ll be there dying of laughter even though nobody else finds it funny. Sometimes she points out when I use advanced vocabulary that people don’t usually use: “There she goes using big words again!” (laughs) I can’t help but clap when she does that. I tell her how witty she is, and then she’s like, “How’s that being witty?” and chuckles in disbelief.
You and MINJU also tried writing a song about love.
YUNAH: I guess MINJU felt like we needed to switch things up during practice. (laughs) She just suddenly went, “Guys, we’re artists. We should be writing songs. Let’s give it a shot! What do you think?” So MINJU, me, and somebody else had this passionate discussion about love and then wrote some lyrics and recorded a singing rap. (laughs) We never actually learned how to write a song, but MINJU’s extremely interested in songwriting, so she’s probably jotted down a few ideas in her notes.
It’s also been your dream to make some memorable variety shows like In the SOOP and NANA TOUR. If your dream becomes reality, what kind of things would you like to do with the other members?
YUNAH: I really enjoy watching content from other idols, especially SEVENTEEN’s In the SOOP and NANA TOUR. The mood’s always laid-back and it helps highlight their relationship together and their chemistry. If we get a chance to film something, I’d love to be able to cook something nice to eat for the other members.
I heard you like to watch cooking vlogs, and that your first attempts at dishes like doenjang jjigae and mille-feuille nabe were a huge hit with the other members.
YUNAH: I was pretty slow since I don’t have much cooking experience, but they turned out surprisingly good. (laughs) The doenjang jjigae I made on I’LL LIKE IT! tasted fantastic. It would’ve been easier if I’d had soybean paste specifically made for seasoning, but I had to use the standard kind under those circumstances. When I first tasted it, I thought it needed something: gochujang. So I put some in and then it tasted incredible. I might not be good at cooking, but I have a well-developed palate, and I seem to have a really good sense for what tastes good. (laughs) I felt so proud, watching all of them enjoy my cooking.
https://youtube.com/shorts/g1KaLZz5PJsYou celebrated your birthday this past January 15 with your fans for the first time. You talked on Weverse about your memories from your 18th birthday and expressed your gratitude for your fans.
YUNAH: When I was 18, I felt like I kept getting older but was running in place. While my friends were mapping out their futures, I was the only one who was still in training, so it wasn’t an easy time. But looking back now, I realize you don’t get anywhere without working towards it. The road to somewhere beautiful isn’t always beautiful itself. It’s tough, you know? But I think it’s because of those hard times that I was able to make something beautiful out of it.
What would you like to say to your 18-year-old self now that you’re about to debut?
YUNAH: 18 seems so young to me now that I’m 20. Of course, by the time I’m 25, I’ll probably think 20-year-old me was super young, too. (laughs) I’d tell my 18-year-old self, “I won’t stop you from going through the tough stuff. There’s nothing wrong with having a hard time. It can’t be helped. But you don’t have to stress yourself by diving deep into that feeling, either.” I’d like to be able to send my positive energy back to the old YUNAH.
And what are your goals for the future, then?
YUNAH: The biggest thing is being grateful to everyone who shows me love and waits to see what’s next from me. Just like what I wrote for my fans on my birthday, I want to be the kind of artist who brings comfort to people, shares her positive energy, and can have an emotional exchange with them. And most important of all—the main thing—is how I perform on stage. So what I’d like to hear more than anything is, “YUNAH’s good at what she does.” (laughs)