Rescene member Minami opened up about her journey from Japan to Korea and how she became a K-pop idol.
Minami, the only Japanese and only foreign member of Rescene, said she first became interested in K-pop when she was in elementary school.
She shared, “I first learned about K-pop when I was in 3rd or 4th grade”, and explained that she liked third-generation idols such as BTS and TWICE. She added, “I thought, ‘There is such an amazing genre in the world,’ and I fell deeply into K-pop.”
Minami came to Korea in 2021 at the age of 14 to chase her dream. She first appeared on MBC’s My Teenage Girl, but later returned to Japan after being eliminated.
However, The Muze Entertainment’s CEO Lee Joo Heon personally contacted her and later went to Japan to convince her and her parents.
Minami said she felt his sincerity after speaking with him for 2 hours. She recalled thinking, “If I work with this CEO, something can happen.”
She also shared that the company praised her after watching her My Teenage Girl performance, saying she was good at Korean, good at singing, and had strong potential.
Before coming to Korea, Minami promised her parents that if she did not debut before turning 18 in international age, she would give up and return to Japan.
She explained that she wanted to put herself in a situation where she had to speak Korean, sing, and dance in order to work harder.
Now, Minami said she has adjusted well to Korea and has become close with her Rescene members. She said learning Korean came naturally through talking with friends and practicing during her trainee days.
She also shared that she now loves Korean food, especially kimchi jjim, seolleongtang, gukbap, gamjatang, and Korean home-style meals.
Rescene recently released their new digital single “Runaway”, and Minami continues to gain attention as an all-rounder member with strong vocals, dance skills, and fluent Korean.
Source: [1]
