Early life (2000–2016)

HyunJin was born in Seoul, South Korea, as the youngest and only daughter of three siblings. Her
brothers are ten and eleven years older than her.[2] One of her brothers was in a band called “Bi-o-ne,”
and the other is an actor.[3]
HyunJin attended Baeksa Elementary School and Baeksa Middle School in Incheon. She transferred to
Shinnam Middle School and later Hansung Girls’ Middle School, both in Seoul. In seventh grade,
HyunJin was ranked first in her school in Korean language.[4] She was an athletic student,
participating in her school’s soccer, table tennis, basketball, tennis, and badminton clubs.[5] HyunJin
also claims to have been so well-known for her looks that by eighth grade, both male and female
classmates “would go stand in the halls to see [her].”[6]
In 2013, when she was thirteen years old, HyunJin appeared on the 40th episode of Three Idiots. She
was introduced as a natural beauty, and demonstrated her talent in skipping rope.[7]

2016: Reveal, solo debut

HyunJin was scouted by Polaris Entertainment after her appearance on Three Idiots and became a
trainee in 2013. She later transferred to BlockBerry Creative to take part in the LOONA Project, most
likely in early 2016, and was eventually chosen as the second member of LOONA. HyunJin
accompanied HeeJin during the latter’s trip to Paris for filming.[8]
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On October 23, 2016, the first “Who’s Next Girl?” teaser was posted, and HyunJin was fully revealed
as the next member of LOONA on October 28. She released her solo single album HyunJin on
November 17, 2016 and debuted as a member of LOONA.

2017: MIXNINE, LOONA 1/3

In October 2017, HyunJin, along with fellow LOONA members HeeJin and HaSeul, auditioned for the
survival reality show MIXNINE. After passing the audition, she became a contestant as a representative
of her agency and idol group.[9] HyunJin made it until the final episode, but was eliminated and did not
make it into the final lineup.[10]
She was revealed to be a member of LOONA’s first sub-unit, LOONA 1/3, on February 14, 2017.

2018: Debut in LOONA

On August 20, HyunJin officially debuted as a member of the completed group LOONA. They released
the mini-album [+ +], along with title track “Hi High”.

2019: School graduation

On January 7, 2019, HyunJin graduated from Hansung Girls’ High School alongside HeeJin.