The stage floor must have vibrated just slightly, a low thrumming resonance beneath their expensive white boots, when the house lights dropped on May 2, 2022. Five years earlier, these individuals—Sakura Miyawaki, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae—were scattered across continents, speaking different dialects of ambition.
Suddenly, they stood fused together, a highly polished machine named Le Sserafim, debuting with the album *Fearless* under the formidable umbrella of Source Music, a subsidiary of HYBE Corporation. The early months were a confusing blur; the original configuration included Kim Garam, but following her departure later that year, the group settled into its present, resilient five-member structure.
Their success was not the gentle blossoming often romanticized in the K-pop narrative. It was an immediate, blinding spotlight, requiring profound stage presence and an absolute, almost unnerving confidence.
Consider the sheer bureaucratic labyrinth that led some of them here. Kim Chaewon, for instance, had only 11 months of training under Woollim Entertainment before she threw herself into the high-stakes pressure cooker of the reality show *Produce 48*. She finished tenth. 238,192 votes—a precise number attached to a dream—catapulted her into the temporary girl group Iz*one, only to be recycled back into the debut cycle years later.
Sakura Miyawaki’s journey was even more complicated, an endless professional migration.
She was already established before *Produce 48* and secured the second-place spot, resulting in her initial stint in Iz*one in 2018. It is a strange existence, to earn global stardom, watch it dissolve, and then have to earn it all over again in a new identity. This unusual collective history—the shared experience of fame already earned and lost—lends a specific, knowing quality to the group’s empowering message now.
They know the price of being fearless.
Then there are the members who represent entirely different trajectories. Huh Yun-jin, a Korean-American singer and songwriter, brings a necessary fluidity, navigating both Korean and English effortlessly. Her contribution goes beyond vocal performance. She is a dedicated conceptual contributor, offering glimpses into her inner world through songwriting.
It is unique, finding a place for such nuanced, individual exploration within the highly structured confines of a K-pop release. She earned praise for writing songs like "Impurities" and "I = Doll," tracks that explore the complicated, messy business of identity and individuality in an industry demanding perfection. The group's success lies not just in their high energy, but in the acknowledgment that sometimes, the journey itself—all those stops and starts and the 238,192 votes—is the most compelling story they have to tell.
The original Le Sserafim members are Sakura Miyawaki, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha, Hong Eunchae, and Kim Garam.Alternative viewpoints and findings: See here
