Jihyo of TWICE finally made her long-awaited solo launch on August 18 with the release of her solo EP ZONE.

To celebrate her solo debut, the talented TWICE leader went on Lee Mujin Service with soloist Lee Mujin and talked about her 18 years in the entertainment business.

In 2005, Jihyo of TWICE became a trainee at JYP Entertainment. Jihyo was only eight years old at the time, and she spent the rest of her childhood studying for her debut, which happened with TWICE's The Story Begins ten years later, in 2015.

Jihyo told Vulture magazine in an interview that after ten years of being a trainee and dreaming of her launch, she felt lost when it finally happened because she had reached her first goal.

"To be honest, when I was a trainee, all I wanted to do was make my appearance and become a singer. And after I reached that first goal, I remember feeling a little lost. I didn't know what to be excited about."— TWICE's Jihyo

She told Lee Mujin that she also "suffered a lot" after her launch because of other things. Pop songs by TWICE are known for being happy and upbeat.

Jihyo said that when the group was training, they mostly sang pop songs, but she liked other types better.

She said that because of this, she was "scolded a lot" and "many people" told her she "couldn't sing well."

Jihyo thought that her voice as a hero and the voice of the artist she wanted to be "collided a lot," which made her wonder, "What [was] right?" a long time ago.

Jihyo's solo EP gave her the freedom to sing in any way she wanted, and four of ZONE's songs were written with her.

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IVE member Jang Wonyoung recently opened up about her surprising debut story on the tvN variety show You Quiz on the Block (Episode 276), revealing that her original dream wasn’t to become a singer, but a news anchor!

On January 15th, Jang Wonyoung and An Yujin joined the show as guests and shared fun stories from their school days.

Jang Wonyoung, who was president of her student council, recalled working so hard that she would get nosebleeds from studying.

“I really liked being an officer,” she said. “I should have organized lunch times, but I was happy doing PR work and being in charge.”

When asked if she was popular back then, Jang Wonyoung humbly said, “I was just on TV in middle school, so people thought it was interesting and came to see me.” An Yujin joked, “I was a bit more popular,” which made everyone laugh.

But what really surprised fans was Jang Wonyoung’s admission that she never dreamed of being a singer.

“I always wrote ‘news anchor’ as my dream job,” she shared. “I wanted to be one, but then I was cast at my sister Jang Da Ah’s graduation when I was 14, and that changed everything.”

Jang Wonyoung went on to explain, “It felt like fate. The person who cast me disappeared just three days later. It was a young senior, and every time I saw them, I’d say ‘Thank you, unni,’ but after casting me, they just left. The entertainment world is all about connections.”

It turns out, that unexpected encounter at her sister's graduation set Jang Wonyoung on the path to stardom, leading her to become the shining star of IVE we know today!

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