From being the "Nation's Center" to "It Girl" K-pop, IVE's Jeon Somi and Jang Won Young have always attracted not only fans but also the attention of Korean media. In an article, a reporter highlighted the reasons why the two idols are so popular among Koreans, and even for international fans.
On January 12, My Daily reporter Il Seop Song wrote a comparison article between Jeon Somi, a former member of IOI, and Wonyoung, who is a former member of IZ*ONE and is currently promoting as IVE. In the article, Song emphasized the activities of the two idols, who continued their activities without losing the position of "No. 1 Pick".
In particular, what the two have in common is where they start. Somi especially made her name famous after joining Mnet's program, “Sixteen,” in 2015 where TWICE members were chosen. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to the final cut.
However, this did not stop him from achieving his dream of debuting as an idol and joining another Mnet program called, "Produce 101". After being voted by the entire nation as the "No. 1 Pick," Jeon Somi then debuted as an IOI center, earning the modifiers "Nation's Center" and "Nation's daughter."
Likewise, Wonyoung also became the center of attention after he joined the third episode of the same Mnet program, hereinafter called, "Produce 48". In 2018, Jang Won Young debuted as the center of IZ*ONE, and also earned the nicknames "Nation's Grand Daughter" and "Nation's Center."
With Somi and Wonyoung's beauty and "all-round" skills, they soon rose to become the two most in-demand stars, and they even got the chance to pitch/throw the first ball for a Korean baseball game. This is an important indicator of idol popularity.
Since IOI and IZ*ONE are both project-only girl groups, Jeon and Jang are taking different paths after parting ways with their members. Wonyoung returned to being a Starship Entertainment trainee and re-debuted as IVE.
On December 1, the six-member group was launched and together with former IZ*ONE Yujin, IVE has proven its global interest both at home and abroad by reaching the No. 1 high-speed on music shows seven days after his debut.
The "ELEVEN" singer immediately emerged as a "4th Generation Icon," sweeping the top 10 music streaming sites in Korea, MelOn, Genie Music, and Bugs Chart, the world's largest music streaming site, Spotify's "Global Top 200" chart, the largest. in China's music platform QQ Music new song chart, and the 5th daily chart. In addition, Wonyoung made his name to "4th-Gen It Girl," because of his visuals.
Contrary to Wonyoung, Jeon Somi decided to pursue her career as a soloist. From JYP, he found his new nest in THE BLACK LABEL, a sub-label of YG Entertainment. Last year, Somi solidified her position as a top female solo singer in name and reality with her previous release, "DUMB DUMB," in August and her first full-length album, "XOXO," in October. Through this, Jeon Somi received praise for introducing her own genre and concept, and earned the nickname Girl Crush K-pop. (wk/goddess)
