31-Year-Old Former Girl Group Member Gets Candid About Her Retirement

A former K-Pop girl group member shared an update on her life after retiring from being an idol.

On September 1st, a video was posted Instagram with the caption, “What do you do for a living after retiring from a girl group?,” by former Gugudan member Haebin.

She explained that she has become a multi-hyphenate after being an idol, saying, “I was a trainee for 5 years and an idol for 5 years. I debuted as the main vocalist of Gugudan and won a rookie award just two years after debut. I worked hard, performing solo concerts and overseas shows I had dreamed of.”

She continued, “But suddenly, that job disappeared. The idol life felt like a fleeting moment.” She added, “Many people don’t know much about my story after that.”

She then shared her current status, saying, “I used to only know how to sing, but I have worked on OSTs and music projects I wanted to do. I started looking for things I enjoy, rather than chasing rankings.”

She added, “I had to relearn everything from scratch. It wasn’t about making others like me, but finding work I like and can keep doing consistently.” She said, “I am still taking on new challenges.”

Haebin said, “Although my career as an idol is over, my challenges are not. From now on, I want to share the daily life of Han Ye Seo, not Gugudan’s Haebin.”

Gugudan debuted in 2016 and continued activities until officially disbanding in 2020, four years after debut. Haebin is currently working as an influencer.