Seo Hyun Jin reflected on her past struggles and her rise to success during her guest appearance on the November 20th episode of tvN’s You Quiz on the Block.
Recalling her early years, Seo Hyun Jin revealed that she was scouted by SM Entertainment while attending Gugak National High School, a prestigious school for traditional Korean music. “I was part of the generation that loved H.O.T and S.E.S, so I didn’t even think it could be a scam and went straight to audition,” she said. Seo Hyun Jin debuted in 2001 as a member of the girl group M.I.L.K. alongside Sugar and Black Beat. However, the group disbanded after just one year.
“We weren’t popular at all,” she admitted. “We only performed on major network stages four times before it ended.”
After leaving the group, Seo Hyun Jin struggled to find her footing. “I went to watch my high school classmates perform, and as an audience member, I realized, ‘I’ll never be able to dance again.’ I remember crying so much,” she shared. “Even when I was training at SM, I didn’t think I’d fully given up on traditional Korean music. It felt like I was swept away by the tide, doing something else entirely.”
With time left on her contract, Seo Hyun Jin began taking acting lessons. “I thought it was too late to start something new,” she said. “I’d been doing arts and performance since I was four, so I didn’t even consider trying anything else. I kept practicing acting for four years.”
Her acting debut came with the drama Hwang Jini, but she faced another challenge: a seven-year hiatus. “I debuted in 2001, and it took 15 years to reach ‘Another Miss Oh,'” Seo Hyun Jin explained. “During that gap, I didn’t have any work. I became a trainee all over again.”
Seo Hyun Jin grew emotional as she recalled, saying, “Even now, I tear up when I talk about it.” She went on, “My parents waited for me for nine or ten years. When they told me to quit, it felt like the ground beneath me was shaking. It must have been so painful for them to say, but from my perspective, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It was really tough.”
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