Yang Ji-won (; born April 5, 1988) is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a former member of

T-ara T-ara (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009, currently consisting of four members: Qri, Hahm Eun-jung, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Park Ji-yeon, Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by Hook (music), hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their ...

Spica Spica is the brightest object in the constellation of Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation α Virginis, which is Latinised to Alpha Virginis and abbreviated Alpha Vir or α Vir. Analys ...

and UNI.T, and made her solo debut in 2020 with the single "Towards the Sun". Initially slated to debut as a member of Five Girls and then T-ara, Yang made her debut as a member of Spica in 2012. After the group disbanded in 2017, she debuted as a member of UNI.T a year later after participating in '' The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project'' and ranking sixth in the final episode.

Early life and education

Yang was born on April 5, 1988, in Seoul, South Korea. However, she grew up in

Jeonju Jeonju (, , ) is the capital and List of cities in South Korea, largest city of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many resi ...

. She graduated Poongmoon Girls' High School and subsequently the Department of Theatre and Film at

Dongguk University Dongguk University () is a private university in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. A top-tier university acknowledged locally in Korea. It is one of the few Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world, and is a member of the International Asso ...

Career

2007–2011: Pre-debut, Five Girls, T-ara

Yang was originally set to debut as part of the five-member group Five Girls under Good Entertainment alongside

Yubin Yu-bin, also spelled Yoo-bin, is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. People People with this name include: * Kim Yu-bin (musician) (born 1988), South Korean female singer, former m ...

Uee Kim Yu-jin (; born April 9, 1988), better known by her stage name Uee (; sometimes romanized as U-), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known for being a former member of South Korean girl group After School from 2009 to 2017, ...

Jun Hyo-seong Jun Hyo-seong (; born October 13, 1989) often simply known as Hyoseong or Hyosung, is a South Korean singer and actress. In 2005, she was a finalist in Mnet (TV channel), Mnet's ''Battle Shinhwa'' which led to her signing a recording contract w ...

, and G.NA. In 2007, they starred in a

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

reality show ''Diary of Five Girls''. However, due to the company's financial issues, the group never debuted. She then trained under

Mnet Media Stone Music Entertainment (Hangul: 스톤 뮤직 엔터테인먼트), is a South Korean music distribution company under CJ ENM, as part of a partnership with the music streaming store Genie Music since 2021. It was one of the largest co-publish ...

and was part of the original

lineup with Jiae, Eunjung,

Hyomin Park Sun-young (; born May 30, 1989), known professionally as Hyomin (), is a South Korean singer and actress, known for her work as a member of South Korean girl group T-ara. Apart from her group's activities, Hyomin has also starred in variou ...

, and Jiyeon, the latter three eventually debuting with the group. Yang left alongside Jiae in June 2009, with Mnet Media citing differences in music style. She continued work as an actress and idol training.

2012–2018: Spica, ''The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project'', UNI.T

On January 10, 2012, Spica released their first digital single "Doggedly". In February, Yang formally debuted as a member of Spica with the release of the EP ''

Russian Roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

''. In September 2014, Yang debuted as part of Spica subunit Spica.S (Spica Special). On August 11, 2015, she took part in the kids' musical program ''The Fairies in My Arms'' with

MBLAQ MBLAQ (, ; an acronym for Music Boys Live in Absolute Quality) is a South Korean boy band created by South Korean singer Rain under J. Tune Camp. The group consists of Seungho, G.O, and Mir, and formerly Lee Joon and Thunder. The group debuted ...

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

and

Gfriend GFriend (stylized in all caps; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consists of six members: Kim So-won, Sowon, Yerin (entertainer), Yerin, Eunha (singer), Eunha, Yuju (singer), Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They deb ...

SinB Hwang Eun-bi (; born June 3, 1998), better known by her stage name SinB, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actress. She is a member of South Korean girl groups GFriend and Viviz. Early life SinB was born June 3, 1998, in Cheongju. In 2017, ...

. On February 6, 2017, CJ E&M announced the group's disbandment. After the group disbanded, she earned a living by selling green juice. In July 2017, KBS announced their new survival show that would create two nine-member groups, one male and one female, among idols who had already debuted. Starting October 28, Yang appeared in ''The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project''. She maintained a top 9 rank throughout the show and ranked sixth in the final episode, thus making it into UNI.T. On April 28, 2018, it was announced that UNI.T would be making their debut on May 17. However, their debut was pushed back to May 18. Yang debuted as a member of UNI.T with the EP ''Line'' and the title track "No More". On October 12, the group had their last ''

Music Bank ''Music Bank'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'' performance after which they held their last fanmeeting; they subsequently disbanded.

2020–present: Solo debut

On May 8, 2020, Yang made her solo debut under CL& Company, with her first single "Towards the Sun". She appeared in the television series ''

Unpredictable Family ''Unpredictable Family'' () is a South Korean television series starring Nam Sang-ji, Lee Do-gyeom, Kang Da-bin and Lee Hyo-na. It premiered on KBS1 on September 18, 2023, and aired on every weekday at 20:30 ( KST) for 131 episodes. Synopsis ...

'' as Jeong Hye-yoon, the biological mother of Shin Ga-ram. Her contract with CL& Company ended in March 2024.

Personal life

On the July 31, 2018 episode of '' Video Star'', Yang revealed that she had a non-celebrity boyfriend.

Discography

Soundtrack appearances

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Web dramas

Music video appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Ji-won 1988 births Living people Actresses from Seoul Singers from Seoul K-pop singers T-ara members B2M Entertainment artists MBK Entertainment artists Spica (band) South Korean female idols South Korean film actresses South Korean television actresses South Korean web series actresses 21st-century South Korean actresses 21st-century South Korean women singers Dongguk University alumni Actresses from Jeonju The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project contestants