Former YG Entertainment Korean-Swedish Trainee Han Byul Shared Why She Left The Company
During an episode of Mnet survival show CAP-TEEN, competitor Han Byul—a half-Korean, half-Swedish teen who once trained under YG Entertainment—revealed the sad reason why she left the company.
Han Byul is currently just 16 years old (Korean age), but she’s already been working on her K-Pop dreams for several years. Four years ago, she competed on SBS‘s K-Pop Star season six, performing in front of YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun Suk himself.
While Han Byul didn’t go on to win the show, the performances were so impressive for her age, YG Entertainment couldn’t let her go. Shortly after her stint on the show, the 6th grader joined the company as a full-fledged trainee.
In 2017, while training under YG Entertainment, Han Byul (whose Swedish name is Katties) appeared on the JTBC drama School of Hip Hop, where she played a multi-talented 12-year-old much like herself.
Between her appearance on K-Pop Star and her acting, fans of YG Entertainment were instantly drawn to the Korean-Swedish tween. Many even hoped she’d debut in the company’s upcoming girl group as a hoobae to BLACKPINK.
However, Han Byul has left YG Entertainment for good. She revealed the reason why in an episode of Mnet survival show CAP-TEEN, which sees aspiring stars aged 11 to 19 battling it out for the chance to release a debut song. Since joining the show, Han Byul has showed off truly impressive skills in singing and rap.
Upon seeing her talent, many international viewers noted that it’s hard to believe she hasn’t debut yet. However, according to Han Byul’s statement, it seems her debut under YG Entertainment would’ve still been a while away.
On the show, Han Byul explained that she entered YG Entertainment when she was in Grade 6, training there for 3 years. But, a few months ago, she decided to end her contract and leave the company.
Han Byul went on to say that despite training for so long, she “couldn’t debut right away“. After some time, she found herself feeling dejected and aimless while she practiced.
When I practiced, I would suddenly wonder, ‘What am I doing here?’. That’s when I thought, ‘I guess I mean nothing here’.
— Han Byul
Judging by Han Byul’s words, it seems the company didn’t truly appreciate her skills. YG Entertainment’s girl group is expected to debut soon, so it’s likely that the debut lineup has already been set, and that Han Byul wasn’t a part of it.
Nevertheless, considering her immense skills on stage, fans have no doubt that she’ll make her debut one way or another, whether as a soloist or as part of a group.
