Kim Ji-woo (, ; born October 20, 1999), known professionally by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Chuu (), is a South Korean singer and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. She is a former member of the

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Loona Loona (commonly stylized in all caps or as LOOΠΔ; ; ja, 今月の少女, Kongetsu no Shōjo, Girl of the Month) is a South Korean girl group formed by Blockberry Creative. The group was introduced to the public through a pre-debut project ...

and its sub-unit,

yyxy Loona yyxy (commonly stylized as LOONA yyxy or LOOΠΔ yyxy, abbreviation for ''Youth youth by young'') is the third sub-unit of the South Korean girl group Loona, formed through a pre-debut project titled ''"Girl of the Month"''. The unit co ...

Early life

Kim Ji-woo was born on October 20, 1999, in

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

North Chungcheong North Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청북도, ''Chungcheongbuk-do''), also known as Chungbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Chungcheong has a population of 1,578,934 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Hoseo region in the s ...

, South Korea. She is the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. For her audition she sang "

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

" by Beyoncé. Her stage name "Chuu" is derived from saying her given name quickly. She graduated from Cheongju's Saet-byul Elementary school () and San-nam Middle school ().

Career

Loona

On December 14, 2017, Chuu was revealed as the tenth member of the

Korean idol An idol () refers to a type of celebrity working in the field of K-pop in fandom culture in South Korea, either as a member of a group or as a solo act. K-pop idols are characterized by the highly manufactured star system that they are produced by ...

. As part of the group's pre-debut release strategy, on December 28, she released her self-titled single album with "Heart Attack" as its title track. ''Chuu'' reached number 8 on the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart The Circle C ...

. She was introduced as part of Loona's third sub-unit Loona yyxy. The sub-unit includes members Yves, Gowon and HyeJu, and their EP, '' Beauty & the Beat'', was released on May 30, 2018, reached number 4 on the Gaon Album Chart. She officially debuted with the whole group on August 20 with the EP '' +', which peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart.

Removal from Loona

On November 25, 2022, Blockberry Creative announced on the official fancafe that Chuu had been expelled from Loona, citing "reports of abuse of power, such as Chuu's abusive language towards our staff." Chuu was then caught up in rumors of power abuse, transfer, and bullying within her company. Blockberry Creative refused to reveal evidence concerning the rumors of power abuse to the public, facing criticism and skepticism from fans, with some industry professionals who had previously worked with Chuu questioning the allegations made against her. At the end of 2021, she filed an application for a provisional injunction against her agency, Blockberry Creative, to suspend the exclusive contract. It was also reported that the April 2022, she had founded her own company, with herself as the CEO.

Television career

On May 10, 2019, Chuu made her acting debut and starred in the web drama ''Dating Class'' as Han Eun-sol. In July to September, she co-hosted the second season of the variety show ''Insane Quiz Show'' with MJ of

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), a ...

and Il-hoon of

BtoB } BtoB ( ; ; acronym for Born to Beat; often stylized as BTOB) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2012 by Cube Entertainment. The group consists of Seo Eun-kwang, Lee Min-hyuk, Lee Chang-sub, Im Hyun-sik, Peniel Shin and Yook Sung-jae. O ...

. The show brings in two celebrity guests each episode and have them partake with them in various challenges. In January 2020, Chuu appeared at MBC's ''

2020 Lunar New Year Idol Star Championships The 2020 Idol Star Championships Lunar New Year Special () was held at Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon was broadcast on MBC on 24–27 January 2020. Cast Presenters Jun Hyun-moo, Super Junior's Leeteuk and Dahyun (Twice Twice (; Japane ...

''. However, MBC was inundated with criticism because it was discovered that a male staff pulled her hair. In March 2020, Chuu competed in ''

King of Mask Singer ''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...

'' under the name "Spring Girl", a character who dressed in a spring outfit with flowers in her hair and a flat paper mask that covers her eyes and mouth. She was eliminated in the second of the two days of competition. In December, she co-starred in ''Running Girls'', a

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

show where five K-pop idols form a running team and try out different running courses in South Korea. In March 2021, Chuu was a regular panelist in the Channel A show ''

Steel Troops ''Steel Troops'' () is a South Korean reality show broadcast on Channel A and skyTV. Dubbed a "military survival program," the show features male South Korean reservists who served in various special forces units across different branches of the ...

'' where she comments on teams from Korea's armed forces competing against each other. She appeared as a model for a

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

of Dong-a Otsuka's

Pocari Sweat , Pokari Suetto is a Japanese sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical. It was launched in 1980, and is mostly well known across Asia and the Middle East; it is also available in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Mexico. Poc ...

. She also appeared in a television commercial of

Samsung Galaxy Store Samsung Galaxy Store (marketed as Galaxy Store; formerly known as Samsung Apps and Galaxy Apps) is an app store used for devices manufactured by Samsung Electronics that was launched in September 2009. The service is primarily supplied pre-inst ...

in May 2021, South Korean chicken brand "Chicken Maru", mobile RTS game "Warpath", and

BC Card BC Card (Hangul: 비씨카드) is a South Korean financial services company headquartered in Seoul. South Korea's largest payment processing company, it provides end-to-end payment services, primarily to financial institutions, as well as to loca ...

. She participated in the reality documentary show ''

Law of the Jungle "The law of the jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the Law of the Jungle as "''the code of survival in jungle life'', now usual ...

'' for the episodes titled "Spring Special in Jeju".

Musical career

On June 27, 2022, Chuu released the single "Lullaby" with B.I as a collaboration with Dingo Music. On August 11, it was announced that Chuu would release "One and Half", a remake of the 1994 track by Two Two, on September 4. On October 16, Chuu released a remake of the 1999 Park Hye-kyung's song "Confession" as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at s ...

of the 2022 film '' Similar''. On December 5, 2022, Chuu released "Dear My Winter" with South Korean R&B singer George as part of

Lotte Shopping Lotte Shopping Co., Ltd. (), a distribution unit of Lotte Group, is a multinational retailer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1979, Lotte Shopping operates various retail stores, including department stores, outlet stores, hyperma ...

's "Songs for You" series. On February 23, 2023, Chuu released "Let's Love" with Kim Yo-han, which is part of Project Restless. In April 2023, Chuu signed an exclusive contract with a new entertainment company, ATRP. On September 18, 2023, ATRP announced that Chuu would be making her debut as a solo artist on October 18, with her first extended play ''Howl'' and the lead single of the same name.

Other ventures

In addition to singing and participating in television shows, Chuu hosts her own web series on YouTube called ''Chuu Can Do It'' where she spreads awareness about the need to protect the Earth through environmentally friendly practices. In 2021, Chuu hosted ''Hauteur'', a web series that was made in collaboration with

Lotte Department Store Lotte Department Store () is a Korean retail company established in 1979, and headquartered in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Lotte Department Store offers retail consumer goods and services and is one out of 8 business units of Lotte ...

to help promote their store among

generation Z Generation Z (or more commonly Gen Z for short), colloquially known as zoomers, is the Western demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting bir ...

Philanthropy

On December 28, 2022, Chuu announced through her YouTube channel that all proceeds from the merchandise sold at the Jiwoo store were donated to the Korea Music Power Plant to improve the welfare of musicians.

Personal life

In February 2018, Chuu graduated from

Hanlim Multi Art School Hanlim Multi Art School ( ko, 한림연예예술고등학교) is an arts high school located in Songpa District in Seoul, South Korea. History Hanlim School was founded on 3 March 1962, with Lee Hyeon-man being appointed school principal. In 2 ...

alongside her Loona groupmate Kim Lip. In the wake of a wave of bullying allegations against various stars in the

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, g ...

industry, Chuu was one of the people accused of bullying at school in February 2021. However, the accuser apologized for the false claims as they were found to be unfounded after Blockberry Creative announced that they would be taking legal action against the accuser.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Promotional singles

Soundtrack appearances

Compilation appearances

Videography

Music videos

Filmography

Television series

Web series

Television shows

Web shows

Tours

Howl in USA

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 births Living people 21st-century South Korean women singers South Korean women pop singers South Korean female idols South Korean dance music singers South Korean television personalities South Korean YouTubers English-language singers from South Korea Japanese-language singers of South Korea Dance-pop musicians People from Cheongju Musicians from North Chungcheong Province Hanlim Multi Art School alumni Gimhae Kim clan Loona (group) members