Kwon Mina (; born September 21, 1993), mononymously known as Mina'','' is a former South Korean singer and actress. She was a vocalist and rapper of the girl group
AOA and bassist of the sub-unit
AOA Black. Kwon has acted in television dramas, including ''
Modern Farmer'' (2014) and ''
All About My Mom'' (2015).
Early life
Kwon was born on September 21, 1993, in
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, South Korea. She auditioned for FNC in 2009, and her family moved from Busan to
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
soon after.
Career
2012–2014: Debut with AOA and solo activities
On July 30, 2012, Kwon made her debut as a member of AOA on Mnet's ''
M Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...
'' with the song "Elvis" from their debut single album, ''
Angels' Story''. She was also part of band unit
AOA Black, established in 2013. Due to her father's death on November 29, 2014, Kwon took some time off from career activities and did not participate in some promotions for "
Like a Cat".
In 2013, Kwon debuted as an actress with the
KBS2
KBS 2TV is a South Korean free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen ...
drama special ''Adolescence Medley'', where she played Yoon Jin-yeong.
In February 2014, she played the younger role of Kim Hee-sun's character, Cha Hye-won, in the KBS drama ''
Wonderful Days''. Kwon had her first lead role in the SBS weekend drama ''
Modern Farmer'', which aired from October to December 2014.
2015–2017: Continued solo activities
On February 26, 2015, Kwon appeared in the music video for solo singer Shade's song "Bad". In May, Kwon made her debut as an
MC with Y-Star's variety show ''Gourmet Road''. In August, she was appointed as co-MC on ''
Weekly Idol'' with
Apink
Apink (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by IST Entertainment, (formerly Play M Entertainment, A Cube Entertainment, and Plan A Entertainment) and managed by Choi Creative Lab as of April 2024. The group debuted on April 19, 2011, with the ...
's Hayoung and
VIXX
VIXX ( pronounced "vicks"; acronym for "voice, visual, value in excelsis") is a South Korean boy band formed by Jellyfish Entertainment through the 2012 reality show ''MyDOL''. Originally a sextet, the group is currently composed of four members: ...
's
N, starting from September 2. On September 9, Kwon and
Nam Joo-hyuk appeared in the music video for solo singer
Kangnam's song "Chocolate". On December 5, she joined the cast of the KBS weekend drama ''
All About My Mom'', starting from episode 33. She played Go Aeng-doo, a pretty and innocent, yet mysterious young lady.
In March 2016, Kwon starred in the seven-part web drama ''Click Your Heart'', produced by her agency FNC Entertainment, where she played a cheerful, but clumsy, 18-year-old high school student who forms friendships and love triangles with four boys. In 2017, she has been cast in the remake of 1986's horror movie ''Woman's Wail'', and in the hospital drama ''Hospital Ship'' as a nurse. She compiled an essay collection of quotes and wisdom that are personally meaningful to her titled ''Stars Don't Lose Their Way at Night'' that was published on November 1, 2017.
Kwon won the Hallyu Star Award at the
10th Korea Drama Awards for her role in ''
Hospital Ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...
''.
2018–present: Continued success, group departure and label changes
In February 2018, it was revealed that Kwon will also join the cast of
KBS weekday drama ''
Queen of Mystery 2'' as police officer Shin Na-ra. The same year, she was cast in the web drama ''Wind-Bell'' and in ''
Loss Time Life'', the remake of a Japanese drama of the same name.
On May 13, 2019, Kwon left AOA after deciding not to renew her contract with FNC Entertainment, in order to pursue her acting career.
On July 1, 2019, it was announced that Kwon had signed with O& Entertainment.
In 2020, she left O& Entertainment and signed with Woori Actors.
On September 26, 2020, Kwon left the agency.
Personal life
Bullying allegations against Jimin
On July 3, 2020, Kwon alleged in an
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
post that AOA member
Shin Ji-min had bullied her for a decade, which led to her withdrawal from the group in 2019. She posted a photo of her scarred wrist and claimed to have attempted suicide as a result of the bullying. Shin reportedly responded to the accusations by posting the word "fiction" to her
Instagram Stories
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
before deleting it shortly after. Kwon criticized the post, stating, "Fiction? It's too scary to say it's fiction." The next day, Shin apologized to Kwon through an instagram post and left AOA and the entertainment industry entirely due to the allegations.
Mental health
On August 6, 2020, Kwon posted a photograph on Instagram with the caption "Jinri-
ya, I miss you", which was believed to be a reference to
Sulli
Choi Jin-ri (; March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), known professionally as Sulli (), was a South Korean singer and actress. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the Seoul Broadcasting Sy ...
(Choi Jin-ri) of
f(x), who committed suicide in 2019. In a separate post, Kwon revealed that she had recently been hospitalized after a relapse in self harm, following a
KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk (), commonly referred to as KaTalk () in South Korea, is an instant messenger and online services platform operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched in 2010 and the app is available on mobile and desktop platforms.
KakaoTalk is ...
conversation she had with an FNC Entertainment representative who believed Shin's apology to be sincere. She expressed anger at the possibility of Shin resuming activities and finished the post by begging the company to be more considerate of their artists. Two days later, in a since-deleted Instagram post, Kwon shared a graphic image of her slit wrist accompanied by an apparent
suicide note
A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who intends to die by suicide.
A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depend on ethnic ...
stating:
FNC officials notified authorities immediately upon seeing the post and she was transported to the hospital. At the end of October, Kwon left FNC and went on a career hiatus to focus on her recovery.
Discography
Filmography
Television series
Reality show
Variety show
Music video appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, Mina
AOA (group) members
1993 births
Living people
K-pop singers
South Korean female idols
South Korean women pop singers
Singers from Busan
FNC Entertainment artists
South Korean television personalities
South Korean dance musicians
South Korean television actresses
South Korean web series actresses
South Korean rhythm and blues singers
Japanese-language singers of South Korea
Mandarin-language singers of South Korea
21st-century South Korean actresses
21st-century South Korean women singers
Actresses from Busan
Actresses from Seoul