One of the idol groups that suit various concepts is Weki Meki. It is a girl group under Fantagio with 8 members. They are Suyeon, Elly, Yoojung, Doyeon, Sei, Lua, Rina, and Lucy. But, we’re not going to talk about the whole group. In fact, we will learn more about Rina! In Weki Meki, Rina is in charge of the rapper, vocalist, and lead dancer position. She is one of the youngest members too, along with Lucy who was born in 2002. So, is Rina her real name? What is she like, and what are her charms? Scroll down to find out more!
Weki Meki’s Rina’s Profile
There are a lot of things that you should know about Rina. She is a girl with a lot of charms and talents. But first, let’s see the profile of Rina! Full Name: Kang So-eun Given Name: Soeun Stage Name: Rina Korean Name: 리나 / 강소은 Nicknames: Kkangsso, Sobuk Sobuk, Kang Rina, The Golden Apple, Turtle King, Kang So, Goddess of Mood, etc. Birthday: September 27th, 2001 Age: 21 (Korean age, as of 2021) Nationality: Korean Height: 161 cm Weight: 41 kg Blood Type: O MBTI: INFJ Specialty: She is able to move only one eyebrow Hobby: Dance Family: Parents, two older sisters, two older brothers Position: Sub-vocal, lead dancer Debut Year: 2017 Agency: Fantagio Group: Weki Meki
Weki Meki’s Rina’s Facts
After seeing her profile, now we know that Rina is not her actual name. But besides that essential info about her, there are more facts about Rina that will make you fall for her. Let’s see the list of Rina’s interesting facts!
Rina uses iPhone XS. When Rina was in high school, she went to the same class as April’s Jinsol. She said that she wanted to be friends with April’s Jinsol. Rina’s favorites fruits are apples, strawberries, pineapples, pears, and oranges. Rina’s painting skills are really great. Even though both Rina and Lucy are the youngest members, the two of them are said to be having mature looks. Rina is part of the “dance-line” in Weki Meki along with Yoojung. They have even done dance covers of some K-pop songs. Rina is a fan of Studio Ghibli.
Weki Meki’s Rina’s Pre-Debut
We have seen the profile and the list of Rina’s interesting facts. The next thing you need to know about her is the history of Rina. Well, that would be too exaggerating. But for real, we won’t know her truly if we don’t know what’s the story behind her debut, right? Before Rina decided to be an idol, there must be an interesting story about her. So, let’s check out the story before Rina debuted as a Weki Meki member! Rina was born with the name Kang So-eun. Even though Rina sounds like a real name, but Rina is just a stage name. But from now on, let’s just call her Rina instead of her real name. Rina was born and raised in Seoul. She was born in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on September 27th, 2001. Rina lived with her parents, two older brothers, and two older sisters. Rina is the youngest member of her family. Rina has been interested in K-pop since she was younger. She is also a fan of EXO. Before she debuted as a Weki Meki member, Rina was a part of a dance group called NYDANCE. Rina has done covers of a lot of K-pop songs such as f(x), 4Minute, etc. She is also one of the dancers who provide the tutorials of the dancing. Let’s check out some clips of Rina when she was still in NYDANCE!
Can you spot Rina? She was still young back then, but her aura cannot be hiding. Of course, Rina who has been into dancing when she was in middle school tried to join an audition. She once auditioned for Cube Entertainment, the agency of PENTAGON, BTOB, CLC, and G(I)-dle. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the path for her to debut in Cube Entertainment. So, she tried out other auditions. Eventually, she joined an audition for Fantagio. It’s the agency that was known for actors and actresses, but they also had ASTRO, a boy group that debuted in 2016. Rina passed the audition and she became a trainee there.
Weki Meki’s Rina’s Debut
Rina might have failed to pass some K-pop agencies’ auditions, but that’s because destiny wanted her to be in Weki Meki. Unlike the average K-pop idols, Rina only took a year of being a trainee before debuting as an idol. Rina joined Fantagio in 2016 and debuted in 2017. Back in 2016, some trainees of Fantagio joined Produce 101 Season 1 and managed to debut as members of I.O.I. They are Kim Doyeon and Kim Yoojung, who gained attention from people due to their performances in Produce 101 Season 1. So, since I.O.I was only a project group, then people were anticipating the group that both Doyeon and Yoojung would be in. After the contract for I.O.I ended, Fantagio announced that both Yoojung and Doyeon would be debuting in a new girl group. They are part of female trainees in Fantagio called I-Teen Girls. However, the members of their upcoming girl group were not yet released. In June 2017, Fantagio revealed the members who were going to debut with both Doyeon and Yoojung. There were six trainees in total who were introduced in a live broadcast. One of the trainees who were revealed was Rina. She was the seventh member that was included in the line-up. So, the group consists of Suyeon, Elly, Yoojung, Doyeon, Sei, Lua, Rina, and Lucy. Before the group’s name was revealed, they asked the fans about what kind of name would suit them. And finally, the group released that they would debut with the name Weki Meki. On August 8th, 2017, Weki Meki launched their first single titled “I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend”. Just like the title, the song is about a girl who dislikes her crush’s girlfriend. Such a rom-com drama, right? Let’s check out the song by Weki Meki “I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend” in their music video below!
If you’re interested in making a cover of the dance just like Rina did before she debuted, you might as well check out this video. It’s a video of Weki Meki’s “I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend”, but you can only see them performing the dance. Check it out!
What do you think about Weki Meki’s debut era? Even though Rina only trained for a year, her skills are really good, right? She’s already like a pro in her rookie days!
