Jeon So-min (
Korean: 전소민; born August 22, 1996[2]), known professionally as Somin (소민), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and composer known for her work as a member of the
co-ed groupKard. She previously debuted as a member of
Puretty in 2012 and
April in 2015 under
DSP.[3]
Somin has two older sisters.
Twice member
Jeongyeon is also a distant relative of Somin, as she is the niece of Somin's uncle's wife.[4]
Somin opened her own
YouTube channel, Minny J, on April 9, 2019, to show herself "not as Kard's Jeon So-min, but a lot of as the person Jeon So-min."[5]
On September 5, 2012, Somin debuted in the girl group
Puretty, which was a South Korean group based in Japan. They were planning to debut in South Korea as well.[6] Puretty had their first performance at the 2012 Tokyo Toy Show and sang the song "Check it Love"[7] which is the
theme song for the anime Pretty Rhythm: Dear My Future.[8][9] The group disbanded in January 2014 without making their Korean debut.[10]
In the same year, Somin, along with fellow Puretty members
Yoon Chae-kyung and Cho Shi-yoon, participated in KARA Project, a show which was aimed to find new members for the girl group
KARA.[11][12] Somin finished the show in third place, ultimately being eliminated.[10]
2015–present: Debut with April and Kard
On August 24, 2015, Somin debuted again as a member of the girl group
April. She left the group in November 2015 to focus on her studying.[13][14]
In 2016, Somin became a member of the co-ed group
Kard. They released three pre-debut singles before debuting on July 19, 2017, with the mini-album Hola Hola.[15][16]
In 2018, Somin was featured in a special version of
Super Junior's "
Lo Siento" with her fellow Kard member Jiwoo.[17][18][19][20] She also collaborated with
Pentagon's
Hui in the song "Swim Good," and they performed together on
Mnet's Breakers music show.[21][22][23][24]
In 2019, Somin starred along with
CLC's Seungyeon, celebrity stylist Han Hye-yeon, and other models and
social media influencers in the beauty-themed show Next Beauty Creator, which airs on cable channel OnStyle. The seven cast members uploaded a new video every Tuesday to their YouTube channel, as they battled to earn the most views and subscribers and win the title "Next Beauty Creator." The winner got the backing of the cable network for their work as a beauty influencer for the period of one year, including collaboration opportunities and media appearances.[25]