On August 18, Tuesday, ITZY appeared as guests on MBC's Idol Radio to promote their latest title track "NOT SHY" and took the time to answer questions sent in by fans.
One fan had mentioned that Ryujin, the group's center, was scouted by JYP Entertainment at a GOT7 fan meeting. "Ryujin was an ahgase who went to GOT7's fan meeting to see the group. And now she's their direct junior. Just shows you never know what will happen in life."
GOT7 member Youngjae is currently MC-ing at the radio show and appeared amused by the fan-submitted comment. "Did you really come to see us?" He asked. "Then you like all seven of us?" This led everyone to start laughing.
Fellow labelmate and DAY6 member Young K said, "Is that important? What's important is the GOT7 part!" Youngjae replied that he was curious about who Ryujin liked in the group. The two hosts encouraged Ryujin to clarify.
There, she revealed that she became a fan of the group when she in her first year of middle school. MC Young K then decided to ask about her bias. "Your favorite can be different from who got you interested in the group. So who first made you enter the fandom?"
Ryujin clapped back with a witty and funny response, saying, "You can't be picky with the members. You need to like all the members." Looks like she liked the group as a whole!
Ryujin went on to say that the day she got scouted was her first-ever GOT7 fan meeting. Youngjjae joked, saying, "That was when I was really ugly." His comment led everyone to laugh and Ryujin replied that he was never ugly.
Youngjae expressed his gratitude to Ryujin that he continued to be their fan and that GOT7 will try to have a comeback soon.
Talk about being a successful fangirl!
Check out the whole episode below:
ABOUT RYUJIN
Ryujin debuted with ITZY in 2019 under JYP Entertainment. She is the group's main rapper, lead dancer, sub-vocalist, and center. Prior to her debut, she appeared in BTS's Love Yourself Highlight Reel as Jimin and J-Hope's pair. She also appeared as a member of the girl's team on "Stray Kids".
In 2017, she was a contestant on JTBC's "MIXNINE". She consistently ranked first place in the girl's team, from the first episode to the final. Despite ranking first place, the girls' team ultimately lost to the boys' team, so she did not make her debut through the show. At the time, YG Entertainment had offered Ryujin a spot in the company, but she chose to stick with JYP Entertainment. That year, Ryujin also appeared in the movie "The King".
With ITZY, the group had one of the biggest debuts in K-Pop history, with their song "Dalla Dalla" peaking at number two on the Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart and sold 2,000 downloads in the first week. It broke the record for the most viewed K-Pop debut music video within 24 hours on YouTube, surpassing 17.1 million views. Eight days after their debut, they won their first music show win, making them the fastest girl group to achieve their first music show win. The song has since earned platinum certification since it surpassed 100 million streams on the Gaon Music Chart.
Since their debut, the group has embarked o a showcase tour called "ITZY? ITZY!" The group started touring through Asia and then head to the United States.
