With 13 members, WJSN is one of the largest girl groups in South Korea. The group is also known as “Cosmic Girls” and has been working its way up ever since their debut in 2016!
In April 2015, two entertainments shook hands. The Korean agency “Starship Entertainment” and the Chinese agency “Yuehua Entertainment” signed a joint contract to produce a Korean-Chinese girl group.
In December of the same year, the two agencies introduced 12 trainees throughout the month who would debut together as WJSN / Cosmic Girls. 9 of them come from Korea and 3 from China. The members are divided into four units “Wonder”, “Joy”, “Sweet” & “Natural”, whose initials form the name “WJSN”. The Wonder Unit was first introduced on December 10th and the Natural Unit was last introduced on December 31st. With that, the girl group was ready for a debut in the new year! Before we continue, we will give you a brief overview of the members:
Wonder Unit
| Artist name | Real name | Birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Bona | Kim Jiyeon | 19.08.1995 |
| Cheng Xiao | Cheng Xiao (Korean name: Jung Seongso) |
15.07.1998 |
| Dayoung | Lim Dayoung | 14.05.1999 |
Dayoung appeared in the first episodes of the survival show K-Pop Star (Season 1) in 2011.
Joy Unit
| Xuanyi | Wu Xuanyi (Korean name: Oh Sunee) |
26.01.1995 |
|---|---|---|
| Eunseo | Son Juyeon | 27.05.1998 |
| Yeoreum | Lee Yeoreum (born Lee Jinsuk) |
10.01.1999 |
Eunso made a guest appearance in her agency colleagues Monsta X's "Rush" music video shortly before WJSN's debut.
Sweet Unit
| Seola | Kim Hyunjung | 24.12.1994 |
|---|---|---|
| EXY | Chu Sojung | 06.11.1995 |
| Soobin | Park Soobin | 14.07.1996 |
EXY was already known to some fans from her appearances in “Unpretty Rapstar” (Season 2); a show in which female rappers show what they can do. Seola appeared in a 2012 music video for the boy band "Boyfriend", which also belongs to Starship Entertainment.
Natural Unit
| Luda | Lee Luda | 06.02.1997 |
|---|---|---|
| Dawon | Nam Dawon | 27.05.1997 |
| Meiqi | Meng Meiqi (Korean Name: Maeng Miki) |
15.10.1998 |
| Yeonjung | Yu Yeonjung | 03.08.1999 |
There are 13 members listed here, because shortly after WJSN's debut, another member was added: Yeonjung. You can find out how this came about right here!
At the beginning of 2016, the members of WJSN were still very active on the way to their debut. Five of them - Xuan Yi, EXY, Dawon, Eunseo and Cheng Xiao - appeared as guests in Yuehua Entertainment's boy group UNIQ's "Happy New Year" music video, and Eunseo appeared in the video for Yoo Seung Woo's "Whatever." In between, Xuan Yi, EXY, Eunseo, Cheng Xiao, Seola and Bona were also featured in “Cosmopolitan” magazine!
On February 25, 2016, WJSN finally debuted the mini album “Would You Like?”
The album peaked at number 7 on the Gaon Album Charts; so it was a success! "Would you like?" contains 6 songs including the title song "MoMoMo" and a Chinese version of it. Since there are several Chinese members, it is not surprising that a Chinese version of the title song is included on subsequent albums.
In March, the girl group released a music video for the B-side “Catch Me”. That was their last activity as a group of twelve!
Four months later, Starship Entertainment confirmed the rumors that WJSN would be expanding with a 13th member: Yu Yeonjung!
Yeonjung participated in the survival show “Produce 101” from January to April 2016 and placed 11th in the finals. This meant she won a place in the eleven-member I.O.I project group, which was supposed to be active together until January 2017.
I.O.I debuted on May 4, 2016 with the mini album “Chrysalis”. Just a month later, a subunit with 7 members was founded that would release an album in the summer. Meanwhile, the other four members turned to their own projects. Two of them - Kang Mina and Kim Sejong - prepared to debut in the girl group “Gugudan”, Jung Chaeyeon returned to her original group “DIA” and Yeonjung joined WJSN.
Before WJSN made their first comeback, seven of them - Seola, EXY, Soobin, Eunseo, Cheng Xiao, Yeoreum and Dayoung - formed a unit called “Y-Teen” together with the 7-member boy group Monsta X, which also belongs to Starship Entertainment. Y-Teen’s first and last single “Do Better” was released on August 6th.
On August 9th, the I.O.I subunit released the single album “Whatta Man (Good Man)” and on August 15th the digital single “Hand in Hand” was released, which all 11 members including Yeonjung recorded together.
WJSN was pretty busy because just a few days later, on August 17th, the group released their second mini-album "The Secret" with all 13 members! The Secret made it to number 6 in the Gaon Album Charts, one step higher than the debut album.
For Yeonjung, things continued straight away; In October I.O.I released their third album “Miss Me?” including the title song “Very Very Very”. The song earned the girl group their first win on a music show!
The year ended for WJSN's fans with the anticipation of a new album, as the girl group announced a comeback in January 2017 in mid-December.
The year 2017 was very exciting for WJSN and its fans in many ways.
First, of course, the previously announced third mini album “From. WJSN” including the title song “I Wish”. The official fan club name was also announced on January 11th. Since then, fans have been able to proudly call themselves “UJUNG”. “Ujung” (우정) is the Korean word for “friendship” and in this case also an abbreviation for “space station (우주 정거장)”. The latter is a reference to the group's Korean name: “Uju Sonyeo (우주소녀)”. This literally means “space girls” (in English: “Cosmic Girls”).
As a reminder: The girl group uses both the name “WJSN” - made up of the initials of the four units - and “Cosmic Girls”.
Both meanings of UJUNG embody the close connection between WJSN and the fans. So perfect!
On January 17th, I.O.I released their final single “Downpour” - written and co-produced by Seventeen's Woozi - before the project group disbanded as planned on January 29th, 2017. From then on, Yeonjung fully focused on her activities with WJSN.
After a 3-month break, things continued quickly for the girl group. WJSN held their first solo concert “Would You Like - Happy Moment” on May 19th & 20th in Seoul, released their fourth album “Happy Moment” in June and a promotional single titled “Kiss Me” for the make-up brand KissMe . By the way, Happy Moment was the first full-length album and contained 10 songs!
After the fan club name was announced in January, there was exciting news for the fans again in September. The official fan colors were announced: Vivid Tangerine, Airforce Blue and Timberwolf. (Simplified: light red-orange, blue-gray, light gray). Also revealed was the official Lightstick, which was released 3 months later in December 2017.
2018 also began with the release of a new album.
It was released on February 27th and is titled “Dream Your Dream.” The girl group's first fan meeting followed in March! However, two of the Chinese members - Xuanyi and Meiqi - were not there because they were already filming for the survival show "Produce 101 China", which aired from April to June.
The show is the Chinese equivalent of “Produce 101” in Korea, where Yeonjung placed 11th and won a spot in the project group I.O.I. Xuanyi and Meiqi even made it to the top in the end! Meiqi took first place, closely followed by Xuanyi in second place! In June 2018, the two made their debut in the project group “Rocket Girls 101”, which would be active for two years and disband in June 2020.
Even before Rocket Girls 101's debut, a unit was formed consisting of Seola and Luda from WJSN and Doyeon and Yoojung from Weki Meki. Weki Meki is a girl group from Fantagio Entertainment, so it was an unexpected project that happily surprised fans. The unit called themselves WJMK and released their first and last digital single “Strong” on June 1st.
In September, WJSN returned as a group with the mini album “WJ Please?”. But this time only ten people. As expected, Xuanyi and Meiqi were with Rocket Girls 101 and the third Chinese member Cheng Xiao was filming a historical fantasy series in China called “Legend of Awakening”. So WJSN 10 got their first win on a music show with the theme song “Save Me, Save You,” over two and a half years after their debut!
WJSN was also on the road with ten people in 2019.
The girl group released three albums that year: “WJ Stay?” (January), “For the Summer” (June) & “As You Wish” (November). A personal record, because in previous years there were always two.
2019 was not the last year with 10 members. Xuanyi, Meiqi and Cheng Xiao have not returned to their activities with WJSN to date. Meiqi and Cheng debuted solo in China and can also be seen in films and variety shows there. Xuanyi has not yet made a solo debut, but has also appeared in films and shows in China and has sung on several soundtracks.
In 2020, WJSN felt the impact of Covid-19 like the rest of the world.
The Korean stops of their “2020 WJSN Concert ‘Obiliviate’” tour, which was supposed to take place in February, have been postponed. The Japanese concerts had to be canceled completely.
In June, the girl group presented their new album “Neverland” including the title song “Butterfly”. It is the group's first album to sell over 100,000 copies, making it one of their most successful projects to date!
Three months later, the very first sub-unit “WJSN CHOCOME” was announced! The girl group had already been involved in unit projects with other groups like Monsta X and Weki Meki several times, but now it was finally time for an internal unit that would last permanently. WJSN CHOCOME consists of four members - Soobin, Luda, Yeoreum & Dayoung - and made their solo debut on October 7th with the single album “Hmph!”
As is often the case, the first event in 2021 was the release of a new album.
Since there's hardly anything better for fans than new music from their favorite girl group, this is of course the perfect start. “Unnatural” was released on March 31st with the title song of the same name. WJSN unfortunately has to perform from the end of April without Dayoung, who took a break due to her autoimmune disease.
Fans could at least be happy about the founding of the second subunit WJSN THE BLACK! Like WJSN CHOCOME, it consists of four members - Seola, EXY, Bona and Eunseo - and debuted on May 12th with the single album “My Attitude”.
Shortly before, on May 4th, I.O.I hosted a livestream to mark the fifth anniversary since their debut. Although the project group was active together for less than a year and disbanded in January 2017, fans have always hoped for a reunion of the group. The livestream was a small gift for the fans and of course for the group itself, who have experienced a lot together in one year. There were 9 members present at the livestream. Unfortunately, Mina and Jieqiong couldn't be there, but Jieqiong was at least there through a video call!
Four months later, in September, the digital single “Let Me In” was released by WJSN, in collaboration with the music platform “Universe”.
2022 promised early on to be a special year for WJSN!
On January 5th, WJSN CHOCOME's second single album "Super Yuppers!" was released, and in late February, it was confirmed that WJSN would be featured on the second season of the popular music competition "Queendom"!
From March to June, WJSN competed in several rounds against other well-known girl groups - Brave Girls, Viviz, Hyolyn, Loona & Kep1er - in the fight for the crown. Unfortunately, WJSN only had eight. Dawon had withdrawn in February due to anxiety and Bona was still filming the series “Twenty-Five Twenty-One” at the time. To the delight of the fans, Bona was added in the third round. In the end there were 9 members who received the trophy in the final on June 2nd. After being in 2nd place almost continuously, WJSN finally prevailed over them and took the win! A sensational success for the girl group!
Afterwards, fans had no time to think about what would come next, because just one day after the finale, WJSN announced a comeback: The single album “Sequence” will be released on July 5th!
Finally, you can find WJSN's complete discography here:
| Album | Title song | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Would You Like? | MoMoMo | 25.02.2016 |
| The Secret | Secret | 17.08.2016 |
| From. WJSN | I Wish | 04.01.2017 |
| Happy Moment | Happy | 07.06.2017 |
| Dream Your Dream | Dreams Come True | 27.02.2018 |
| WJ Please? | Save Me, Save You | 19.09.2018 |
| WJ Stay? | La La Love | 08.01.2019 |
| For the Summer | Boogie Up | 04.06.2019 |
| As You Wish | As You Wish | 19.11.2019 |
| Neverland | Butterfly | 09.06.2020 |
| Unnatural | Unnatural | 31.03.2021 |
| Sequence | 05.07.2022 |
Bonus
Have you noticed that two of the members of WJSN share their birthdays on the same day? Both Dawon and Eunseo were born on May 27th! There is a year between the two. Dawon was born in 1997 and Eunseo in 1998. An unlikely coincidence!
