Siyeon

Siyeon

### Signature

**Siyeon** (시연) is the fourth and final member of the South Korean girl band QWER. She serves as the main vocalist and occasionally a guitarist.

## Career

### Early Life

According to Siyeon's own telling, she used to sit in her room and play computer games for many hours a day. But, since elementary school, she had an inexplicable motivation to become an idol. She enjoyed listening to music and singing, and wanted to be on stage. However, she had extreme stage fright, and couldn't even do a class presentation, let alone sing in front of a crowd.

### 2018-2020 - Busking with Napulnapul, Korean training, first AKB48 audition

She went to an arts high school and started auditioning and performing. In her second or third year, she joined a Korean agency to prepare for a K-pop debut. In her last year of high school, Siyeon was a part of the busking group Napulnapul, who performed idol song and dances in Hongdae, Seoul. She injured her ankle later that year and was forced to take the rest of the year off.

After her Korean debut was cancelled in 2020, she felt miserable seeing all her friends in university studying while she was stuck stagnant. So, she gave up her lifelong dream of being a Korean idol and decided to study in Japan, aided by her strong Japanese. She got into a good university and had a new hope.

Then one day, she saw an audition announcement for AKB48, a group she had been a fan of for years and years. She thought she wouldn't be selected, so she applied for their 7th Generation auditions mostly as a joke. She flew to Japan for an interview, and a few days later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Despite not being able to make it to the final round of auditions, she eagerly awaited an acceptance letter that never came. She struggled with depression for a time before COVID-19 restrictions lifted slightly in 2021.

### 2021-2023 - Moving to Japan and NMB48

Siyeon took advantage of the lifted travel restrictions to move to Japan alone in January 2021. She got a part-time job and picked up every shift possible, working from open to close.

In March of 2021, she received an email from AKB48's entertainment company, offering her an additional audition to join the 7.5th Generation of AKB48. In August she was accepted as the first Korean member of their sister group, NMB48. She took the stage name しよみん (Shiyomin), as not to conflict with sister group SDN48's Siyeon.

She entered NMB48 as a Kenkyuusei (Research Student), a trainee-like position, before being promoted to NMB48 Team M as a fully fledged idol in 2022. After this promotion, she found it difficult to shine among the more senior members. Despite this, she placed 2nd in the AKB48 singing competition, and went on many Japanese variety shows as a foreigner idol.

However, the Japanese idol salary is not fixed and is paid monthly. Since Siyeon was a less popular member, she was not making enough money to sustain herself, and was not allowed to take on a second job. Though she didn't want to, she announced her graduation from NMB48 on June 30, 2023, and had her final theatre performance and graduation ceremony on August 8.

### Late 2023 - Debut with QWER

While considering her next move, she received a casting call from QWER. With her future as a Japanese idol gone, she agreed to join the band as their main vocalist and become an idol again in Korea.

On August 15, Siyeon officially announced that she would be joining QWER as their main vocalist under the name Siyeon. She officially made her debut with QWER on October 18, 2023 with their debut single, *Harmony from Discord*.

## Discography

### NMB48

* Honma ni Thank You (2022)
* Naze, Boku wa Tachiagaru no ka? (2022)
* Souzou no Pistol (2023)
* Seishun no Lap Time (2023)

## References

1. ↑ Siyeon Instagram Broadcast Channel 23.12.08
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Siyeon 23.12.10 Naver Fancafe Update
3. ↑ Bugs! Korea: Harmony of Stars
4. ↑ Bugs! Korea: Discord