DARKPINK

Is a South Korean Girl Group under ESC Entertainment initially planned to have 6-9 members but the company settled with 4 individuals named **Hyejin Son, June Park, Daeun Lee & Kaori Okada**. The group was formed in a span of 4 years since 2020 with just Hyejin & June initially as trainees with minimal facilities at the time.

## Background

### Label(s)

Interscope (US Label)Tachikawa (JPN Label)

ESC Entertainment

## Members

### Active

Hyejin Son, June Park,

Daeun Lee,

Kaori Okada

## **[Pre-debut 2020-2024]**

Since the company did not have enough resources to debut them, a 15 year old Hyejin Son & 16 year old June Park had to have early training years under the guidance of their then personal manager Henry. They’d have small gigs in schools and even a few commercials. Hyejin would go on to focus more on learning how to compose & produce music while June would continue her modelling gigs for her gifted visuals. Both were the first two members to be announced to be part of the group. Hyejin debuted as Leader & Main Vocalist while June became the Main Rapper & Visual.

Fast forward to 2022 the company scouted more trainees in preparation for their first group. The casting found their 3rd member named **Daeun Lee** that would debut as Main Dancer & Lead Rapper for the group. She was casted at a ballet recital where she was one of the youngest performers. She’d go on to be the main dancer of the group but 2 more trainees were casted from that same school recital. **Eunice Choi**, who did not make it to the final cut of Darkpink but is still currently under ESC entertainment’s management and then there’s **Zephanie Kim** another gifted performer who would go on to become a Soloist under the company.

The final member was scouted in 2023, a year before the group’s debut. **Kaori Okada**, a Japanese-Korean born & raised in Shibuya Japan was scouted & brought to Korea. She had already trained with ESC when she was 14 years old but by the time the group was being formed she went back to Japan to finish High School & was later on brought back again to Korea to train with the other members of Darkpink for their debut.

 June Park
 Daeun Lee
 Kaori Okada

## **[Debut-Rookie Year]**

The group made their debut with a single-album named ***XOXO The Takeover*** on April 5, 2024. The title ***XOXO*** would instantly blow-up on the Korean Charts and would reach the no.1 spot while its B-side track ***The Takeover*** would be no.2 on the charts. At the time the album did not have a definite concept nor does the girl group. They would soon experiment on different concepts as they explored their creative sides. The title track would win in all 3 monthly awards & ‘XOXO’ would give the group their first music show win in Ikimana and would later on win on other music shows. By the end of promotions the group would also have wins for their B-side for a total of 13 Music Show wins with just their debut release. Both of the tracks had Music Videos.

After just a few months from debut the group would have their comeback. On June 14,2024, the group released their first mini-album titled ‘Bad Girls’. The title track of the same name would soon become their 2nd no.1 hit and the album would give them their first Seasonal Awards Show wins. By the end of the year they would win at the 2024 Kpop Story Music Awards for the first time as Rookie of the Year & Artist if the Year.

## **[Career Highlights]**

With increasing pressure to continue their string of success the group immediately went back to the recording studio for their next comeback *Iridescent* this time an EP with 4 tracks that would drop on May 2, 2025. The title track of the same name would go on to be the group's signature sound which was a mix of eerie, mellow & dance-pop. 'Iridescent' (the track) gave the group their first Song of The Year Award. Later that same year the group released their first full album titled 'Higher & Higher' which would become their 4th consecutive no.1 on the charts both in Korea & Japan.

Following the success of 2025 the group embarked on their first Asian Concert Tour form March of 2026 to November of the same year, having stops starting from South Korea, then Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand & 7 more additional stops before having their encore performance in Japan. The group has since topped the charts with their succeeding releases including *Forever* (EP) on Nov 5, 2026 & *Queen* (Album) released on March 6, 2027.

## **Discography**

South Korean Releases
 Mini Albums
 Extended Plays
 Single Album

## **Endorsements**

* Samsung Galaxy Phones & Tablets
* Globe Telco.