Beloved K-Drama Actress Was Once A Trainee At SM Entertainment With BoA

She went on to become one of South Korea’s most successful celebrities.

Did you know that actress Jang Na Ra was once a trainee at SM Entertainment? She was one out of the only two female trainees back then. At that stage, there was only Jang Na Ra and BoA in the company as female trainees. They trained with trainees such as Fly To The Sky‘s Hwanhee and Brian Joo.

Things happened as her original label, ONE UP Entertainment, was invested in by SM Entertainment. They decided to merge the training system as SM Entertainment was preparing for its next girl group. Jang Na Ra trained with BoA and other male trainees for 4 years under SM Entertainment. BoA debuted first as a soloist, while Jang Na Ra was to debut with other trainees as a girl group. SM Entertainment had been looking for more female trainees when they were suddenly registered on KOSDAQ. The expansion led to the company deciding to debut Jang Na Ra as a soloist. Her first album contained both ONE UP and SM Entertainment’s logos.

Jang Na Ra’s first album shot to fame as she gained attention on the sitcom New Nonstop, leading her to sell 320,000 copies in total. This was a huge number for Korean singers back then as the market was limited.

Later, Jang Na Ra would go on to have a total of 6 Korean albums and 3 Chinese ones. She became a successful singer and actress.