Former Top Tier K-Pop Girl Group Member Reveals How The Company Isolated Them For Years

They couldn’t even see their family.

Former Brave Girls (now BB Girls) member Yejin, who debuted with the group in 2011 and left in 2014, recently opened up about the struggles she faced during her idol years. In a candid interview on YouTube channel One Mic, she revealed the intense restrictions and hardships that ultimately led her to walk away from the industry.

Yejin in Brave Girls

According to Yejin, one of the most difficult parts of her time as an idol was the strict control her agency imposed.

“It was really a mix of reasons. Things are probably much better now, but at the time, our company was managing its first girl group, so they were very strict. At music shows, we weren’t allowed to get close to other singers. They even followed us to the bathroom. I think it was to prevent dissatisfaction from building up if we socialized too much. But the hardest part was that I couldn’t meet or talk to my family, and that went on for two to three years. Also, we weren’t making money, so it felt like I had no sense of achievement.”

She emphasized that she was torn between chasing her dreams and getting herself out of the situation.

“Becoming an idol was something I desperately wanted, so I struggled with the decision. But I was so young back then, I couldn’t handle it. I even went through depression. Since it was the job I wanted most, after I quit, I couldn’t bring myself to watch music shows anymore. It had been my dream since I was little, but watching them only made me jealous and envious, wondering, ‘Why am I in this position?’ That’s why even now, I don’t really follow girl groups or boy groups.”

Now, Yejin has built a new life as a successful show host, but her story highlights the darker side of the K-Pop industry and the extreme lengths some companies went to in managing their idols—leaving them cut off from friends, family, and even simple human interactions for years.