The K-Pop Girl Group Member That Was Reported To Be In The CIA

There was a rumor that she left to return to the CIA.

Did you know that KARA’s Nicole was once reported to be in the CIA? In 2013, a news article from Old Daily reported that she was actually a secret agent.

Article screenshot. | Nate Pann

[Old Daily, Reporter Gaoni] A shocking report has surfaced alleging that former KARA member Nicole is a CIA agent.

On the 28th, a Japanese weekly magazine published a story citing testimony from a former CIA official, claiming that the U.S. intelligence agency had trained and dispatched young operatives to Korea with the aim of turning them into global stars capable of wielding cultural and diplomatic influence across Asia. The report suggests Nicole may have been one such operative.

Nicole, a U.S. citizen, is widely known for her exceptional talents in singing, dancing, and rapping, as well as her academic excellence before debuting—reportedly ranking first in her class. Her group KARA achieved massive popularity in both Korea and Japan, making a notable impact on East Asia’s pop culture scene.

According to the anonymous source, Nicole was identified as a gifted and passionate individual, leading to her recruitment and training by the CIA at the age of 13. At 15, she was allegedly sent to a mid-sized Korean entertainment agency—acquired in advance by the CIA—as part of a covert operation known as the “KARA Project.” The source claimed that Nicole continued to improve her operational skills through homeschooling in Korea and occasional training trips back to the U.S., even after becoming a well-known idol.

— Old Daily

In response, DSP Media allegedly stated, “We are not aware of any such facts. This would be a personal matter for Nicole, and not something the company is involved in.”

However, the post in question was actually a piece of fiction written by a user on one of KARA’s fan sites. A member using the nickname “Ga**” uploaded the fabricated article to a fan community. In the early morning four days later, around 1:30 AM, the same user followed up with another post explaining the reason behind creating the fake news. Expressing frustration over speculative media coverage about Nicole, the user stated, “After seeing articles about Nicole that didn’t even meet the minimum standards of journalism, I thought, ‘I could write a better one myself.’ So in the end, I posted this fake article about the Nicole CIA theory.”

Interestingly, the fake “Nicole as a CIA agent” article was posted on the same day multiple major Korean and Japanese media outlets reported that Nicole was planning to open a bakery in Japan following her departure from KARA. The explosive buzz across Korean online communities and social media platforms like Facebook, which speculated on a link between Nicole and the CIA, ultimately turned out to be the result of a single fan’s fictional article — a case of internet fiction spiraling into a viral hoax.