Who is Cho Mi-yeon? K-pop idol almost joined BLACKPINK as fifth member

After releasing its debut song in 2016, BLACKPINK instantly touched unprecedented heights of success.

Before their anticipated debut, the South Korean girl group comprising Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa were dedicated trainees at management company, YG.

Though the quartet has now become a staple for the girl group, the number of members wasn’t always the same.

It has been widely speculated that Cho-Miyeon was also among the front-runners to join BLACKPINK before its debut; however, she was pulled from the group only six months before its debut for undisclosed reasons.

Reports suggested that it had something to do with her relationship with Mix & Match contestant Jinhyeong at the time.

For the unversed, YG Entertainment has imposed a dating ban on its employees, hence why BLACKPINK members are rarely ever involved in a public romance.

According to Amino Apps, Mi-yeon was among the nine trainees to have been shortlisted for the group debut, however, she failed to impress the selection committee at the time.

Mi-yeon later went on to join Cube Entertainment, where she debuted with (G)I-dle. While arguably a less renowned girl group than BLACKPINK, the K-pop band has also broke several records since its launch.

Besides group activities with the four members, Miyeon also made her solo musical debut last year, and made her acting debut in the web-drama Replay: The Moment in January 2021.