Brave Girls, the girl group that never fails to top the Milboard – a portmanteau of “military” and “Billboard” – shot to fame earlier this year after their stage compilation video of Rollin’ went viral. They have been dominating the Korean music charts with Rollin’ and recently made a successful summer comeback with the mini-album Summer Queens on 17th June.
If you’re curious to find out more about the girls, here are 11 Brave Girls facts you need to know.
Brave Girls was actually a five-member group. The original line-up consisted of Hyeran, Yoojin, Seo-a, Yejin, and Eunyoung. These members were active from 2011 to 2014 before Brave Girls went on a hiatus.
Brave Girls’ original line-up.
Image credit: Brave Entertainment
In 2016, five new members – Hayun, Yujeong, Yuna, Minyoung and Eunji – joined Brave Girls. Together with Yoojin and Hyeran from the original line-up, they came back with their digital single Deepened.
The new 7-member line-up.
Image credit: @BraveGirls
A few months later, they made another comeback with the song High Heels.
Video credit: Brave Entertainment
In 2017, Yoojin announced that she would be leaving Brave Girls, and Hyeran would be on an indefinite hiatus. Two years later, Brave Entertainment announced that Hyeran officially left the group.
From then on, the girls promoted as a five-member group. They released the sleeper hit Rollin’ before Hayun left the group in 2019, giving rise to the four-member line-up you see today.
Images adapted from: @BraveGirls and @BraveGirls
The fans gave the members of Brave Girls nicknames after seeing their lively performance for the Republic of Korea Navy.
These endearments make the members easily identifiable for the general public – “ggoh-bok juah” for Yujeong, “meh-boh juah” for Minyoung, “dahn-bal juah” for Yuna, and “wang-noon-juah” for Eunji.
In this context, “juah” means “the one with” or “the one who”.
Image credit: @topstarnews
Yujeong is known as “ggoh-bok juah” (꼬복좌). In Korea, Squirtle is named “ggoh-bok-gi” (꼬복기). Yujeong’s nickname came about as she resembles said Pokémon when she smiles.
Image adapted from: ARIRANG K-POP
“Meh-boh” (메보) is an abbreviation of “main vocal” (메인보컬) in Korean. Minyoung is known for her powerful vocals, which explains why she has the nickname “meh-boh juah”.
Check out this compilation of her vocals below:
Video credit: EXIDek
Yuna is known for having short hair, and she’s fittingly nicknamed “dahn-bal juah” (단발좌). Danh-bal means short hair in Korean.
A number of fans also noted that Yuna resembles Wang Ja-rim from the Naver webtoon Love Revolution. Wang Ja-rim also has short hair and a chic personality.
Yuna and Wang Ja-rim
Images adapted from: @u.nalee and MyAnimeList
Image credit: @bg_eunji92
Thanks to her big beautiful eyes, Eunji is nicknamed “wang-noon juah”. “Wang-noon” (왕눈) means “big eyes” in Korean.
Back in elementary school, Eunji’s classmate was curious to find out how big her eyes were. Eunji let her classmate measure her eyes, which turned out to be 2cm wide. In other words, they’re big.
Image credit: MAXIM Korea
In 2017, Yujeong was selected to be the cover model for Maxim Korea’s June issue.
Yujeong is known for her bubbly image. She also has a voluptuous and healthy figure that was perfect for the theme of the sporty photoshoot, which took place on a tennis court.
Image credit: MAXIM Korea
Fun fact: Yujeong revealed that she was 6kg heavier than usual at that time, and she didn’t have the chance to attain her ideal figure because she took up Maxim’s offer on short notice.
Check out the making video here.
In an interview with Xsportnews, Minyoung mentioned that she used to be known for her pretty legs.
Back when Brave Girls was preparing for the release of High Heels in 2016, Minyoung was suddenly asked to meet the CEO. Naturally, she was nervous, but it turned out to be something good – the CEO wanted her to lend her legs for the album’s cover image.
And that’s the story of how the iconic album cover came about.
Image credit: @BraveGirls
Eunji majors in Film & Musical at Myongji University, and she is studying to become a musical theatre actress.
Eunji mentioned that she plans on acting in musicals after Brave Girls disbands. The group was indeed on the verge of disbandment not long ago, but thanks to the success of Rollin’, which revived Brave Girls, her musical career will be put on hold for now.
Watch the vlog of her attending school here:
Video credit: Brave Entertainment
Just a week before Rollin’ went viral, Yuna revealed that she attained a barista license in December 2020.
In an Instagram livestream, Yuna mentioned that she had been thinking of what to do after Brave Girls disbands. She has been wanting to work as a barista for the longest time, and even worked part-time at a cafe when Brave Girls were on a hiatus.
Yuna’s barista course certificate.
Image adapted from: 아는형님 Knowingbros
This part-time stint fuelled her dream to become a proper barista, and she took a barista certification course.
During their hiatus, Brave Entertainment took to YouTube to keep the fans updated on what the girls were up to.
Brave Entertainment’s YouTube channel.
Image adapted from: Brave Entertainment
Subsequently, Yujeong opened a personal YouTube channel. On her channel, 유랄라Youlalla, she uploads a variety of content ranging from beauty to daily vlogs.
Yujeong’s YouTube channel.
Image adapted from: 유랄라Youlalla
As for Yuna, she started her YouTube channel because of a fan’s request.
Image adapted from: 나는유나다
Yuna has only uploaded 2 videos on her channel, and she often turns to Instagram to communicate with her fans instead. It seems like she prefers to communicate with fans in real-time.
Minyoung’s YouTube channel, 민영타임 Minyoung Time, features vlogs showing her daily life as a member of Brave Girls.
Video credit: 민영타임 Minyoung Time
The girls are now booked and busy following the success of Rollin’, so they haven’t had much time to update their Youtube channels.
In one of Yuna’s V LIVE broadcasts, a fan asked if she’s close to female idols outside of Brave Girls.
Brave Girls’ Yuna and Gugudan’s Hana.
Images adapted from: @bravegirls.official and @gu9udan
Yuna mentioned that she’s close to former Gugudan member Hana as they live in the same neighbourhood. Both of them worked together in the same part-time job, and Yuna recalls them secretly munching on triangular kimbap together in the toilet during their breaks.
Yuna is also close to a YouTuber-cum-actress called Yesria, also known as Choi Ye-seul. Yuna and Ye-seul have been friends for 16 years, and Yuna has appeared in Ye-seul’s vlogs.
Yuna and Ye-seul
Image adapted from: 예스리아 YESRIA
On Ye-seul’s wedding day, Yuna sang a congratulatory song that got both the newlyweds tearing up.
Video credit: 오예커플스토리
Image credit: @bg_eunji92
Eunji joined Park Bom on stage during the latter’s promotions in place of Sandara Park, who featured in Bom’s song, Spring.
The two forged a friendship during the promotional period of Spring, and have maintained their friendship since.
Image credit: @newharoobompark
Thanks to Bom, Eunji was given the chance to appear on Mnet’s reality program Queendom, and even got a chance to perform on stage on behalf of Bom, alongside other girl group members.
Video credit: Mnet K-POP
Yujeong lived abroad from sixth grade of elementary school to third grade of high school. While living in Hong Kong, she studied in an international school. There, she picked up Cantonese and English.
In one of Brave Girls’ livestreams on V LIVE, Yujeong was able to read the English comments fluently and translate it for her fellow members.
Video credit: 영크릿 l Young Cret
In Minyoung’s second vlog on her YouTube channel, she brought a close friend to Brave Entertainment’s dance studio for a little tour.
While looking through her locker, Minyoung showed her friend the physical copy of Rollin’, as well as a cute fan gift from their We Ride promotions.
Image adapted from: 민영타임 Minyoung Time
She mentioned that although their recent comeback didn’t do too well, Brave Girls does have a shot at climbing back up on the charts sooner or later. A few months into 2021, Minyoung’s words came true, and Rollin’ topped the Gaon charts. The girls even got their first win on SBS’ Inkigayo on 14th March!
Check out her vlog below:
Video credit: 민영타임 Minyoung Time
Brave Girls have gone through so much, and we’re so glad that they’re finally seeing the light of day. Everyone was moved as the girls held onto their dreams despite adversity, and this has inspired others to do the same in their lives too.
We hope these Brave Girls facts helped you get to know more about the girls. Stream their latest release Chi Mat Ba Ram on YouTube here!
For more articles on K-culture, check out:
Cover image adapted from: Mnet, MAXIM KOREA, @BraveGirls, and 민영타임 Minyoung Time
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