[SBS Star] K-pop Stars with the Longest Trainee Years

We all know how hard it is to debut as a member of K-pop idol group.

Some artists have put in many years of training even more than average, spending almost all of their teenage years as trainees.

Their hard work eventually paid off, and they have become a talented, successful singer.

Check out the list of idol group members who had the longest years of training before debut!
1. G-DRAGON of BIGBANG : 11 years

Before debuting as a member of BIGBANG, G-DRAGON spent 5 years at SM Entertainment as a trainee, and another 6 years at YG Entertainment.
2. JIHYO of TWICE : 10 years

JIHYO joined her agency JYP Entertainment in 2005, and made debut as a member of girl group TWICE in 2015.
3. Xiyeon of PRISTIN : 9 years

Xiyeon have spent exactly half of her life as a trainee, as it took 9 years for her to debut as a member of girl group PRISTIN when she was 18.
4. Miyeon of (G)I-DLE : 8 years

Miyeon originally was a trainee of YG Entertainment for 5 years, before her additional 3 years of training at CUBE Entertainment and her debut in 2018.
5. Jessica / SEULGI of Red Velvet : 7 years

Jessica, a former member of Girls' Generation, began her training in 2000 at SM Entertainment until she finally made debut in 2007.

Red Velvet's SEULGI also trained for 7 years until her debut in 2014, watching KAI from EXO and Krystal from f(x)'s debut before her.
6. SUHO of EXO and JENNIE of BLACKPINK : 6 years

For EXO's leader SUHO and BLACKPINK's JENNIE, it took almost 6 years for them to finally debut as a member of their groups.

Both of them revealed their difficulties being a trainee and stated that they felt lonely and worried to watch other trainees debut before them.

(Credit= YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, PLEDIS Entertainment, CUBE Entertainment, SM Entertainment, Online Community)

(SBS Star)