NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, Jung Ji So, Kim Hye Yoon, And Lee Yoo Mi Named To Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List For 2023

May 18, 2023

Several K-pop and K-drama stars were recently named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Asia” list for 2023!

Every year, Forbes magazines selects 30 young Asian leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to celebrate within 10 different categories, one of which is Entertainment & Sports. For 2023, NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, Jung Ji So, Kim Hye Yoon, and Lee Yoo Mi were among the 30 honorees in the Entertainment & Sports category.

Highlighting NewJeans quick rise to global stardom, Forbes wrote, “NewJeans is on track to become another K-pop sensation. The quintet debuted in July 2022 with ‘Attention,’ which has about 130 million views on YouTube. The girl group’s most recent single, ‘OMG,’ has over 90 million YouTube views since its release in January this year. NewJeans won Rookie Artist of the Year at the 2023 Golden Disc Awards, one of South Korea’s top annual music awards, and the Hot Rookie award at the 2022 THE-K Billboard Awards. Noticing their rising popularity, Louis Vuitton signed NewJeans’ youngest member Hyein (14 years old) as a brand ambassador, while Burberry tapped Danielle and Gucci got Hanni (18).”

The second K-pop group honored was LE SSERAFIM, who Forbes applauded for becoming “one of the most popular K-pop girl groups” after braving through a member change very early in their career. They added, “The quintet debuted in May 2022 with the single ‘FEARLESS,” which amassed 150 million views on YouTube. LE SSERAFIM, whose name is an anagram of ‘I’m Fearless,’ followed that up with ‘ANTIFRAGILE‘ in October 2022, which has racked up more than 140 million YouTube views. LE SSERAFIM won Rookie Artist of the Year at the 2023 Golden Disc Awards and Favorite New Artist at the 2022 MAMA Awards.”

Also named to the list was “Parasite” star Jung Ji So, of whom Forbes shared, “Jung [Ji So], who made her acting debut in the South Korean TV series ‘May Queen’ at age 13 in 2012, rose to global fame for her 2019 role in the Academy Award-winning film ‘Parasite.’ More recently, Jung [Ji So] starred in the Netflix hit thriller series ‘The Glory,’ as the younger version of the main character, Moon Dong Eun, played by megastar Song Hye Kyo. Released in two parts, in December and March, it has become one of the most-watched shows on Netflix globally. Jung [Ji So] is preparing to film in the first half of the year a TV adaptation of the South Korean box-office hit ‘Miss Granny.'”

Describing Kim Hye Yoon’s recent accolades, Forbes wrote, “Kim [Hye Yoon] was named Best New Actress at the 2022 Blue Dragon Awards, South Korea’s top annual film honors, and the Rising Star Asia award at New York Asian Film Festival’s Star Asia Awards for her performance as the lead in the Korean thriller film ‘The Girl on a Bulldozer.’ Kim [Hye Yoon], who made her screen debut a decade ago, first became famous in 2018 as a supporting actress in ‘SKY Castle,’ South Korea’s most-watched TV series, and her performance earned her the Best New TV Actress award at South Korea’s Baeksang Arts Awards in 2019.”

The final Korean actress on the list was Lee Yoo Mi, with Forbes sharing, “Lee [Yoo Mi] has starred in two Netflix hits in as many years: ‘Squid Game’ (2021) and ‘All of Us Are Dead’ (2022). Her performance in ‘Squid Game,’ Netflix’s most-watched show, earned her the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series at the 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. And for ‘All of Us Are Dead,’ one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English series, Lee [Yoo Mi] was nominated for Best New TV Actress at South Korea’s 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards. Beyond Netflix, Lee starred in the drama film ‘Young Adult Matters,’ which won her the Best New Film Actress award at the 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards.”

Congratulations to all the honorees!

Source: Soompi