The breakthrough yearIn June 2018, the year she turned 18, she appeared on Mnet’s Produce 48 as a Woollim Entertainment trainee. In July, she volunteered as leader for a stage of Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World” performed in an all-vocal arrangement, and her team came first. She had never placed within the top 12, the debut range, in earlier rankings, but at the final ranking announcement on Aug. 31 she rose to 10th, joined the Iz*One lineup and became known. On Oct. 29, she made her official debut on stage with “La Vie en Rose.”
In April 2019, Iz*One released the mini album Heart*Iz and “Violeta.” In November, the first full-length album was postponed amid the Produce vote-rigging scandal.
In February 2020, Iz*One resumed activities with the first full-length album Bloom*Iz. In June, the group put out the mini album Oneiric Diary and “Secret Story of the Swan.” In December, she wrote and composed “Slow Journey,” a track on the mini album One-reeler / Act IV, with the production team.
In April 2021, Iz*One’s activities ended after two and a half years. In May 2022, the year she turned 22, she debuted again as leader with Le Sserafim’s first mini album Fearless. In October, the second mini album Antifragile came out.
In May 2023, Le Sserafim’s first full-length album Unforgiven came out. In October, she halted activities for health reasons and returned on Nov. 1.
In February 2024, the mini album Easy came out and became a third straight million-seller. In April, she played at Coachella in the United States for the first time. In August, she was named Swarovski Korea brand ambassador, and the mini album Crazy came out the same month.
In March 2025, the mini album Hot came out. In July, she was featured on American singer-songwriter JVKE’s “Butterflies.” In October, the group released the single Spaghetti, featuring BTS’s J-Hope.
In May 2026, she paused activities for neck pain, and the same month the second full-length album Pureflow pt.1 came out. In June, her agency announced her return schedule. In August, Le Sserafim won three awards at the K World Dream Awards, and in September the group released the single “Made My Night.”
Kim Chaewon (born Aug 1, 2000) became known on Aug 31, 2018, the year she turned 18, when she placed 10th in the final ranking of Produce 48 and joined Iz*One. She made her official debut with “La Vie en Rose” two months later, on Oct 29, 2018, and debuted again as leader of Le Sserafim on May 2, 2022, the year she turned 22.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Appeared as a Woollim Entertainment trainee on the girl-group survival show, which had 96 Korean and Japanese trainees.
Source 01 · Newsis (Korean) · First broadcast of Produce 48 · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Top Star News (Korean) · Made her name through Produce 48 · opens in a new tabVolunteered as leader for a stage of Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World” performed as an all-vocal arrangement, and her team came first.
Source 02 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Top of her team with “Into the New World” · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Herald POP (Korean) · Taking on the leader role · opens in a new tabShe had never placed within the top 12, the debut range, in earlier rankings, but rose to 10th at the final ranking announcement and became a member of Iz*One.
Held the debut showcase at Olympic Hall in Olympic Park, Seoul. The group’s activity period had been set at two and a half years.
Source 07 · MBN (Korean) · Iz*One debut showcase · opens in a new tabThe title track is “Violeta.”
Source 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Heart*Iz released · opens in a new tabMnet said the first full-length album, due on the 11th, had been postponed and that the comeback show would be canceled.
Source 09 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Album release postponed · opens in a new tab This came after the producer of the Produce series admitted to vote rigging.Released the postponed first full-length album and resumed activities after three months.
Source 10 · Newsis (Korean) · Bloom*Iz released · opens in a new tabThe title track is “Secret Story of the Swan,” and it reached No. 1 on major Korean music charts on release.
Source 11 · MBN (Korean) · “Secret Story of the Swan” released · opens in a new tabWrote and composed the album’s last track, “Slow Journey,” with the production team Lee Gi and Yong Bae.
Source 12 · My Daily (Korean) · Preview of her writing credit on “Slow Journey” · opens in a new tabSource 13 · My Daily (Korean) · Thoughts on “Slow Journey” · opens in a new tabCompleted the two and a half years originally set and ended the group’s activities.
Source 14 · Newsis (Korean) · Iz*One’s activities end · opens in a new tabBecame leader of Le Sserafim, a six-member group from Source Music, a HYBE label. She took part in writing the lyrics of the track “Blue Flame” with Huh Yunjin.
Source 15 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Le Sserafim debut · opens in a new tabSource 16 · TenAsia (Korean) · Debuting again as a leader · opens in a new tabSold 567,673 copies in its first week, nearly twice the first-week sales of the debut album.
Source 17 · News1 (Korean) · Antifragile first-week sales · opens in a new tabThe title track is “Unforgiven (feat. Nile Rodgers).” The group’s first anniversary came the next day.
Source 18 · Sports Hankook (Korean) · Unforgiven released · opens in a new tabSource Music said she had seen a doctor for dizziness that continued after treatment for influenza A and announced a rest. She returned to her schedule on Nov. 1.
Source 19 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Halts activities for health reasons · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Activities resume · opens in a new tabPassed 1 million in cumulative sales nine days after release, a third straight million-seller.
Source 21 · Ilgan Sports (Korean) · Comeback announced for Easy · opens in a new tabSource 22 · Ilgan Sports (Korean) · Easy, a third straight million-seller · opens in a new tabThe set came shortly before the group’s second anniversary, and NME said they had reached the Coachella stage faster than any other Korean act.
Source 23 · JTBC (Korean) · Foreign media on Coachella · opens in a new tabChosen as ambassador in her capacity as Le Sserafim’s leader.
Source 24 · Herald Business (Korean) · Swarovski ambassador · opens in a new tabThe album came six months after Easy.
Source 25 · Etoday (Korean) · Crazy showcase · opens in a new tabTook part in making the track “So Cynical (Badum)” with Huh Yunjin and Hong Eunchae.
Source 26 · Top Star News (Korean) · Hot showcase · opens in a new tabFeatured on the song with Taehyun of Tomorrow X Together.
Source 27 · JTBC (Korean) · Featuring on JVKE’s “Butterflies” · opens in a new tabJ-Hope of BTS was featured on it.
Source 28 · Break News (Korean) · Spaghetti release announced · opens in a new tabSource 33 · MBC Entertainment (Korean) · Spaghetti tops iTunes · opens in a new tabSource Music said that after a hospital visit she was advised to rest for a period and announced she would miss scheduled university festivals, music shows and other events. On June 18 the agency said she would take part in scheduled activities from the following week.
Source 29 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Halts activities for neck pain · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Newsen (Korean) · Returns after recovering · opens in a new tabThe title track is “Boompala.” She could not take part in music shows because of neck pain.
Source 31 · TV Daily (Korean) · Le Sserafim interview after three awards · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Newsen (Korean) · Returns after recovering · opens in a new tabAt the ceremony at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Le Sserafim won the Best Visual Content Award, the Artist Award and the Best Artist Award.
Source 31 · TV Daily (Korean) · Le Sserafim interview after three awards · opens in a new tabIt is the title track of the group’s second single album.
Source 32 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Made My Night released · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2018–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
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Music · South Korea
Aug 1, 2000 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 2000: the year of the event minus 2000, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.29 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.