Why Jewelry's Ha Joo-yeon and 4Minute's Kwon So-hyun Both Ditched the Spotlight for Desk Jobs

Jewelry's Ha Joo-yeon says she sent out hundreds of job applications after leaving the industry, and still got rejected, even though she was younger than she is now. She is now a regular office worker, and she says she prefers it.

She explained why on the 22nd, in a video on singer Noh Sa-yeon's channel titled around waiting for payday during lunch break. The two shared a picnic while Ha talked about the gap after her idol career. "In this line of work, if you don't work, you're unemployed," she said. "Someone has to call you. How long are you supposed to wait for that?"

After Jewelry, Ha worked part-time at a cafe in Hannam-dong. It was her first time in a regular Korean workplace, and she admitted it felt a little embarrassing. Full-time work did not come easily. She applied through job sites, and wondered whether her age was the problem. She built up experience step by step from a thin résumé.

Her reasoning is blunt. In entertainment, no work means no pay. At a company, the salary keeps coming unless the company collapses. "I like living as a regular person after being an entertainer," she said.

The conversation also touched on family. Ha said her mother studied Korean dance after graduating from Seoul Arts High School, and that her father is actor Ha Jae-young. Noh reacted with surprise, calling him very handsome back then. Ha said he still is. Ha joined Jewelry as a third-generation member in 2008 and left when her contract ended in 2014.

Kwon So-hyun is now a PD at Cube

She is not the only former idol swapping stages for a staff badge. On the 23rd, actor and 4Minute alum Kwon So-hyun posted a vlog on her own channel, titled as a day in the life of a six-month entertainment-company employee. It shows her grabbing coffee and rushing to work. She is a PD at Cube Entertainment, and she said she sometimes comes in even when colleagues are off.

Kwon anticipated the obvious question: isn't she still an actor? She said she has worked at Cube for nearly six months, for two reasons. One was wanting to help the members of Lightsum. The other was exhaustion with comparison: to peers who debuted around the same time, to their recognition and popularity, even to fellow members. "After the anxious period passed, it felt like such a waste," she said.

She was frank about her own standing. "People say 4Minute did well, but I've never thought I did well," she said. She described herself as someone living with high anxiety, and as "vague" across the board: not strikingly pretty, not a standout singer or dancer.

That led to bigger questions about what suits her and what she wants. When the company launched a project, she saw a chance to learn production. Two paths, one shared conclusion: stability and a sense of being useful can outweigh another round of waiting to be chosen.