Soyeon of (G)I-DLE returns solo after 5 years, pushes back on 1-billion-won royalty claims
Soyeon of (G)I-DLE returned to solo performance after five years, correcting a viral claim about her monthly royalties on KBS 2TV's 'The Seasons.'
Solo stage, five years in the making
Soyeon stepped back onto a solo stage on September 18 for the first time in approximately five years and two months. She's the producer and member of (G)I-DLE, credited with writing, composing, and producing every major album the group has released since debut. The occasion was KBS 2TV music talk show The Seasons: Sung Si-kyung's Ear Boyfriend, where she performed her new solo track Tuesahalgeyeo (퇴사할게여) alongside guests Jang Ki-ha, Jo Hyun-ah, and Soran.
She also performed a combined stage pairing her song STAR with Seo In-young's Cinderella — a nod to the artist she named as her role model as a solo act. Soyeon had reached out to Seo In-young directly and the two met as a result.
The solo album contains eight tracks. Soyeon wrote and composed all of them.
The royalty number she wants corrected
Host Sung Si-kyung introduced Soyeon by citing a figure that has circulated widely: monthly royalties of up to 1 billion won. She waved it off immediately. "It's a misunderstanding," she said, adding, "I am absolutely not like that" — and, with some humor: "If I lived like that, it would be so happy."
Her clarification pointed to how the figure spread: "There are parts that have been reported differently from reality through sensational short-form content."
The origin traces to a July 2024 YouTube appearance, where Soyeon was asked about her monthly income and answered: "It fluctuates a lot. At the highest, I earn 1 billion won a month, and when nothing comes in, I earn 100,000 won." That range — clearly describing an extreme high and an extreme low — appears to have been flattened into a flat claim about royalties specifically. Sung Si-kyung, not entirely convinced, quipped that her royalties would "go up even more" given the new eight-track album, all self-penned.
(The gap between "monthly income at its peak" and "monthly royalty income" is doing a lot of work in that misread.)
Approaching year ten
Soyeon enters next year facing two milestones at once: her tenth year since debut and her 30s. On both, she was direct. "Musically, I don't want to mature," she said, "but as a person, I want to mature."
Her production record with (G)I-DLE includes TOMBOY, Nxde, and Queencard (퀸카). The group has reached first-week sales of over one million copies and sold out a world tour.
The Seasons: Sung Si-kyung's Ear Boyfriend airs every Friday on KBS 2TV. The September 25 episode will not air due to coverage of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
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