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Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Winter was born on January 1, 2001, in Busan, South Korea. Growing up in a family with several members in the armed forces (including her father, older brother, and other relatives), she originally considered a career in this field. She attended Yangsan Samsung Middle School and learned to play multiple instruments, such as piano and guitar, and played various sports such as bowling, kendo, fencing, basketball, and badminton. She was also in the school's dance club. She was scouted by an SM talent scout while performing at a dance festival at Yangsan Samsung Middle School in 2016. She shared that during the audition, she had to sing for more than three to four hours. She was accepted and began her training, later taking her GED exam and passing. Winter was trained vocally by SM Entertainment's in-house vocal coaches.

In Their Own Story

In 2020, Winter was revealed as the first member of Aespa, a group with a metaverse concept under SM Entertainment, and the company's first girl group since Red Velvet in 2014. They debuted with the single 'Black Mamba' on November 17. On December 6, Winter participated in a tribute to her labelmate BoA, in celebration of her 20th anniversary, and performed a cover of her song 'ID; Peace B' at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards. In 2022, SM Entertainment created a supergroup called Got the Beat. The group made their debut on New Year's Day at the 2022 SM Town Live Concert with the single 'Step Back', which was officially released on January 3. After making their debut stage on M! Countdown, her individual fancam for 'Step Back' went viral and became the fastest female idol fancam in history to amass 10 million views, reaching it in only 25 days.

Reader's Guide

Winter's career includes solo activities beyond group work. In 2022, she released a duet with fellow Aespa member Ningning called 'Once Again' as part of the official soundtrack of the South Korean drama Our Blues. The song charted at 119 on the Gaon Digital Chart. In December, she participated in two tracks for the 2022 Winter SM Town: SMCU Palace, 'Jet' and 'Priority'. In 2023 she released a collaboration with Super Junior's Yesung called 'Floral Sense' for his second studio album's reissue, Sensory Flows, released on February 27. Months later, Winter, along with Yim Si-wan, were appointed as the ambassadors of the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships. To promote the event, they released the song 'Win For You' on September 21. In November, she released a collaborative song with (G)I-dle's Soyeon and Ive's Liz titled 'Nobody', released on November 16. In the same month, she released the song 'Voyage' on November 19 for the drama Castaway Diva, and 'With You' on December 8 for My Demon. On March 14, 2024, it was announced that Winter would be collaborating with Bang Yedam on a new single 'Officially Cool', released on April 2.

Did You Know?

• Winter was born on January 1, 2001, in Busan, South Korea.
• She was discovered by an SM talent scout while performing at a dance festival at her school in 2016.
• On April 12, 2024, SM Entertainment confirmed Winter had undergone surgery after suffering a collapsed lung.
• She is from the Gimhae Kim clan, the 22nd generation of the Samhyeonpa branch.

Early Life and Training

Kim Min-jeong was born on January 1, 2001, in Nampo-dong, Busan, South Korea. Growing up in a family with several members in the armed forces (including her father, older brother, and other relatives), she originally considered a career in this field. Winter went to Yangsan Samsung Middle School and learned to play multiple instruments, such as piano and guitar and played various sports such as bowling, kendo, fencing, basketball, and badminton. She was also in the school's dance club. She attended Yangsan Girls' High School until she was discovered by an SM talent scout while performing at a dance festival at her school in 2016. Prior to being scouted, she had never shared her aspirations of becoming a singer with her parents, who were surprised by her decision to audition. She shared that during the audition, she had to sing for more than three to four hours. She was accepted and dropped out of high school to immediately begin her training. She later took her GED exam and passed. Winter was trained vocally by SM Entertainment's in-house vocal coaches, including Yoo Young-jin who was a longtime producer of the agency before his departure in 2023. She was also a student of Waackxxxy, a South Korean dancer who specializes in waacking.

Group Debut and Musical Milestones

Winter trained for four years, and in 2020 she was revealed as the first member of Aespa, a group with a metaverse concept under SM Entertainment, and the company's first girl group since Red Velvet in 2014. They debuted with the single, 'Black Mamba' on November 17. On December 6, Winter participated in a tribute to her labelmate and SM Entertainment senior BoA, in celebration of her 20th anniversary, and performed a cover of her song 'ID; Peace B' at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards. In 2022, SM Entertainment created a supergroup composed of their female artists as a counterpart to their male supergroup, SuperM. The Girls On Top project's first unit, Got the Beat, would have 7 members: Winter and her fellow Aespa member Karina, Girls' Generation's Taeyeon and Hyoyeon, Red Velvet's Wendy and Seulgi and BoA. The group made their debut on New Year's Day at the 2022 SM Town Live Concert with the single 'Step Back', which was officially released on January 3. After making their debut stage on M! Countdown, her individual fancam for 'Step Back' went viral and became the fastest female idol fancam in history to amass 10 million views, reaching it in only 25 days.

Commercial Success and Brand Endorsements

In October 2023, Winter became the brand ambassador of the South Korean skincare and cosmetics brand Mamonde, and in November, she became the face of Polo Ralph Lauren in South Korea. A month later, it was announced that she would be the ambassador of the South Korean cosmetics brand Espoir, another brand owned by Amorepacific Corporation after Mamonde, and eventually became their global ambassador. In April 2024, Winter was announced as the new model for the South Korean isotonic drink Toreta, and was appointed as the ambassador of New Balance in October. During her term as their ambassador, the UNI Flying 77 Superlight Goose Down jacket she advertised was sold out within 2 minutes during its pre-sale, with over 10,000 customers attempting to buy it. In May 2025, she became the advertising model of Yuhan-Kimberly, a South Korean health and hygiene company created by Yuhan Corporation and the American-based Kimberly-Clark, for their feminine hygiene line called White.

Personal Background and Health Challenges

Her family comes from the Gimhae Kim clan, the 22nd generation of the Samhyeonpa branch, and are Buddhist, though she has stated that she herself is not particularly religious. On April 12, 2024, SM entertainment confirmed that Winter had undergone surgery after suffering a collapsed lung.