TIME magazine sat down to interview one of the most prominent stars in South Korea, Jessica Jung.
The purpose of the interview is to look further into her storylines, marketing her latest book 'Shine,' and how strongly it represented her upbringing as a trainee before debuting Girls' Generation.
It is only standard for the media to question Jessica's personal opinions about how K-Pop has grown as someone who invested over seven years performing with the most iconic girl groups and finally reached thirteen years with a prosperous career.
Reflecting closely at how much the K-pop trend has progressed from before 2014 to 2020, Jessica mentioned two phenomenal K-pop bands recognized worldwide to grab broader audiences' interests and attract more Korean culture exposure.
"BTS, BLACKPINK: on Billboard, doing lots of collaborative projects and being on Western TV. Witnessing this kind of achievement and watching them is very exciting."
Jessica also divulged how BLACKPINK and BTS's power did help close the rift between older and young audiences but widened its scope as well. Even though K-Pop has become more popular internationally, Jessica has found that people could still fully recognize her even in various countries. (via Koreaboo)
Jessica felt she could not venture out across new endeavors after becoming an artist in the industry. Conversely, she has been enabled by its increasing global impact.
She further added that when she debuted as part of the Girls' Generation, being prominent abroad aside from South Korea, speaking and learning other languages became almost impossible for her.
Jessica always thought South Korea would be the only place she can get famous, but to her surprise, with time and hard work progress, she realized she could break through all boundaries of her 'what ifs.'
While as a K-Pop singer, Jessica might not have been dropping songs, the genre would always be one of her professional life and is something she will always have her attention on.
