Sunmi, formerly of Wonder Girls, opened up about producer Park Jin-young’s trademark “passion.”
On the July 20 broadcast of the SBS variety show uh, but like, seriously!, U-Know Yunho, Sunmi, and Jonathan appeared as guests.
Host Lee Soo-ji asked Sunmi, “I heard your role model is U-Know Yunho—true?” Sunmi replied, “I meant he’s my role model for life’s passion,” expressing deep respect for U-Know Yunho.
She added, “It’s been over 20 years since he debuted, but whenever I see him at the station, he still works like a rookie. Even during rehearsals, watching him made me realize that if you want to last, you have to live with that kind of passion.”
Lee Sang-min then joked, “JYP (Park Jin-young) might feel hurt,” mentioning the producer and former head of Sunmi’s agency. Sunmi admitted, “He’s overflowing with passion too, but…” and, after choosing her words, candidly said, “he’s kind of hard to watch,” drawing laughter.
Sunmi continued, “I get that he’s full of passion. But he nags way too much. He keeps hammering in that you have to be passionate,” recalling Park Jin-young’s signature, hyper-passionate direction. Lee Soo-ji quipped that it felt like “forced passion,” sending the studio into laughter.
Meanwhile, Sunmi debuted with Wonder Girls in 2007. Now promoting as a soloist, she released the digital single ‘Forever July’ on July 15.