Meet SM Entertainment’s Newest Trainee, Who JYP Entertainment’s Park Jin Young Once Highly Praised

SM Entertainment has gotten its latest trainee, and this time, she’s a familiar face. Meet Na Haeun, a young girl who loves to dance. Haeun is 13 years in 2022, being born in 2009. In a news interview with Haeun’s dance academy founders, it was announced that she had joined SM Entertainment. The academy founders told the journalist that their academy had sent many students to famous companies, the most recent being Haeun.

Interview snippet from Kstarnews that was later cut out. | Kstarnews via theqoo

The two [founders] have lots of experience fostering kids who dream of becoming an idol through the academy they started. Their most representative [student] is Na Haeun, also known as “Awesome Haeun,” famous for being a dance genius. Na Haeun, from Park Sung Ho’s kids academy, has recently become a trainee at SM Entertainment.

— Kstarnews

Later, the sentence about her acceptance into SM Entertainment was deleted from the article. Netizens suspect that it is due to secrecy issues surrounding her life as a trainee. This news does not come unexpectedly. Haeun, who usually posts K-Pop cover videos within a few days to a week of a news release, has stopped posting since three months ago. Fans were getting worried. She has amassed 5,200,000 subscribers on her YouTube alone, proving her potential to be a star.

Haeun’s YouTube page. | Awesome Haeun/YouTube

Many have expressed that it’s a pity she would not be able to post covers anymore. Trainees are often kept away from the public spotlight and social media until their debut. The 5 million subscribers would undoubtedly go to waste, but training at SM Entertainment would be more beneficial for her dream of debuting as an idol. It wouldn’t be her first debut if she were put into a girl group. Haeun has released music videos and singles previously. She released “So Special” in 2018.

For those that have been a fan of K-Pop for a long time, you would recognize her from her days on K-Pop Star. She danced to Girls’ Generation‘s “Girls’ Generation” and SISTAR‘s “Shake It.” Haeun received overwhelming praise from the judges due to her outstanding skills even though she was only five years old. JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin Young even claimed that she was doing something that most dancers older than her can’t do — dance to backing beats.

Since then, she’s even been a guest performer during awards shows. She famously performed during 2018’s Melon Music Awards where she danced in front of many K-Pop stars including Wanna One, EXO, BLACKPINK and more.

While there has been no further news about Haeun after her last video in January 2022, we are sure that we will soon be able to see her shine on stage where she belongs. In the meantime, check out her last cover video below!