Former fromis_9 member Roh Ji-sun opens up about 15 years in entertainment industry

Roh Ji-sun reflected on 15 years in the entertainment industry in a social media post on Oct. 11. The former fromis_9 member discussed financial hardship after leaving the group, including borrowing 3 million won through a credit card loan. She also described how the Idol School vote-rigging scandal affected her confidence and explained why she had avoided discussing it publicly.

Roh said it took about a year to repay the 3 million won credit card loan she used for immediate living expenses.

She appeared on Min Sae-rom’s Open Studio and later shared a message about trying to summarize her years from age 14 to 29 in just over 20 minutes.

Roh said she completed her activities with fromis_9 after her exclusive contract with Pledis Entertainment ended in late 2024.

Roh finished first on Idol School and said later manipulation allegations made her question whether she deserved the position she held.

Roh said she avoided discussing the scandal because she feared renewed attention could cause further pain to contestants harmed by the manipulation.

Published Oct 13, 2026 4:02 pm KST

Roh Ji-sun / Xportsnews

Former fromis_9 member Roh Ji-sun has offered a rare and deeply personal account of her 15 years in the entertainment industry, days after revealing that she once had to rely on a credit card loan to cover basic living expenses after ending her activities with the K-pop girl group.

On Oct. 11, Roh shared a thumbnail from her appearance on Min Sae-rom's YouTube channel on her personal social media account, along with a lengthy message reflecting on the years she spent as an idol.

"I tried to fit the 15 years from age 14 to 29 into just over 20 minutes," Roh said. "It wasn't enough time to tell every story, but there were also things I couldn't tell."

"There were moments when I was an adult and moments when I wasn't. There were people I was grateful for and things that were difficult to understand," she said.

Roh also reflected on how years in the idol industry changed her relationship with beauty and appearance, tied to the intense visual expectations placed on K-pop stars.

"I like pretty things. I like dressing myself up and choosing what to wear, and I like seeing and creating beautiful things. I always will," she said. "But I learned that wanting to look beautiful because I like it and having to exist in a way that looks good to someone else are different things. It took me quite a long time to understand that difference."

Roh said she has also begun reconsidering things she once accepted as natural and is still searching for her own answers.

"This will probably be the first and last time I talk at such length about the years that have passed," she said. "I wasn't trying to convince anyone or settle accounts with the past. But as my story grew longer, I wanted to leave it behind at least once in my own voice."

Her post followed the release of an episode of Min Sae-rom's Open Studio earlier that day, in which Roh spoke candidly about the financial difficulties she faced after wrapping up her fromis_9 activities.

Roh Ji-sun / Captured from Min Sae-rom's YouTube channel

Roh said she did not want to continue relying on her parents or older brother, so she looked into taking out a loan. But with no job or income at the time, she found herself unable to qualify for one.

She eventually turned to a credit card loan to pay for immediate living expenses, borrowing 3 million won ($2,100) without having the luxury of comparing interest rates.

"I thought I could live on it for three or four months," she said.

Roh said it ultimately took her about a year to repay the entire amount.

The disclosure offered an unusually stark glimpse into the financial uncertainty that can follow an idol career.

Roh also addressed one of the most controversial chapters of her career: the vote-rigging scandal surrounding "Idol School," the 2017 Mnet audition program that created fromis_9.

Roh finished first on the show and said she had believed that the result was achieved through her own efforts. But when allegations of manipulation later emerged, she said the controversy left her deeply confused and even shook her confidence in whether she deserved the position she occupied.

She said speaking publicly about her own feelings was difficult because there were contestants who had suffered direct harm from the manipulation. Roh worried that putting her own confusion first could inflict further pain on them.

"The people who did something wrong are separate, but whatever I say, the name of a contestant who was harmed and my name end up appearing together in articles," Roh said, explaining why she had largely refrained from discussing the controversy.

She said she feared that explaining her position could once again draw unwanted attention to those who had already been hurt by the scandal.

Roh concluded her activities with fromis_9 after her exclusive contract with Pledis Entertainment ended in late 2024.

This article from Xportsnews was adapted by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

10月11日，卢智善在社交媒体上发文回顾了她在演艺圈15年的历程。这位前fromis_9成员谈到了离开组合后的经济困境，包括通过信用卡贷款300万韩元。她还讲述了《偶像学校》投票舞弊丑闻如何影响了她的自信心，并解释了她为何一直避免公开谈论此事。

Roh表示，她花了大约一年时间才还清用于支付紧急生活开支的300万韩元信用卡贷款。

她做客闵世纶的《开放工作室》，随后分享了一段话，讲述她如何尝试在短短 20 多分钟内总结自己从 14 岁到 29 岁的人生历程。

Roh表示，她在与Pledis Entertainment的专属合约于2024年底到期后，结束了与fromis_9的活动。

卢在《偶像学校》中获得第一名，但后来她表示，有关操纵比赛的指控让她质疑自己是否配得上所取得的成就。

罗女士表示，她避免谈论这起丑闻，因为她担心重新引起关注可能会给那些因操纵而受到伤害的参赛者带来更大的痛苦。

发布于2026年10月13日下午4:02（韩国标准时间）

卢智顺 / Xportsnews

前 fromis_9 成员卢智善罕见地讲述了她在演艺圈 15 年的职业生涯，此前几天她透露，在结束与韩国流行女团 fromis_9 的活动后，她曾不得不依靠信用卡贷款来支付基本生活开支。

10 月 11 日，Roh 在她的个人社交媒体账户上分享了一张她在 Min Sae-rom 的 YouTube 频道上亮相的缩略图，并附上了一段长文，回顾了她作为偶像的那些年。

“我试图把14岁到29岁这15年的经历浓缩成20多分钟，”罗说。“时间不够，没法讲完所有的故事，而且有些事我也没办法讲。”

“有些时候我觉得自己像个大人，有些时候我又不像。我感激一些人，也有些事情难以理解，”她说。

卢也反思了多年偶像行业经历如何改变了她对美貌和外貌的看法，这与韩国流行音乐明星所受到的强烈外貌期望有关。

“我喜欢漂亮的东西。我喜欢打扮自己，挑选衣服，也喜欢欣赏和创造美好的事物。我永远都会喜欢，”她说。“但我明白，因为自己喜欢而想让自己看起来漂亮，和为了取悦别人而必须以别人喜欢的方式存在，是两码事。我花了很长时间才明白其中的区别。”

罗女士表示，她也开始重新思考一些她曾经认为理所当然的事情，并且仍在寻找自己的答案。

“这或许是我第一次也是最后一次如此详细地讲述这些年来的经历，”她说。“我并非想说服任何人，也并非想与过去清算旧账。但随着我的故事越讲越长，我至少想用自己的声音把它记录下来一次。”

在她发表这篇帖子之前，当天早些时候播出了闵世纶的《开放工作室》节目，节目中卢秀珍坦率地谈到了她在结束 fromis_9 活动后所面临的经济困难。

卢智善 / 摘自闵世纶的YouTube频道

罗女士说她不想继续依赖父母或哥哥，所以她想贷款。但由于当时没有工作也没有收入，她发现自己无法获得贷款资格。

她最终求助于信用卡贷款来支付眼前的生活开支，借款 300 万韩元（约合 2100 美元），却没有时间比较利率。

“我当时觉得我可以靠这些钱生活三四个月，”她说。

Roh表示，她最终花了大约一年时间才还清全部款项。

这一披露让人们异常清晰地看到了偶像生涯可能带来的财务不确定性。

卢慧琼还谈到了她职业生涯中最具争议的篇章之一：围绕着2017年Mnet选秀节目《偶像学校》的投票操纵丑闻，该节目造就了fromis_9组合。

罗在节目中获得第一名，并表示她一直认为这个结果是她凭借自身努力取得的。但后来，当有关她操纵比赛的指控出现时，她说这场争议让她感到非常困惑，甚至动摇了她对自己是否配得上所取得的成就的信心。

她说，公开谈论自己的感受很困难，因为有些参赛者已经因这种操纵行为而遭受了直接伤害。罗担心，如果先表达自己的困惑，可能会给他们带来更大的痛苦。

“做错事的人是独立的个体，但无论我说什么，受害参赛者的名字和我的名字最终都会一起出现在文章中，”罗女士解释了她为何一直避免谈论这场争议。

她说，她担心解释自己的立场可能会再次引起那些已经受到丑闻伤害的人的关注。

Roh与Pledis Entertainment的专属合约于2024年底到期后，结束了她与fromis_9的活动。

本文原载于 Xportsnews，经人工智能生成系统改编，并由《韩国时报》编辑。