KARA Kang Jiyoung says almost did not debut for love

Kang Ji-young [SBS]

Girl group KARA member Kang Jiyoung almost gave up on becoming a singer because of her first love.

Kang appeared on a pre-recorded session of SBS talk show "Strong Heart" which aired on Tuesday and talked about a boyfriend she had to break up with to pursue her singing career.

"I started going out with a guy, a year older than me, in middle school. I'd been interested in him since elementary school," Kang started by saying.

"But I had to go to Seoul when I was in ninth grade which meant I had to say goodbye to him too but I couldn't leave him so I pretended that I don't want to leave my parents but I ended up telling my mom the truth," explained Kang.

Her mother convinced her to pursue her dream by telling her, "We live in a big world. There'll be many better people when you go to Seoul and go into entertainment."

When host Kang Ho-dong asked her what she thinks, Kang responded, "Everything that my mom said was right. We do live in a big world."

Kang, 17, is the youngest member of her popular female group also composed of members Han Seungyeon, Park Gyulee, Nicole Jung and Gu Hara.

KARA is currently one of the most successful Korean girl groups to break into the Japanese market and most recently, they have been promoting "STEP" from their third full-length album of the same name which has swept online charts and televised music programs.

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10 아시아 Jessica Kim jesskim@