Who immediately comes to mind when you mention the term: maknae ?

Maknae (막내): The youngest or baby in the family or group.

Seohyun (Hangul: 서현; born on June 28, 1991 in Seoul as Seo Joo-Hyun 서주현) started her singing career in SM Entertainment in 2003 when she was talent scouted via the SM Casting System. An only child, she studied at Seoul Middle School and Daeyoung High School, subsequently transferring to Jeonju Arts High School, from which she graduated on February 9, 2010 with the Achievement Award.

Currently, she attends Dongguk University with her fellow member, Yoona, and is majoring in acting.

Considered one of the jangshins in this group of 9 angelic ladies, Seohyun has always been in the forefront of any advertising campaign that SM Entertainment has deemed fit for the girls to paticipate in, her inherent beauty and height being a definite plus here 😉 .

Like her fellow unnie Yoona, Seohyun has done the gamut of product endorsements, from uniforms (SPAO/Elite Student Uniforms), to sweets (e-ma), vitaminized drinks (Vita500), computer core processors (Intel), Internet search engines (Daum), and, of course, not forgetting water purifiers (Woongjin Coway), with it’s, oh so catchy theme song !

Coway Theme Song

On top of this, Seohyun, early on in her musical career, also recorded 2 limited release singles with her 2 Soshi unnies, Jessica and Tiffany: Oppa Nappa and Mabinogi (It’s Fantastic!).

Oppa Nappa

 

Mabinogi

In addition to that, she, together with some members of Girls’ Generation, were  involved in the S.E.O.U.L. and Caribbean Bay music video shoots, in collaboration with some members of Super Junior and 2PM respectively.

S.E.O.U.L. Song

CABI Theme Song

Seohyun is also a favourite with the various Korean and Japanese fashion magazines, constantly invited to be part of their many, many fashion photoshoots. In fact, when she fronted the May 2011 issue of the Korean Marie Claire fashion magazine, as part of the Girls’ Generation special edition, the front cover with her image was the first to be sold-out, attesting, once again, to her immense popularity with the world at large 🙂 .

In addition, who can ignore the dramatic effect that Seobaby brought to the WGM (We Got Married) TV reality show series when she was paired up with CNBlue’s Jung Yonghwa as her make-believe husband.

For the 1 year that the pair appeared on-air as a “husband-and-wife” couple, their weekly antics/tribulations/joys/sorrows were eagerly lapped up by both fans and non-fans; culminating in their so-called official marriage photoshoot.

 When conflicting performance schedules eventually forced the premature end to the relationship, it brought forth such a hue-and-cry that the producers of the series actually stretched the finale into a 2-part episode ;).

The lasting legacy to this brief relationship is the Banmal Song, something which was written as part of one of the many missions that the 2 had to accomplish as a couple. Eventually, Yonghwa released the song under his own entertainment company’s label as a single (such was, and is still, it’s popularity with Netizens and fans).

Banmal Song

So, after such a long descriptive discourse on the various achievements of our dear Seohyun, what actually defines her as the definitive maknae ?

Well, I personally believe the following points qualifies her for that apt moniker:

1) Her love of anime and, especially Keroro Gunso (Sergeant Keroro), making her probably the biggest otaku out of  the 9 ladies. Her latest foray into the animation realm saw her as the voice of Edith in the Korean-dubbed version of the 2010 animated movie Despicable Me (an honour she shared with Taeyeon).

2) Her immense level of maturity in matters of importance, both to her and her 8 unnies. Who can forget her famous “If you eat too much unhealthy/oily/sweet/salty/fast-food, it will eventually accumulate in your body and you will die !” statement to dissuade people from eating unhealthily and to lead a healthy lifestyle :D.

To top it off, Seohyun has a focus on the future, an interest in world issues, and knowledge of multiple languages. There’s a lot that we can learn from this girl, be it as an idol, or following the footsteps of Ban Ki Moon as a UN Secretary-General (her future career goal should the girls disband ?).

3) Yet, inspite of being gifted with a level of maturity way beyond her physical years, Seohyun is one to wear her heart on her sleeve, giving free rein to her emotions when the situation warrants it; endearing her to all and sundry.The latest incident, during the 2nd Saitama Super Arena concert portion of the Girls’ 1st Japan Tour, where Seohyun broke out in tears (in sympathy with Sunny’s ill condition) fully attests to this fact :).

4) Finally, and, most importantly, Seohyun’s love and dedication to her 8 unnies, and the image of Girls’ Generation as a whole, ensures that she adapts to all that is required of her to do, giving off 120% of her efforts each time in order that eventual success will be an assured end-result.

This dedication is shown most clearly in the Maknae Performance item- Circus.

(It takes a certain amount of derring-do and dedication not to panic while you are being lowered from the roof onto the stage below ;).)

Circus

Her latest performances at the MTV Video Music Aid Japan event held on the 25th of June 2011 is further evidence of her dedication to her Soshi unnies and her maturity, performance-wise.

The Great Escape / Mr. Taxi

Maknae she may be in terms of physical age and life experience, but Seohyun has proven once and for all that she is anything but ;), for she has indeed set a very high standard in terms of her life goals, aspirations and beliefs, for herself and the rest of the maknaes that follow-on from her.

Here’s wishing our favourite Seobaby a Very Blessed and Wonderful 20th (21st) Birthday !

by: Kenneth@snsdkorean

sources: http://soshified.com/forums, http://fanwonder.com/, http://sookyeong.wordpress.com/