Winter (aespa) Profile, Bio, & Facts

Winter (윈터) is a South Korean singer and a member of the K-pop girl group aespa under SM Entertainment. She is also a member of “Girls On Top” and its sub-unit “GOT the beat”.

Winter (aespa) Profile

Winter (aespa) Facts

Early Life

– Winter was born in Busan, South Korea.
– Her hometown is Yangsan-si , Gyeongsangnam- do.
– She attended Yangsan Samseong Elementary School and Yangsan Samseong Middle School.
– She dropped out of Yang San Girls’ High School and passed her GED.
– During her school days, Winter was the vice president.
– She wanted to become a singer since middle school and was also active in the dance club at her school.

Personal Life

– Winter has an older brother named Kim Jeong Woo born in 1999.
– She was scouted at a dance festival in Yangsan City and initially thought they were fraud.
– Her first encounter with a celebrity was Lee Hong-ki.
– She is a fan of EXO and Baekhyun.
– In her childhood, Winter dreamt of becoming a singer or someone involved in the military due to her family’s military background.
– Her official symbol in aespa is Star ⭐.
– She expressed a desire to appear on the variety show “Begin Again” (MBC Radio).
– Since she likes to dream a lot, she often receives messages from her late grandfather. However, her parents tend to dismiss them due to her vivid imagination.
– She loved smelling the fabric softener on the handkerchiefs as a kid and would often fall asleep smelling them. (BuzzFeed Celeb)
– During a taxi ride, she revealed that the driver actually skipped an Aespa song because he found it too energetic.
– She often uses the velvet tint #220 (rosy coral) lip color by YSL Beauty. (ELLE KOREA)
– Winter and Ningning are known for being the shortest members of the group.
– She admires SNSD‘s Hyoyeon and considers Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Harry Styles, and Tori Kelly as role models.
– Her motto is “Let’s live with the flow”.
– Her official animal is a Siberian husky.
– She believed in Santa Claus until kindergarten but discovered that her father was the one who gave gifts.
– She believes that aliens exist.
– She likes to style simply and wear outfits with a natural vibe to them. (Source)
– If she had the opportunity to meet her 10-year-old self, she would encourage her to wholeheartedly engage in play.
– Her official number in the group is 44.
– Her old friends revealed that she doesn’t take selfies often because she is bad at it.
– She is a fan of baseball and supports both the Doosan Bears and the Lotte Giants.
– Despite her name, she is the least tolerant of cold weather among the four members.
– Bae from NMIXX, a junior from the same school, expressed admiration and honor upon learning that she was Winter’s junior.
– Many fans have drawn comparisons between her and Girls’ Generation (SNSD)’s Taeyeon.
– She has a dust allergy.
– While working her bag choice is a G-Hobo Bag by Givenchy, since she carries a lot of stuff. But she likes carrying small bags when she hangs out with friends. (VOGUE KOREA)
– Her first impression of NingNing was thinking if she is older than her, she found Karina’s appearance to be unique and she was amazed by Giselle’s long arms and legs.
– When she was younger, she and her brother would pretend to play the guitar, sing, and dance along to music.
– When asked to give a message to herself 10 years in the future, she said that she hopes that her future self to take care of her health and not forget the mindset with which she started.

Career

– Winter is the lead vocalist, lead dancer, and visual of the group “aespa”.
– She trained for four years before debuting in aespa.
– She was featured in the “Vogue” magazine.
– She and Karina are currently members of Girls on Top (SM rotational style girl group).
– Winter appeared in Kangta’s MV “Free To Fly 2021” alongside Sungchan (NCT) and Yesung’s MV “Floral Sense” in 2023.
– She and Ningning and released the OST “Once Again” for “Our Blues OST Part.10”.
– Winter was revealed as the first member of aespa.
– Her avatar “ae-WINTER” was revealed in November 2020.
– She performed the cover of “ID; Peace B” to give tribute to BoA in the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Likes & Dislikes

– Her favorite colors include Ivory, light green, yellow, sky blue.
– She prefers using body lotion, specifically Victoria’s Secret’s Amber Romance, instead of perfume.
– She considers “milk” and “love” as her favorite words.
– Her favorite Christmas carol is “First Snow” by EXO.
– She likes wool and fluffy clothes. (Allure Korea)
– She enjoys sports like bowling, Haedong Gumdo, and fencing.
– She considers autumn as her favorite season.
– Her favorite animals include tigers, cats, polar foxes, desert foxes, and huskies.
– She dislikes snakes and mollusks because they slither.
– “Tenet” and “American Sniper” are among her favorite movies.
– She likes taking mirror selfies.
– Her favorite doll is named Tettdu, and she bought a doll named Toutte with Giselle.
– The roller coaster is her favorite ride at amusement parks, and she considers Ningning her roller coaster partner.
– Winter enjoys receiving handwritten letters from fans during airport arrivals and departures.
– She likes to watch action movies as well as films that require multiple viewings to fully grasp.

Food Preferences

– When it comes to coffee, she prefers Ice Americano over hot Americano, especially during winter.
– Her alcohol consumption is low, and she tends to prefer sweet alcoholic beverages like fruit soju.
– She has a sweet tooth and enjoys eating chocolate and sweets.
– She loves drinking milk.
– She loves the snack ‘I-sour’. (First We Feast)
– Her favorite foods include  chocolate, snacks, jelly, taro smoothie, bean noodle, lasagna, cake, bread, and cookies.
– She prefers desserts over rice.
– Winter doesn’t like sweet and sour pork.
– Jisamseon and Guobarou are her favorite Chinese dishes.
– She enjoys eating mint chocolate and pineapple pizza.
– She has a Kiwi and tomato allergy.

Nicknames

– Her nicknames include “Gyeoul” (winter), “Wingingie”, “Winyomi” (name + Gwiyomi), “Mindoongie”, “Kim Gyeoul” and “Baby Bunny”.
– In high school, Winter was nicknamed “Kim Min Kyung Hoon” due to her resemblance to Buzz singer Min Kyung Hoon.

Abilities

– Winter excelled in mathematics and was moved to an advanced class.
– Her specialities include being able to perform tongue-twisters.
– She is skilled at filleting fish and Kendo.
– She has the ability to imitate sound effects from the messaging app Kakao Talk.
– She can also produce a loud clicking sound by rolling her tongue backwards.
– She can slice cucumbers and paper with a fake samurai sword.
– Winter has flexible hands and can rotate them 360 degrees and flip them from palm up to palm down outwards.
– She is fast in learning choreographies. (MTV UK)

Personality & Habits

– Giselle said that Winter appears the calm and quiet type but actually isn’t.
– She has a shy personality but is considered the mood-maker of the group.
– Winter’s morning routine involves eating as soon as she wakes up.
– On her off days, she enjoys taking pictures with the members, going for walks, watching movies, and listening to music at dorm. (Vivi)
– She has a habit of sitting with her feet on the chair and wrapping her arms around her legs.
– She often prepares meals for her fellow members and is praised for her cooking skills, particularly by Karina.

Celebrity Friends

– During her trainee days, Winter became friends with Kep1er‘s Kim Chaehyun.
– She is close with Yunjin from Le Sserafim because they trained together in SM Entertainment and even shared the same room.
– She is also friends with Ryujin (ITZY).

Controversy

Excessive Use of Cellphone

– Winter faced criticism for her excessive cellphone use, as highlighted in a video titled “Controversy over aespa Winter’s attitude during broadcast” uploaded by YouTuber Sojang. The video pointed out her constant cellphone usage during aespa’s appearance on MBC’s ‘Omniscient Interfering View’ and her lack of interaction with fans during their showcase in the US. This led to speculations among netizens about Winter possibly dating someone.

Photoshop Controversy

– Winter faced allegations of photoshopping her photos in online communities. Users noticed discrepancies between different photos, with the first and second ones showing her in an alluring manner, while the third photo raised suspicions of severe Photoshop errors around her waist. The controversy sparked a debate among fans and internet users, with differing opinions on whether Winter was responsible for the edits or if it was the work of SM Entertainment’s social media handler. Some fans defended her, suggesting she may not have been directly involved in the editing process.

Rude Behaviour Towards Members

– Winter’s attitude sparked discussions on Zhihu, particularly due to an incident during a Christmas video in 2020. Despite losing a game, Winter disregarded Giselle’s authority and chose gifts for the members herself. She gave Ningning the least appealing sweater, causing discomfort, and kept the nicest shirt for herself, leaving Giselle with an odd sweater. This behaviour led to accusations of selfishness and a lack of consideration for others’ feelings.

– Another incident occurred during Winter’s birthday celebration when Giselle proudly presented a drawing she had made, but she responded dismissively, claiming not to have seen it before and showing little appreciation for Giselle’s effort. These instances further fueled criticism of her attitude and garnered mixed opinions among online communities.

Social Media Handles
Instagram: imwinter

Streaming Platform Links
Genie | Bugs | Melon

Winter (aespa) Photos

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