Shim Mina

For the actress, see Shin Min-a.

In this Korean name, the family name is Shim.

Shim Mina
Born	Shim Mina (심민아, 沈敏雅) (1972-12-01) December 1, 1972 (age 52) Uijeongbu, South Korea
Other names	Mina (미나)
Occupation(s)	Model, singer, dancer
Spouse	Ryu Philip (m. 2018)
Musical career
Genres	K-pop, dance-pop, R&B
Years active	2002–present
Labels	EMI Korea, J-Entercom, Imagine Asia
Korean name
Hangul	심민아
Hanja	沈敏雅
Revised Romanization	Sim Min-a
McCune–Reischauer	Sim Min-a

Shim Mina (Korean: 심민아; born December 1, 1972), known simply as Mina (미나), is a South Korean singer and dancer. She rose to fame at the World Cup in 2002, eventually deciding to become a K-pop singer. Mina released her debut album Rendezvous in November 2002, which saw success in China and the Philippines.

On July 7, 2018, Mina married Ryu Philip, a member of boy band Tri:al (트라이얼), formerly known as SoReal (소리얼).^[1]

Early life

Shim Mina was born on December 1, 1972 in Uijeongbu, Gyyeonggi.^[2] She initially found instant fame as "Miss World Cup" at the 2002 FIFA World Cup; when pictures of her with the "Be The Reds!" bandanna around her chest and the Korean flag used as a skirt were beamed around the world.^[3] Afterwards, she signed a record deal with J-Entercom Entertainment, and prepared to release her debut album.

Career

2002: Rendezvous

Shim Mina was first a backup dancer for various Korean pop artists such as Park Jin-young and Park Ji-yoon. Mina released her debut single 전화받어 ("Answer the Phone") in October 2002.^[4][5] She subsequently released her first album, Rendezvous later that month.

Answer the Phone became a chart-topping hit in the Philippines and is regarded as one of the first K-pop hits in the country despite most Filipinos mistaking the song's language for Spanish instead of Korean.^[6] An English-translated cover was performed by Roxanne Barcelo for her debut album Roxie in 2004.^[7]

2004: Re:Turn 2 Mina and departure from J-Entercom Entertainment

After a two-year hiatus, Mina came back with her second album in 2004, titled Re:turn 2 Mina. She stated at the time that she wanted to be taken seriously as a singer, and no longer wanted to be known as "Miss World Cup".^[8] The lead single from the album, 돌아 ("Turn"), was a strong hit for Mina, as it was performed on SBS's Popular Song numerous times, which caused the song to enter the Top 5 of the Korean music charts. Promotion for the album was accompanied by live vocal performances of various songs from the album. This album proved to be more popular than her debut album, and sold many copies.

2006: Signing with EMI Korea, Kiss Kiss, and Fly High

Mina signed with EMI Korea. and released her third album. Kiss Kiss in the fall of 2005 with an even sexier image. Mina trained in Europe to belly dance and made her music video for her title track there as well. The cover of the Turkish song, though, failed badly, with the album selling less than 10,000 copies. She has since released an English single for the European market, even going as far as making a MySpace page for the single. However, she has remained in Korea and promoted her last single Fly High during the 2006 FIFA World Cup as a tribute to the competition that started her career.

2007–present: Minastasia, scandals, hiatus, comeback, and clothing line

In early 2007, EMI Korea announced Mina's 4th album, entitled Minastasia. The album was scheduled to be released in early April; however, the release of Minastasia was delayed until July 2007. In China, the album received an unexpected 180,000 pre-orders, making her a bonafide star in China. In Korea, the album had two singles to date: a song called "Look" featuring Ak'Sent, and "좋아" (OK) featuring Seungri of the Korean Pop group, Big Bang. Because of her relatively late debut, Mina initially claimed that she was born in 1978. As rumors of her real age began to spread, Mina eventually admitted that she was born in 1972^[9] and apologized to the public and her fans for lying about it for so long. On November 17, 2008, Mina attended a TV program "JoyDancing" held by Oriental TV, Shanghai, China. She was accused of not respecting the competition with her dance moves (many see the claims as unfair) and finally got 0 points for her dance. Mina shed tears on the stage of the competition.^[10] In the fall of 2009, Mina returned to the K-Pop scene with her new single Doh Doh (도도), keeping her sexy image, but having a new electropop sound, rather than the usual R&B sound she has. The new single fared well with critics, and no news of a new album has been released at this time. Mina had also launched a clothing line named Tamina, which is now defunct.^[11]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Sales
Rendezvous	Released: November 7, 2002 Formats: CD, digital download, streaming Label: J-Entercom Entertainment	CHN: 200,000[12]
Re:Turn 2 Mina	Released: May 6, 2004 Formats: CD, digital download, streaming Label: Yedang Entertainment
Kiss Kiss	Released: September 13, 2005 Formats: CD, digital download, streaming Label: EMI Korea
Minastasia	Released: July 25, 2007 Formats: CD, digital download, streaming Label: EMI Korea

Singles

• "Answer the Phone" (전화받어)
• "Fly High"
• "Ok" (좋아)
• "Doh Doh" (도도)

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
Luxury Brand Model Awards	2015	Korean Wave Contribution Award	Shim Mina	Won
MAMA Awards	2002	Best New Female Artist	"Answer the Phone"	Nominated	[13]
Republic of Korea Peace Awards	2015	National Prestige Promotion	Shim Mina	Won

References

1. [1] AllKpop's Shim Mina and Ryu Philip wedding pictures.
2. "미나 '화제'... 연하 순정남 사랑한 '한 장의 사진' 핫이슈 등극". KNS뉴스통신 (in Korean). August 9, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
3. (in Korean) '미스월드컵' 미나 첫 동영상 인터뷰 ("Miss World Cup" Mina's First Video Interview) Archived October 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Hankook Ilbo. July 12, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
4. (in Korean) ‘미스 월드컵’ 미나 가수데뷔 ("Miss World Cup" Mina Debuts as Singer). Kuki News. October 14, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
5. Esteban, Nadie (May 27, 2020). "You Probably Didn't Know That This Hit 2000s Song Is Actually Korean". COSMO.PH. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
6. "You Probably Didn't Know That This Hit 2000s Song Is Actually Korean". Cosmopolitan Philippines. May 27, 2020.
7. "Roxie: Just as good with any name". The Philippine STAR. October 24, 2004.
8. (in Korean) 미나, '이젠 노래로 인정받고파' (Mina: "I Want to Receive Attention from My Songs). The Chosun Ilbo. May 7, 2004. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
9. 리얼타임 연예속보, 스타의 모든 것 '스타뉴스'
10. (in Chinese) 米娜《舞林》首拿零分 评委怒斥不尊重比赛(图). November 19, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
12. "가수 미나, "중국에서 내 노래 안나오는 곳 없어…리메이크 필리핀 가수만 3명"" [Singer Mina, "There is no place in China where my song was not played... There are 3 Filipino singers who released a remake] (in Korean). EToday. August 17, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
13. "2002 MMF part 1" Archived August 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Mwave. Retrieved August 17, 2014.

External links

• Mina profile in EPG, Korean