Nayeon (나연)

When TWICE debuted through Mnet's *Sixteen* survival program in October 2015, Im Na-yeon — performing as Nayeon — was positioned from the outset as one of the group's most visible presences. Nearly a decade later, she has done something few members of K-pop's most commercially dominant acts manage: built a parallel solo career substantial enough to carry its own identity, anchored by the 2024 single "ABCD", her most representative work to date.

Debut and early career

Nayeon's path to TWICE was not without detours. Signed to JYP Entertainment after several years of training, she was first named to 6MIX, a pre-debut project group that was eventually dissolved before releasing any material. She proceeded instead to *Sixteen*, the competitive reality format through which JYP assembled TWICE's final lineup, and debuted with the group in October 2015. She has remained a core member since, contributing to a run that established TWICE among K-pop's most commercially prominent acts of the late 2010s and early 2020s.

Solo work

In 2022, Nayeon became the first TWICE member to release a solo project — a distinction that carried weight given the group's scale and the competitive attention such a milestone attracts within K-pop fanbases. The debut single "Pop!" served as an introduction to what her individual output would sound like: a bright, pop-forward register that maintained clear continuity with TWICE's established aesthetic while framing her as a standalone act rather than simply a member stepping out temporarily.

The following year brought the mini album Im Nayeon, subtitled *Na and ABCD*, which consolidated her solo releases under a coherent identity. The project title itself gestured toward what would come next: in 2024, she returned with the extended play Na and the standalone single "ABCD", the latter now cited as her most representative solo work. Across the arc of these releases, her discography has developed steadily if not radically — each project reinforcing a consistent sonic and visual identity rather than pivoting in search of a different audience.

Activities

Outside the recording studio, Nayeon has maintained visibility through promotional and variety-format appearances that have increasingly centered on her individual personality rather than her group role. A 2026 appearance on *Ililchil*, a YouTube interview program hosted by RIIZE member Sungchan, offered a relatively candid window into her off-stage routines, with the conversation turning to personal self-care habits — the kind of individual, personality-driven content that has become a meaningful complement to her music output as she continues to establish herself as a solo presence.

Standing

What Nayeon's solo trajectory illustrates is less a dramatic reinvention than a deliberate extension. Her releases have not attempted to distance themselves from the sound that made TWICE a commercial force; instead, they have used that foundation as a legible starting point while asking whether an audience exists for her specifically. The evidence from *Pop!* through *Na* and *ABCD* suggests that it does.