Background and career
Kim Da-hyun (Korean: 김다현; born May 28, 1998), known mononymously as Dahyun, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and actress. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. Dahyun made her acting debut in 2025 with the film You Are the Apple of My Eye, where she received several Best New Actress awards. She later appeared in the independent film Run to You (2025) and in the television series Love Me (2025–2026).
Early life and education Dahyun was born in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on May 28, 1998. She grew up with her parents and an older brother. As a child, she sang in her Christian church choir and took part in school talent shows. She considered becoming a piano teacher or a prosecutor before pursuing a career in entertainment. Dahyun graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School in 2017. She later became the first member of Twice to pursue acting and said it had been a long-standing goal supported by her mother since childhood.
Dahyun first gained attention in sixth grade after performing a church dance known as the "eagle dance", which was later uploaded to YouTube. She later auditioned for SM, YG, and JYP and was accepted by all three agencies. After being scouted at a dance festival, she chose to join JYP and trained there for over three years. In 2014, she appeared as the main female character in the music video for Got7's "Stop Stop It". The following year, she competed in Sixteen, a reality television show that determined the lineup of JYP's new girl group. She finished among the nine selected contestants and debuted in Twice as a singer and rapper.
Dahyun debuted with Twice in October 2015 with the release of the extended play (EP), The Story Begins. Its lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" later became the first K-pop debut song to reach 100 million views on YouTube. In February 2016, she joined the cast of the variety show Real Man, which followed celebrities experiencing military life. In 2017, Dahyun ranked seventeenth in Gallup Korea's annual poll of the most popular idols in South Korea. In subsequent years, she appeared as a host on several South Korean music and variety television programs. In November 2018, right-wing Japanese lawmaker Masaru Onodera criticized Dahyun for wearing a T-shirt produced by Marymond, an organization that raises funds to support comfort women who were victims of sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Following the criticism, The Korea Times criticized J. Y. Park, founder of JYP Entertainment, for not publicly defending her.
