Shim Min Ah, known professionally as Mina, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She graduated from Uijeongbu Girls’ High School and later from the Department of Health Administration at Shinheung University.
She made her debut in 1993 as an advertising model and later became a dancer. She spent several years as a backup dancer for pop singers Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young, participating in their live performances as well as their MVs. Her career changed almost overnight when in 2002 she was photographed wearing a red bandana around her chest and a South Korean flag as a skirt during a match at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The photograph made the news around the world and she was nicknamed "Miss World Cup". She signed a contract with J-Entercom Entertainment and she decided to debut as a K-pop singer.
Later in 2002, she released her debut single "Answer the Phone" and some weeks later, her debut album "Rendezvous" and in 2004 she released her second album "Re:turn 2 Mina" with the lead song "Turn" becoming a top-5 hit in the country for several weeks. She moved to EMI Music in 2006 and released a third album "Kiss Kiss" with a remake of the hit Turkish song of the same name, but sadly, it failed terribly. Her fourth album, "Minastasia", came in 2007 but only two songs were released in South Korea, one titled "OK", featuring the controversial Bigbang’s Seungri. She was incredibly popular in China but her image began to falter inside her home country when it was revealed she lied about her age claiming she was born in 1978 when she was born in 1972. In 2009, she released a new song but her concept changed from an R&B vibe to an electro-pop style, and despite the song being mildly successful, her career began to decline.
In 2018 she married idol Ryu Philip from the now disbanded group "Tri:al", formerly known as "SoReal". Her family opposed fiercely to the marriage as she is 17 years older than him but she went through with the wedding.
(Source: Wikipedia)
