Chou Tzu-yu

Chou Tzu-yu (Chinese: 周子瑜, born June 14, 1999), known mononymously as Tzuyu (Korean: 쯔위, [t͈sɯ.ɥi]), is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is the youngest member of the girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment. Tzuyu is Twice's only member from Taiwan.

Tzuyu was born in the East District of Tainan, Taiwan on June 14, 1999, to self-made entrepreneurs. She started dancing from a young age and trained at a dance academy.

Pre-debut

In 2012, Tzuyu was discovered by talent scouts at the MUSE Performing Arts Workshop in Tainan, and moved to South Korea in November of that year to start her training. In 2016, Tzuyu passed an exam at Tainan Municipal Fusing Junior High School to certify her middle school education. She attended high school at Hanlim Multi Art School in South Korea and graduated in February 2019. In 2015, Tzuyu participated in the South Korean reality television show Sixteen, hosted by JYP Entertainment and co-produced by Mnet. As one of nine successful participants, she went on to join the newly formed girl group Twice. Unlike the other winners of Sixteen, Tzuyu was selected based on audience voting.

Career with Twice

In October 2015, Tzuyu officially debuted as a member of Twice with their first extended play, The Story Begins. The lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" was the first K-pop debut song to reach 100 million views on YouTube. Since her debut she has also been featured in advertisements and worked as a presenter for multiple music television shows.

Recognition

According to Gallup Korea's annual music survey, Tzuyu was the third most popular idol among South Koreans in 2016. She ranked ninth in the 2017 survey and twelfth in 2018. In 2019, Tzuyu was ranked as the second most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea. Tzuyu has received positive coverage for her beauty.

In November 2015, Tzuyu appeared with Twice on the Korean variety show My Little Television. She introduced herself as Taiwanese and held the flag of Republic of China (Taiwan) alongside that of South Korea. Mainland Chinese internet users reacted angrily towards Tzuyu's actions due to the political rift between the two countries. Soon after, Twice was barred from Chinese television and Tzuyu was pulled out of her endorsement with Chinese communications company Huawei. Meanwhile, her agency, JYP Entertainment, released a video showing Tzuyu reading an apology, which said in part:

There is only one China, the two sides of the strait are one, and I have always felt proud to be Chinese. I feel extremely apologetic to my company and to Internet friends on both sides of the strait for the hurt that I have caused, and I also feel very guilty.

Tzuyu's apology sparked a furore among the Taiwanese public on election day. The incident gained international attention as it was believed to have affected the 2016 Taiwanese general election. A survey found that Tzuyu's video apology affected the decision of about 1.34 million young voters.

After the video's release, JYP Entertainment shares on the KOSDAQ fell from a 52-week high of KR₩6,300+ to ₩4,000, ultimately closing at ₩4,300. In response to criticism, JYP Entertainment announced that it would be adopting new procedures concerning its exports and overseas activities in order to protect employees from future controversies. This included the implementation of cultural sensitivity training for its artists and staff members. In an interview with The Korea Times, a JYP representative stated that the training would include issues pertaining to political conflicts between countries.

Photobooks

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.

Television shows