Is it possible to deem any one girl group the “coolest” in the fourth generation of K-pop? No, of course not. But if you were to at least assemble a big list of candidates, Le Sserafim would certainly make the cut. The group sold more than one million albums in less than a year following their debut, and while there are many who still miss GFriend, it is clear that company Source Music has another dominant girl group on its hands. Likewise, the Le Sserafim members themselves are pretty dominant, making it easy to wonder who is leading this show. So if you want to know who the leader of Le Sserafim is among Sakura, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae, here is the full answer.
The Leader of Le Sserafim Is Chaewon
Chaewon is the leader of the group, and she has spoken about her role on a few occasions. In a GQ Korea interview from July 2022, she explained that she was surprised at first that she had been selected as leader, because she was the youngest person in her family and was generally used to being the youngest person in situations. She even found it weird that, as leader, she suddenly had to take the initiative in some situations, but eventually she got used to it and realized she could really do it. Succinctly, Chaewon has said that she wants to be a leader “that the members can rely on.”
That being said, Chaewon appreciates support too, and in the same interview she said that she leans on Sakura for support sometimes. “Especially when I’m not certain about something, I ask Sakura one more time,” she said. “I also want to depend on the other members too, but I’m worried that I might discourage the team’s morale by sharing my worries to the other members who are younger than me.” Sakura is actually the oldest member of Le Sserafim by more than two years, with Chaewon being the second oldest, and Sakura had been an idol in Japan at as young an age as 13. So with her depth of experience, Sakura certainly could have been a viable candidate for leader as well. However, in May 2023 on an episode of Knowing Bros, Sakura revealed for the first time that her one stipulation for joining Source Music was that she did not want to be group leader, which surprised Yunjin, Kazuha, and Eunchae to hear!
Besides Sakura not wanting the role, it appears Chaewon was chosen as leader of Le Sserafim at least in part because she may have impressed company management with her responses during a workshop. On episode 4 of the Le Sserafim documentary series The World Is My Oyster, artist management team leader Kim Hyeongeun made the announcement of who would be team leader, offering the simple explanation, “We talked briefly about the team leader. Chaewon responded faster than we expected, so we’ve decided it’ll be Chaewon [as leader].”
Now you know who the leader of Le Sserafim is and why it is Chaewon. How do you think she compares to the leaders of IVE, Aespa, and Fifty Fifty? For more about Le Sserafim, check out what their MBTIs are or who speaks English in the group, or look back on when the group debuted (and the unfortunate Kim Garam controversy).
