The Lee Hyori revival: project groups Refund Sisters and SSAK3 gave the first-gen K-pop star a delightful 2020 comeback – and we can’t get enough

Nov 12 , 2020

Everyone’s favourite first generation K-pop diva made an impressive comeback this summer – pandemic be damned. Photo: @leehyori.leehyolee/Instagram

Every K-pop fan worth their salt knows who Lee Hyori is. She was the hottest K-pop diva of the 2000s, and generally believed to be one of the best female idols among the first generation of K-pop artists thanks to her group Fin.K.L. She even held the Guinness World Record for most appearances on the front page of a newspaper, according to Soompi (891, in case you were wondering).

After spending some time travelling, doing commercials and getting married – and despite the pandemic – the now-41-year-old Lee Hyori has made a most impressive recent comeback as Linda G thanks to the ridiculously fun project groups SSAK3 (consisting of her, Running Man MC Yoo Jae-suk and OG K-pop star Rain); and Refund Sisters, an unconventionally sassy quartet featured on reality show Hangout with Yoo.

Heck, she’s even helped produce Koyote’s latest record. Read on for more about her new guises and why they’ve become so successful.

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Linda G of SSAK3

SSAK3 is a mixed supergroup of seasoned K-pop stars first formed on the variety show Hangout with Yoo. Earlier this year, comedian and host Yoo Jae-suk, otherwise known as the “Nation’s MC”, announced he wanted to form a co-ed group to perform this summer. Lee Hyori and world-famous Korean pop star Rain joined to make up the numbers – and the rest is history.

She chose the name Linda G (which, hilariously, is derived from the Korean word jirinda, meaning “to wet one’s pants”) while taking part in SSAK3. And if you’re not au fait with Korean slang, it’s also worth pointing out that SSAK3 means “clean sweep” – a particularly apt name for the group that really did sweep the Korean charts this summer. In fact, the trio topped the Gaon Music Charts for five consecutive weeks.

After their stage debut on July 25, songs In Summer, Beach Again and Play That Summer went viral both online and offline. Given the global pandemic and lack of travel, it’s probably no surprise that the nostalgic, sun-kissed tunes did so well.

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Fans were even more delighted to discover that all of the profits from the singles went to those in need, according to MBC, who produced the show.

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Chun Ok of Refund Sisters

Lee Hyori, Linda G or Chun Ok? Photo: @leehyori.leehyolee/Instagram

Where did Refund Sisters come from? Well, Yoo Jae-suk – the Nation’s MC – dubbed himself Yoo Dragon while he was in SSAK3. Then in a twist, changed his name to Jimmy Yoo and gave himself the role of producer in a bid to make his own group of four K-pop divas successful.

The name of his new female quartet? “Refund Sisters” – because the women have such strong and sassy personalities that even the most determined and stern shopkeeper wouldn’t be able to deny them a refund. Keep this in mind when you picture the four different members: our star Lee Hyori (now going by the name Chun Ok); Uhm Jung-hwa (Man Ok); Jessi (Eun Bi), and Hwasa from Mamamoo (Sil Bi).

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Uhm Jung-hwa was as much of an idol as Lee Hyori in the early days of K-pop, while sultry voiced rapper Jessi’s latest song Nun Nu Nan Na is about as attitude-filled as it gets. Hwasa’s huge solo singles Maria and Twit went viral as well.

To no one’s surprise, such an explosive combination of K-divas – ranging in age from their twenties to their fifties – was a sensation. After its debut in October, the song Don’t Touch Me blasted to No 2 on the Billboard K-pop 100 that same week.

Producer of Koyote’s new album

One thing both SSAK3 and the Refund Sisters’ hits had in common was their old-school feel. After her successful performances with similar songs in the two project groups, Lee Hyori decided to don her producer hat and create an equally retro song called Delete.

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So how did it end up with Koyote? Fans first got a glimpse of the chemistry between Lee Hyori and the group’s Kim Jong-min on Hangout with Yoo when she was her Refund Sisters alter ego Chun Ok. In the show, Kim played the role of a manager named Kim Ji-sub, while, ironically, Lee Hyori became a producer for the group Koyote. Still keeping up?

Lee Hyori wrote Delete while putting together SSAK3’s album but decided it was better suited to Koyote and gifted it to them instead of keeping it for herself. Shin Ji, the only female member of Koyote, initially thought she had been scammed when she heard the news. Luckily it wasn’t a prank, and the group seemed to have a lot of fun playing up to the tune’s strong 90s vibes in the music video.

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K-pop idols

Joining Running Man MC Yoo Jae-suk and OG rapper Rain in SSAK3 – plus Mamamoo’s Hwasa, Uhm Jung-hwa and Jessi in Refund Sisters – early 2000s idol Lee Hyori is back with alter egos Linda G and Chun Ok, and even produced Koyote’s new single Delete