Kang Seul-gi (Korean: 강슬기; born February 10, 1994), known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet, its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, and the supergroup Got the Beat. She released her debut EP, 28 Reasons, in 2022.
Kang Seul-gi was born on February 10, 1994, in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Her family consists of her parents and an older brother.
She studied in Ansan Byeolmang Middle School and attended School of Performing Arts Seoul. She can speak both Korean and Japanese.
Seulgi began training at SM Entertainment in 2007. On December 2, 2013, she was one of the first three trainees introduced to the public through SM Entertainment's pre-debut project, SM Rookies, alongside now-NCT members Jeno and Taeyong. Various pre-debut clips of Seulgi were released by SM Entertainment, one of which was a dance performance of "Be Natural" by S.E.S. with Irene. In July 2014, Seulgi was featured on Henry Lau's song "Butterfly" from his second EP Fantastic. She also appeared in the music video of his single "Fantastic".
2014–2018: Debut with Red Velvet and solo activities
On August 1, 2014, Seulgi made her official debut as a member of Red Velvet.
In January 2015, Seulgi starred in the musical School Oz, playing the lead role of Dorothy. From April to May, she was part of the variety show Off to School.
In July 2016, Seulgi released "Don't Push Me" with bandmate Wendy as part of the soundtrack of the television series Uncontrollably Fond. In October, Seulgi competed on King of Mask Singer under the alias Cinema Heaven. On November 18, she sang the theme song of the MMORPG Blade & Soul, "You, Just Like That" (그대는 그렇게), although it was not officially released as a digital single until 2017. On December 30, Seulgi released the digital single "Sound of Your Heart" with Wendy and other SM artists for the digital music project SM Station.
In January 2017, Seulgi released "You're the Only One I See" with Wendy as part of the soundtrack of the drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth. As part of SM Station, she also released the duet "Darling U" with labelmate Yesung on January 22. In February, Seulgi and Hwang Chi-yeul collaborated on the song "Our Story", which served as the final track for Hwang's duet project Fall, in girl. In March, Seulgi featured on labelmate Mark's "Drop", an original song performed on High School Rapper. Seulgi was cast alongside six other female idols in the variety show Idol Drama Operation Team, wherein they had to create their own television series, titled Let's Only Walk the Flower Road, as scriptwriters and play fictional versions of themselves, who are part of a fictional music group. The group, called Girls Next Door, released the song "Deep Blue Eyes" and held their debut stage at Music Bank on July 14. On October 27, Seulgi released a remake of the 2001 song "Doll (인형)", originally by Shin Hye-sung and Lee Ji-hoon, along with Kangta and Wendy as part of the second season of SM Station. An accompanying music video featuring footage from their live performance of the song at the SM Town Live Tour V in Japan was released on the same day. That same month, Seulgi featured on labelmate Taemin's song "Heart Stop" from his second studio album Move.
In February 2018, Seulgi was confirmed as part of the cast of Law of the Jungle in Mexico. In April, she was confirmed as part of the cast of the variety show Secret Unnie. She featured on Moonbyul's debut single "Selfish", which was released on May 23. Seulgi and Wendy starred in the special 100th episode of Battle Trip, which aired for the first time on July 21. In September, Seulgi released the digital single "Wow Thing" with Soyeon, SinB, and Chungha. In October, it was announced that Seulgi had been cast in the television show Cool Kids. On October 15, she featured on Zion.T's "Hello Tutorial", which reached number two on the Gaon Digital Chart.
2019–present: Red Velvet sub-unit, Got the Beat and solo debut
On February 12, 2019, Seulgi released "Always", a ballad about eternal love, for the soundtrack of The Crowned Clown.
On April 20, 2020, SM Entertainment confirmed that Seulgi would be part of Red Velvet's first sub-unit, alongside bandmate Irene. Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi debuted on July 6 with the extended play (EP) Monster. The EP contained the studio version of Seulgi's solo song "Uncover", which was first revealed during Red Velvet's third concert tour La Rouge. She and Irene starred in the spin-off of Red Velvet's reality show Level Up Project!. On November 23, it was announced that Seulgi would translate the series of art essays Art Gallery By My Side: Love, Happiness, Sleep.
On January 25, 2021, Seulgi featured in the music video for labelmate Yunho's "Eeny Meeny". On February 1, Seulgi and rapper Bewhy released a music video for the song "Born Confident" for a Volkswagen campaign. On March 30, it was announced that Seulgi would feature on Wendy's song "Best Friend" from her debut EP Like Water. On April 2, it was announced that Seulgi would host a web music program, The Wise Music Encyclopedia. On June 1, she started hosting her own live show, Seulgi.zip, on Naver Now. On June 7, Seulgi teamed up with NCT's Taeyong on the release of the demo song "Rose" on SoundCloud. The duo co-composed the song with producer SQUAR. On December 28, Seulgi featured on BamBam's song "Who Are You" from his second EP B. On December 27, Seulgi was revealed as a member of the supergroup Got the Beat, alongside bandmate Wendy. The group debuted on January 3, 2022.
On September 13, 2022, it was announced that Seulgi would debut as a soloist with the release of her first EP, titled 28 Reasons, on October 4, led by the single of the same name.
On August 22, 2023, SM Entertainment announced it had "renewed an exclusive contract with Red Velvet's Seulgi". In December 2023, Seulgi sung the OST "Polaroid" for the Season 3 of the reality TV show Unexpected Business.
In January 2024, she sung another OST titled "In My Memory" for the drama Doctor Slump. On February 6, she officially launched her own YouTube channel Hi Seulgi, mirroring the username of her Instagram account. The channel is set to showcase her trendy lifestyle through engaging content on fashion, beauty, and her favorite hobbies. On April 3, another OST sung by Seulgi was released and dedicated to the famous Fu Bao panda, titled "You're My Joy and Luck (넌 기쁨이자 행운이야)". On May 4, she performed as a special guest for BamBam at his Area 52: The 1st World Tour Encore concert in Bangkok, Thailand – their first performance together after they recorded "Who Are You".
On January 15, 2025, the legend diva Kim Wan-sun collaborated with Seulgi for the digital release of the single "Lucky" produced by JYP. Seulgi previously worked with her on a performance of "Tonight" and "Dance in the Rhythm" during the Level Up Project! with Irene, and they also later performed together on the show Dancing Queens on the Road. On February 18, SM Entertainment announced that Seulgi would be releasing her second EP Accidentally on Purpose on March 10, with the lead single "Baby, Not Baby".