Lim Na-young

Biography

Lim Na-young (Korean: 임나영; born December 18, 1995) is a South Korean actress, singer and rapper. She was best known for finishing tenth in Mnet's reality survival show Produce 101 and subsequently became a member and leader of the South Korean girl group I.O.I. She was also a member of Pristin from 2016 to 2019.

Early life and education

Lim was born on December 18, 1995. She attended the Muhak Girls' High School and graduated from Dongduk Women's University.

2016: Produce 101 and debut with I.O.I

From January 22 to April 1, 2016, Lim participated in Mnet's survival television show, Produce 101, which consisted of 101 female trainees from different agencies in South Korea. Five participants from Pledis Entertainment were eliminated and only Lim and Kyulkyung made it to the final line up of I.O.I. She ranked tenth with a total of 138,726 votes. On May 4, I.O.I made their debut with the extended play, Chrysalis, and its lead single, "Dream Girls".

2017–2019: Disbandment of I.O.I and Pristin

After the disbandment of I.O.I on January 29, 2017, Pledis Entertainment announced that Lim and Kyulkyung would debut as members of Pristin on March 21. On the same day, Pristin released their debut EP, Hi! Pristin, accompanied by the lead single, "Wee Woo".
On May 17, 2018, Pledis Entertainment formed Pristin's subgroup, Pristin V, with Lim being one of its members. They debuted on May 28 with the single album, Like a V.
On May 24, 2019, Pristin was officially disbanded and Pledis Entertainment announced that Lim would be departing from the label. On August 22, she signed an exclusive contract with Sublime Artist Agency. Four days later, she was appointed promotional ambassador for tourist destination Insadong.

2020–present: Solo beginnings

On January 28, 2021, Lim made her acting debut in the mystery drama Flower of Evil, playing the role of young Do Hae-soo. The same year, she played her first main role in the web drama Summer Guys alongside fellow former I.O.I member Kang Mi-na. On April 1, it was confirmed that Lim was selected as campaign artist for Levi's Red alongside Got7's Choi Young-jae. Lim made a soundtrack appearance on Summer Guys with "So So" (그냥 그렇다고), released on April 7. She made her film debut in Twenty Hacker and sang the soundtrack, "Not Just Friends", for the film. Lim also released two tracks as part of part 4 of Twenty Hackers soundtrack with "With All My Heart" (온맘다해) as the title track as well as "Like The Two Of Us" (우리 둘처럼) on April 15. She played a supporting role for KBS2 drama Imitation, released on May 7. She was also set to play the main role of Hyun-ah in KBS1 drama Over To You. On June 29, Lim was confirmed to make her debut in the musical I Loved You which premiered on August 14. On December 1, Lim was cast in the short-form horror film 4:44 Seconds which was released on November 1, 2024.
On July 7, 2023, it was announced that Lim had signed a contract with Ascendio. The same year, she was cast in family drama Unpredictable Family. On February 19, 2024, she signed an exclusive contract with Mask Studio following their new establishment. On September 26, she was cast in the Korean–Japanese joint musical series Nebula. On November 8, it was announced that Lim would release her first CCM single album as part of a donation for underprivileged children and the next generation.
On November 19, 2025, Lim decided to end her contract with Mask Studio to participate for the 10th anniversary of I.O.I reunion activities. On September 17, 2026, Lim would making return to acting in the CJ ENM short form drama One Day, a New Employee Gained 7 Seniors?! (lit.), portraying protagonist, who thought applied for a dating reality show and meet seniors from seven affiliates.

Songwriting credits

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

Ambassadorship

Public Relations Ambassador of Asan Police Station (2021)