Sunny (SNSD): Granddaughter of President Lee so Man, life "sucked on golden spoons" since childhood

It is a fact that all SNSD fans know that Sunny is the granddaughter of SM Entertainment president Lee so Man. Because of this, throughout her career, she suffered a lot of notoriety.

"Lee so Man's niece" is a phrase that has followed SNSD's Sunny's career for a long time, making her both abstain and bring a lot of fame to this idol. Sunny, whose real name is Lee Soon Kyu, was born in Orange County, California, USA. Sunny's father, Lee so Young, is Lee so Man's eldest brother and is also a member of the management company that incubates popular girl groups, Sugar.

Despite being the nephew of Korea's most powerful president, Sunny joined the first Starlight Entertainment agency, rather than SM Entertainment. Sunny became a trainee there for 5 years, then moved on to Starworld and almost debuted in the group Sugar with one-time hit singer Ayumi Lee. It wasn't until 2007 when she was introduced by Ayumi that Sunny became an SM trainee and became an integral part of SNSD's legendary girl group.

Although she is Lee so Man's nephew, Sunny did not rise through her family, but relied on her strength. Many people criticized female idols for not being talented enough compared to the other members of SNSD, thanks to "umbrellas" that succeeded. Some antifans think that Sunny possesses an unattractive appearance with a modest height (1m55), so why was she chosen to join SNSD, where all girls are either tall (like Yoona, Yuri, SooYoung) or have a good voice (like Taeyeon or SeoHyun), is Sunny's choice to SNSD has her own favor.

However, in fact, for many years of SNSD's activities, Sunny has the smallest appearance but is one of the most tried and active members of the group. Thanks to her good entertainment skills, Sunny is a member in addition to singing, actively participating in entertainment programs as a regular member such as Invincible Youth, used to be the DJ of the radio show Chunji (with Super Junior's Sungmin), hosted The M (with Kim Hyung Jun - SS501, Seulong – 2AM) ... Sunny has gradually proved that her choice in SNSD is completely worthy and fair.

Talking about her position as a "son and grandfather", Sunny once said: "I want to be known by my ability and energy, not through special treatment from my uncle or father. To that end, I will always try my best." Obviously, she's not an idol with a "special favor."

A rumor circulating among SNSD fans about Sunny and Lee so Man's true relationship made headlines, namely that the singer's father and President Lee were inherently at odds. That's why Sunny was once considered a personal blacklist by Lee so Man, and was even drowned in SNSD's lineup for this reason. It's unclear what the reality is, but Sunny and Lee so Man rarely stand close to each other in the photo themselves. Many people believe that Sunny and President Lee do not want to be rumored to rely on their relationship to support each other, so they have a cold attitude, but many fans also believe that Lee so Man and Sunny's father have a conflict.

Conflicting rumors are further grounded when on the variety show Knowing Bros, the beauty once indirectly denied being privileged by revealing that she was not close to her uncle and never called him "uncle" despite working under him throughout her career.

Sunny once made many people admire because she owns a "huge" fortune. On Serial Shopping Family, the idol said that the first car she bought was a BMW, then a BMW Mini Cooper. Sunny also introduced the inside of her house to the audience. Many people were "freaked out" by her luxury and wealth. From Sunny's house, you can see a large part of the city, in addition to watching the sunrise and sunset.

On April 30, Sunny became a hot topic after the star changed her profile picture on Naver. This immediately sparked the curiosity of supporters, especially SONE (Girls' Generation's fandom), whether the idol has finally found her new home to pursue solo activities.

In her new photos, the "Sky View" singer showed off her unchanging beauty in a cyan outfit. In contrast to her bubbly image as a member of the group, Sunny shows off her chic and classy demeanor no less than her chaebol daughter.

In 2023, fans were surprised by the news that SNSD's Sunny (Girls' Generation) is leaving SM Entertainment after 16 years together. At that time, there were many speculations that she was preparing to join a new agency, but it was about 9 months before she continued to work as an independent artist

Fans expressed regret that more than 2 decades have passed that she still has not had the opportunity to debut solo despite her top-notch singing ability. With the new profile pictures, people are very hopeful whether Sunny will finish her solo debut album.

Earlier, Sunny took it upon herself to announce the news to her fans. In her post, the idol expressed her gratitude to her former agency, SNSD members, and fans. Notably, Sunny affirmed that SNSD's members have always been a family after many years together.

The news of Sunny's departure from SM Entertainment began to spread when the star did not appear in SNSD's 16th anniversary message. Not stopping there, the banner congratulating the group's debut day at SM headquarters also only had 4 members Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Yuri and YoonA.