Karina (카리나) Real Name: Yu Ji-min (유지민) — 본명

Quick answer

Karina's real name is Yu Ji-min (Korean: 유지민). Born April 11, 2000, she is the leader of SM Entertainment girl group aespa.

Real name and stage name

Karina (카리나) is the stage name of Yu Ji-min (유지민). Rather than using her own given name, she performs under a name chosen for her debut, a common choice for SM Entertainment idols.

Yu Ji-min was born on April 11, 2000. She is a member and the leader of aespa, the girl group SM Entertainment formed in November 2020. Aespa launched with a concept built around virtual avatars and a fictional "metaverse" storyline, and it has become one of the leading groups of K-pop's fourth generation.

In January 2022 Karina also debuted with Got the Beat, SM's supergroup of female vocalists, alongside Taeyeon, Seulgi, Wendy and her aespa bandmate Winter.

Her solo profile grew in 2024. Her song "Up," from aespa's digital single album Synk: Parallel Line, became her first top-ten song as a solo artist on the Circle Digital Chart. It also won her first solo music show award, on MBC's Show! Music Core.

Karina is known as aespa's main dancer and rapper as well as its leader, and she regularly appears as a brand ambassador and model in Korean media.

For anyone looking up her real name, Karina's legal name is Yu Ji-min, and Karina is a stage name.