Ha Ju-yeon of Jewelry finds contentment in ordinary office life

Ha Ju-yeon, a former member of the girl group Jewelry, has shared an update on her life after stepping away from the entertainment industry to work as an ordinary office employee.

A video titled "Jewelry's Ha Ju-yeon's Lunch Break While Waiting for Payday" was posted Thursday on singer Noh Sa-yeon's YouTube channel.

In the video, Noh enjoyed a picnic with Ha, who now works as a company employee.

Reflecting on her long hiatus, Ha opened up about her decision to leave. "In this industry, if you're not working, you're essentially unemployed," she said. "You can only go when someone calls you, and I couldn't keep waiting indefinitely for that opportunity."

After Jewelry's activities wound down, Ha worked part-time at a cafe in Hannam-dong to make ends meet. She confessed that starting out in ordinary Korean working life felt a little embarrassing at first.

"I submitted my resume to hundreds of places through job-search websites," she said. "Even back then, when I was much younger than I am now, I kept getting rejected at the application stage." She added that she had felt discouraged, wondering whether her age was working against her. She said she eventually built up her career step by step until she was able to settle into office life.

When Noh asked whether she now simply lived from payday to payday, Ha said that suited her just fine. "In entertainment, if there's no work, nobody pays you. A salaried worker gets a paycheck every month — that's why I got a regular job," she said, adding that as long as the company does not go under, the salary keeps coming. She also said she was happy living as an ordinary person after her years as a celebrity.

The conversation turned to family as well. Ha mentioned that her mother is a graduate of Seoul Arts High School who majored in Korean traditional dance, and revealed that her father is actor Ha Jae-young.

When Noh exclaimed, "That man was really something," Ha replied, "He still is."

Ha joined Jewelry as a third-generation member in 2008 and left the group in 2014 when her exclusive contract expired.