Settorae was formed under ageny Q Production sometime in 1987 with members Lee Heejung, Woo Yunah and Kim Jungim. As a girl group, Settorae made their official debut in 1988 with the release of their first studio album, the self-titled Settorae 1st Album. They eventually released their second studio album Settorae 2nd Album the following year.
At the time of their debut, Settorae was considered South Korea's first full-fledged dance girl group comparable to the rising Western concept of girl groups/bands such as Bananarama, The Bangles, The Go-Go's, Sister Sledge and Exposé. Previous generations' girl group were technically still within the realm of traditional Korean music groups with little flexibility or gravitation towards exploring Western music genres with the majority, if not all, exclusively being trot groups who seldom danced to choreography and simply focused on vocal performances. Thus, Settorae is often said to be the original ancestor to all modern South Korean girl groups as they created the blueprint to follow.
Unfortunately, despite their success, they disbanded in 1989 due to the departure of member Kim Jungim. Following their disbandment, Kim Jungim immigrated to the United States to live a normal life, not much else is known about her. Meanwhile, both Lee Heejung and Woo Yunah went onto join the agency City Music.
Under their new agency, they formed the the girl duo TAMTAM, though under new stage names, with Heejung being Lee Jisoo and Yunah being Kang Hyunji. In 1991, they released the studio album TAMTAM 1st Album. Due to unknown reasons, they disbanded soon after and Yunah (Hyunji) retired from the entertainment industry.
It is known that she married musician Lee Jong Cheol and together they opened a café that continues to operate to this day. After this point, the circumstances of member Lee Heejung are the most documented and well-known even after 20+ years due to the controversy surrounding her actions a decade later. After her departure from TAMTAM around 1991 or 1992, she returned in 1993 to debut as a soloist singer to release the studio album To You Who Has Forgotten Me.
She was active as a soloist singer until approximately 1994, at which point, it appeared that she had also retired from the entertainment industry as she was approaching her 30s which was considered too old for idols. In January 1999, it was shockingly discovered that Heejung was actually member 'Lee Gai' of DR Music's girl group Baby V. O.
X; she had gained a new identity under a false name and her birth year was forged to be 1979 in order for the agency to debut her with the members who were all young women between the ages of 20 and 22. The discovery of the affairs were considered scandalous and it was extensively reported on by news outlets. As negative public criticism grew over the Lee Gai affair, DR Music eventually was forced to admit that Lee Gai was indeed Lee Heejung and that her age was falsified to make her younger to allow her to debut with younger women - her real birth year being 1968 and real age being 31-years-old at the time.
This led to her withdrawal from Baby V. O. X and eventual real retirement from the entertainment industry.
Not too much is known about Lee Heejung (Lee Gai) after the exposé; it is was reported that she laid-low for three years due to severe depression and sometime later met her first husband with whom she had two children, but the two eventually divorced. Though after a long time, she remarried.
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