Ladies' code

Before debut

Almost all the participants before the formation of the group had experience in the entertainment industry.

Reese participated in the Miss Japan competition in 2008, a year after her sister, Kwon Rye. She gained the greatest popularity in Korea after participating in the Star Audition: The Great Birth talent show , where she managed to emerge among 12 project leaders. Together with her rival, David O, after the show ended, Reese starred in the popular Korean show We Got Married in 2011 ^[1] .

Sojon became famous for participating in The Voice of Korea music show, where she was one of the leading places in the competition. Einbi was the half-sister of SBS's leading channel Kim Sonjuna, and Ashley was one of the most famous cover singers with her own YouTube channel called “ashleych0i” ^[2] .

“Bad Girl” and “Pretty Pretty”

Their first album Ladies' Code, the band began to create in 2012. On February 20, 2013, Sojon announced that she was going to join the new women's group under the label Polaris Entertainment, less than a month before the debut. Participants of the group were presented via teaser video:

• The video with Reese was released first, February 25, 2013,
• then Sojon - February 26th,
• Einbi - February 27,
• Juni - February 28
• and group leader, Ashley, was featured in a teaser video on March 1.

March 4, 2013 teaser came out for the first clip Ladies' Code.

The first album Code # 1 and the title track “Bad girl” were released on March 7, 2013, and within a day they gained good positions in popular online charts, including Mnet, Daum, as well as the highest 34 line at that time in Gaon Digital Chart . The first performance of Ladies' Code was given on the same day, on the show M! Countdown ^[3] . From that moment, the first promotion began, ending on April 21, 2013 on the Inkigayo show.

On August 6, 2013, their first digital single “I Hate You” was released as a pre-release of their 2 mini-albums. The album’s original release date was scheduled for July 25, but Junie hurt her foot, so it was decided to move the comeback back to August. However, despite some minor setbacks, the song ranked high in the real-time charts, the first position on Bugs Music and hit the top 10 of other music charts.

On August 21, 2013, Ladies' Code announced the release of their 2 mini-album, Code # 2 Pretty Pretty, which was released on September 5, 2013.

"So Wonderful" and "Kiss Kiss"

On February 4, 2014, Polaris Entertainment announced that the band would return with their second digital single, “So wonderful”. The first video teaser with Reese, wrapped in clear plastic packaging, was released on February 6th. Following on February 10, the second video teaser was released. The song was produced by Super Changddai, who has worked with the band since its very debut. The song and the video were released on February 13, and on the same day Ladies' Code performed with her on M! Countdown

On July 31, 2014, the band presented a teaser photo for their new single “Kiss Kiss”. The next day, a video teaser was posted with Junie. On August 5, 2014, two teaser videos were released, in which all members of the group recreated kissing scenes, like in the fairy tale about “ The Frog King ”. The clip was released on August 6, and the single itself followed on August 7. In addition, the agency released a limited-edition CD with Kiss Kiss ^[4] . The next day, the band began promotion at KBS's Music Bank .

On September 1, 2014, Ashley reported that the group was preparing for its new album, but it is not known whether it was a full-length or mini-album.

Accident

On September 3, 2014, at about 1:30 am Korean time, returning to Seoul from the KBS "Open Concert" recording in DGIST (thus ending its promotion with "Kiss Kiss"), the group had an accident ^[5] . The group manager, Pak, was driving the van. He led at a speed of 137 km / h on a road with a limit of 100 km / h, thereby exceeding the speed of more than 30 km. Because of the incessant rain, the road became slippery, so Puck lost control of the car, as a result of which the van skidded several times and it crashed into a fence.

Ynbi died on the spot, and the rest of the passengers were taken to different hospitals. Reese and Sojong, who received the most dangerous injuries, were taken in critical condition to the Catholic University of Korea in Suwon. Reese's condition deteriorated sharply, and she was transported to the Ajou University Hospital, where she died four days later, on September 7, at 10:10 am Korean time, without regaining consciousness ^[6] .

Sojon's condition has stabilized. Ashley, Junie, Pak and the stylist received minor injuries. On October 29, Juni and Ashley were discharged from the hospital and rehabilitated at home, while Sojon was transported to a hospital in her hometown, Wonju . On November 12, they returned to the hostel, but Sojon still needed to undergo outpatient treatment.

A study by the National Institute of Scientific Research proved that the cause of the accident was speeding, after which the rear wheel of the car flew off and it crashed into a fence. It became known that at the moment of impact, not a single airbag worked. In addition, according to eyewitnesses, after the collision with the fence the van turned over several more times. An ambulance nurse also reported that he did not have to unbuckle his seat belts when he was pulling people out of a car.

Shocked by the deaths, Reese and Ynbi fans started posting on social networks requests to raise the song “I'm Fine Thank You” written by Inbi herself, thus fulfilling the artist’s dream. In the end, the song took first place on Melon, Bugs, Genie, Monkey3 and Olleh. The highest position, 3rd place on the Gaon Singles Chart, made this song the only one of all their songs that reached such heights. “I'm Fine Thank You” and “Kiss Kiss” ranked 6th and 21st in the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart.

On September 14, the last performance of a group of 5 people was broadcast on KBS in tribute to Rice and Ynbi. On September 15, Polaris Entertainment uploaded a video for the song “I'm Fine Thank You”, which contained scenes from behind-the-scenes footage in honor of the dead women.

On November 12, 2014, Park was arrested and charged with speeding, which led to an accident and the death of two people, in accordance with the Special Cases Act, and was sentenced to a year and two months in prison. March 25, he filed an appeal to reduce the punishment. April 8, he made an agreement with the families of the victims. On April 15, it was reported that the appeal process ended in favor of Pak. He received 2 years of probation, during which he had to behave himself, otherwise he would have received a year and two months in prison. He also received 160 hours of community service and 40 hours of law-abiding driving lessons.

On April 26, 2015, it was reported that Juni, Ashley and Sojon resumed their schedules, while still receiving some treatment ^[7] .

Return as trio and album Myst3ry

On May 28, 2015, Polaris Entertainment announced a memorial concert in honor of Reese and Ynbi on August 22 at the Shinagawa Stellar-ball in Tokyo, as Reese dreamed that someday their band would perform once in her native country. The concert was attended by such artists Polaris as Kim Bumsu and the group Rumble Fish. Sojon, Juni and Ashley, for the first time after the accident, performed the song “I'll Smile Even If It Hurts”. It is also known that Sojon was involved in the creation of this song.

On September 3, 2015, artist Polaris released a cover song “I'm Fine Thank You” in memory of Reese and Ynbi. A spokeswoman for the agency said that all proceeds from the song will be directed to charity. On September 7, 2015, on the first anniversary of the death of Reese, the members of Ladies' Code released the digital single "I'll Smile Even If It Hurts" ^[8] .

On January 23, 2016, it became known that the Ladies' Code were preparing for their first comeback consisting of three people. The end of February was chosen as a preliminary date, and meanwhile, Polaris Entertainment announced that there are no plans to add new members to the group. On February 15, 2016, teasers began to appear on the first trio single album called Mist3ry. On February 24, 2016, the album and its title song “Galaxy” were officially released. On the showcase, on the occasion of the return of the woman, they told about their progress without Reese and Ynbi and that the fans are the main reason why they ventured again to go on stage.

“It is still difficult to believe that they are not near us. The decision to return was very difficult for us. When we already wanted to give up, we suddenly realized how much our fans support us. Only this has helped us gather our strength and make this return possible. ” ( Ashley on the return of the Ladies' Code)

We will try our best as a trio to compensate for the absence of Einbi and Reese. (Juni on the return of the Ladies' Code) ^[9]

STRANG3R

  On October 15, 2016, the second part of the album with the title track “The Rain” was released, demonstrating the same mysterious style of Ladies' Code, shown in the previous part.  During the promotion and later, the girls in an interview described the STRANG3R promotion as a fun and relaxed time, stating that Ladies' Code had recovered from the unfortunate events and was ready for active group activities. 

Ladies' Code signed their first contract with Pepsi Korea in August 2013 as models for 'Open Your Pepsi Now'. In January 2014, the group, together with Nexon, promoted the winter update MMORPG Mabinogi Heroes .

Musical style

Since the very debut Ladies' Code have performed mostly in the pop style with some retro sound. Billboard magazine noted that the group combines modern electro-pop, classical elements and powerful vocals. The debut single “Bad Girl” was described as a jazz inspired track, accompanied by solid vocals. Their next track - “Hate You” - was marked as a deviation from the usual style, a return to the song with an average tempo (not fast, not slow), accompanied by wind instruments and acoustic guitar.

Subsequent releases retain the same style of sound.