After making her debut as a singer and member of the South Korean girl group 2NE1 under YG Entertainment in 2009, Sandara Park revealed how much it affected her when the group was disbanded in 2016 despite becoming one of the most successful K-pop groups in history alongside fellow members Park Bom, CL, and Minzy.

Dara admitted in an episode of the 1theK’s YouTube series Look Me Up that she had to overcome mental health problems while dealing with the disbandment years ago. 

“I look calm because a lot of time has passed. But I used to cry my eyes out for several years after we disbanded. Though I'm quiet and shy, I didn't get depressed or anything after we disbanded. I was trying to enjoy life, but I did get insomnia and social phobia after we disbanded back then,” she recalled. 

Unlike other Korean celebrities, Dara also revealed that she chooses not to watch any music shows or become familiar with any of the current K-pop singers and bands because the disbandment of her group still affected her.

“I’m not so familiar with current singers and music shows. I don’t watch it often these days because I found myself tearing up whenever I watched a music show/year-end award show after I stopped working as a singer.”

READ: Sandara Park set to perform in Manila this August 2023

While reading comments from fans on Look Me Up, Dara also reacted to those saying she is one of the richest female performers in their entertainment industry. The 38-year-old artist clarified that a big chunk of her income comes from her international endorsements.

“People close to me also wondered how Dara gets her money to do so much shopping. I almost got angry. I didn’t work a lot locally but I did a lot of commercials overseas. I was consistently making good money and people looked down on me and all back then. I was a bit angry. I want to go shopping with the money I made. However, I failed to invest, totally,” she admitted.

Even with all the endorsements, Dara added that she was not able to invest her money and has not started saving her income. “Not a single investment, I don’t even save. I should now (laughs).”

Dara first gained popularity in the Philippines after becoming known as the “Pambansang krung-krung”  after joining ABS-CBN's 2004 talent reality competition Star Circle Quest before moving back to Korea as a trainee and making her K-pop debut in 2009 under 2NE1. 

READ: Sandara Park stuns in new music video

Last month, Dara released her first self-titled EP as a solo artist in South Korea after debuting as a recording artist more than a decade ago with former girl group 2NE1. The music video for Dara’s title track “Festival” featured South Korean stars which included veteran comedians Park Na-rae, Kim Sook, and Jo Se-ho, and dancer Aiki who are also all known to be close friends of Dara. 

Three of the tracks in the album were produced by some of the biggest artists in their country including rapper Gray, singer-songwriter Heize, and SWJA who helped Sandara in producing “Dara Dara,” “T Map,” and “Happy Ending.”