Han YuA
Han YuA (YuA, 한유아) began as the heroine of Smilegate's 2019 VR game 'Focus on You'. Smilegate began real-world activities in June 2020 with an Instagram account and relaunched her as a more human-like 3D virtual influencer in August 2021 with Giantstep, the VFX firm behind aespa's avatars. YG KPlus signed her in February 2022 for broadcasting, YouTube and commercials. Her debut single 'I Like That' came out 12 April 2022 (music by Park Woo-seong, MV by Vikings League, choreography Dohee Kim of 1MILLION), followed by 'Violet Fragrance' and 'When Your Loneliness Calls Me' (Nov 2022). She was an ambassador for NGO Friends of Hope and an eyewear brand model.
- IG Followers
- 89.24K
- YouTube Subscribers
- 3.21K
- Spotify Followers
- 2.87K
- Since
- 2019
- Last updated
- 15 October 2026
- Nature
- Hybrid
- Niche
- Music
- Debut
- 2019
- Origin
- South Korea
- Created by
- Smilegate
Summary
Han YuA (YuA, 한유아) began as the heroine of Smilegate's 2019 VR game 'Focus on You'. Smilegate began real-world activities in June 2020 with an Instagram account and relaunched her as a more human-like 3D virtual influencer in August 2021 with Giantstep, the VFX firm behind aespa's avatars. YG KPlus signed her in February 2022 for broadcasting, YouTube and commercials. Her debut single 'I Like That' came out 12 April 2022 (music by Park Woo-seong, MV by Vikings League, choreography Dohee Kim of 1MILLION), followed by 'Violet Fragrance' and 'When Your Loneliness Calls Me' (Nov 2022). She was an ambassador for NGO Friends of Hope and an eyewear brand model.
Is Han YuA AI?
Yes. Han YuA is a 3D virtual influencer and virtual singer, a game character turned digital artist, created by Smilegate with the VFX firm Giantstep and managed by YG KPlus.
Han YuA started as the heroine of Smilegate's 2019 VR game Focus on You. Smilegate's own 2020 press release presents her as a VR character who would work as an entertainer online and offline. Korea JoongAng Daily says Smilegate launched her as a "3D virtual influencer" in August 2021, built with Giantstep, the company that also made the AI avatars of the girl group aespa. KED Global calls her Smilegate's "virtual human" and quotes the agency YG KPlus about making her "the main virtual artist in the metaverse".
No page names a human performer, model or voice actor behind her. On her singing, the JoongAng Daily reports Smilegate's statement that her voice is "an amalgamation of data" combined through artificial intelligence into one voice. Her own Instagram bio, as recorded in the research, labels her an "AI meta-human artist". The companies that make and manage her all describe her as a created character, and none contradicts that.
What is not known is how the voice data was sourced, or whether any human reference performer sat behind the model, and the sources give no detail on this or on who runs her posts. The coverage dates from 2020 to 2022, and her feed has been quiet since April 2025. Nothing found suggests a real person is presented as her.
Evidence
Korea JoongAng Daily reports that Smilegate launched Han as a 3D virtual influencer in August 2021 with Giantstep, the company that also created aespa's AI avatars.
koreajoongangdaily.comThe same article quotes Smilegate saying Han's voice is an amalgamation of data combined through artificial intelligence to make one voice.
koreajoongangdaily.comKED Global calls her Smilegate's virtual human, upgraded from a 3D game character to a more human-like form, with YG KPlus pledging to make her the main virtual artist in the metaverse.
kedglobal.comSmilegate's 2020 press release presents Han Yua as a VR game character who would work as an entertainer online and offline, alongside vtubers, virtual influencers and virtual models.
newsroom.smilegate.com
Assessed 12 October 2026
Audience over time
How their audience has moved
Monthly listeners · Spotify
502
No change since 12 Oct 2026
Tracked since 12 Oct 2026. Each platform is read about once a week.