Ryu Hwa-young

Ryu Hwa-young
Ryu Hwa-Young in 2015.
Born	(1993-04-22) April 22, 1993 (age 23) Gwangju, South Korea
Education	Kyung Hee University
Occupation	Actress Singer
Years active	2010-present
Agent	Imagine Asia
Relatives	Ryu Hyo-Young (twin sister)
Musical career
Genres	K-pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2010-present
Labels	Core Contents Media
Associated acts	T-ara
Website	Hwayoung Official Fan Site "RyuDot"

Ryu Hwa-young (born April 22, 1993), better known by the mononym Hwayoung, is a South Korean rapper and actress. She is a former member of South Korean girl group T-ara.

Ryu Hwa-young was born on 22 April 1993 in Gwangju, South Korea. Her older twin sister, Ryu Hyo-Young, is also a rapper and former member of the group Coed School and its sub-group F-ve Dolls. In 2010, Hwayoung's sister Hyoyoung placed first in a nationwide beauty pageant, "Miss Chunhyang".

Ryu Hyo-young and Ryu Hwa-young made a guest appearance on SBS's variety show Star King in May 2010. They were both subsequently scouted and recruited by Core Contents Media.

Core Contents Media originally slated to add Hyoyoung (Hwayoung's twin sister) into T-ara as the seventh member, but she recommended her sister, Hwayoung. In July 2010, it was announced that Hwayoung would be added into T-ara as lead rapper while Hyoyoung would be debuting in the newly formed Coed School. Hwayoung began promotions as part of T-ara in November 2010 by appearing on the third season of Hello Baby and promoting their first mini album Temptastic. T-ara held their first performance with Hwayoung on December 3, through KBS's Music Bank. During her time in the group, she participated in the collaboration between Davichi and T-ara for "We Were In Love" (Hangul: 우리 사랑했잖아) in December 2011. She also participated in the writing of the rap lyrics of "Love is All the Same" (Hangul: 사랑은 다 그런거래요) by fellow labelmate Yangpa.