THE Wonder Girls seem to be on a steady climb to stardom. With a huge fanbase in their home country of South Korea, and a growing number of fans internationally, Min Seon Yeh (Sun), Park Yey Eun (Yenny), Ahn So Hee (Sohee), Kim Yubin (Yubin) and Woo Hye Rim (Lim) are set to be bigger stars than they already are.

But more than that, they are also having the time of their lives.

Dressed in colourful kitschy outfits almost all the time (most probably a gimmick to keep up appearances in the spotlight) the young girls have toured across Asia. Last year, they even toured with the Jonas Brothers in the United States.

“It was an amazing experience for us, being on tour in the US,” enthused Sun during a phone interview with all five girls from their office in New York. “We’ve made a lot of friends here and are enjoying every minute.”

However, their journey hasn’t been easy, as the girls have had many sleepness nights rehearsing, recording and coming up with ideas for their performance routines and costumes. It got so hectic that while they were focusing on their US debut, both Sohee and member at the time, SunMi dropped out of high school.

Catch Wonder Girls in action this Saturday at Sunway Lagoon, Selangor!

Still, they managed to find the time to record their hit songs while touring.

The group’s debut album The Wonder Years was released in 2007, and it included their first number one hit, Tell Me. It was also the first single to feature Kim Yubin, who replaced original member Kim Hyuna (she was forced to leave due to health issues).

The success of Tell Me made room for their next single, This Fool, used to promote the South Korean film I Like It Hot featuring Wonder Girls member Sohee.

The Wonder Years was followed by their second album 2 Different Tears, which contains six different versions of the title song – in Korean, English and Mandarin – as well as an instrumental version. There are also three versions of Nobody, a 2009 single that is currently playing almost non-stop on local radio stations.

“We’ve studied Mandarin for a few years, so we’re able to understand and have conversations. We want people to enjoy our songs in other languages too,” said Sun.

The group has seen a few lineup changes since it started out three years ago; original members Sun, Yenny and Sohee have welcomed Yubin and Lim, the newest member replacing SunMi, who decided to further her studies.

For someone who was suddenly thrown into an established girl group famous the world over (at the tender age of 17, no less), Lim seems to be handling the situation pretty well, although she confesses this has been “one of the hardest times for me”.

“I’m trying to fit in, it was hard for me at first because we don’t get a lot of time to sleep,” said Lim. “But being on stage makes me feel happy, and the energy and love from the fans keeps me going.”

Lim, who is fluent in English, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese, joined the group early this year and admits that she occassionally feels very homesick.

“Sometimes I do want to have a normal life – when I go online and I see what my friends at home have been up to, especially when I see their graduation pictures,” says Lim. “I miss my family and friends very much but I enjoy performing and I’m really thankful to be a part of this group.”

For the other girls, who have become used to life on the road and being away from home, the journey hasn’t been easy either, but they’re not about to give up anytime soon.

“This has been our dream our entire lives, and it’s hard to believe that we are actually living it,” said Yenny. “Sometimes when I feel exhausted I think about how far we’ve come and how my dreams have come true.”

Woo Hye Rim is the newest member of Wonder Girls. Though she's still finding it a bit hard to get used to life on the road, she has loads of fun with the rest of the girls.

When they need a break from recording, rehearsing and performing, Yenny revealed that the girls use retail therapy to ease their stress.

“We shop and shop,” she said, giggling. “And we do touristy stuff; we went to Niagara Falls recently.”

This Saturday, the Wonder Girls will be performing at MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia with US popstar Katy Perry, German glam-rock band Tokio Hotel and AIM-award winning local band Bunkface.

If you took part in our online R.AGE-MTV World Stage contest, remember to log on to rage.com.my to see if you’ve won passes to the show.

The concert will be held at the Surf Beach at Sunway Lagoon, Petaling Jaya, Selangor on July 31, 6pm (doors open at 4pm). Late parking is available at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall. Concertgoers are required to bring along their MyKad, and encouraged to travel light and wear non-slip covered footwear.

For more information, visit worldstage.mtvasia.com or www.mtvasia.com/worldstage/.