Somi became known for participating in SIXTEEN, a survival program of JYP Entertainment, where 16 trainees competed to debut in TWICE, the company's new female group. Somi was eliminated in the last episode despite being one of the participants with the best evolution within the reality show, being 5 out of 7 weeks in "Major". During his time on the program he drew attention for his charisma and talent at an early age.
After her time at SIXTEEN and gaining some recognition from the public, in January 2016, it was reported that the talented trainee of JYP Entertainment would be participating in Mnet's new survival program, PRODUCE 101. On April 1, after 10 episodes, the winner of that program was proclaimed, being in first position with a devastating score of 850,000 votes, thus managing to be part of the final project group, I.O.I, being the Maknae and central member of the group.
During his time in reality he managed to attract a lot of attention, thus achieving fame in a short time. His time on the program was applauded on multiple occasions.
On August 29, he collaborated with DIA leader Hui Hyeon with the song "Flower, Wind and You" along with Chung Ha and Yoo Jung, also members of I.O.I, as a special collaboration.
On January 4, he debuted in I.O.I with the mini-album "Chrysalis". During the I.O.I project group he had several activities such as actively participating in TV programs, modeling for numerous brands, being part of the group's sub-unit with the song "Whatta Man", among other activities.
After a year, Somi stopped being part of I.O.I after the farewell concert "Time Sleep" that took place between January 20 and 22 in Seoul. After finishing the activities as a member of I.O.I, he signed an exclusive contract with JYP Entertainment as an artist to be able to continue his solo activities.
On February 10, the first episode of Sister's Slam Dunk 2 aired, a fun variety show that features a cast of women. Somi was part along with successful actresses, comedians and Idols such as Minzy, Chae Young or Kim Sook. The objective of the program was to prepare 7 totally different women to debut as a K-Pop group, also showing the coexistence and evolution of all of them.
On May 12, the group's single was revealed with the songs "Right?" and "Lalala Song" composed by Kim Hyung Suk. The popularity of the program got the song "Right?" will debut #1 on multiple South Korean music charts, beating PSY and TWICE. In addition, they performed the same day at Music Bank.
On March 9, during his participation in Sister's Slam Dunk 2, he premiered the song "Who, You?" together with Eric Nam. The song debuted #1 on Mnet, Bugs and Genie, #2 on Naver and in the top 20 of MelOn.
After his participation in several project groups, it was revealed that Somi would be part of the cast of Let's Only Walk the Flower Road, a new variety show where several members of different female groups would make their own scripted drama. Somi was praised from the beginning for her good performance despite not having experience in the field.
In addition, they also formed a project group to promote the program, Girls Next Door. On June 8, they made their debut on Music Bank with the song "Deep Blue Eyes", co-written by Jin Young, Moon Byul by MAMAMOO and D.ana by SONAMOO and co-composed by Jin Young and Kang Myung Shin.