Rosé was born on 11 February 1997 in Auckland, New Zealand, to South Korean immigrant parents. She has an older sister. In 2004, at the age of seven, Rosé and her family moved to Melbourne, Australia. Rosé initially attended Kew East Primary School graduating in 2009, attending Canterbury Girls' Secondary College in Melbourne for her secondary schooling. She began singing and learned to play guitar and piano as a child and performed in church choirs.

In 2012, 16-year-old Rosé attended an audition in Australia for South Korean record label YG Entertainment at her father's suggestion and was ranked first among 700 participants. Within two months, she dropped out of school, signed with the label and moved to Seoul. Rosé initially thought her father's idea was a joke due to the distance and difficulty of becoming a singer overseas, stating:

In Australia, I didn't think that there was much of a chance for me to become a singer, especially to become a K-pop star... I was living so far from the country that it never really occurred to me as a possibility.

The same year, Rosé was given an opportunity to feature on labelmate G-Dragon's song "Without You" off his EP One of a Kind (2012). Her name was not publicised at the time of release with her credit revealed following her announcement as a Blackpink member. The song peaked at number ten on South Korea's Gaon Music Chart and at number 15 on the Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100.