Reported by Allkpop, the presence of former Super Junior members, Hangeng, who came from China made it easier for Super Junior to have a career in China. This then inspired other South Korean entertainment agencies to recruit young Chinese to become K-Pop idols. Not surprisingly, many agencies are now forming K-Pop groups with members from China. In this article, Channel-Korea will introduce you with several K-Pop Idols who come from outside of South Korea, China, such as Super Junior’s Zhoumi, Seventeen’s The8 and Jun, EXO’s Lay, Fiestar’s Cao Lu, Dreamcatcher’s Handong, and many more. So, don’t skip this article!
Super Junior’s Zhoumi
Zhou Mi was born on April 19th, 1986, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. He is a Chinese singer, actor, songwriter, presenter, MC, and radio DJ based in South Korea and China. He is a member of the boy band Super Junior’s subunit Super Junior-M and SM Entertainment’s project group SM the Ballad. In 2014, he made his solo debut with the release of his first mini-album Rewind. Aside from group activities, he also participates in various television variety shows, radio hostings, and dramas.
SEVENTEEN’s THE8, Jun
The8 was born on November 7th, 1997, in Haicheng, Liaoning, China. The8 was born with the name Xu Minghao (徐明浩). He is a Chinese singer and dancer under the auspices of Pledis Entertainment. He was a member of the famous boy group, SEVENTEEN and he entered the performance team. He participated and won first prize at the National Children’s martial arts competition. He wanted to be a superstar since he was young. He got into an audition at school when he was in China. He said he watched a lot of variety shows when he was in China and he wanted to be a superstar, so that’s why he became a singer in Korea. Whereas Jun, who was born with the name Wen Junhui (Hanzi: 文 俊辉), was born on June 10th, 1996, in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. He is known by his stage name Jun. He is a Chinese singer and actor based in South Korea. He is a member of the famous South Korean boy band, Seventeen and he entered the Performance team together with The8 under Pledis Entertainment. He says many Chinese students love K-Pop and that’s how he became curious about it and moved to South Korea. Before joining Pledis Entertainment, he had auditioned for SM Entertainment, but because he was too young, he failed the audition. He dared to move to Korea by bringing his experience as an actor and advertising model.
EXO’s Lay
Zhang Yixing (Chinese: 张艺兴) was born on October 7th, 1991, in Changsha, Hunan, China. He is known professionally as Lay Zhang or simply Lay. He is a Chinese singer-songwriter, music producer, dancer, and actor. He debuted as a member of the K-Pop boy group EXO and its Chinese subunit EXO-M in 2012 under SM Entertainment. Zhang Yixing was born Zhang Jiashuai (Chinese: 张加帅). His legal name was later changed to Zhāng Yìxīng. In 2008, Zhang Yixing auditioned for SM Entertainment at the company’s global casting auditions in Changsha. At the time of the auditions, he was 16 years old and studying at the High School Attached to Hunan Normal University, where he was featured as an outstanding student for his achievements. After successfully passing the auditions, Zhang Yixing moved to South Korea for his idol training. In 2011, prior to his debut with EXO, he briefly worked with SHINee during their SHINee World concert tour as Jonghyun’s dance replacement.
FIESTAR’s Cao Lu
Cao Lu (Chinese: 曹璐) was born on August 30th, 1987, in Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China. She is a Chinese singer, actress and television personality mostly active in South Korea. She was a member of the South Korean girl group Fiestar under LOEN Entertainment. Cao Lu debuted with FIESTAR under LOEN Entertainment, on August 31st, 2012. On May 15th, 2018, it was announced that FIESTAR disbanded.
DREAMCATCHER’s Handong
Handong was born on March 26th, 1996, in Wuhan, China. Her birth name is Han Dong (韓東). She is a Chinese singer under Happyface Entertainment. She is a vocalist of the girl group Dreamcatcher. Handong was advised to go for an audition in Korea by her professor. Handong appeared in a musical during high school.
PENTAGON’s Yan An
Yan An was born with the name Yan An (闫桉). He was born on October 25th, 1996, in Hokkaido, Japan but raised in Shanghai, China. Yan An is a member of the band Pentagon, an idol group from South Korea with ten members who debuted in 2016. The group is under the management of Cube Entertainment and its members were selected through the Mnet’s K-Pop Survival Show titled Pentagon Maker. Yan An is known as a vocalist and visual of the group.
(G)-IDLE’s Yuqi and Shuhua
Song Yuqi (Chinese: 宋雨琦) was born on September 23rd, 1999, in Beijing, China. She is commonly known as Yuqi. She is a Chinese singer and television host. She is part of the South Korean girl group (G)I-dle, which debuted in 2018. In 2015, Yuqi attended the Cube Star World Audition Beijing Station, performing CLC’s “High Heels” and G.E.M.’s “Bubble.” She passed her audition and became a trainee of Cube Entertainment. On April 8th, 2018, Yuqi was revealed to be an upcoming member of Cube Entertainment’s new girl group, (G)I-dle. She debuted with the group on May 2nd, 2018, as the lead vocalist and dancer with their lead single titled “Latata” of their debut album, I Am. Whereas Shuhua also known as Yeh Shu Hua (葉舒華). She was born on January 6th, 2000, in Taiwan, China. She is a Taiwanese singer under Cube Entertainment. She is the vocalist, visual, and maknae of the South Korean girl group (G)I-DLE.
EVERGLOW’s Yiren
Wang Yiren (Hanzi: 王怡 人) was born on December 29th, 2000, in Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China. She is a singer from China under Yuehua Entertainment. Yiren was ranked #28 in episode 11 of Produce 48. On February 21st, 2019, Yuehua Entertainment announced that Wang Yiren was a member of the female vocal group EVERGLOW.
NCT’s Winwin, Kun, Renjun, Chenle, and Lucas
Dǒng Sīchéng (董思成) or Winwin (윈윈) was born on October 28th, 1997, in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China. He is a Chinese singer under SM Entertainment. He is a member of the youngest SM Entertainment boy group, NCT and its subunits NCT 127, NCT U, and WayV. Due to his fear of strangers, he didn’t trust the SM Entertainment agents at first, and thought they were scammers. SM Entertainment was trying to scout him for 2 years because he kept giving them a wrong number whenever they would ask for his number. Qian Kun (钱锟), better known as KUN (쿤), was born on January 1st, 1996, in Fujian, China. He is a Chinese singer, based in South Korea. He is a member of the boy group NCT and the leader of its Chinese unit WayV. In December 2015, he was introduced as part of SM Entertainment’s pre-debut training team SMROOKIES with Lucas and Jungwoo. In April 2016, he was featured in the Chinese version of NCT U’s single “WITHOUT YOU.” In 2018, KUN officially debuted as a member of NCT and in 2019, he debuted as the leader of WayV. He auditioned to be part of Tiger Boys 2 (a spin-off of the popular Chinese boy group Tiger Boys) but he dropped out because of school. Huang Renjun (Chinese: 黄仁俊), referred to as Renjun (Hangul: 런쥔), was born on March 23rd, 2000, in Jilin, People’s Republic of China. He is the lead vocalist of NCT Dream. Renjun said that he auditioned for SM Entertainment, “I registered for SM Global Audition in China via email. The audition was held on the 23rd, but I had received the 22nd eve of the evening. I passed the first stage. At that time, I was eating with friends and finally went home asking permission from my father and mother to take part in the audition.” The distance between the venue where the audition was held and Renjun’s residence is around 3 hours by train. Received an e-mail from SM Entertainment at night, Renjun rushed to buy a train ticket on the 23rd and took the next audition. Unexpectedly, Renjun passed the second stage to finally become a trainee and debut as a member of NCT DREAM. Zhong Chenle (Chinese: 钟辰乐) was born on November 22nd, 2001, in Shanghai, China. He is known professionally as Chenle. He is a Chinese singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor based in Seoul, South Korea. He is a member of the South Korean boy group NCT, as a part of their subunit NCT Dream. Chenle began his professional career as a singer after competing in singing competitions, such as China’s Got Talent. He has released 3 albums. He used to do cover songs and upload them to YouTube. In August 2016, he started doing activities in South Korea by debuting as a member of the subunit NCT Dream, a rotational unit of NCT consisting of teenage members. He is one of the two members in the entire group alongside Renjun (the other Chinese member of NCT Dream) who was not introduced as a part of SM Rookies before the group’s debut. He debuted in NCT after only 2 months of training. Lucas Wong or Wong Yuk-hei was born on January 25th, 1999, in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China. His birth name is Huang Xuxi/Wong Yuk-hei (黃旭熙). He is better known by the mononym Lucas. Lucas is half Chinese and half Thai. He is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, and model. He is a member of the South Korean boy group NCT and its Chinese subunit WayV. In 2015, Lucas was scouted by SM Entertainment, a South Korean entertainment agency, after passing a Global Audition that was held in Hong Kong. Lucas was accepted after only one audition. As an SM trainee, Lucas received training in singing, rapping, and dancing. In April 2017, SM Entertainment introduced Lucas as a part of SM Rookies, a pre-debut training team composed of young trainees who would potentially debut as solo artists or members of a music band. In January 2018, SM Entertainment unveiled NCT 2018, a project group for the expansive boy group NCT. Lucas, together with former SM Rookies Kun and Jungwoo, were the group’s newest members. The trio was introduced in SM Entertainment’s NCT 2018 Yearbook #1 on January 30th, 2018. Lucas officially made his debut with NCT on March 14th, with their debut studio album NCT 2018 Empathy. In December 2018, Lucas was announced to be a part of NCT’s China-based unit WayV, managed by Label V. The seven-member unit officially debuted on January 17th, 2019, with their debut EP The Vision. Its lead single “Regular” was the Mandarin remake of “Regular” by NCT 127.
WJSN’s Cheng Xiao and Mei Qi
Cheng Xiao (Chinese: 程潇) was born on July 15th, 1998, in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. She is a Chinese singer based in South Korea and a member of the South Korean-Chinese girl group Cosmic Girls, or also known as WJSN, under Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment. Meng Meiqi was born on October 15th, 1998, in Luoyang, Henan, China. She is a Chinese singer based in South Korea signed under Starship Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment. She is a member of the South Korean-Chinese girl group Cosmic Girls. After finishing first in the survival show Produce 101, she became a member of the girl group Rocket Girls 101. Meiqi used to study in Luoyang Foreign Language School’s Junior High department. Then she went to South Korea to be a trainee when she was 15 years old.
NATURE’s Aurora and Gaga
Gaga (가가) was born on September 1st, 1999, in China. Her birth name is Li Jia Jia (李佳佳). She is a Chinese singer under n.CH Entertainment. She is a member of the girl group NATURE. Gaga was revealed as a member of NATURE on June 26th, 2018, and made her official debut with the girl group with the release of their debut single album, Girls and Flowers on August 3rd, 2018. Aurora (오로라) was born on January 14th, 1997, in China. Her birth name is Yang Lan (楊瀾). She is a Chinese singer under n.CH Entertainment. She is a member of the girl group NATURE. Aurora was revealed as a member of NATURE on June 24th, 2018, and made her official debut with the girl group by releasing their debut single album, Girls and Flowers on August 3rd, 2018.
