Jamaine Punzalan

This picture taken on March 6, 2025 shows K-pop group 1Verse members performing during an interview with AFP at a studio in Seoul. 1Verse is a new five-member K-pop band: Chinese-American Kenny, Aito from Japan, Lao-Thai American Nathan, and Seok and Hyuk from North Korea who defected to the South. Jung Yeon-je/AFP

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1742528088355Screenshot 2025-03-21 at 11.34.35 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This picture taken on March 6, 2025 shows K-pop group 1Verse members performing during an interview with AFP at a studio in Seoul. 1Verse is a new five-member K-pop band: Chinese-American Kenny, Aito from Japan, Lao-Thai American Nathan, and Seok and Hyuk from North Korea who defected to the South. Jung Yeon-je/AFP</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>Growing up in North Korea, Hyuk&#x27;s childhood was about survival. He never listened to banned K-pop music but, after defecting to the South, he&#x27;s about to debut as an idol.</p><p>Hyuk is one of two young North Koreans in a new K-pop band called 1Verse -- the first time that performers originally from the nuclear-armed North have been trained up for stardom in South Korea&#x27;s global K-pop industry.</p><p>Before he was 10, Hyuk -- who like many K-pop idols now goes by one name -- was skipping school to work on the streets in his native North Hamgyong province and admits he &quot;had to steal quite a bit just to survive&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I had never really listened to K-pop music&quot;, he told AFP, explaining that &quot;watching music videos felt like a luxury to me&quot;.</p><p>&quot;My life was all about survival&quot;, he said, adding that he did everything from farm work to hauling shipments of cement to earn money to buy food for his family.</p><p>But when he was 13, his mother, who had escaped North Korea and made it to the South, urged him to join her.</p><p>He realised this could be his chance to escape starvation and hardship, but said he knew nothing about the other half of the Korean peninsula.</p><p>&quot;To me, the world was just North Korea -- nothing beyond that,&quot; he told AFP.</p><p>His bandmate, Seok, also grew up in the North -- but in contrast to Hyuk&#x27;s hardscrabble upbringing, he was raised in a relatively affluent family, living close to the border.</p><p>As a result, even though K-pop and other South Korean content like K-dramas are banned in the North with harsh penalties for violators, Seok said &quot;it was possible to buy and sell songs illegally through smugglers&quot;.</p><p>Thanks to his older sister, Seok was listening to K-pop and even watching rare videos of South Korean artists from a young age, he told AFP.</p><p>&quot;I remember wanting to imitate those cool expressions and styles -- things like hairstyles and outfits,&quot; Seok told AFP.</p><p>Eventually, when he was 19, Seok defected to the South. Six years later, he is a spitting image of a K-Pop idol.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/02/18/kim-jong-un-wife-watch-k-pop-stars-perform-in-pyongyang">Kim Jong Un, wife, watch K-pop stars perform in Pyongyang</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>STAR QUALITY</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Hyuk and Seok were recruited for 1Verse, a new boy band and the first signed to smaller Seoul-based label Singing Beetle by the company&#x27;s CEO Michelle Cho.</p><p>Cho was introduced to both of the young defectors through friends.</p><p>Hyuk was working at a factory when she met him, but when she heard raps he had written she told AFP that she &quot;knew straight away that his was a natural talent&quot;.</p><p>Initially, he &quot;professed a complete lack of confidence in his ability to rap&quot;, Cho said, but she offered him free lessons and then invited him to the studio, which got him hooked.</p><p>Eventually, &quot;he decided to give music a chance&quot;, she said, and became the agency&#x27;s first trainee.</p><p>In contrast, Seok &quot;had that self-belief and confidence from the very beginning&quot;, she said, and lobbied hard to be taken on.</p><p>When Seok learned that he would be training alongside another North Korean defector, he said it &quot;gave me the courage to believe that maybe I could do it&quot;.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/15/north-korea-blows-up-roads-connecting-it-to-the-south-1243">North Korea blows up roads connecting it to the South</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;WE&#x27;RE ALMOST THERE&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The other members of 1Verse include a Chinese-American, a Lao-Thai American and a Japanese dancer. The five men in their 20s barely speak each other&#x27;s languages.</p><p>But Hyuk, who has been studying English, says it doesn&#x27;t matter.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re also learning about each other&#x27;s cultures, trying to bridge the gaps and get closer little by little,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Surprisingly, we communicate really well. Our languages aren&#x27;t perfectly fluent, but we still understand each other. Sometimes, that feels almost unbelievable.&quot;</p><p>Aito, the Japanese trainee who is the main dancer in the group, said he was &quot;fascinated&quot; to meet his North Korean bandmates.</p><p>&quot;In Japan, when I watched the news, I often saw a lot of international issues about defectors, so the overall image isn&#x27;t very positive,&quot; he said.</p><p>But Aito told AFP his worries &quot;all disappeared&quot; when he met Hyuk and Seok. And now, the five performers are on the brink of their debut.</p><p>It&#x27;s been a long road from North Korea to the cusp of K-pop stardom in the South for Hyuk and Seok -- but they say they are determined to make 1Verse a success.</p><p>&quot;I really want to move someone with my voice. That feeling grows stronger every day,&quot; said Seok.</p><p>Hyuk said being part of a real band was a moving experience for him.</p><p>&quot;It really hit me, like wow, we&#x27;re almost there.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/11/n-korea-state-media-says-south-in-chaos-after-martial-law-1658">N. Korea state media says South &#x27;in chaos&#x27; after martial law</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/13/north-korea-destroys-family-reunion-centre-in-inhumane-act-seoul-says-1302">North Korea destroys family reunion center in &#x27;inhumane act&#x27;, Seoul says</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/17/north-korea-calls-south-hostile-state-1631">North Korea calls South &#x27;hostile state&#x27;</a></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Two young North Koreans are in a new K-pop band called 1Verse -- the first time that performers originally from the nuclear-armed North have been trained up for stardom in South Korea's global K-pop industry.</p>

Two young North Koreans are in a new K-pop band called 1Verse -- the first time that performers originally from the nuclear-armed North have been trained up for stardom in South Korea's global K-pop industry.

Forbidden K-pop to center stage: North Koreans set for music debut

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Forbidden K-pop to center stage: North Koreans set for music debut

Agence France-Presse,

Hieun Shin

Published March 21, 2025 11:38 AM PHT

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