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The K-pop industry is very global and not limited to just Korean idols. People around the world can take part in auditions held by Entertainment industries in Korea, and if selected, they have to go through a rigorous training period to be able to debut in a K-pop group.
The training also involves learning the Korean language and the culture for the foreign members, along with the singing, dancing, and rapping lessons.
Many K-pop boy groups have debuted with one or more foreign idols. Some may be of different nationalities while others are Korean people not residing in the native country.
Here is the list of 5 K-pop boygroups with foreign members
1) SEVENTEEN
SEVENTEEN is a K-pop group that debuted in 2015. They have 13 members out of which four are foreign members. Two of them are Chinese members, Jun and The8, and the other two are Korean-Americans, Joshua and Vernon. Seventeen is managed by PLEDIS Entertainment, which was recently absorbed by HYBE corporation.
SEVENTEEN has three different sub-units, namely vocal, rap, and performance.
2) EXO
EXO is a nine-member group under SM Entertainment. They debuted in 2012 as a 12 member group with four Chinese members, but three of them left the group soon after.
The group currently has eight Korean Members and one Chinese member, Lay, who is presently residing in China and focusing on his activities there. When the Chinese members were active, EXO had two different sub-units, EXO-M and EXO-K.
3) NCT
NCT, short for Neo Culture Technology, debuted in 2016 under SM Entertainment. Their concept is of having unlimited members, with new members getting added almost every year. They currently have 23 members, 13 of whom are foreigners.
Yuta and Shotaro are Japanese, Mark is Korean-Canadian, Johnny is Korean American, YangYang is Taiwanese-German, and Ten is Thai. Winwin, Chenle, Renjun, Kun, Lucas, Xiaojun and Hendery are all Chinese.
The whole group is further divided into 4 sub-units, NCT 127, NCT U, NCT Dream, and WayV, the sub-unit which majorly has activities in China.
4) ENHYPEN
ENHYPEN is a seven-member group that debuted in 2020 under the collaborative venture between HYBE corporation and Belift Lab. The top voted contenders from the survival show I-Land debuted to form this group.
Three of the members are foreigners. Ni-Ki- is Japanese, Jake is Korean-Australian, and Jay is Korean-American.
5) GOT7
GOT7 is a seven-member group which until recently was under JYP Entertainment. They debuted in 2014 but all of them left the company to go in different solo directions in 2021 when their contract ended. However, they promised fans that they would continue on as a group.
They have three foreign members. Bambam is Thai, Mark is Taiwanese-American, and Jackson is Chinese-American.
With the rise in popularity of K-pop since BTS blew up, more and more companies are wanting to dominate foreign music industries with various auditions and variety shows taking place in different countries.
K-pop was never limited to just Korean people, and this is being proved everyday as more and more different nationalities are debuting as idols in K-pop groups.
