Meet SB Boyz, the boy group with North Korean members

Set to debut in the United States later this year, the boy group SB Boyz is set to make history in the South Korean pop music industry! That’s because, managed by the new entertainment agency Singing Beetle Entertainment, the line-up will feature two North Korean members: Hyuk and Seok.

Led by former SM Entertainment A&R, Michelle Choknown for composing big hits for idols and k-pop groups, such as SEVENTEEN and Baekhyun and Kai of EXO, the formation was announced in September 2023 through a publication Cho on Instagram, which invited the presentation of Hyuk and Seok at a “multicultural festival” in Seoul, where they performed two covers, including BTS’s “Idol.”

I am honored to speak at the Conference Field hosted by @root_impact with Creative x Seongsu about my journey in the K-pop industry that led me to create the first K-pop idol group with North Korean refugees. The entire Seongsu neighborhood will be in festival mode starting today! Don’t miss SB BOYZ’s performance this Friday, my talk this Saturday, and many more exciting events at @creative_seongsu,” Cho wrote.

After that, the group added two more members: the American Sino Kennyand Japanese-Korean Aitoand another duo is set to join before the long-awaited official debut. While the new names remain unknown, find out more about the already confirmed members:

Hyuk

Occupying the positions of leader and rapper in the group, Yu Hyuk turned 24 on March 3. He was born in North Korea and there, he lived in precarious conditions, since, as found by the Wall Street Journal, he, who grew up in Kyongsong, a county on the east coast, stole cement to resell, and sometimes had to beg for alms.

Hyuk He left his homeland as a child, traveling through three countries until arriving in Seoul, South Korea, at the age of 13, where he underwent a mandatory three-month program for North Korean fugitives, created to help them adapt to the new reality in the South.

After crossing the border, Hyuk he felt lonely, but found comfort in rap, as he came across lyrics that spoke about the difficulties he also faced, especially the track “Life Is Beautiful”, by Lil Peepwhich he claims reminded him of his own story.

It is worth remembering that Hyuk He was the first trainee at Singing Beetle, and the first member of SB Boyz. In addition, on March 20 of this year, he released the pre-debut mixtape “Ordinary Person”.

Curiosities: he helped write “Marshmallow” by MISAMO, the Japanese unit of TWICE, and is modeled after Jimin and Sucks, from BTS.

Seok

Also born in North Korea on June 3, 2000, the lead singer of SB Boyz, Kim Seok arrived in South Korea between 2018 and 2019. Details about the artist’s arrival in the country were not disclosed by him until the time of publication of this article.

As revealed by the Wall Street Journal, he was a professional soccer player as a striker and, while still in the North, he listened to and watched K-pop clips through contraband, as the country condemns the consumption of entertainment from the South.

Curiosities: The model of Seok and Taeminfrom SHINee, and he shares a room with Kenny.

Kenny

Hao Ruiran adopted Kenny as his stage name. Chinese American, the artist was born in Los Angeles, California, USA, on December 9, 2002.

He, who speaks Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish, and competed in “Asia Super Young”, a Hong Kong boy group competition reality show in 2023. However, Kenny had to leave the program due to health problems.

Curiosities:Kenny has hobbies like cooking and playing games, and his model is Baekhyunfrom EXO.

Aito

Murata Aito occupies the position of main dancer in the group. Being the youngest of the members, he, who has Japanese and Korean nationality, came into the world on March 11, 2005 and, just like Kennywas a trainee at SM Entertainment.

Curiosities:Aito is roommate of Hyuk; is left-handed and has Baekhyunfrom EXO, as a model.