There are overseas K-pop performers that aren’t Korean who perform regularly, and not all K-pop groups are truly made up of Korean singers. There are many non-Korean members of well-known K-pop groups with origins in Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, and even the U.S.
The most well-known non-Korean idols include Tiffany from Girls’ Generation, Amber from f(x), Lisa from BLACKPINK, Lay from EXO, Jackson from Got7, and Lai Kuan Lin from Wanna One. The four foreign members of JYP’s Twice are Tzuyu, Mina, Momo, and Sana. Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and even American idols can be found in K-pop.
Lalisa Manoban, also known as Lisa, is a native of Thailand and was born in the province of Buriram. She is fluent in Thai, Korean, Japanese, and English. A fun fact about Lisa is that she was the first non-ethnic Korean trainee to join Y.G. Entertainment and make its debut. ViVi of LOONA was born in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun neighborhood. She was a trainee at Polaris Entertainment before being transferred to BlockBerry Creative, a division of Polaris, where she eventually made her debut as a member of LOONA. Her real name is Wong Ka Hei.
It’s hardly surprising that several of the 23 members of NCT currently are from nations other than South Korea. Ethnically, Lucas, aka Wong Yukhei, is Chinese and Thai. He was up in Hong Kong’s ShaTin neighborhood and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Korean, and a little bit of Thai.
The TWICE member is a native of Kyotanabe in the Japanese prefecture of Kyoto. She goes under the name Momo Hirai. She relocated to South Korea in 2012 to pursue a career as a K-pop idol trainee with JYP Entertainment. In 2015, she made her TWICE debut. She is fluent in Korean and Japanese.
The8 is a Chinese K-pop star who was born in Anshan, Liaoning. Since the number eight is lucky in China, he decided to use it as his stage name. The singer is fluent in Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
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