A North Korean defector who used to steal food to survive and slept on the streets will now debut as a K-pop star.
Yu Hyuk, 24, is a member of 1VERSE, a boy band created under the Singing Beetle label, and despite not having any official songs of their own, the group already has thousands of followers on social media and raving fans.
After fleeing his home country at just 13 years old, the rising musician faced further hardships as he struggled to adapt, and years later found himself dropping out of an arts school, in huge debts thanks to falling for a scam, and working at a Samsung semiconductor factory. .
But now, Yu and his bandmate Kim Seok, 24, who is also from North Korea, are making history with the first K-pop group with defectors.
The lineup also includes Chinese-American artist Kenny, 21, and Murita Aito, 19, who is Japanese.
Yu Hyuk, 24, (pictured) is a member of 1VERSE, a boy band created under the Singing Beetle label, and despite not having any official songs of their own, the group already has thousands of social media followers and fans. excited.
Talking to him bbcYu revealed that he is now “half happy, half anxious,” but his youth was full of struggles.
As a child in Kyongsong County, North Korea, he was “lucky enough to have a house” but often slept on the street.
“It was a crisis,” he explained, recounting that his family’s poverty became so extreme that “I could have died if I hadn’t done something.”
He admitted to being forced to steal and beg. In an interview with Wall Street JournalYu revealed that his parents separated when he was only three years old and that his father wasted his money bribing officials to avoid working.
His mother, who had also been living apart, eventually fled to South Korea and would later send agents to help him get there.
He told the outlet how he would feel “obliged” to support his family when he was just seven years old, after heartbreakingly watching his grandmother picking up grains of rice from the floor of a train station.
“We were essentially beggars who happened to have nothing but a house,” he added.
When she was 12, Yu said her mother contacted her to beg her to join her in the South, an offer she initially declined.
But now, Yu (above) and his 24-year-old bandmate Kim Seok (below), who is also from North Korea, are making history with the first K-pop group with defectors. The lineup also includes Chinese-American artist Kenny, 21 (right), and Murita Aito, 19 (left), who is Japanese.
North Korean defectors enter a three-month program to help them assimilate, which Yu (front) told the WSJ he was placed in. Seok, pictured in the back, is also a dropout.
Michelle Cho, who used to work at one of South Korea’s “big three” music agencies, SM Entertainment, was founding her own independent label: Singing Beetle. In the photo on the left, Seok and on the right, Yu.
It later emerged that his father convinced him to go, after Yu’s mother reportedly promised to send him monthly payments if he could get her son to come.
At the age of 13, after a dangerous journey that took him through China and several other neighboring countries, he arrived in Seoul.
North Korean defectors enter a three-month program to help them assimilate, Yu told the WSJ They admitted him. He was also placed in a boarding school for children in situations similar to his own, but he admits that he felt alone.
Instead of living with his mother, who he didn’t feel close to, Yu decided to try to finance his own life and worked part-time at a restaurant.
At age 15, he received the tragic news of his father’s death and told the outlet that the news left him “angry,” as his father was “the only person who had always been on his side.”
“I was the loneliest of all the loners,” he admitted, revealing that the problems that killed him could have been treated medically if he had been in the South.
Through his struggles, Yu found respite by writing rap lyrics.
Problems arose again when, a victim of a scam and with huge debts on his shoulders, he began working in a Samsung factory.
By then, Yu had dropped out of arts college and soon experienced life-changing circumstances once again when he met a K-pop manager through a mutual acquaintance.
Michelle Cho, who used to work at one of South Korea’s “big three” music agencies, SM Entertainment, was founding her own independent label: Singing Beetle.
In 2021, Yu left his job at Samsung and started working on his music. He hopes that one day, 1VERSE will help him connect with others who have struggled.
By contrast, his defecting bandmate Seok (right), who arrived in South Korea in 2018, grew up in a fairly wealthy home and enjoyed “bootleg” K-pop songs and music videos, which are sometimes illegal at home. Yu in the photo on the left
Yu impressed Michelle with a song he had written and she helped him develop his rap skills with lessons.
In 2021, Yu left his job at Samsung and started working on his music. He hopes that one day 1VERSE will help him connect with others who have struggled.
“At the end of the day, there is not a single person who has not gone through difficulties,” he told the WSJ. ‘I hope to move the world with our music.
“Seeing that even North Koreans can have big dreams, I hope other marginalized people can also have big dreams while living their lives.”
He also hopes to one day pursue acting, so that his friends and family in North Korea will have more opportunities to learn about his work.
By contrast, his defecting bandmate Seok, who arrived in South Korea in 2018, grew up in a fairly wealthy household and enjoyed “bootleg” K-pop songs and music videos, which are sometimes illegal at home. .
“I would like to make music that can move people’s hearts from the first verse,” he said.
Talking to him bbcYu added: ‘Where else can I have this experience? The world is spinning.
“I’m anxious all the time… and I’m thinking, ‘Am I doing this right?'”
1VERSE, formerly called SB Boyz, does not have a confirmed debut date, but is making thousands of fans proud on social media excited by their next hit.
Currently, they have posted a number of covers online, including songs from K-pop artists like Stray Kids to Western stars like Justin Bieber and Troye Sivan.
Yu also wrote the lyrics for a pre-debut mixtape, with a song called Ordinary Person.
“Grab a notebook and a pen / Let my story begin / I’m coming in,” he is heard rapping.
Because I know you wouldn’t believe my story if I told it to you / I was the loneliest of the loners / There was no one around.
“I don’t want them to show me all the hate / Turn the tables / I’ll show them why I’m great.”
