Famous K-Pop idols who are actually not Koreans!

Not all idols are Korean, but almost all are Asian. While many K-pop groups are all-Korean, there are also many with members from other Asian countries such as China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and so on. Korean idols who were born and raised in other countries such as the United States and Canada are also considered foreign.

Major companies such as SM Entertainment and HYBE intend to debut K-pop groups in the United States via audition shows. It's worth noting that there has been some debate in the international fan community about whether non-Asians should become K-pop idols for a while, so it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out in the coming years.

Here are some of the famous foreign idols.

1. Joshua, Jun, The8, and Vernon From SEVENTEEN

Top Left: Joshua, Top Right: Jun, Bottom Left: The8, Bottom Right: Vernon 

Two of the members are Chinese, while the other two are Americans.

Jun is from Shenzhen, China, and The8 is from Liaoning, China. Vernon was born in New York, and Joshua was born in Los Angeles.

2. Momo, Sana, Mina and Tzuyu From TWICE

Top Left: Sana, Top Right: Mina, Bottom Left: Momo, Bottom Right: Tzuyu

Twice is a girl group with four non-Korean members. Tzuyu, the youngest member, is Taiwanese, while Mina, Momo, and Sana are Japanese.

3. NCT 127 (Johnny, Yuta, Mark)

Left to right: Yuta, Mark and Johnny

Johnny Suh was born in Illinois, Chicago. Nakamoto Yuta was born in Osaka, Japan. Mark Lee was born in Toronto, Canada.

4. NCT Dream (Renjun, Chenle) 

Left to Right: Chenle and Renjun

Both of them are from China. Huang Renjun was born in Jilin and Zhong Chenle was born in Shanghai.

5. Ten and Lucas (NCT, WayV, SuperM)

Left to right: Ten and Lucas

Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul known by his stage name Ten was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Wong Yuk-Hei, Famously known as Lucas was born in Hongkong, China.

6. Lisa, and Rosé (Blackpink)

Left to right: Lisa and Rosé

Lisa was born in the Thai town of Buri Ram. Rosé was born in the city of Auckland, New Zealand.

7. Bangchan and Felix (Straykids)

Left to right: Felix and Bangchan

Bangchan was born in South Korea but moved to Sydney, Australia when he was very young and Felix was born in Sydney, Australia but his parents are Korean

9. GOT7 (Bambam, Mark, Jackson)

Left : Jackson, Centre: Bambam, Right: Mark

GOT7 has three foreign members. Bambam is Thai, Mark is Taiwanese-American, and Jackson is Chinese.

10. Huening Kai Kamal (TXT)

Huening Kai Kamal is actually half Korean and half American of German descent! He was born in Hawaii.

11. Jay, Jake and Niki (Enhypen) 

Left: Jay, Top right: Niki, Top Bottom: Jake

Out of Enhypen's seven members, Three are from other countries: Jay is a Korean-American from Seattle, Washington, Jake is a Korean-Australian from Brisbane, Australia, and Nishimura-Riki (Ni-Ki) is from Okayama, Japan.

12. Yoshi, Mashiho, Asahi and Haruto (TREASURE)

Left to right: Yoshi, Mashiho, Asahi, Haruto

Treasure has four foreign members. They are all Japanese: Yoshi, Mashiho, Asahi, and Haruto.

13. Kevin, Jacob, and Eric (The Boyz)

Left: Kevin, Centre: Jacob, Right: Eric

Three of the members have ties to the United States and Canada. Kevin and Jacob were born in Canada, while Eric was born in South Korea but raised in Los Angeles.

14. Jessi (Solo)

Jessi Ho, famously known by the stage name Jessi, is a Korean-American Rapper. She was born in New York, was raised in New Jersey, and moved to South Korea at the age of 15.

15. Eric Nam (Solo)

If you've seen Eric Nam on TV, you've probably noticed his excellent fluency in the English language. This is due to the fact that he was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia!

In the memory of Rachel Shylo
Blog by Harini