North Korean defectors make debut in new K-pop boy band

SEOUL – A new K-pop boy band made their global debut on July 18 with

two members who defected from North Korea

and an album that includes a song about the consequences of escaping one of the world’s most repressive states.

1VERSE, pronounced “universe”, are made up of five men in their 20s from North Korea, Japan and the United States. They go by their first names Hyuk, Seok, Aito, Nathan and Kenny.

At midnight, the group performed a live-streamed showcase of their first EP The 1st Verse, featuring three tracks, including the debut single Shattered.

A video to accompany the song will drop later on July 18. Recorded earlier in 2025, it shows the group sporting make-up and slick hairstyles, dancing against a stroboscopic background.

Hyuk, originally from the north-eastern county of Kyongsong in North Korea, has been living in South Korea since 2013.

Besides enjoying the freedom to show off his talent to the world, the 25-year-old also appreciates being able to eat three meals a day.

In North Korea, he started working at the age of nine and said he was sometimes forced into desperate measures to get food, eating spoiled rice or worse, and resorting to theft.

“After I was caught stealing, I was beaten hard until I was bleeding. I was really hungry and instinctively I was thinking about survival,” he said at the group’s studio in Seoul.

North Korea has stepped up control over people’s lives since the Covid-19 pandemic, when all borders were sealed, and abuses such as executions, forced labour and reports of starvation continue, a United Nations official investigating rights in the isolated state said in June.

Hyuk escaped North Korea as a child – fleeing to China and then across other international borders with the help of a broker arranged by his mother, who was already in South Korea.

While he is happy with his new life, he recalls that it was a wrench to leave his home.

“I was hungry and tired, but I was happy surrounded by the people I like, which made it tougher for me to want to come here at first,” he said.

The song Shattered encapsulates his feelings when he learnt about the death of his father in North Korea, he said.

Seok, 25, the other North Korean defector in the group, used to live in a border town near China. He was exposed to K-pop by a friend who shared music videos on a portable media player, including rapper Psy’s 2012 smash hit Gangnam Style.

Seok escaped with his father and grandmother when he was 20.

Recent reports have suggested that Pyongyang is stepping up its crackdown on the consumption of South Korean culture, including a case where teenagers were sentenced to hard labour for watching K-pop, as well as suppressing South Korean speaking styles.

Ms Michelle Cho, producer and chief executive of 1VERSE’s label Singing Beetle, said she wanted to create a more authentic group in an industry often seen as picture-perfect.

“Who doesn’t love the story of someone from a humble background chasing his dreams, especially K-pop,” she added.

Despite their diverse backgrounds, the bandmates said they have plenty in common.

“I mean, isn’t it fun? Like our group is just a unique type of global,” said Kenny, who is Chinese American.

While the group has drawn attention for having North Korean defectors, Hyuk hopes they will be judged by the quality of their work.

“I want to become an idol who brings energy and the message that cheers up many people, that they aren’t alone and there are even people like me.” REUTERS