By Park Ji-won
It is common to see non-Korean members in K-pop groups these days, but they were not really considered by the agencies that create such bands until recently. Many of them were from Asian countries such as China, Japan and Thailand, or the United States. They are fluent in both Korean and their own languages, and mainly took charge of promoting the group in their homeland.
However, over the last few years, non-Koreans, especially Japanese members, have become more important in the groups, especially when targeting the second-biggest market in the world for the Korean wave ― Japan.
On Jan. 11, T1419, a nine-member boy group from MLD Entertainment, made its debut. The agency of Momoland joined hands with international companies Sony Music Entertainment and NHN aiming to target Korea, Japan and the U.S. Consisting of five Korean members and four Japanese members, it drew attention from many even before its debut since it was novel for a group to have such a large number of Japanese members.
Boy band TWICE as well as IZ*ONE, a project girl group from M-net, have three Japanese members each, while TREASURE, a 12-member boy band from YG Entertainment had four when they were revealed Aug. 7.
The Japanese members now actively promote themselves to Japanese consumers, even making Japanese-only content.
Prior to its debut, T1419 released original videos on YouTube in Japanese with its Japanese members taking the lead in the series supported by Korean members who spoke Japanese.
TREASURE is planning to release its first full album in Japan, March 31, after already dropping the single “Beautiful” that was used for the Japanese animated film “Black Clover.”
NCT, a 23-member boy group from SM Entertainment, added two members last year, including Shotaro, a Japanese member, who joined a compatriot Yuta.
The move came after some K-pop groups with Japanese members gained huge popularity in Japan in recent years, in addition to the boom of Korean entertainment such as K-dramas.
The most successful K-pop groups in Japan have Japanese members or are trained to speak Japanese. TWICE, which is considered to have started the third Korean wave along with BTS in Japan, attracted attention from the beginning thanks to its Japanese members. Members of TVXQ, which is considered part of the second generation of K-pop groups, were good at Japanese from when they started performing in Japan. ENHYPEN, a seven-member boy band debuting Nov. 30 with six Korean members and one Japanese member, topped Japanese ORICON's weekly chart between Jan. 11 and 17. JYP Entertainment's Nizi Project last year ended up producing the successful nine-member Japanese K-pop girl group NiziU, which has been topping Japanese music charts.
Insiders say one of the key elements to gaining popularity in Japan is to have a Japanese member in the group as it is a domestic-oriented market.
“The Japanese market is very unique. It is open to international entertainment content, but at the same time the entertainment industry is very conservative or closed, being open mainly to Japanese people. Japanese fans also tend to show their interest in someone who is similar or friendly to them. So, while having a Japanese member in a group doesn't necessarily guarantee the popularity of the group, but it is definitely a plus in gaining attention and working with Japanese staff in Japan,” an official from an entertainment company said.
Also, Japanese members are willing to follow the hard training and schedules of the K-pop industry and are less influenced by political tensions between the countries.
“It cannot be generalized, but Japanese members are comparably ready to endure the hard training in Korea. Also, China has been one of key markets for K-pop stars, but since the introduction of China's ban on Korean content in 2016, it is almost impossible to perform there. So, the Japanese market has been an alternative for entertainment companies to attract overseas fans.”