Many K-pop stars, before debuting, had various ways to take the path of becoming an idol. Some were scouted and had to train for months to years before they can finally be introduced to the public. For instance, these K-pop idols, even before debut, already marked their identity to the fans and viewers through their appearance to the national television or music programs with other artists.
Ong Seong-wu
Model, singer, actor, professional part-timer, you name it. Debuted as an idol from the survival show boy group Wanna One, Ong Seongwu is known to have the background to have graduated as dance and acting major from a university. Fans also know that Ong became a theater actor for shows, the main lead for a short film project, and an actor for a Chinese commercial that fans found out without even showing his face.
FT Island's Lee Hongki
FT Island's leader may be known by fans who starred by playing a supporting role in a drama and appeared to be a pretty prolific child actor for "Magic Kid Masuri." From time to time, he also acted in several dramas.
Park Jihoon
Another idol that came from the boy group Wanna One is Park Jihoon, who earned the nickname "Wink Boy" and the idol who invented "Jeojang!" He became an actor as someone who actually said he could cry in a matter of seconds, naming it as one of his special skills. Jihoon appeared on the TV shows "Kimchi Cheese Smile," "Iljimae," "One Thousand & One Nights," "The King and I," and even on KM Idol World, where he went head to head for a "crying" battle with G-Dragon.
ASTRO's Moonbin
The center of Fantagio's one and only boy group, ASTRO's Moonbin, has been acting since he was pretty young. For roles of being the young member of F4 from Boys Over Flowers and even appearing as TVXQ's Yunho for the "Balloons" music video back in 2006. Our puppycat seemed to earn the title for being a child model, ulzzang, and actor as he debuted back in 2004.
SEVENTEEN's Vernon
When Hansol was young, he was often casted for English speaking roles for children programming in South Korea, and there have been a lot of these clips of Vernon released on YouTube for everyone to watch.
Oh My Girl's Binnie
The dreamy and bubbly Oh My Girl member Binnie has collected a lot of big roles from big K-dramas, as it has been a dream of her to become a celebrity ever since she was ten. And as a girl who wanted to make her dreams come true, she appeared in the hit show "King of Baking Kim Tak Gu" and "Sungkyunkwan Scandal." She debuted so early that she actually was called as the "dinosaur of the girl-group industry."
GFRIEND's Eunha
Eunha definitely got a rich pre-debut history. As she can pull off four high notes with class, this idol is such a well-known actress back in the days. She appeared in "The Clinic for Married Couples: Love and War" back in 2007, and has worked on 16 jobs, which includes being an MC for a children's science show.
MOMOLAND's Nancy
The center of the group MOMOLAND, Nancy McDonnie, debuted in national television as she appeared along with her groupmates in the show Korea's Got Talent when she was 13. Not only that but because of this recognition, she also got casted for the variety show "Tooniverse Makire" back in the days, alongside other idols such as MC Gree and actress Kim Yoojung.
TWICE's Nayeon
As a winning contestant from JYP's survival show SIXTEEN, and now the member of the biggest girl groups to date, Im Nayeon left such impressions for being an active trainee as she appeared in a SMART Uniform Commercial and later on, became the lead girl for GOT7's "Girls Girls Girls" music video.
BLACKPINK's Jennie
As a joke from the group, there has been an iconic video of the YG princess roaming around from an English education documentary when she was studying in New Zealand. With this video, they showed how Jennie promoted the Korean culture ever since she was ten, and from then on, she became a trainee for YG Entertainment, in which she was featured in a lot of songs, and appeared in G-Dragon's music video, too!
