As K-pop in itself started in Korea, with idols usually being from this country, and music is made for the Korean public, you can expect the leader of K-pop groups to be Korean. But then, the genre broke into the global scene and the number of foreign K-pop idols continues to rise, so it's not unusual to see foreign members and leaders in groups.
Here are six foreign K-pop idols who are leaders of their respective groups!
1. f(x)'s Victoria
Victoria was the first Chinese artist to debut in the SM Entertainment girl group, and is also the first and one of the most notable foreign leaders in K-pop. SM Entertainment usually selects the eldest member to be the leaders of their groups, and since Victoria is the oldest member of f(x), it makes sense that she was given the role. Victoria has shown her leadership skills numerous times through the years, so it's safe to say SM Entertainment made the right choice!
2. BP Rania's Alex
Not only is Alex the fist African-American to debut in K-pop, but she was also made to be the leader. She initially debuted in the group in 2015 while the name was still Rania. As the girls went through numerous member changes through the years, they ended up changing the name to BP Ranina and also chose to make Alex their group leader.
3. UNIQ's Yixuan
UNIQ is a South Korean-Chinese boy group under Yuehua Entertainment. Because they promote in the two countries, they have two leaders. Yixuan is the leader whenever they promote in China, as he is Chinese. Their leader, when they promote in Korea, is Sungjoo.
4. Cross Gene's Takuya
Takuya is notably known as one of the first Japanese idols to debut in K-pop. Hailing from Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, he debuted in Cross Gene back in 2012 and was selected as the leader. However, he was not the leader for long. He ended up giving up his position due to the burden he was facing, ultimately giving the leader title to member Shin.
5. O21's Weiyang
The now-disbanded multinational girl group O21 made history with Weiyang's debut! Weiyang was the first Filipina K-pop idol to debut and the first Filipina to be the leader of her group. Weiyang is Filipina-Chinese. The group disbanded following conflicts with Korea and China. Weiyang is now a model.
The group in itself consisted of members of numerous nationalities, with the girls hailing from the Philippines, Japan, China, and Korea. One member is Korean-Canadian.
6. Stray Kids' Chan
While Chan's parents are both Korean and he is ethnically Korean, he was born and raised in Australia. Despite not being a native Korean speaker, he is fluent in the language and shows no problem speaking the language.
Chan is the leader of the group since prior to debut. He chose each boy to join his team specifically, which goes against what JYP Entertainment usually does - pick the members themselves and put them in a group.
