Despite being ethnically Korean, these idols grew up abroad and only reached fluency in Korean when they moved to South Korea to chase after their K-pop idol dreams.
1. Stray Kids' Felix
Felix was born and raised in Australia with Korean parents. Though he grew up with Korean parents, he pre-dominantly spoke English and knew very minimal Korean when he first went to South Korea to become a trainee. Felix himself has stated that he is in the process of learning the language, and is the least fluent member from all the members. He has said that his members, especially Lee Know, helped him become more efficient in the language.
When he competed on the show "Stray Kids", he was eliminated from the team because his Korean language skills were poor, making him rap sound weak. At the time, he had only been learning the language for two months. He was added back to the team in the end.
Felix has stated that he often feels stressed when speaking Korean because he feels people immediately start searching for mistakes in what he says. Despite that, he continues to learn and seek help from his members to better himself in the language.
2. SEVENTEEN's Joshua
Joshua was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, to Korean parents. Joshua would speak English outside of his home, like when he is in school or hanging out with his friends, and would speak Korean at home with his family. With that, he can actually speak the language well. However, since he only grew up speaking it and not necessarily reading and writing it, Joshua had difficulty learning how to write in Korean. He was able to learn and practice when he moved to South Korea as a trainee.
3. Girls' Generation's Tiffany
Tiffany was born and raised in California. Though she grew up learning some Korean, she herself has stated that her Korean vocabulary is very limited. During an appearance on a variety show, Tiffany talked about how she was teased and made fun of for her lack of Korean vocabulary knowledge by her own members. She has said that her members had tried to convince her some Korean words actually mean something else, which could cause Tiffany to slip up if she chooses to use the word. She was also made fun of having an accent when she speaks Korean. Because of these things, she tries to steer clear from embarrassing situations.
To avoid those types of situations, Tiffany practiced extremely hard to learn and master the Korean language. Member YoonA, who was on the same show as Tiffany, went on to say that she had gone through a lot to improve her skills in the language.
4. NU'EST's Aron
Aron has was born and raised in Californa to Korean parents. Despite being raised by Korean parents, he grew up unable to speak the language, only speaking English at home and outside. Even when he auditioned for PLEDIS Entertainment, he had no knowledge of the Korean language. He started learning from scratch when he moved to South Korea to become a trainee under the company. He even enrolled in a Korean language academy to better his Korean speaking, reading, and writing skills. Due to his determination, he was able to pick up the language in less than a year.
