K-pop companies are known for scouting their trainees at such a young age. But, there are also some cases when agencies cast aspiring idols at an older age. Here are 10 K-pop stars who trained at 18 and above.
10 K-pop Idols Who Started Being Trainees at 18 and Above
Red Velvet Irene
Known as the oldest member of Red Velvet, Irene became a trainee at SM Entertainment at 18 in 2009, after she finished high school. She then underwent the label's training process for five years, and made her debut in 2014 as the group's leader, main rapper, lead dancer, center, and visual.
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BTS Jin
BTS member Jin became a trainee much later than Red Velvet Irene. He was accepted to train at Big Hit Entertainment (now called Big Hit Music) when he was already 20 years old. He then debuted as the visual, sub vocalist, and oldest member of the group in 2013.
MAMAMOO Solar, Moonbyul
Next, we have two members of MAMAMOO: Solar and Moonbyul. Like Jin, Solar also started training when she was 20 years of age in 2011. She was casted at a mall where she participated in a singing competition show and won.
After training for three years at RBW Entertainment, Solar debuted as the leader, main vocalist, and visual of MAMAMOO at 23 years old.
Meanwhile, Moonbyul was one year younger than Solar when she started training at RBW (19 years old). But prior to joining RBW, Moonbyul had already trained at other labels. She eventually debuted as the main dancer and main rapper of MAMAMOO in 2014 when she was 22 years old.
Sandara Park, Park Bom (2NE1)
Here, we have another pair of K-pop idols from the same group, Park Bom and Sandara Park, who are well-known former members of the legendary K-pop girl group 2NE1.
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Surprisingly, Dara debuted as a 2NE1 member when she was 25 years old after two years of training. This means she was 23 years old when joined YG Entertainment. Prior to her debut, she was a celebrity in the Philippines.
Regarding Park Bom, she auditioned for YG Entertainment in 2006, but was only accepted as a trainee in 2009, when she was 25 years old. She eventually debuted the succeeding year as the oldest member and main vocalist of 2NE1.
EXO Baekhyun
Another K-pop idol from SM Entertainment who became a trainee later than usual is EXO Baekhyun. He was a trainee for only four months since he joined the agency in late 2011, at the age of 20. Baekhyun is one of the EXO members with the shortest training period (alongside Chen). He then made his debut as the main vocalist of the group in April 2012, one month before he turned 25.
KARD BM, J.Seph
The co-ed group KARD also has two entries to our list, and they are the male members, BM and J.Seph. Both of them were accepted as trainees at DSP Media at the age of 19 and made their debut when they were 24 years old.
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J.Seph started training a few months prior to BM joining DSP Media. Hence, J.Seph trained for five years, while BM spent four and a half years of training.
GWSN Miya
Lastly, GWSN Miya was scouted by Kiwi Pop (a subsidiary of Kiwi Media Group) at Acopia Global Auditions four months prior to her debut in September 2018. Interestingly, she began training when she was 25 years old and became a K-pop idol at the same age.
If you know other K-pop idols who should be on the list, comment down below!
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Written by Maria Scott
