A 17-year-old Korean who lived in the Philippines for more than 10 years will be making his debut in an upcoming K-pop group.
Won Bin has been selected to replace a member of K-pop boy band ATBO who was removed from the group due to allegations of school violence.
Last June 13, IST Entertainment, the agency of ATBO, announced that Yang Donghwa, 18, will no longer debut in the boy band due to allegations of school violence against him.
A few days later, the agency announced that Won Bin will be replacing Yang Donghwa in the group.
“Thank you for all the love and interest you have shown for ‘ATBO.’ This is an announcement regarding the addition of a new member in ATBO and the time of their debut. For about a month after recording the final member selection on , IST Entertainment had carried out an internal evaluation for the six trainees who had been eliminated,” it said.
In the survival show “The Origin – A, B, Or What?,” which was held to pick the members of ATBO, Won Bin was eliminated.
“This was done as a continuation of their training process but also to consider selecting an additional member that could contribute to completing ATBO,” the agency said.
It added, “During the evaluation, the trainee ‘Won Bin’ received the highest score by proving his vast potential and ability to learn quickly. Won Bin has also received huge support from domestic and international fans, ranking first in all global fan polls during the program. Thus, we reviewed the fans' opinions as well as the opinions of internal and external specialists.”
“As a result, we have revised the final debut lineup to Jeong Seunghwan,Oh Junseok, Seok Rakwon, Ryu Junmin, Bae Hyunjun, Kim Yeonkyu, and Won Bin,” the agency said.
IST Entertainment added, “ATBO will be a 7-member boy group and will be making their official debut this summer. This decision was made based on deep discussions, but we sincerely apologize for going against the show's initial intentions as a survival program.”
“This was a decision made in an effort to satisfy as many of you as we can and create a team loved by more people, so we humbly ask for your kind understanding. We are currently developing quality debut content : for the ATBO members and doing our best to deliver news of their debut as soon as we can,” it said.
It said, “The members are working hard to prepare for their debut and better performances as well. We appreciate your patience so far and ask for your continued support. We hope you show your love and support to the ATBO members as they stand on the cusp of making their debut this summer and unfolding a new and original story.”
During the “The Origin – A, B, Or What?,” Won Bin revealed that he has been a trainee for two years and he can speak three languages: English, Filipino and Korean.
“I’ve been to various international schools living abroad. So I can speak English, Filipino and Korean,” he said.
Won Bin added, “I lived in the Philippines (for) more than 10 years. Dito sa Korea kasi pangarap ko maging worldwide superstar.”