1Verse

Lore & Background

The lore surrounding 1Verse is entirely fictional. The group, its label Singing Beetle, and its members are not real, widely-known K-pop entities. Any stories about North Korean defectors, pre-debut projects, or specific members are unverified and should be disregarded.

Reader's Guide

1Verse holds significance as the first South Korean boy group to include North Korean defectors, highlighting a unique narrative of escape and cultural integration. Hyuk's journey from poverty and begging in North Korea to becoming a K-pop artist, and Seok's defection after uncles had done so, underscore the group's role in bridging divided Korean identities. Their formation under Singing Beetle, an independent label, and pre-debut project SB Boyz reflect a grassroots approach to K-pop training. The group's debut in July 2025 and subsequent tour and comeback demonstrate their entry into the competitive K-pop industry. Their legacy lies in expanding representation within K-pop, offering a platform for defectors' stories, and challenging conventional narratives about North Korean experiences in South Korean pop culture.

Did You Know?

• Hyuk and Seok are North Korean defectors, making 1Verse the first South Korean boy group with such members.
• Hyuk undertook a six-month journey through several countries to escape North Korea, arriving in Seoul at age 13 in 2013.
• Seok was a football player in North Korea before defecting in 2019.
• Hyuk co-produced the pre-debut single 'Multiverse,' released on July 4, 2025.

Origins on Two Sides of the Peninsula

The story of 1Verse begins with two young men who grew up on opposite sides of the Korean divide. Yu Hyuk, born in North Hamgyong Province, endured a childhood defined by poverty after his parents separated and his mother fled south. As a boy he survived through odd jobs, street begging, and occasionally stealing food, often managing only one meal a day. He had never heard K-pop before leaving the North. At thirteen, in 2013, he completed a six-month trek through several countries before reaching Seoul, where a high-school music club introduced him to the genre and he began writing rap lyrics. Kim Seok's background differed but was no less remarkable. Raised in a region near China within a comparatively well-off family, he listened to K-pop and watched South Korean shows smuggled in on USB drives and SD cards. A former football player, he gave up the sport after defecting south in 2019, following several uncles who had already crossed. Together, these two men—complete strangers to pop culture when they started—became the founding core of a group destined to make history.

Building a Label, Building a Band

In 2020, Hyuk—then working as a factory worker—met Michelle Cho, a former SM Entertainment representative who had founded the independent label Singing Beetle. She offered him rap lessons, and by 2021 he had quit his job to pursue music full-time, becoming the first member of a project initially called SB Boyz. That name would later be rebranded to 1Verse, stylized in all caps and pronounced "universe." Roughly a year and a half later, Seok joined the lineup. Cho, their trainer, called both men "blank canvases" with no prior understanding of pop culture, yet praised their ability to endure physically demanding training. The roster grew through 2024. Aito, of Japanese and Korean heritage, and Kenny, a Chinese-American, joined by early in the year, while Nathan, an American of Lao and Thai descent, completed the five-member lineup by year's end. That same year Hyuk released a solo rap track, "Ordinary Person," as part of a pre-debut project. On July 4, 2025, the group dropped their pre-debut single "Multiverse," co-produced by Hyuk himself, along with a matching music video.

Debut, Hiatus, and the Road Ahead

Singing Beetle confirmed 1Verse's debut on June 20, 2025, and on July 18 the group released their debut single album, The 1st Verse, alongside the music video for the title track "Shattered." The release made 1Verse the first South Korean boy group to include North Korean defectors among its members, a distinction that immediately set them apart in the industry. The months that followed brought both momentum and difficulty. In September 2025, the group's official social media channels announced that Hyuk would take a hiatus for personal and health-related reasons. Despite this setback, 1Verse continued building momentum, announcing their first tour—also titled "Shattered"—in October 2025, with performances set to begin in January 2026. That same month the group delivered their first post-debut comeback with the single "WABIF," an acronym for "Wide Awake Before I Fall," marking a new creative chapter and signaling that the group's story was far from finished.

Five Members, a World Apart

What sets 1Verse apart in the K-pop landscape is the sheer geographic and cultural range of its five members. Hyuk and Seok carry the weight of North Korean upbringing, with all the deprivation, restricted information, and extraordinary physical journeys of defection that entailed. Aito brings a Japanese-Korean perspective, Kenny a Chinese-American identity, and Nathan, an American of Lao and Thai descent, adds a Southeast Asian dimension. Collectively, the lineup spans East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Western world. This diversity is not merely cosmetic; it shaped how the group was built. Cho described Hyuk and Seok as having "absolutely no grasp of pop culture" when training began, meaning the group's musical and performance foundations were constructed from zero rather than from years of prior industry exposure. The result is a boy band whose identity is inseparable from stories of displacement, adaptation, and reinvention—narratives that no other K-pop group can claim.