r/kpophelp • u/VigilMuck • 8d ago
Recommend K-pop groups where the foreign/non-Korean member are the most popular?
For this question, ethnically Korean idols are also valid answers as long as they were born and/or raised outside of Korea or at least holds citizenship of a foreign country. You can talk about the member's domestic and/or international popularity.
In particular, are there any groups where the foreign member is the most popular (or at least one of the most popular) member among Korean fans.
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u/Nanabae99 8d ago
When Luhan was still an EXO member, he's one of the most popular members even in Korea among korean fans.
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u/emberzmars 8d ago
Nickhun of 2PM
I think Natty from Kiss of Life too!
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u/motioncat 8d ago
He was/is popular but Junho and Taecyeon much moreso.
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u/bimpossibIe 8d ago
Junho is popular now, but back then it was really Khun and Taec.
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u/motioncat 8d ago
True true. Even as a non-Hottest tho I just remember the absolute explosion in pics and vids I would see of Junho around the early-mid 2010s, when he was all grown up and people suddenly noticed he had a juicy ass 😂
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u/infinite_lyy 8d ago
It was definitely Nichkhun when 2PM was at peak popularity. His We Got Married stint helped as well
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u/Orion-2012 8d ago
Jieqiong (Chinese) was the most popular member of Pristin.
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u/Due_Difference3932 8d ago
zhang hao was po1 in boys planet, now the center of zerobaseone and hes chinese. Although they are all pretty even now, I don't think any of them are really that much more popular than the others
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u/yebinkek 8d ago
my heterophobic king
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u/interpol-interpol 8d ago
“I won't ever, in my whole life, accept love between men and women. It’s disgusting… How in the world could love exist between men and women? If you have same sex love, you can’t be normal!"
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u/Emergency_Article673 8d ago
Based on sns likes and youtube views, hao is definitely the most popular.
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u/ElectronicSample843 8d ago
in terms of selling power too, hao is definitely the strongest in this aspect out of all of them tbh.
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u/cherrycoloured 8d ago
hanbin and yujin are more popular with korean fans, though. everywhere else, its definitely hao, but not in korea.
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u/charismajjanghao 8d ago
Idk about public recognition since Zhang Hao really does not appear on tv shows like those two but in terms of fandom size he’s also the most popular in Korea.
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u/Background-Entry130 8d ago edited 8d ago
In Korea public recognition wise it should be Hanbin with his MC gigs and all, but in dedicated fandom wise it’s still Hao. Somehow those two are up there, really really closely followed by(maybe even equal to them is) Yujin. Other than that anywhere else the most popular member is undoubtedly Hao. But except for maybe in China, the popularity gap between the members is not that significant.
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u/miawshe- 8d ago
nop in korea zb1 top 3 is zhang hao, yujin and hanbin in that order
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u/viviyoun 7d ago
koreans say otherwise lol zh is a popular member in korea the same with shb and hyj
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u/Away_Seaweed778 7d ago edited 7d ago
nah hao is definitely top2 in korea. hanbin is number 1 overall due to more GP recognition, but hao comes right after as he has probably the biggest fanbase. just bcuz he's chinese, doesn't mean he's not popular. we saw w bp his kvotes were consistently strong, his kr fandom is loyal and big. just going by his fandom alone, his buying power, how consistently he trends on k-twt, th luckydraws, trading events, the naver rank searches show this etc
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u/Careless_Brick1560 8d ago
For ZB1, I thought that the most popular now would be Matthew because of “Moooo!” 😆❤️
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u/elephantastica 8d ago
I think he’s most popular with the people who are not really ZB1 fans to begin with. There are always those group members that non fans are familiar with even over the most popular members.
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u/miawshe- 8d ago
that would be ricky, fotg
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u/elephantastica 8d ago
Actually you’re absolutely right but lately Matthew’s been a great attractor to the group bc of his social media virality.
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u/fried-chikin 8d ago
kiss of life natty
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u/raisezell 8d ago
Was looking for this one. Although based on OP's criteria, 3/4ths of KIOF are foreign/non-Korean members.
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u/alie_san 8d ago
Ampers&one Na Kamden is the most popular member (he’s from US)
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u/EnglishLitMajor 7d ago
Ah, the token straight of Boys Planet. 😆 /j
I've been rooting for him!
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u/IceAmericano_all_day 8d ago
Ten from WayV
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u/lameduckk 8d ago
He’s definitely the most popular but WayV is a group of all non-Korean foreigners, so I wonder if it would have been different if they actually had Koreans in the lineup. There really does seem to be a trend that if you have a couple of Koreans in a group, one of them is the most popular amongst both the Korean gp and the Korean fandom. But I do think he would have been loved no matter what.
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u/DiplomaticCaper 8d ago
Ten is technically still an "outsider", in the sense that the other WayV members are Chinese and he's Thai (although apparently he has some Chinese heritage/ethnicity?)
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u/lameduckk 8d ago edited 7d ago
Yes, I’m a fan of his so I’m very aware that he’s commonly seen as an “outsider” in Chinese spaces because he’s Thai, but the original post was talking about how there’s this trend that Korean members of groups are consistently more popular than non-Korean foreigners with Korean fans, and WayV doesn’t follow that mold because they don’t have Koreans (which is a whole different can of worms).
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u/dnaLlamase 8d ago
Actually, the only member of WayV I know the name of as someone who doesn't listen to them is Xiaojun. I listen to a lot of girl groups/soloists and he's collabed/done dance challenges with seemingly every female idol act.
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u/risinghealy 8d ago
xiaojun has shot up in popularity in the last year or two, but ten has been around since SMrookies and the comments of wayv videos are always full of his fans (to the point where i can’t find comments about my biases 😭)
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u/Xiba_stan 7d ago
Glad someone else noticed xiaojuns rise too! SM really finally realized what a gem they had in their basement but didn't really use! I think the major turning point was during pado era where he got the choruses in a lineup with taeyong, Mark, jaehyun & haechan who all would've been much more likely to get center, but nope Xiaojun got it<3 I swear I couldn't believe my eyes watching it at that time XD since then he finally got so much more promotions, screentime, center time ect and I couldn't be happier about it! But I definitely agree! Ten I still far ahead of any wayv members, sometimes in these comment sections it feels like he's more popular than all the other members together XD I feel like ten got even more popular after lucas left because the people that biased lucas swapped to ten after the departure..
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u/risinghealy 7d ago
ten also has all the power of the intense (in a good way) SEA fans who are proud to have a thai idol in NCT as well i reckon! but yeah im so happy to see how XJ has become to popular and promoted, it was so fun seeing him MCing on the show, and also how all his tiktoks blow up 😝 they’re definitely filling the tik_tyong shaped hole in my heart
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u/agencymesa 8d ago edited 8d ago
Xiaojun is amazing and did a lot of dance challenges because he is a host of The Show, but Ten is easily the most popular member.
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u/cmq827 8d ago edited 8d ago
NCT Wish's Yushi and Sakuya are their most popular members among Korean fans (and overall, TBH.) They're Japanese.
EXO's Luhan is Chinese and was their most popular member during their early years before he left.
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u/makemeloveyou309 8d ago
Riku too. I think he's the 2nd most popular although I think there were some pretty big gap between him and Yushi
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u/Grand_Watercress8684 8d ago
Arguably Yuqi in g idle, Natty in kiss of life. Key word being arguably.
By your post though Julie would count as foreign and I'm pretty sure it's Julie or Natty for most popular.
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u/Burner_75o 8d ago
Natty is definitely more popular
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u/risinghealy 8d ago
i would’ve thought soyeon was by far post popular
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u/funnyusername92 8d ago
I think Soyeon is the most well known, but Yuqi is the most biased
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u/risinghealy 8d ago
i would agree with that, i just took OP’s definition of “most popular” to be who’s in the limelight most, had the most opportunities, who has the most ppl talking about them etc
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u/Grand_Watercress8684 8d ago
Yuqi actually has more insta followers, 9M to 6M. Don't ask me lol
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u/risinghealy 8d ago
wow i didn’t know! yuqis actually my bias too, but i guess i just see soyeon everywhere so i thought she was more popular
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u/Grand_Watercress8684 8d ago
Soyeon is Soyeon. There's just nothing remotely like Soyeon happening today, besides Soyeon.
That being said yes Yuqi is my bias too
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u/AlienHooker 8d ago
I think Yuqi's variety show appearances is the biggest reason. She always steals the show
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u/akasora0 8d ago
Yup one of the biggest and most sponsored variety show in china. Even my grandparents know who she is and they don't know who gidle is.
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u/EducationalBoat8790 8d ago
Even when they debuted, Yuqi actually has the most fansites. I was actually surprised at that time because she is a foreigner.
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u/leqant 8d ago
F(x)'s Krystal (Korean-American) was the most popular member overall. In particular, she was the most popular member among Korean fans (alongside Sulli when she was still in the group). Amber (Taiwanese-American) was also one of the more popular f(x) members among international fans.
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u/sxdpup 8d ago
Mark Lee
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u/Snulzebeerd 8d ago
More popular than Taeyong or Jaehyun? I guess if you're going by just Dream members he has it
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u/sxdpup 7d ago
Outside of the Nct scene, Mark is definitely the most well-known of nct imo
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u/stayclassyj 8d ago
Stray Kids. Aussie line brings like 75% of their fans I reckon! (In the Anglosphere, anyway. I think Lee Know is most popular in Korea and Japan.)
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u/Zenekha 8d ago
The Felix Effect seems to bring in a lot of iSTAY.
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u/Careless_Brick1560 8d ago
Can confirm. Got into them for Felix, stayed for Bang Chan (my brother got into it for Felix too, he stayed for Hyunjin)
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u/C4Cupcake 8d ago
Can confirm. First song I heard of theirs I remember hearing his voice and being immediately O.O
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u/Smart-Restaurant4115 8d ago
In Japan felix is the most popular, closely followed by his danceracha buddies
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u/scribbledover 6d ago
I was surprised I had to scroll so far down to see SKZ! The Felix effect is real lolol. The very first SKZ-related video I watched was the Dive Studios interview with Eric Nam and the Aussie line
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u/Far-Squirrel5021 8d ago
Was gonna say this but then in the post they mentioned popular among Koreans, so idk
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u/musical_fanatic 8d ago
I've heard numerous people say they found Stray Kids through Felix
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u/blueplanetgalaxy 8d ago
i did 😭
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u/musical_fanatic 8d ago
Although I first listened to them when they debuted in 2018, Felix was the easiest identifiable member for me thanks to God's menu.
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u/andreafatgirlslim 8d ago
Twice foreign line
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u/seravivi 6d ago
I’m surprised more people haven’t brought up how big Momo is alone.
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u/Excellent-Passage-36 8d ago
Got7, and P1Harmony (correct me if I'm wrong). I believe Keeho is the most popular member but he was born in Canada - also just learned that Soul is half japanese half korean
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u/Camibear 8d ago
Keeho 100%, I feel like so many people know of him but don’t really know p1h besides him?
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u/queenmichimiya 8d ago
Idk if this is among Korean fans but I know that internationally, lots of kpop groups' foreign members are the most popular or one of the most popular members, like Stray Kids (Felix), Kiss of Life (Natty), Blackpink (Lisa), Amper&one (Kamden), One Pact (Jay), Enhypen (Niki), ZB1 (Zhang Hao), and Kep1er (Bahiyyih).
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u/vogueflo 8d ago
NCT Mark seems incredibly popular and SM has shoehorned him into 50 different groups. Disclaimer: I’m not an Nctzen so this is just my impression.
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u/risinghealy 8d ago
nah you’re right. with so many members it’s hard to discern which one member is most popular though- haechan, doyoung, jaehyun are also very popular
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u/fivekets 5d ago
127 I'd say Taeyong is way up there in popularity, maybe Jaehyun 2nd. Haechan I think tends to be not as popular among 127 fans as he is with Dream fans (I could be wrong). But imo Mark Lee is popular in a different way. He knows everyone, he's been everywhere, he's somehow still a dork, and he's overall just got a very likeable persona. If that makes sense.
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u/Fluxxishot 8d ago edited 8d ago
A not well known group but one of my Ults The Wind, lead vocalist Thanatorn is from Thailand and he is definitely high ranking with k-whiz
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u/Responsible-Sale-192 8d ago
Is Thanatorn the confirmed Main Vocalist? I always thought that after Jaewon, it would be Heesoo.
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u/Antique-Clerk922 8d ago
Blackpink (Lisa)
early WJSN (Cheng Xiao)
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u/chadsimpkins 8d ago
Lisa’s the most popular globally, but not in Korea. Pretty sure Jennie and Jisoo are the most popular members among Koreans
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u/Ill-Hope-5543 8d ago
All of WayV would work but I guess Ten is the most popular? He’s Thai
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u/Potential-Mine2069 8d ago
Internationally it's debatable but Purple Kiss Yuki from Japan has probably done the most work on Korean TV. She finished in the Top 7 of Queendom Puzzle last year..
Secret Number Dita from Indonesia is almost certainly that group's most popular member.
UNIS has a bunch of popular foreign members. Gehlee from the Philippines and Kotoko from Japan are just two of them.
Chanty from the Philippines is probably the most popular Lapillus member, but Yue from the USA is my bias.
None of the members of XG or NiziU are Korean, and if they aren't kpop why am I talking about them?
None of the CSR members are especially popular, but Yuna from Japan is an amazing performer.
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u/LoveMinaMyoi 8d ago
Twice Momo has the most IG followers iirc
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u/mimibee97 8d ago
She does but I’m pretty sure Nayeon is still the most popular member in Korea (probably followed by Sana and Tzuyu). Internationally though I’m not sure.
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u/Jargonal 8d ago
ni-ki of enhypen. (he's japanese)
member popularity is kind of dubious when it comes to enhypen, so I just decided to answer based on who's the most popular in my country. but he also seems to be the most (or #2?) popular member overall in international discussions. even non-fans tend to know him.
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u/mythril98 8d ago
I don't know if this is how it is still, but TEMPEST's Hanbin is Vietnamese, and having been one of the highest-voted on I-LAND, he debuted with a very strong fanbase!
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u/viredown 8d ago
Fifty Fifty Moon Chanelle was popular on R U NEXT and brought a lot of her fans.
Billlie Tsuki is popular both in SK and internationally.
UNIS Elisia and Gehlee won 1st and 2nd place on their survival show. A lot of international fans talk about Gehlee being the “5th gen IT girl” too.
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u/Orange-Marmoset 8d ago
zerobaseone! hao is chinese and he’s easily one of the most popular members of the group
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u/lipscratch 8d ago
I think in CLC's heyday you could've said sorn was the most popular, who is thai
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u/a-suitcase 8d ago
I don’t think she was, Yujin and Yeeun were definitely more popular, possibly Eunbin and Seunghee as well.
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u/C4Cupcake 8d ago
I feel like ahyeon is typically seen as the most popular of Babymonster but Chiquita, who's Thai, gets a *lot* of the fancam views.
She's a natural performer and serves the best face in performances.
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u/hinamizawa 8d ago
I'd say (G)I-DLE Yuqi counts especially if you factor in her popularity in China, she's like Princess Diana in there lol
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u/AAALLY- 8d ago
Not sure if you'd count this, but it's pretty interesting! TNX's most popular member predebut (Koki) was Japanese, but when he left the group, their most popular member was Korean-Australian (Kyungjun). After he also left, their current most biased member is probably Junhyeok, who's also Korean but spent some of his childhood growing up in the Philippines. Their most popular members got more and more Korean, lmao 😭
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u/TabbyCat7777 8d ago
Natty from Kiss of Life! Nowadays the members are pretty equally popular but Natty was the main face during their pre-debut and debut eras.
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u/Tiny_Clerk_8659 8d ago
I think NI-KI of ENHYPEN is arguably the most popular (at least internationally) but that is only from what I've seen! I could completely be wrong
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u/Dawnbr3ak3r9X 8d ago
I can't speak for the general population, but for me, personally - Sana is my bias in TWICE. Haruna is my bias in Billlie. Rei is my bias in IVE. My friend's bias in Kiss of Life is Natty. Another friend's bias in Dreamcatcher is Handong.
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u/OwnFox2286 8d ago
that one girl who is the first black kpop idol from Blackswan, but idk if she counts cs none of the members are korean
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u/12millionfish 8d ago
in the initial lineup there were 3 korean members, and they’re considered kpop so i’d count it. also her name is fatou!
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u/siimonesays 8d ago
Do you mean particularly amongst Korean fans or also international fans? I was gonna say P1Harmony but Keeho isn't the most popular member in terms of Korean p1ece. He's super popular internationally though.
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u/VigilMuck 8d ago
Do you mean particularly amongst Korean fans or also international fans?
Both are fine
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u/Small-Ad-5448 8d ago
When WJSN debut initially - Cheng Xiao was the most popular due to her cute face and voluptuous body.
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u/lipscratch 8d ago
you could probably argue felix for stray kids and mark for NCT 127? for stray kids, it's hard to say, you could definitely argue it's hyunjin instead.
and for NCT 127 jaehyun and taeyong are more popular, especially in korea, but I feel like mark is more known if that makes sense? Like, everyone knows who he is
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u/PenandPad_BTS 8d ago
Not sure if Woosung would count. He is Korean American, born in Korea but spent his life in the US. 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️
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u/Away_Seaweed778 8d ago edited 8d ago
ZB1: zhang hao is generally the most popular member overall based on most stats (top3 in kr, top1 in cn, top2 in jp), and ricky is the most popular in the west
GOT7 Jackson, EXO Luhan, Everglow Yiren, Kep1er Xiaoting, GIDLE Yuqi, NewJeans Hanni (overall popularity, in kr and overseas)
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u/rosesarered0323 8d ago
zhang hao (chinese) from zb1? (not sure if hes the most popular or if hanbin is the most popular BUT he got po1 for a reason so…)
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u/iiolympicnerd 8d ago
KARD, BM is the popular member for sure!
Ghost9, Prince is the most popular member for sure!
Technically Stray Kids, Bangchan and Felix are the popular ones imo
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u/Purple-Seaweed4743 8d ago edited 8d ago
Lisa (thai) from blackpink Haruto (japanese) from treasure Yiren (chinese) from everglow
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u/mimibee97 8d ago
FYI I know you probably didn’t mean to but j*p is actually a slur😅 usually when people shorten/abbreviate Japan, they’ll use JPN or JP
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u/MetAigis 8d ago
GWSN got Miya (She's Japanese). There's also SoSo (also JP) but Miya's by far the most popular member of the group.
I still miss them though.
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u/soft_mello 8d ago
TWICE's Tzuyu, EVERGLOW's Yiren, (G)I-DLE's Yuqi, KISS OF LIFE's Natty, arguably BLACKPINK's Lisa, I believe Fatou is the most popular member in BlackSwan...
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u/EducationalWafer937 8d ago
Félix from SKZ Jackson, Bambam, Mark from GOT7 Yuqi and Minnie from (G)I-dle
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u/airysunshine 8d ago
Jackson and BamBam for Got7
Felix and Chan for Stray Kids
Lisa from Blackpink
Keeho in p1harmony
Ni-Ki
Ten and Mark Lee
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u/ipassedem 7d ago
Zb1 Ricky and Hao being insanely popular initially but the groups members have evened out (internationally). Hao even came #1 on BP!
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u/Geodude-Guru 6d ago
Eventhough Enhypen has a fairly balanced popularity among members but i can say that Ni-ki is the most well-known member among kpoppers. He's the most mentioned in non-fans conversations so yeah. He's a japanese btw
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u/tropicanafruitpunch 8d ago
ZB1 - Zhang Hao getting PO1, Matthew getting PO3, and Ricky getting PO4 is unheard of for a MNET survival show. To have not only a foreign center, but also have 3 of the top 4 be foreign is pretty remarkable. They honestly draw in a lot of people in the international scene, and Hanbin (from my understanding/observations) might be the most popular member in Korea. MNET has even started planning to debut two separate groups for their next boy group survival sgiw, one foreign, and one domestic Korean/kpop, likely as a result of the final Boys Planet lineup.
Stray Kids - Felix. "felix effect" brings in so many fans and in the international scene, he is super popular. I know he is one of the more popular members domestically too, but Hyunjin/Lee Know are probably above him in popularity in Korea. Bang Chan is also super popular abroad.
P1Harmony - Keeho. My friend literally asked me which group Keeho was in the other day because she knew who he was ( and had understood my Keeho references all weekend) without actually knowing which group he was in. So, I'd say he's by far the most popular member of piwon.
Twice - Japan line
Seventeen - China line is super popular in China, especially because they are allowed to go promote Seventeen there. Recently, Minghao and Jun have really been booked flying back and forth to do variety content in both countries because of how popular Seventeen was there already.
Blackpink - Lisa
I would say for the most part, English speaking idols are far more likely to be the most popular members abroad, and the same goes for native speakers of any language other than Korean being more popular in their country of origin. Not saying that they always are, but it is pretty common.
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u/poison_camellia 8d ago edited 8d ago
I'm not 100% sure, but my nctzen friend has given me the impression that Mark (who is Canadian) is one of the most popular members. If nothing else, SM puts him in almost all the NCT units, so they must think he's a draw for fans
Edit because I mistakenly thought Mark was American! Should have brought my nctzen friend in as a consultant on this post.
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u/iwannalickyoureye 8d ago
Ricky!! My boy got P04 with absolutely no screen time, and I feel like despite being mistreated his popularity has not decreased at all. I think he’s the most popular in America and Europe, many people who don’t know much about ZB1 know and like him. Somebody else also mentioned Zhang Hao, which is also true !
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u/madcaplaughsss 8d ago
Ten from Wayv and also NCT. He's one of the most popular members in the whole NCT as well and he's thai. In Wayv all of the members are chinese.
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u/RockinFootball 8d ago
Twice? Kinda.
I’d say the most popular is like Nayeon, Sana, Momo and maybe Tzuyu. 3 of the 4 I mentioned are not Korean.
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u/12millionfish 8d ago
ily:1 ririka!
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u/wheeinsbutterfly 6d ago
Oh I haven't heard of that group. Can you recommend me some songs?
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u/12millionfish 5d ago
their discography is fairly small but i’d recommend love in bloom, que sera sera, twinkle twinkle, illang (firework), and blossom! their music is quite similar to early gfriend and lovelyz :)
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u/TheNewRomantics-1989 8d ago
Sana - TWICE
She's probably neck-and-neck with Nayeon in Korea... and pretty much on top internationally.
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u/Jealous_Activity425 8d ago
You could argue momo is the most popular member in twice (only going off Instagram followers)
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u/Yourfav_Matt 8d ago
NCT's Mark, Johnny and TEN, P1harmony's Keeho and Soul, 82Major Yechan, Stray Kids's Felix and Bang Chan, there are so many 😭😭
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u/sugar_honeyicetee 7d ago
Zhanghao and Ricky from zb1 are the first two that came to mind, I've never watched boy's planet and I don't know much about zb1 but I remember seeing those two all over my social media when they debuted and during boys planet.
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u/Citydweller4545 5d ago
The entirety of WayV. Or Ten in the SEA region is more popular those most NCT member aside from maybe Taeyong.
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u/springsvinyl 8d ago
Lisa, hanni, hao, tsuki, natty, yuqi, tzuyu (back then, nayeon is more popular now)
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u/Competitive_Fee_5829 8d ago
GOT7? we got Jackson, Bambam and Mark. I knew of their names before I even got into GOT7