These are the youngest K-pop idols! Are they getting younger?

These are the youngest K-Pop idols! Are they getting younger and younger?

Author: Helen Bosch / Jan 04, 2024

K-Pop Blog > Overview > The youngest K-Pop idols

At what age did the K-pop idols we cheer for and admire on stage make their debut? Were they 18, 16 or even just 14 years old?

It has always been the case that K-Pop entertainments are looking for very young talents who are still in their teens. One of the reasons for this could be that the younger they start, the longer they can be active as an idol. For example, if a singer debuts at the age of 16, even after 10 years in the business, he is just 26 years old!

Generally, idols make their debut between the ages of 16 and 21. But 15-year-old idols are also not uncommon and just last year there were also 14-year-olds there.

Although teenagers on stage are not uncommon in South Korea, fans are often critical when new idols debut who are under 16 years old. They fear that the young singers are not yet ready for the entertainment industry. As we all know, this is a tough business in which not everyone is always taken into consideration.

With the debut of rookie groups like IVE, Lightsum or NewJeans in 2021/ 2022, whose maknae were all only 14 years old, there was a lot of discussion among fans. Many fans are worried that idols are getting younger and younger. But is that really true?

Let's go back in time together to answer this question!

Here you can find a list of the youngest K-Pop idols!

Are K-pop idols debuting at younger and younger ages?

As early as 2000 we found a clear example that speaks against this:
The solo singer BoA is now 36 years old and is considered a legend. She made her debut in August 2000 at just 13 years and nine months old! BoA thus set a record that was only broken in 2022. Who you will find out about later in the article.

It took a long time before another idol as young as BoA debuted, but many others came close in the years that followed. For example, the youngest members of hit groups like TVXQ (2004) or Big Bang (2006) were only 15 years old at the time of their debut. They are Seungri from Big Bang and Changmin from TVXQ.

And from 2007 to 2009 things continued even younger! Wonder Girls (2007) had three 14-year-old members: Hyuna, Sohee & Sunmi! The other two - Yeeun & Sunye - were 17 each.

The boy group SHINee debuted in 2008 with 14-year-old Taemin and the girl group Kara got a new member - Jiyoung - who was also only 14. In addition, the solo singer IU started her career in September 2008, having celebrated her 15th birthday a few months earlier.

This was followed in 2009 by f(x) with 14-year-old Krystal and 4Minute with 14-year-old Kwon Sohyun.

As you can see, very young idols have already debuted in the first and second K-Pop generation , not just in recent years. So we can answer the question of whether idols are getting younger with a “no”.

Of course, this raises the question of why fans feel like idols are debuting younger and younger these days.

This may be because 14- and 15-year-old idols became rarer over the next few years. Here are a few of the few examples we found for the years 2013 to 2019:

Jungkook ( BTS ) made his debut in 2013 at the age of 15.
Jisung ( NCT Dream ) made his debut in 2016 at the age of 14.
Jeon Somi (I.O.I) debuted in 2016 at the age of 15.
Jiheon (fromis_9) debuted in 2018 at the age of 14.
Wonyoung ( IZ*ONE ) debuted in 2018 at the age of 14.
Yuna ( ITZY ) debuted in 2019 at the age of 15.
Dahyun (Rocket Punch) debuted in 2019 at the age of 14.

By the way, Wonyoung attracted a lot of attention because she only celebrated her 14th birthday two months before her debut! In the survival show “Produce 48”, in which she fought for a place in IZ*ONE, she was only 13 years old!

As you may know, idols aged 14 and 15 have been debuting very frequently since 2020, almost regularly.

In 2020, for example, the three boy groups Treasure, Enhypen and P1Harmony made their debut. Treasure's youngest member was 15 years old at the time and Ni-ki from Enhypen and Jongseob from P1Harmony were 14.

This was followed by at least five girl groups in 2021 and 2022: Leeseo from IVE and Jian from Lightsum debuted in 2021 at the age of 14. In 2022, NMIXX debuted with 15-year-old Kujin and NewJeans with 14-year-old Hyein.

The youngest of all, however, is Haeun from the girl group Lapillus.

When they released their first single album “Hit Ya!” in June 2022. released, Haeun was just 13 years and 7 months old! Haeun even broke BoA's long-standing record of 13 years and 9 months!

There are also rumors that a member of YG Entertainment's new girl group "Baby Monster" is also only 13 years old. It's unclear whether she'll make her debut before her 14th birthday, but either way, another very young idol will be taking the stage!

Back to the question of why fans think idols are getting younger and younger:

As we have now confirmed, idols have often debuted at the age of 15, 14 or even 13 before. Nowadays, groups with such young members are perhaps seen a little more often and it seems that even BoA's record at the time will soon no longer be unusual.

In addition, the concepts of these young groups are different from back then. In the second generation, both boy and girl groups often started their careers with a sweet and innocent image. Today, new groups often start earlier with more mature concepts.

When New Jeans released their debut single “Cookie” last year, heated discussions broke out. Many fans felt that the lyrics contained provocative innuendos and were inappropriate for minors.

Conclusion:

Although we answer the question “Are K-pop idols debuting younger and younger?” If you currently answer “no”, we do not rule out that this will change in the next few years. However, we assume that fans will continue to discuss and criticize the young age of K-Pop idols as before. And that's a good thing.

What do you think about the topic? Please let us know in the comments!

Below we have summarized all the examples mentioned in the article for you. These are the youngest K-pop idols:

Idol	group	Debut year	Age at debut
Good		2000	13
HyunA	Wonder Girls	2007	14
Sohee	Wonder Girls	2007	14
Bored	Wonder Girls	2007	14
Taemin	SHINee	2008	14
Jiyoung	Cane	2008	14
IU		2008	15
Krystal	f(x)	2009	14
Sohyun	4Minute	2009	14
Jungkook	BTS	2013	15
Jisung	NCT Dream	2016	14
Jeon Somi	ehemals I.O.I	2016	15
Jiheon	fromis_9	2018	14
Wonyoung	IVE / formerly IZ*ONE	2018	14
Yuna	ITZY	2019	15
Dahyun	Rocket Punch	2019	14
That's what	Enhypen	2020	14
Jongseob	P1Harmony	2020	14
So Junghwan	Treasure	2020	15
Leeseo	IVE	2021	14
Jian	Lightsum	2021	14
Hyein	NewJeans	2022	14
Kyujin	NMIXX	2022	15
Haeun	Stone	2022	13