North Korean defectors make debut in new K-pop boy band

A new K-pop boy band made their global debut on Friday with two members who defected from North Korea and an album that includes a song about the consequences of escaping one of the world's most repressive states.

1VERSE, pronounced "universe", is made up of five men in their 20s from North Korea, Japan and the United States, who go by their first names, Hyuk, Seok, Aito, Nathan, and Kenny.

At midnight, the group performed a live-streamed showcase of their first EP "The 1st Verse" featuring three tracks, including the debut single "Shattered".

A video to accompany the song will drop later on Friday. Recorded earlier this year, it shows the group sporting make-up and slick hairstyles, dancing against a stroboscopic background.

Yu Hyuk, originally from the northeastern county of Kyongsong in North Korea, has been living in South Korea since 2013.

As well as enjoying the freedom to show off his talent to the world, the 25-year-old also appreciates being able to eat three meals a day.

In North Korea, he started work at the age of nine and said he was sometimes forced into desperate measures to get food, eating spoiled rice or worse, and resorting to theft.

"After I was caught stealing, I was beaten hard until I was bleeding. I was really hungry and instinctively I was thinking about survival," he told Reuters at the group's studio in the South Korean capital.

North Korea has stepped up control over people's lives since the COVID-19 pandemic when all borders were sealed, and abuses such as executions, forced labour and reports of starvation continue, a U.N. official investigating rights in the isolated state told Reuters last month.

Hyuk escaped North Korea as a child - fleeing to China and then across other international borders with the help of a broker arranged by his mother, who was already in South Korea.

While he is happy with his new life, he recalls that it was a wrench to leave his home.

"I was hungry and tired, but I was happy surrounded by the people I like which made it tougher for me to want to come here at first," he said.

The song "Shattered" encapsulates his feelings when he learned about the death of his father in North Korea, he said.

Kim Seok, the other North Korean defector in the group and also 25, used to live in a border town near China. He was exposed to K-pop by a friend who shared music videos on a portable media player, including Psy's 2012 smash "Gangnam Style".

Seok escaped with his father and grandmother when he was 20 years old.

Recent reports have suggested that Pyongyang is stepping up its crackdown on the consumption of South Korean culture, including a case where teenagers were sentenced to hard labour for watching K-pop, as well as suppressing South Korean speaking styles.

Michelle Cho, producer and CEO of 1VERSE's label Singing Beetle, said she wanted to create a more authentic group in an industry often seen as picture-perfect.

"Who doesn't love the story of someone from a humble background chasing their dreams, especially K-pop," she said.

Despite their diverse backgrounds, the bandmates said they had plenty in common.

"I mean isn't it fun? Like our group is just a unique type of global," said Kenny, who is Chinese American.

While the group has drawn attention for having North Korean defectors, Hyuk hopes they will be judged by the quality of their work.

"I want to become an idol that brings energy and the message that cheers up many people, that they aren't alone and there are even people like me."