#korea national university of arts

[stay-dazed]

a simple stray kids guide (for baby stays) ✨

overview: stray kids, or skz for short, is an 8-member korean boy band that debuted on march 25th, 2018 under jype ent. they were formed through a survival show in 2017 with originally 9 members, but one member left the group a year after debut for unknown reasons. there are three subunits to the group: 3racha the rap/producer unit, danceracha the dance unit, and vocalracha the vocal unit. of course, though, all of them do a bit of everything.

stray kids were considered an “experimental group” since the leader of the group was tasked with choosing all the members himself, and coming up with the name, logo, and fandom name of the group. as a group, they produced all their own music as well. they were relatively small for a while but by the time they released their song god’s menu, they were growing in popularity.

now stray kids have had many accomplishments, including: performing at lollapalooza, being the first k-pop group invited to the met gala, becoming ambassadors for brands like versace and gucci, winning around 82 awards, and producing an ost for the deadpool movie. they've also recently set a guinness world record for the first ever group to have #1 albums 5 times in a row over the course of only 8 months!

while they are incredibly talented and successful celebrities, they’re also very down to earth, and very connected with their fanbase. they’ve shown openness and vulnerability with their fans by releasing songs with serious topic matters, crying on stage, and talking about their emotions/experiences. personally, they’re the only band i’ve ever seen who feel genuine love for their fanbase.

name: chan bahng

english name: christopher

stage name: bangchan, cb97 in 3racha

age: 27 (october 3rd, 1997)

nationality: australian-korean

languages: english, korean

positions: leader, producer in 3racha, dancer, rapper, vocalist

skzoo: wolfchan

instagram: gnabnahc

basics: chan was born in korea, but moved to australia when he was about 3 or 4 years old. he remained there with his two younger siblings, hannah and lucas, and their cavalier king charles named berry, until he was 13 when he went back to korea to become a k-pop trainee. he trained for about 7 years until he was finally able to debut as stray kids’ leader. chan is very reliable as the leader and dad of the group, but he’s also australian, so he adds to the chaos very well.

fun facts: chan has hypermobile arms and legs, and can turn his hand 360°. he sometimes wears wrist and knee braces due to overextension. chan won many medals in swimming growing up and could’ve gone into that career. along with that, he’s also good in many other sports like soccer and track. chan's hair is naturally curly!

name: minho lee

english name: rhino (yes i’m serious)

stage name: leeknow

age: 26 (october 25th, 1998)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and basic english

positions: lead dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: leebit

instagram: t.leeknowsaurus

basics: minho was born and raised in korea as an only child, aside from his cat siblings soonie, doongie, and dori. he moved out of his parents’ home at a fairly young age in order to be closer to his university, where he was said to have studied dance and comp-sci, as well as worked as a waiter for some time. he was called in to train under jype in 2017 and he ended up passing the dance test in only 2 weeks, the shortest period among jype trainees. minho is considered to be a “tsundere” since he’s very blunt, loud, and a bit rough generally, but is very kind and caring inside.

fun facts: minho toured in japan with bts as a backup dancer when he was in highschool. minho has acrophobia, the severe fear of heights, and he cannot swim. minho is well-trained in taekwondo, boxing, and bodyguard martial arts. minho said that the reason he isn’t comfortable showing his abs like some other members do is because he has a scar on his stomach from a surgery he had as a child.

name: changbin seo

english name: lewis

stage name: spearB in 3racha

age: 24 (august 11th, 1999)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and intermediate english

positions: producer in 3racha, main rapper, vocalist, dancer

skzoo: dwaekki

instagram: jutdwae

basics: changbin was born and raised in korea, along with his older sister, in a fairly wealthy family. he originally joined jype as a trainee at age 17 to debut as a vocalist, but was convinced to debut as a rapper by a counselor. unfortunately i don’t know much about changbin’s trainee days, other than he trained for about 2 years, and he was part of 3racha who uploaded their first rap song on soundcloud in 2017. changbin is a pretty silly and loud person, but has been described by his members as someone they can approach and who will notice/remember the smallest things about them.

fun facts: changbin prefers plants as he’s allergic to both cats and dogs. changbin is a blackbelt in taekwondo, and he named his own pecs "jut" and "dwae". changbin has said he would like to own his own gym or be a tattoo artist. changbin is the shortest member at 5 '6. changbin was named the fastest male rapper in the k-pop industry with 11 korean syllables per second, i believe.

name: hyunjin hwang

english name: sam

age: 24 (march 20th, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: jiniret

instagram: hynjinnnn

basics: hyunjin was born and raised in korea as an only child, along with his long-haired chihuahua, kkami. he was approached by two k-pop company scouts at a young age, one of which while he was out shopping with his mom. and, of course, he chose jype. he trained as a dancer, and admitted he had hated dancing at first due to the emotional toll it took on him, but now he says dance is like another language he can speak. unlike minho, he attended university online, all during his busy career as an idol. hyunjin is introverted, but very silly and dramatic at the same time.

fun facts: hyunjin has a fear of sudden loud noises, like balloons popping. hyunjin is the tallest member at 5 '11. hyunjin was going to be an interior designer before he became an idol. hyunjin is an artist in multiple forms of media, but he’s most interested in sketching and painting. hyunjin had a live called “counseling center” where he would read his fans’ comments and give them advice/encouragement. hyunjin once broke his hand and now he can't really bend his right pinky finger.

name: jisung han

english name: peter

stage name: han, and j.one in 3racha

age: 24 (september 14th, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: producer in 3racha, rapper, dancer, vocalist

skzoo: han quokka

instagram: _doolsetnet

basics: jisung was born in korea like his older brother. his family moved to malaysia when he was about 8, where they stayed for a while before coming back to korea. his parents weren’t particularly supportive of his desire to become a trainee at first, but they made a deal with him that if he could be accepted into a company before a certain amount of time, they’d let him continue. if not, he’d have to go back to school to get another job. luckily he made it into jype, and became chan’s very first member of choice. like hyunjin, jisung is an introvert, but he’s very loud and energetic at the same time.

fun facts: jisung started learning english in malaysia, which may be why his accent when speaking english is faintly british. jisung has been open with his fans about his struggles with social anxiety and depression. he also supposedly has trypophobia, the fear of clusters of holes, but that isn’t proven. jisung has a bichon frise named bbama. jisung and hyunjin were the real enemies to besties.

name: yongbok lee

english name: felix

age: 24 (september 15th, 2000)

nationality: australian-korean

languages: korean, english, basic french

positions: dancer in danceracha, vocalist, rapper

skzoo: bokkari

instagram: yong.lixx

basics: felix was born and raised in sydney, australia, with his older sister raechel and his younger sister olivia. he was 17 when he moved to korea to become a trainee at jype, where he studied korean at the same time, as his parents didn’t raise him to speak the language very much. it’s been said by chan that he was particularly hard on felix during their time before debut because he saw potential in him, and he wanted him to do his best to succeed. felix is known as the sunshine of the group, for the fact that he’s incredibly sweet and happy.

fun facts: felix debuted his runway model career at a louis vuitton fashion show. felix is a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo, which he won 63 medals in over the course of 12 years. felix has a very deep voice that doesn’t match his face, and he will occasionally make his own asmr content. felix has volunteered in laos with/become an ambassador for unicef. felix is so afraid of scary things, he’s admitted to reading his bible after watching a horror movie. felix cries easily.

name: seungmin kim

english name: sky

age: 24 (september 22nd, 2000)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and advanced english

positions: lead vocalist in vocalracha, dancer, rapper

skzoo: puppym

instagram: miniverse.___

basics: seungmin was born and raised in korea, along with his older sister. he moved to LA as a child for only about 3 months, but that’s where he started his study in english and where he got his english name from a teacher. he trained for one year after winning 2nd place in jype’s 13th open audition, before debuting with stray kids. seungmin is basically an ambivert (it’s not conclusive if he’s introverted or extroverted), and tends to playfully bully his members. he can be pretty random and silly.

fun facts: seungmin wanted to be a baseball player before becoming an idol, and he actually pitched a strike at a game for the second time recently (the first time he was about 9 years old). seungmin was into boxing, although i’m not sure if he is anymore. seungmin and felix have a live called “cat puppy school” where they just mess up recipes constantly. seungmin is the only idol i’ve seen that seems to have autistic traits, from my own autistic prospective. i’m not diagnosing him of course!

name: jeongin yang

english name: bobby (i refuse to call anyone under the age of 60 bob)

stage name: i.n

age: 23 (february 8th, 2001)

nationality: korean

languages: korean and intermediate english

positions: vocalist in vocalracha, dancer, rapper, maknae

skzoo: foxi.ny

instagram: i.2.n.8

basics: jeongin was born and raised in busan, korea, along with his older brother who’s in the military, and his little brother yoon. he was a trainee for about 2 years, and was only 17 when they officially debuted. he bonded especially with hyunjin, who basically took him under his wing at the time. jeongin is introverted, but follows his hyungs’ lead into chaos. he’s very clumsy, and he’s known as the spoiled maknae. the “baby bread” of the group.

fun facts: jeongin wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, social worker, or priest before becoming an idol. jeongin has a more nasally voice, so he’s particularly good at the trot singing style. jeongin has claimed he was a naughty child, running away from home and laying down in the middle of stores when he couldn’t get what he wanted. jeongin is incredibly good with fashion, so his members come to him for advice, and he often posts ootd’s on his instagram.

[enmi-land]

⌕ ENFiNiT MEMBERS PROFiLES .. ❞

ENFINIT ❨ 엔피니트 ❩ is a sub-unit of the group ENHYPEN, a nine-member co-ed group formed on the survival program, I-LAND. It consists of the female members of the group, Kiara and Mila. They debuted on November 30th, 2020 with the song, 'Lucid Dream', their contribution to ENHYPEN's debut EP 'BORDER:DAY ONE.’

▞ › #GROUP NAME EXPLANATION﹗▞

ENHYPEN is a mix of an en dash and a hyphen that connects different words to create new meaning, members of ENHYPEN will connect, discover each other, and grow together. ENFINITis a name that combines the en dash with infinite possibilities of the group when the come together as one. Their male counterparts, ENIVERS, is a name that combines an en dash with universe, to show that they are connected by the universe they share together, even when physically apart.

▞ › #ENHYPEN FANDOM NAME﹗▞

ENGENE ❪ 엔진 ❫

▞ › #DORM ARRANGEMENTS﹗▞

❪ 1 ❫ Kiara & Mila

❪ 2 ❫ Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon & Ni-ki

❪ 3 ❫ Jake, Sunoo & Jungwon All of the members have their own solo rooms

𖦹 ݁ ﹐KiARA ❳ ݁ ⸒ ˚

﹟ STAGE NAME ‣ Kiara ❪ 키아라 ❫ ﹟ BIRTH NAME ‣ Kiara Park ﹟ KOREAN NAME ‣ Park Kyunghee ❪ 박경희 ❫ ﹟ CHiNESE NAME ‣ Pu Kaian ❪ 朴凯安 ❫ ﹟ POSiTION ‣ Main Rapper, Vocalist, Dancer ﹟ BIRTH PLACE ‣ Somerset, New Jersey ﹟ BIRTHDAY ‣ November 7, 2001 ﹟ ZODiAC SiGN ‣ Scorpio ﹟ CHINESE ZODiAC SiGN ‣ Snake ﹟ HEiGHT ‣ 170cm ❪ 5’6” ❫ ﹟ BLOOD TYPE ‣ AB ﹟ MBTi ‣ iSTJ ﹟ NATiONALiTY ‣ Korean-American ﹟ REPRESENTATiVE EMOJi ‣ 🦁 ﹟ SOLO FANDOM NAME ‣ Kiwis ﹟ MiC COLOUR ‣ Gold ﹟ KiARA FACTS ‣

She's the oldest child and has three younger brothers

She ranked 5th on I-Land

Despite being born in America, she grew up in Seoul, South Korea

Training Period: 5 years

She started training to become an idol at 14 and was a trainee at YG for 2 years before auditioning for BigHit

Her parents are very wealthy

She has the longest training period out of everyone in the group

Education: School of Performing Arts Seoul

She is fluent in Korean, English and Japanese

Her nicknames include 'Kiki', 'Mama Bear', 'Golden Girl' (because she was good at everything), 'Ddeonghee’, ‘Music Fairy’ (Behind the Profile Shoot)

Her favourite food is Kiwis

She doesn't like growing her hair past her shoulders

In the 'One and Only' M/V, her Pokémon partner was Umbreon

According to Kiara, Jake and Jay remind her a lot of her brothers, which is why she bickers with them the most

Her closest idol friends include ITZY's Ryujin, IVE's Yujin and Gaeul, Jeon Somi and TXT's Beomgyu

When asked what made her want to be an idol, Kiara said, "I was good at it."

Of all the members, she's the tidiest and always cleans up around the dorms

Kiara doesn't like aegyo because she thinks it doesn't suit her image

Kiara's special charm is that she looks cool no matter what she does

She can have an intimidating appearance at first, but members say that her smile is surprisingly cute

She is a producer in many of Enhypen’s discography and other groups as well, hence her nickname ‘music fairy’

She is the shortest of the group

When asked why she didn’t want to be leader, she claimed she could be very strict as it is and finds it hard to express her emotions at times, so she didn’t want her members to feel like she didn’t care for them

Her biggest inspiration as an artist is RM from BTS

Her Chinese name Kaian was given to her by Mila, and means ‘quiet victory,’ which Mila believed represented Kiara the best

Charming Point: charisma, girl crush, chic visuals, cat eyes (Behind the Profile Shoot)

Likes: cat videos, sleeping in, spas, kiwifruit, short hair, RM, BTS, Enhypen, taking morning walks, songwriting and producing (Behind the Profile Shoot)

Dislikes: aegyo, mess, swimming, vegetables, people who walk too slowly, people who manspread on public transport, wearing skirts to perform (Behind the Profile Shoot)

Motto: "Do what you can do. What you can't do, do better."

Show more Kiara facts . . .

𖦹 ݁ ﹐MiLA ❳ ݁ ⸒ ˚

﹟ STAGE NAME ‣ Mila ❪ 밀라 ❫ ﹟ BIRTH NAME ‣ Milana Bai ﹟ CHiNESE NAME ‣ Bai Minglu ❪ 王明璐 ❫ ﹟ KOREAN NAME ‣ Baek Mirae ❪ 백미래 ❫ ﹟ JAPANESE NAME ‣ Shirakawa Mitsuri ❪ 白川 光璃 ❫ ﹟ POSiTION ‣ Visual, Vocalist, Dancer ﹟ BIRTH PLACE ‣ Sunshine Coast, Australia ﹟ BIRTHDAY ‣ March 31, 2003 ﹟ ZODiAC SiGN ‣ Aries ﹟ CHINESE ZODiAC SiGN ‣ Goat ﹟ HEiGHT ‣ 173 ❪ 5’7” ❫ ﹟ BLOOD TYPE ‣ O ﹟ MBTi ‣ ENFP ﹟ NATiONALiTY ‣ Chinese-Australian ﹟ REPRESENTATiVE EMOJi ‣ 🐼 ﹟ SOLO FANDOM NAME ‣ Miluvs ﹟ MiC COLOUR ‣ Pink ﹟ MiLA FACTS ‣

She was born in Sunshine Coast, Australia but moved to Shenzhen, China when she was 9 years old

She is an only child

She comes from a wealthy family

Training Period: 2 years, 1 month

She ranked 3rd in the final episode with 1,181,289 votes

She isn't a picky eater and can eat almost anything

She did competitive cheerleading for 7 years before switching to dance after a back injury

She ran away from home to pursue her dream of being an idol because her mother didn’t approve

Her nicknames are 'Princess', 'Kirby' (because she eats anything), 'Wildcard', and 'Milana Monroe' (Behind the Profile Shoot and Self-Revised Profile)

In the ‘One and Only’ MV, her Pokémon counterpart was Jigglypuff

Her Japanese name came from the name of a character in the anime Demon Slayer, which fans claim she resembles

She was called a born star by Bang-PD because of her raw talent and fast growth rate (I-Land Ep. 1)

When her grandmother took her to get a fortune-reading, she was told she would be loved by many people

Mila's grandmother is her biggest supporter and has a shelf dedicated to her achievements

Education: Shekou International School, Hanlim Multi Arts School

She ranked 7th on TC Chandler's Most Beautiful Faces of 2020

She has a 03-liner group chat with Le Sserafim's Kazuha and ITZY's Yuna

She mentioned her closets idols friends are ITZY's Yuna, IVE's Wonyoung, Le Sserafim's Kazuha and Yunjin, and Kep1er’s Xiaoting

She is currently learning about producing music from Kiara

Kiara says that Mila and Heeseung have the most raw talent in music that she’s ever seen

Specialty: stage presence, flexibility, versatility, languages, modelling, facial expressions, ending fairy

Charming Point: Pretty smile, visuals, cute laugh, bright personality, hype-woman, starry eyes (Self-Revised Profile)

Likes: Jake (x5), Sunghoon, ENHYPEN, performing, dressing up, eating, shopping, sweets, watching dramas/anime, sleeping in, reading, working out (Self-Revised Profile)

Dislikes: Horror movies, sleeping alone/with the lights off, waking up in the middle of the night, math, sports (Self-Revised Profile)

Motto: "Live each day as if it's your last"

Show more Mila facts . . .

Related: ENFINIT Discography | ENHYPEN Members Profiles | ENIVERSE Members Profiles | ENIVERSE Discography . . .

[mybeingthere]

HeeChan Kim was born in 1982 in Seoul, Korea and received a BFA in metal craft from Seoul National University. Soon after, he went to the US to continue studying art. His interest in materials led him to study wood tring to find the new angles of design and use of this material. He received an MFA in furniture design and wood working from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2010. Kim is less interested in functional objects, he continued his art practice in sculpture in Union City, New Jersey.

https://www.instagram.com/heechan_kim_art/?hl=en

[ballet-symphonie]

Which ballet companies and which ballet schools you consider to be currently world best? I see often Paris Opera listed as a number one, but who much this is about because of its reputation and history and what do you think about Mariinsky and Bolshoi, is their level declined / declining? Thank you for really interesting and great blog!

The companies referred to as the best tend to be the oldest and historic ones, think big national companies like The Royal Ballet, Paris Opera, Bolshoi, Mariinsky, La Scala, Dutch National Ballet, Australian National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet. Nowadays, I think its very hard to compete with the quality, emotional pull, and technical brilliance that comes out of the Royal Opera.

About Schools:

There are lots of good ones, Academie Princess Grace has to be near the top of the list. It's a finishing school, not a foundational one, but nearly everyone who graduates from there gets a job at a reputable company. They are also one of the few schools that has prioritized keeping its curriculum at the forefront of the dance world with a fantastic contemporary and neoclassical program.

I'm consistently impressed with the level of Royal Ballet graduates who have the skills and stability to rock up to any company and instantly demand attention. Look at Takumi Miyaki at ABT right now.

The level of talent coming out of South Korea in particular is absolutely stunning, schools like SunHwa, the YeWon School, and Korea National Arts University are producing complete, company-ready dancers left and right. Through the competition circuit, these schools are slowly starting to gain more international prestige.

I think BBA/MRAX has been in a state of disarray for a while now. Far less competent graduates, due to a lot of internal messiness in administration and a decrease in the rigor of acceptance with many 'paid' places. The level is just not there, especially if you go back and watch videos of exams from the 90s and 2000s. Now sure, many are still getting accepted into Bolshoi, but with the war....there isn't exactly a lot of choice in hiring. There are occasionally some bright lights, Kokoreva being the most notable recent grad, but they seem to be a rarity and not the norm.

Vaganova under Tsiskaridze has generally continued to produce decent female graduates- if you want to live and work in Russia. I pray Tsiskaridze goes back to coaching or teaching boys because the classwork shown by his class of girls left a lot to be desired. I think there are many better places to train for men, particularly after the retirement of some of the older, more experienced faculty. The casting in Mariinsky is already beginning to reflect this drop-off, performances are dominated by Kimin Kim, Nikita Korneyev, and Even Capitane, Timor Askerov - none of whom are VBA graduates. They've also been hiring graduates from Eifman- something they certainly weren't doing a decade ago. Compare their current videos to some of the talented students coming out of the US, Europe and South America...the level isn't always there. I'd urge a talented male student to consider John Cranko, Tanz Academie Zurich, or the Royal Ballet School. Stateside, Houston Ballet, The Rock School, and San Francisco Ballet have excellent programs.

[spadesolace]

the idea of yoo - 1.5. confrontations (half-written)

previous | next

it had been a few months since the whole ordeal. your trip to seoul was a success and before leaving everything behind, there was one thing left on your list. make things right with jimin. that’s why you’re outside of the restaurant she worked at, her friends waving her goodbye as she hesitated to approach you. who wouldn’t when you deceived her for months?

“i haven’t seen you in church in a while.”

��i’ve been busy.” a bit cold, it’s the best she could give after everything.

“yeah?”

“... you need quite the portfolio for korea national university of arts.”

“art school?! That’s- that’s great!” jimin brushes the comment off, as you continue walking with her to who knows where.

“nothing’s great just yet, but let’s see… what’s going on with you?” it took you a bit of surprise that she’s curious about your current state and future plans.

“i’m headed to seoul. they accepted my late application, so-”

“good for you, y/n. take care.” she walked faster, leaving you slightly behind.

“jimin. i’m sorry.” she stops, back still facing you.

“it was supposed to be one letter. just one. then you replied - i just kept going because you were the closest thing i’ve ever come to being… heard… i never meant to hurt you nor deceive you.” you don’t know what her expression is but you heard a heavy sigh, slowly raising her head up.

“you know, sometimes i wish you existed.”

“i know. i’m sorry.” she finally turns around and you see the tears flowing down her cheeks.

“deep down, i probably knew the truth and simply chose to deny it… you didn’t really put emojis in his texts.” you raise your hands up, flabbergasted, that made her smile alone.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN?!” she chuckles at your reaction, enough to make you forget that you were here to apologize and make things right.

“maybe a cat or i don’t know some ice cream.”

“I SHOULD HAVE SENT YOU AN ICE CREAM EMOJI?!”

“fair point.”

the tension is gone, changed by genuine smiles and you were still a bit frustrated from what you had learned. jimin looks down, playing with the small pebble between her feet.

“... it did crossed my mind if things were different. or i was different.”

“you could never be different.” jimin looks back sharply, wasn’t your whole speech about love being no different from the rest? “am i sure? how do you know i’m sure.”

“i can be.”  you nod, now standing in front of her, hands in your pocket and in a teasing way tilt your head.

“i mean, what does god think?”

“oh my-”

“just on and on…”

“just you wait, naoi y/n, in a couple of years, i’m gonna be sure.”

“mhm.. good luck with that.” you walk past her, turning around and walking backwards as she shakes her head with a smile.

“find something good in seoul to believe in.” you wave goodbye and turn your back at her, with a flicker of something unspoken. some good distance between you two. is this how it ends? you leave and hope to whatever metaphysical being that she is sure of herself? to hell with it.

stopping in your tracks, jimin is still looking at you as you turn back around, almost running towards her. maybe she is sure about herself as she holds onto your cheeks as you wrap your arms around her waist. you kiss her. a bit startled but she does kiss you back. breaking away from it, both breathless and flushed but you’re both happy.

“i’ll see you in seoul then?” jimin nods and kisses you one last time till you see each other again in a month.

taglist [CLOSED]:

@1luvkarina @beawolfbealionbeyou @pandafuriosa60 @txtbrainrot @rinapomu @limbforalimb @yoontoonwhs @noascats @thefckghost @petruchiosstuff

[blueiscoool]

Why These Imperfect Korean ‘Moon Jars’ Sell for Millions

Old, round, imperfect and beautiful — that’s how fans of Korean art describe the moon jar, or “dalhangari.”

These unassuming, plain white pots have entranced everyone from rapper RM, of K-pop sensation BTS, to philosopher Alain de Botton.

The former director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Beth McKillop, has called the moon jar an “icon of Korean identity.” And if price is any indicator of popularity, one recently sold for over $4.5 million at a Christie’s auction.

This month, a rare example from the late 17th or early 18th century will go on sale at Sotheby’s in New York, where it’s expected to fetch more than $3 million.

“A large moon jar has always been expensive, but I think the big uptick in prices and value is… because their appeal is now global,” said Angela McAteer, Sotheby’s international head of Chinese art for the Americas and Europe, over video call. “You’ve got an international cohort of bidders competing for them, so it’s gone beyond the traditional connoisseur collecting community of Korean art.”

Huge price tags also result from the jars’ rarity. Although made for over a century in the royal kilns of Korea’s last kingdom, the Joseon dynasty, few are thought to exist today. Estimates for the number of larger ones (those more than 40 centimeters, or 15.7 inches, tall and wide) that have survived over the years range from 12 to 30.

Having passed through auction houses and antique dealers across the world, several of these are now in the collections of institutions like the British Museum and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, as well as in the hands of private collectors.

‘Owning a piece of happiness’

The first moon jars were created in the royal kilns in Gwangju (a city just outside Seoul, not the larger southern city of the same name) from 1650 to 1750. They were made from pure white porcelain and kaolin clay, and, following the neo-Confucian fashions of their day, the pots reflected values such as propriety, humility, frugality and purity. They were likely used at court and in upper-class homes as containers for food and liquids, or as decorative vessels.

In the mid-20th century, moon jars began gaining international appreciation thanks to influential admirers such as Japanese folk crafts scholar Yanagi Soetsu and British potter Bernard Leach, who bought one from a Seoul antique store in 1935. Leach once said that having a moon jar was like “owning a piece of happiness,” and would later give his to fellow potter Lucie Rie for safekeeping during World War II. It stayed in her studio until her death and was later acquired by the British Museum.

Charlotte Horlyck, lecturer in Korean Art History at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, wrote in the Art Bulletin journal that after World War II the moon jar “caught the attention of an early generation of postcolonial Korean artists and scholars who sought to restore Korean art history and national identity,” as the pieces “resonated with the visual language of international modernism and minimalism of the mid-20th century while remaining a distinctly Korean work of art.”

The moon jar’s allure

When Sotheby’s announced its forthcoming sale, the auction house described its 44-centimeter (17.3-inch) moon jar as an object that inspired, astounded and soothed those who “stand in its presence.” It’s a funny thing to say about a pot, to speak as if it’s alive, but the jars’ visceral, emotional impact on people is something that comes up time and time again in the literature.

Choi Sunu, a former director of the National Museum of Korea, has described the museum’s moon jars as being like companions, or muses that have inspired his writing and stirred his creativity. Bernard Leach admired the pots for their “natural unselfconsciousness.” In 2012, South Korea’s then-Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik used the pot as a metaphor symbolizing a reunified Korean peninsula (moon jars are created in two hemispherical pieces and joined in the middle).

More recently the rapper RM, of K-pop group BTS, posted a picture of himself hugging a modern-day moon jar on Twitter, telling fans that the pots made him feel calm.

“It’s hard for someone to really comprehend how a pot can make you feel that way,” said McAteer. “It has this real meditative presence. If you’ve sat in front of a great (painting by US artist, Mark) Rothko and you feel this kind of palpable energy emanate from it, and you could sit for hours and just feel something in its presence — the moon jar has that too.”

“The more you look at it, the more there is to see. It looks different from every angle,” she added. “We had real issues with the photography and the catalog because it looks like a different piece every time you rotate it, or you change the lighting. The surface is just alive, you know.”

“You can see how the glaze coalesces; you see these spontaneous bursts of this blush color that’s happening in the firing. You can lose yourself in its surface.”

Modern masters

Modern Korean potters have been inspired by the jars, and a number have come up with their own homages. Ceramist Kim Syyong covers his pots with a black glaze, while Yun Ju Cheol’s versions look spikier like a pufferfish and Choi Bo Ram’s unvarnished, textured blue vases have a denim-like quality.

Others, like Kwon Dae Sup, have looked to closely recreate the process used by the potters of yore. The 71-year-old ceramist produces unadorned white jars and allows for all the beautiful imperfections produced to shine through. He works out of a studio in Gwangju, where the royal kilns that produced moon jars were once located.

There’s a great deal of preparation that goes into making a moon jar traditionally. It’s labor-intensive: washing, sifting impurities from the clay, kneading and rolling it to remove air bubbles, carrying around these large hunks, not to mention hand throwing the clay itself to that oversized bowl shape without collapsing, and the work keeping a pine wood fire burning for 24 hours while the pot hardens in the kiln. Kwon also built his own kiln to replicate the old process as closely as possible.

“I do this because it’s fun,” he said in a phone interview. “Every time I make something, it’s novel … The quality of the material is different every time. The conditions in which I make the pots is new every time.”

Kwon said he also feels an emotional connection to the moon jar. As a student he was so moved by a one he saw in a Korean antique store that he decided they would be his life’s work. “They feel alive,” he said.

In a 2019 book on his work by Axel Vervoodt Gallery the potter is quoted saying he tries to produce art that needs no addition or subtraction. “I wish to create work that has an imposing presence but harmonizes with its surroundings regardless of where and when it is displayed. It should give peace of mind and a sense of comfort to all who look at it.”

By Christy Choi.

[verdantlights]

Modern AU Headcanons

For all 7 of my ocs!! :3

all of their ethnicities/nationalities are canon to the ALNST universe too, but theyre just more applicable in a modern au.

The artwork I did for each of them isnt fully colored like how i originally planned, simply because this took FUCKING FOREVER. (17 hours??? all 7 ocs just to this basic color with 17 hours and 25k strokes??? according to procreate???) and i was so ready to be done with it, ive been talking about this for like ages and i knew that if i didnt finish this before Blink Gone dropped,,,, itd never get finished.

i also have other stuff i need/want to work on in regards to my ocs SO. if the art looks half-assed, im calling it a design choice 🎀

Toki (Redone):

He'd be a dancer that runs a choreography channel on youtube and tiktok. A really popular/famous content creator.

He's Asian! (South Korean)

Fluent in English/Korean.

Would probably face a lot of controversy for making strange jokes about cannibalism, but he never stays down when cancelled. (hes so schlatt core)

He's not a horrible person in a modern au. He's relatively normal, if not for the fact that he is still an orphan and still clinically mentally ill. He's just not toxic. He still has his cunt and freak but... he just doesn't manipulate, mansplain, and manslaughter anymore.

He's only toxic and awful as hell in ALNST because of the dystopian circumstances. His toxicity is seasoning to the tragedy that is ALNST.

He is still an orphan and his first memories would be in the orphanage where he was pretty much alone. People thought he was strange.

I'd like to believe he was selectively mute for quite a long time, which was another reason why people called him strange.

Still has the habit of studying peoples behaviors and learning them entirely for his own benefit. He wouldn't use it against someone unless absolutely necessary in a modern au.

He gets adopted when he's 13 by a kind, older man. He homeschools Toki and puts him in sports and recreational activities of his choice.

Toki chooses gymnastics and dance, contorting and moving his body at his will gives him a sense of control that he always felt he was never privileged to.

He didn't start talking until he was 16. His first words were, "Thank you, dad."

As an adult, as I said above, Toki runs a choreo channel on tiktok and youtube that gets a lot of traction. He enjoys having fans because it makes him feel less alone.

He's still possessive over Inna, but it's only because Toki struggles with feeling a sense of belonging and a home to come back to, and Inna becomes that home for him.

He has a streetwear aesthetic!

Of course, Toki still has his obsessive and possessive personality, that will never go away. It ends up rearing his head towards Inna, but I'm pretty sure Inna likes it anyway, the 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴.

Didn't go to college because his socmed took off before he graduated, sustaining him really well financially.

Friends with Ichor! Travels to Korea with him sometimes, but usually prefers to stay in America since that's where he was taken to when he was adopted.

Innamorati belongs to @alien-til-i-stage <3

Clove:

He is Latino! (Dominican/Caribbean)

His right eye is a lazy eye and he wears glasses. They're silver round frames that he sometimes puts a neck chain on.

His hair is dyed the same, but the dark brown is really short and cut to be fluffy/messy while keeping his long sides/short bangs!

He has a dark academia aesthetic mixed with a little bit of cottagecore. He's a lot more comfortable in his skin in regards to his gender so he wears skirts and dresses sometimes.

Spends his time at the library a lot, enjoys library dates with Aster (and also coffee shop dates).

He is fluent in Spanish and English.

He only has his ear lobes pierced and keeps small silver studs in them at all times.

Still trans, of course! He gets top surgery and a hysterectomy in a modern au (projecting what I personally want lmao)

All of his siblings are alive, and are still all named after flowers!

His upbringing was really peaceful, if not for having a very alive and loud household with 6 kids, him included.

His parents and siblings are all incredibly accepting and they all helped pitch in to get his top surgery done for his birthday one year <3

He inherited his parents flower shop and runs it now! His parents own the parent company to the flower shop, so all 6 children own one of said shops around the state!

He majored in Biology in college.

A lot of the neglect and trauma he faced in ALNST/ANAKT was only specific to the universe. He would lead a relatively normal and peaceful life, otherwise :)

Aster belongs to @apriciticreveries <3

Horizon:

He is American!

Horizon is incredibly smart and is an astrophysicist! He took it in college and has been hyperfixated on space since he was a kid.

Is the most visibly/recognizably autistic OC out of all of my OCs. All of my OCs are neurodivergent in some way because of my own neurodivergency, but Horizon takes the cake because his modern au mother (based on Scorpius) is also autistic. She raised him to not be forced into a mask.

Scorpius is a single mom and loves space as well, teaching Horizon all about it when he was a kid. Over time she grew more distant and would only connect with her son when its about his interest in space, or in regards to what happens at NASA.

Horizon is aware of his mothers distance and neglect and wishes things could go back to when he was a kid and she wasn't so distant.

He is still a narcolept, but is medicated and in physical therapy to help combat it.

He works at NASA! He makes good money and has discovered a lot of new stars!

He's more vocal in a modern au! He'd still go nonverbal a lot, but he'd also open up more and be less distant.

He still yaps about stars and space as much as possible.

He does not have stars in his eyes. I kinda feel like that goes without saying, but he does have dark grey-blue eyes.

Fond of Seraph and likes to study it. Fully aware something is wrong with it and that it definitely does not belong in his world, but finds it intriguing all the same.

Does not have a set dress style, he mostly dresses for comfort. He does have a lot of NASA merchandise and space/galaxy themed clothing, though. (would 100% have that blue and pink galaxy wolf hoodie at one point)

Seraph:

Still not human, and I will not elaborate as to why!

Also still uses He/Hy/It (Hy/Hymn).

It's a lot creepier in a modern au, actually. This is because the dystopian setting of ALNST makes it a bit more... usual and acceptable for Seraph to be uncanny? However, in a modern au... that's not the case.

People do NOT vibe with it more often than not.

Hy is British.

He is still albino with void-like eyes.

It majors in psychology and went to the same college as Horizon. This is related to his special talent,,, but that isn't released yet. :)

Still horribly enamored with Horizon and follows him around and studies him.

Horizon doesn't mind hymn and honestly knows somethings not right with Seraph, but he doesn't really care and actually likes to study Seraph back. (and seraph couldnt be happier about it, tbh)

Not a lot changes about Seraph, in all honesty. Hy doesn't really belong in the ALNST universe, what makes you think hy'd belong in the modern universe?

The things that do change, like it's echoing voice and it's staticky/distorted laugh, are gone because it personally stopped using them.

It's style is... elegant goth with some... cyber goth? Kinda strange and hard to describe but he does understand the morals and values of goth culture and music and upholds those values.

Lowkey an anarchist but you didn't hear that from me.

He is Horizon's roommate.

Seraph likes to believe their mutual studying of each other is what a romantic relationship entails.

Horizon spoils Seraph a lot... he has to do something with the money he gets from NASA.

He still does not like animals or Ichor.

Ichor:

He is still a catboy. He's not even like... a kemonomimi. He's just a fucking catboy.

If not an actual catboy, he would be a therian and/or kemonomimi. (kemonomimi directly translates to animal ears i believe? kemonomimis are just people who enjoy wearing animal ears/tails.)

He is also Asian! (South Korean)

Has a lot of mixed aesthetics, but enjoys crossdressing (in a cute way) and ouji fashion/lolita.

Autistic with selective mutism and is nonverbal more often than not. He is fluent in both ASL and KSL as well as spoken English/Korean. This is canon to the ALNST universe, but he is fully mute in canon.

Would probably be a professional gymnast. I'm talking like Olympics... professional.

Takes the fame from being a professional gymnast and becomes a content creator to show off his impeccable fashion sense.

100% dating and smitten with Briar. I'm assuming Briar would be a doctor in a modern au (akane, you can correct me if I'm wrong), and if that's the case, then Ichor would make a bunch of "woe is me, I need a doctor" jokes to Briar.

He'd immediately go to Briar if he gets hurt during performances.

Would actually be friends with Toki!! Both as a content creator and as a gymnast. They would get along very well due to overlapping interests, even more so when Ichor learns that Toki was mute for a long time.

Sometimes takes up gigs/jobs as a Sign Translator for both KSL and ASL.

Recognized as a Fashion Idol in Korea.

Frequently travels back and forth between South Korea and America due to this. ^ (his boyfriend misses him...)

Also did not go to college! He went straight into professional gymnastics and makes a living off of it! If he could go back to school, though, he would want to study the arts!

All of his hair is naturally white! He was based off of a white Turkish Angora cat, and since his hair was dyed against his will in ALNST, that wouldn't be the case in the MAU. He's only pink in his art because that's his color <3

Briar belongs to @aakaneeee <3

Lys:

She is Creole and born and raised in Louisiana!

Fluent in both Cajun French and normal French. She was a French immersion kid! (as in she learned french as she learned english in school growing up)

An amazing cook and loves to cook for her family and friends.

Has a brother and a sister, but she is the oldest. She loves her family and is very protective over them, same with her friends.

A big party-goer and social butterfly, she is the life and light of the party. She stays humble about it, but she can't deny how nice it makes her feel that people like her so much.

Dominates karaoke like it's no ones business. She loves singing and was in the church choir growing up.

She grew up Catholic, but is currently Agnostic.

Still a lesbian, and is very open about it. She is a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and goes to as many Pride Parades as possible during pride month.

LOVES HER GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!!!!! EVEREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her favorite way to wear her hair is super long box braids with bright colored weave, usually orange or red, but she's done the whole rainbow before!

Majors in cosmetology!

Wants to be a fashion designer, and is also building a socmed presence!! Her childhood dream was to work at Hollywood as a SFX/Makeup artist! (She still kinda does, but is okay with working for any movie company, honestly)

Has a streetwear and Y2K aesthetic! She likes to explore a bunch of other fashion cultures, but normally ends up falling back to those two as a base/familiar ground.

Is really good friends with Clove! She knows him through Everest, who had befriended him in overlapping college courses. Clove approached Everest and became friends with him before she introduced Clove to Lys. They all like to hang out together :]

Everest:

She is Australiannnnn!!!!

Still albino!

She does have the sensitive skin and eyesight in the modern world, though. She is not genetically modified, therefore she has really powerful glasses and is covered a lot.

Wears a lot of loose flowy clothing and big sunhats to protect himself from the sun.

Also still intersex!

Still feels 60% femme and 40% masc with very little in between. Doesn't mind being referred to as androgyne, but prefers either or, rather than in between.

She is sapphic and horribly in love with her girlfriend, Lys.

Is a lot less morally grey in a modern au and is a lot more like Luna Lovegood, one of her inspirations.

His morality in ALNST comes from the dystopian setting, being used as a toy for the segyein after winning, and being a pet in general. Since that doesn't happen in the modern day, he doesn't have that trauma to influence him.

She takes second place on most visibly autistic. (Ichor takes third)

Majored in Chemistry and wants to be a chemist.

Has overlapping classes with Clove and is friends with him!

Comes from a pretty wealthy family and was raised prim and proper. Her parents believed she'd be better off presenting as a boy, but once she realized her autonomy, she refused it entirely and told her parents that she will live how she wants and that her body is hers to dictate.

Her parents don't like that she switches back and forth between masc and femme, but she could not give less of a fuck and honestly does it a little bit out of spite.

He still loves his parents... kinda. He has the mentality of "they gave me life and raised me, I should be grateful andlove them all the same." He just wishes they weren't so bitchy over his body and what he does with it. They can't say anything either considering he plans on being a chemist, and they're both very fond of the idea that their child is smart and will bring in more money.

They're also lowkey homophobic and only give Lys a pass because they see Everest as a boy more often than not. They still don't quite like Lys because she is a full lesbian/sapphic and sees Ever as femme.

Enjoys travelling a lot!!

Has a socmed presence through Lys and appears as a duo with her a lot. People love them together and give them a lot of the stereo contrasting ship types (fire/ice, blue/red, black/white, etc)

It not famous on her own! I don't think she would actively seek out a socmed presence of her own and would be content with being featured on Lys' socmed. He was only famous in ALNST for winning s36, he did not ask for that.

thats about it!! sorry its so long, but... i love my children... so...

anyways, taglist!! no pressure to respond <3 @rockwgooglyeyes @bluemoonscape @tsukacchako @starry-skiez @junebluues @yunoftheclouds @waterydream @pwippy @ivanttakethis @nottoonedin

[zombiipcps]

( layout ib : @/stcpidcupid )

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . MEET THE MEMBERS OF ZOMBIE POP !

Are you a new Survivalist who wants to learn the Zombie Pop members? Are you trying to pick a bias? Well, you're in luck! Here is where you can learn about the prettiest brainless boys of STARBORN CREATIVE and CULT CREATIVE!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . ETHAN LEE, known professionally as ETHAN, was born as the oldest of three brothers on January 14th, 1997. Growing up, he and his younger brothers developed a love of music through his parents, who were both music historians at a public university in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2014, when he was seventeen, his family moved back to South Korea after his mother was invited to be a guest speaker for a music course at a university in Seoul, giving him and his brothers a chance to audition for entertainment companies, and they were accepted by STARBORN CREATIVE in 2016. Ethan trained for two years before he debuted in Zombie Pop as the main rapper of the group.

STAGE NAME › Ethan

FULL NAME › Ethan Lee

KOREAN NAME › Lee Woosung

BIRTHDAY › January 14th, 1997

BIRTHPLACE › Boston, Massachusetts, USA

NATIONALITY › Korean-American

ETHNICITY › Korean

TRAINING PERIOD › Two years

POSITION ›  Main Rapper

FACE CLAIM › Kim Hosung / Lou (VAV)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . KIM SEUL-KI, known professionally as SEULKI, was born September 2, 1997 as an only child in Busan, South Korea. Growing up, Seulki was influenced by his father’s intense love for music, something always playing in their home.

With his parent’s support, Seulk started his trainee career at Cult Creative Records in 2014. He was added and removed from serval group line ups throughout his time as a trainee, he was added to his final lineup in 2017 — debuting in 2018 as a main dancer and sub vocalist of the co-managed boy group ZOMBIE POP.

STAGE NAME › Seulki

FULL NAME › Kim Seul-ki

BIRTHDAY › September 2nd, 1997

BIRTHPLACE ›  Busan, South Korea

NATIONALITY ›  Korean

ETHNICITY › Korean 

TRAINING PERIOD ›  Four Years

POSITION › Main Dancer, Sub Vocalist

FACE CLAIM › Yoo Taeyang (SF9)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘    . . .    NATTHAWUT SANGSINGKEO, known professionally as DEAN, was born as an only child on January 8th, 1998. He grew up in a small town, where everyone knew everyone and everyone in the town was deeply religious. Growing up, he had traditional religious beliefs shoved down his throat since he could walk and talk, which did not hinder his love for songwriting. Despite his parents' protests, in 2016, as soon as he turned eighteen, he traveled to South Korea by himself, having been inspired to start his songwriting career thanks to watching BTS and EXO content. He was quickly picked up by STARBORN CREATIVE, and trained to become an idol for two years before debuting in Zombie Pop. 

STAGE NAME  ›  Dean 

FULL NAME  ›  Natthawut Sangsingkeo

BIRTHDAY  ›  January 8th, 1998 

BIRTHPLACE  ›  Phuket, Thailand 

NATIONALITY  ›  Thai 

ETHNICITY  ›  Thai 

TRAINING PERIOD  ›  Two years

POSITION  ›  Main Vocalist, Composer 

FACE CLAIM  ›  Boun Noppanut (actor)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . HONG INSEO, known professionally as INSEO, was born March 23rd in 1998, as the youngest and only boy of four. Inseo grew up around the arts; his sisters all taking part of some form of dance, while his father taught piano. It was his mother who pushed him to become a singer, she’d signed him up for vocal lessons at an early age. It, too, was her idea for him audition for music labels.

After a short stint at Cube Entertainment in 2016, he began training at Cult Creative in 2017; debuting not long after he joined. Inseo debuted as a sub rapper and composer of the Cult Creative and STARBORN CREATIVE boy group ZOMBIE POP in 2018.

STAGE NAME › Inseo

FULL NAME › Hong Inseo

BIRTHDAY › March 23rd, 1998

BIRTHPLACE › Seoul, South Korea

NATIONALITY › South Korean

ETHNICITY › Korean

TRAINING PERIOD › Six months

POSITION › Sub Rapper, Composer

FACE CLAIM › Ji Changmin / Q (The Boyz)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . CHA DONGYOON, known professionally as ECHO, was born as the middle child of three siblings on April 18th, 1999. Growing up, he didn't see his parents often, as they focused more on work and relied on babysitters and relatives to raise their children as they went to work long hours, leaving him and his older brother and younger sister to rely on everyone but them. He grew up as a shy kid, finding solace in music — more specifically, the orchestra. He quickly developed a love for the violin while in school, eventually moving to Seoul with his aunt and siblings and busking with his siblings in the streets of the city with the violin he received as a birthday gift from his paternal grandparents. They were eventually scouted by STARBORN CREATIVE in 2016, and Dongyoon trained for two years before debuting as the lead vocalist and dancer of Zombie Pop.

STAGE NAME › Echo

FULL NAME › Cha Dongyoon

BIRTHDAY › April 18th, 1999

BIRTHPLACE › Gumi, North Gyeongsang, South Korea

NATIONALITY › Korean

ETHNICITY › Korean

TRAINING PERIOD › Two years

POSITION › Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer

FACE CLAIM › Kang Yeosang (ATEEZ)

( tw. mentions of drugs + alcohol, implied child abandonment + abuse )

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . YANG HYUNWOO, known professionally as NOIR, was born as the middle child of three brothers on September 15th, 1999. When he was four years old, his father walked out on their family, leaving him to fend for himself as his mother had become addicted to hard drugs and alcoholism and did nothing to care for her three young sons, going as far as to taking out her anger on them daily.

In 2017, Hyunwoo was accepted into STARBORN CREATIVE after he and his younger brother Hyunjae applied in secret. Both were accepted, and Hyunwoo trained for one year before debuting in Zombie Pop.

STAGE NAME › Noir

FULL NAME › Yang Hyunwoo

BIRTHDAY › September 15th, 1999

BIRTHPLACE › Daejeon, South Korea

NATIONALITY › Korean

ETHNICITY › Korean

TRAINING PERIOD › One year

POSITION › Main Dancer, Lead Vocalist

FACE CLAIM › Yeo Hwanwoong (ONEUS)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ˙ ˖ ✘ . . . HARANO AKIRA, known professionally as AKIRA, was born on August 8th, 2000. Growing up, he was a lonely child, relying only on his mother for everything, and vice versa. His only solace throughout life was music, as he picked up piano, cello, and violin, among other instruments. He also took up songwriting, oftentimes writing more song lyrics than notes in school. In 2016, he and his mother moved to South Korea, and he went to live with some of his friends who ran away and had reunited with him. There, they all shared an apartment together as they looked for jobs, and Akira ended up auditioning for STARBORN CREATIVE to be a composer. The company was more interested in his ability to dance, however, and was accepted as a trainee. He trained for a year before debuting as Zombie Pop's maknae.

STAGE NAME › Akira

FULL NAME › Harano Akira

BIRTHDAY › August 8th, 2000

BIRTHPLACE › Sapporo, Japan

NATIONALITY › Japanese

ETHNICITY › Japanese

TRAINING PERIOD › One year

POSITION › Maknae, Lead Dancer

FACE CLAIM › Hamada Asahi (TREASURE)

[midaslabels]

✩　forbes.com/profile/kevin-yoon

From the Editor

Kevin Yoon began his career in the Korean music industry as a freelance A&R, producer, and creative director. He graduated Seoul National University with a degree in aesthetics, where he met Cho Tae-joon and Go Eun-sung. He learned music production while studying abroad in the United States.

Kevin Yoon worked alongside Cho Tae-joon as an A&R and creative director on several projects for CJS Entertainment's TRIX and PYRO.

After his work at CJS Entertainment, he produced and directed KNIGHT under YDH Entertainment. He developed and debuted the girl group KALEIDO underneath YDH Entertainment, and started debut preparations for Angelix. When YDH Entertainment disbanded KALEIDO without explaination, he left to establish his own agency, NINETY9 Creative — where he debuted Marionette, REMEDY, and SELENE.

While Kevin Yoon has been criticized for his poor business management skills, he's considered one of the best creatives in the Korean music industry — having won several awards throughout his career for his work as a producer and creative director.

Despite facing criticism for his management skills, he's often considered one of the "better" CEOs within the industry. NINETY9 Creative is considered one of the few companies that treats their artists fairly.

He's known for being incredibly picky and somewhat of a control freak when it comes to production and creative direction, but he does encourage his artists to try their hand at production.

He's considered an expert in the field of music production and is credited with introducing the idea of "songwriting camps" to the K-pop industry. NINETY9 Creative operates a year-round songwriting camp hosted by the company's in-house producers and a team of foreign composers assembled by Kevin himself.

While he wants his artists to be globally successful, Kevin prioritizes his artists' longevity — and the overall quality of their music and art.

His groups are known to be conceptual. Kevin has stated that he "avoids following trends set by other artists," preferring for his artists to create their own signature style and sound.

Kevin is considered to be a "true innovator" within K-Pop and is often credited with the introduction and popularization of "lore" and "worldbuilding" to K-Pop.

Forbes Lists

#20, CEO Next List (2024)

Accolades

Melon Music Award — "Songwriter Award" (2009)

Melon Music Award — "Songwriter Award" (2011)

Melon Music Award — "Songwriter Award" (2014)

Mnet Asian Music Awards — "Special Award: Best Producer" (2015)

Mnet Asian Music Awards — "Special Award: Best Visual & Art Director" (2016)

Melon Music Award — "Songwriter Award" (2016)

Golden Disc Awards — "Producer Award" (2017)

Mnet Asian Music Awards — "Special Award: Best Visual & Art Director" (2018)

Melon Music Award — "Songwriter Award" (2019)

Mnet Asian Music Awards — "Special Award: Best Executive Producer Award" (2020)

Golden Disc Awards — "Producer Award" (2020)

Golden Disc Awards — "Producer Award" (2022)

Personal Stats

Age: 46

Source of Wealth: Entertainment, Self-Made

Residence: Seoul, South Korea

Marital Status: Single

Albums produced by Kevin Yoon

"So Hot," TRIX (CJS Entertainment) *A&R

"Nobody," TRIX (CJS Entertainment) *A&R, creative direction

"Tell Me," TRIX (CJS Entertainment) *A&R, production, creative direction

"Why So Lonely," TRIX (CJS Entertainment) *A&R, production

"11:59 PM," PYRO (CJS Entertainment) *A&R, production alongside Cho Tae-joon

"I'll Be Back," PYRO (CJS Entertainment) *A&R, production, creative direction alongside Cho Tae-joon

"Be Mine," KNIGHT (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, production

"The Chaser," KNIGHT (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, production

"Man In Love," KNIGHT (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, production

"Last Romeo," KNIGHT (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, production, creative direction

"NU ABO," KALEIDO (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, exec. producer

"Rum Pum Pum Pum," KALEIDO (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, exec. producer, creative direction alongside Woo Seul-hee

"Red Light," KALEIDO (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, exec. producer

"4 Walls," KALEIDO (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, exec. producer, creative direction alongside Woo Seul-hee

All of Marionette's albums (admin note: excluding Happiness, last release was Queendom) *varied roles depending on era, worked alongside former partner Woo Seul-hee

"Hi Angelix~", Angelix (YDH Entertainment) *A&R

"Angels7," Angelix (YDH Entertainment) *A&R, creative direction

All of REMEDY's albums *A&R, songwriter, exec. producer, creative direction

All of NYMTH's albums *A&R, songwriter, exec. producer, creative direction

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[fcble]

Post layout inspired by Myah @venusvity / Template / Gunjeopdo by Nam Gye-u

Ever since he was a child, KIYOUNG wanted to be an entertainer. There are countless home videos of him putting on a show for his parents and extended family. His specific interest in idols began in middle school, and it wasn't long before he was auditioning for various entertainment companies. He was eventually accepted into a small and now bankrupt company, where he joined a few other teenage boys aiming to debut. From the start, it was, for the lack of a better description, a shit show. An altercation that ended with Kiyoung getting stitches led his parents and a few others to sue the company. His opportunity to join Zenith Entertainment arrived in 2016, when he was in university, having otherwise given up on becoming an idol. Jaeseop, whom he had met on an overnight trip where both of their schools booked the same destination, knew of his past experience and offered him a second chance. Kiyoung took it, and that experience, however terrible, helped him debut as Fable's lead vocalist and lead dancer. As the group's eldest member and the one with the most life experience outside of being an idol, he is seen as a supportive and dependable figure to the younger members. In Fable's rookie years, he was occasionally mistaken for the group's leader. In recent years, as more information about Jaeseop's role becomes public, that mistake occurs less and less. At the end of 2022, he began his mandatory military service as an active duty soldier. He returned to the group in the summer of 2024.

STAGE NAME: Kiyoung

FULL NAME: Oh Kiyoung / 오기영 / 吳基榮

BIRTHDAY: April 18, 1994

HOME TOWN: Dangjin, South Chungcheong, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Dangjin, South Chungcheong, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Lead vocalist, lead dancer

FACE CLAIM: Lee Minhyuk (Monsta X)

A fourth generation Korean-American, ANDREW was born on September 23, 1995 in Boulder, Colorado. He is an only child who managed to hit on nearly every Asian American model minority stereotype growing up: he excelled in school (enough to skip third grade), played an instrument (piano, of his own choice), and claimed he wanted to be a professor (like his dad). Music was the single biggest challenge he faced of his own volition, and he threw himself into music production and songwriting with a fervor. The interest dogged him through high school, where he posted a few song covers and original music to a YouTube channel that never took off. At seventeen, he moved to New York for college, where he studied music composition at Columbia University. Four years, one messy friendship breakup, and copious amounts of alcohol and weed later, Andrew set his sights on the next big thing: kpop. He was never a fan of idol groups, preferring the niche, underground atmosphere of American indie bands. He put aside his prejudices for a few months during which he taught English at a hagwon in the evenings, attended various entertainment company auditions, discovered he was older than the average candidate, and finally passed the single public Zenith Entertainment audition and interview. After a year and a half of training that mostly involved dancing, Andrew made his debut as Fable's main vocalist under the stage name Yejun, which he picked for the Hanja characters 藝 (art) and 俊 (smart, handsome). Despite his qualifications, he made few contributions to Fable's discography until the release of their second full length album in 2023. Since then, he has gained a modicum of creative control while feeling completely inadequate at being in a group with Fable's concept alongside people who were born and raised in South Korea, or at least able to fake it.

STAGE NAME: Yejun

FULL NAME: Andrew Han

BIRTHDAY: September 23, 1995

HOME TOWN: Boulder, Colorado, USA

BIRTHPLACE: Boulder, Colorado, USA

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: American

POSITION: Main vocal, visual

FACE CLAIM: Rowoon / Kim Seokwoo

Born on October 2, 1995, JAESEOP is one of the few children of his generation on his dad's side of the family. From an early age, it was thought that his future was laid out for him. He was supposed to do well in school, participate in a few extra-curriculars and become a well-rounded person, go to university, meet a nice girl, and start a family of his own. This seemingly perfect plan was derailed by his lack of interest in everything except getting along with others. Worried, his family pushed him into their backup plan instead. Jaeseop became Zenith Entertainment's first trainee shortly after the company was founded in the summer of 2016. In a case of poor communication and misplaced assumptions, he thought he was working with his uncle's new business in some sort of management capacity related to his in-progress PR degree, not as an artist. While he was meant to be an extension of Taein within the group, his unfailing moral compass and tendency to root for the underdog have made him the greatest ally of the other Fable members instead of his uncle. As Fable's leader and number one defender, he enjoys a great amount of respect from fans, who give him much more leeway compared to the other members. He gets away with running his mouth (Mingeun could never) and having a girlfriend (Haksu could never). In late 2023, he was gifted a portion of his father's share of Zenith Entertainment, giving him a stake in the company and the slightest bit more power.

STAGE NAME: Jaeseop

FULL NAME: Lee Jaeseop /이재섭 / 李材攝

BIRTHDAY: October 2, 1995

HOME TOWN: Seoul, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Leader, lead dancer

FACE CLAIM: Doyoung / Kim Dongyoung

INTAK was born on December 3, 1995, in Incheon, South Korea. His father's somewhat volatile job as a construction foreman saw his family moving frequently around the city. When he was twelve, his father was laid off, leaving them to relocate to Gwangyang, where his mother's family lived. Intak, who always had difficulties making friends, found this new environment, combined with his father's unemployment, extremely hostile. He found solace online instead, meeting Kiyoung on a StarCraft forum and discovering music production. The latter became a hobby for him, and he eventually started a SoundCloud account that peaked at two thousand followers. In 2016, he was invited to join Zenith Entertainment by Kiyoung, despite the two of them meeting in person only a few times. He was hesitant at first, as he held quite a few negative opinions on idols. At the same time, the thought of living in the same house as his parents forever was becoming unbearable, and so he accepted the offer. He debuted as Fable's main rapper and unofficial main producer, holding the latter position for the first few years of his career. Though Intak doesn't speak about it much, he's the one who made Taein's vision for the group a reality. His biggest responsibilities have been their debut song, 승천, and the title track of their first full-length album, 천둥. His musical contributions have lessened as he started splitting the production with Andrew, but he remains a mostly silent and integral part of the group.

STAGE NAME: Intak

FULL NAME: Park Intak / 박인탁 / 朴仁托

BIRTHDAY: December 3, 1995

HOME TOWN: Gwangyang, South Jeolla, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Incheon, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Main rapper

FACE CLAIM: Kim Jiwoong

HAKSU was born on August 8, 1997, exactly twenty-one years before Fable's debut. He calls it fate. An only child of only children with known fertility problems, his birth was considered nothing short of a miracle. He would also consider himself a miracle. With his comfortable and pampered childhood, he easily developed an ego. It was further exacerbated as he grew up and learned he could use his good looks and a smile to get his way. His interest in singing developed from the years he spent in his church's choir, which also did nothing to temper his opinions on himself. His interest in being an idol developed from a dream he had in his sophomore year at Sahmyook University, where he was scraping his way through a degree in business administration. Haksu was the last member added to Fable's debut lineup in late 2017, mere days after he joined the company. Eight months later, on his twenty-first birthday, he debuted as Fable's main vocalist and center. For the first few years after the group's debut, he was the only member idol fans in general would even have a chance of recognizing. His solo activities—photo shoots, advertisements, an appearance on King of Mask Singer—did nothing to bolster the group's popularity. As a result of the group's extremely uneven individual popularities, Haksu is often the bias of choice for many akgaes and sasaengs. His boyfriend approach to fan service only seems to encourage them, and they, in turn, have helped Fable gain further prominence.

STAGE NAME: Haksu

FULL NAME: Kang Haksu / 강학수 / 康授學

BIRTHDAY: August 8, 1997

HOME TOWN: Gunsan, North Jeolla, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Gunsan, North Jeolla, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Main vocal, center, fotg

FACE CLAIM: Hyunjae / Lee Jaehyun

EUNSU was born on July 10, 1999 in Taebaek, South Korea, a fact he tried desperately to hide. The second son of a Buddhist priest, he had the freedom to choose his own path, unlike his older brother, Yonggeum, who was set to succeed their father from the time he was born. Eunsu's choice then became music. In middle school, he and a few friends started a band, where he played bass guitar. He made the leap to Seoul for high school, where he attended SOPA and an SM Entertainment audition with some classmates. A few of them, including Eunsu, managed to pass. He would only spend a year at SM, before deciding to leave alongside Mingeun. He debuted as Fable's main rapper two years later. While a member of the group, he was most popular for his Tom and Jerry-esque antics with Haksu and his close friendship with Mingeun. In 2021, Yonggeum was the victim of a drunk driver's hit-and-run, leading to Eunsu's departure from Fable. Officially, he left for personal reasons. Unofficially, he left to inherit his father and brother's position. He remains on very good terms with the group, making occasional appearances in their music and other content.

STAGE NAME: Eunsu

FULL NAME: Baek Eunsu / 백은수 / 伯銀帥

BIRTHDAY: July 10, 1999

HOME TOWN: Taebaek, Gangwon, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Taebaek, Gangwon, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Main rapper

FACE CLAIM: Yoo Yongha

MINGEUN was born on November 13, 1999 in Yongin, South Korea. When he was two, he moved to Canada with his parents and older sister, Minah. His younger sister, Eunice, was born shortly after their move. Growing up, he was often labeled as a shy and solitary child. In school, he took the English name Eric, after the prince in the The Little Mermaid, which he no longer answers to. Despite immigrating and becoming a naturalized Canadian citizen at the age of twelve, his parents raised all three of their children with a favorable view of their home country. They spoke Korean at home and often traveled back to South Korea on summer vacations. On one such trip, when he was eleven, Mingeun was scouted by SM Entertainment hours before a flight at Incheon International Airport. His mother accepted the offer on his behalf, and before he knew it, he was a trainee. He spent five years—mostly summers—as an SM trainee, where he met future fellow Fable member Eunsu, before being dropped for his inability to work with others. It was, coincidentally, around the same time he dropped out of high school to pursue an idol career full time and the same time Taein founded Zenith Entertainment. A few months of relentless begging later found him as Zenith's fifth trainee. In his first few months at Zenith, he was a shoo-in for Fable's main vocalist. Two years later, following the additions of ANDREW and HAKSU and a very close call where he was initially cut from Fable's final lineup, Mingeun debuted as Fable's main dancer and lead vocalist. He is most well known for his 2020 scandal, in which fans discovered that he was not, in fact, born and raised in Yongin like he said he was, but a Canadian citizen. He took a nearly two-year hiatus from the group, and his reputation has only recently began to recover. He is one of the group's most publicly outspoken members, following the logic that his reputation can't get much worse.

STAGE NAME: Mingeun

FULL NAME: Yoon Mingeun / 윤민근 / 尹敏勤

BIRTHDAY: November 13, 1999

HOME TOWN: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

BIRTHPLACE: Yongin, Gyeonggi, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: Canadian

POSITION: Main dancer, lead vocalist, lead rapper (since 2021)

FACE CLAIM: Jeong Yunho

BYEONGHWI was born on May 18, 2001, in Jecheon, South Korea. His career goal, for most of his life, was to be a professional soccer player, despite being only decent at the sport. It was a trend in most other areas of his life as well. He had passable grades, a few close friends, and very little wants. He stood out only for his excellent moral standing in which he could generally be trusted to have integrity and tell the truth. When he was in high school, he accompanied his best friend at the time to a Zenith Entertainment audition as part of his friend's goal to become a kpop idol. It was thought that neither of them passed the audition until Byeonghwi got a call back a few months later. He officially became a trainee in mid 2017, and made his debut in Fable a little over a year later. As the group's youngest member, he is babied by fans and the rest of Fable alike. At first, he didn't mind it. As he grew older, it became tiring for him to be continually boxed into the same persona, especially when the rest of the group got to grow personally and professionally. He's working on rebelling, but it's difficult for him when it's been ingrained in him to be good for so much of his life.

STAGE NAME: Byeonghwi

FULL NAME: Lim Byeonghwi / 임병휘 / 任昞輝

BIRTHDAY: May 18, 2001

HOME TOWN: Jecheon, North Chungcheong, South Korea

BIRTHPLACE: Jecheon, North Chungcheong, South Korea

ETHNICITY: Korean

NATIONALITY: South Korean

POSITION: Lead vocal + maknae

FACE CLAIM: J-Min / Jeon Minwook

[animatedshortoftheday]

Handkerchief (2004) [4 min] by Min Sung Ah | Korea

[hwangyeddeongie]

I feel like some kpop stans don’t view koreans as real people. I’ve been trying to ignore this for a while now but I can’t dismiss it anymore.

I don’t like labelling it as a “fetish” because I feel like most people are genuinely just misinformed or young and naive, but there’s definitely fetishisers and I won’t pretend they don’t exist.

my main issue is: stop relating any post on twitter (or any social media really) that’s written in korean to kpop. I’ve seen this several times now, a korean posting something (completely unrelated to kpop or idols, they don’t even have any idol pfp or kpop related username) in korean, and the qrts being flooded with kpop stans. this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does get obnoxious when a korean person is simply posting about doechii and kpop stans are up in the qrts talking about what kpop company she should be in. just because op wrote in korean.

I want people to realise that kpop is not a universal thing in korea. sure, it’s a huge market and it brings in a lot of tourists, but a lot of koreans don’t even listen to kpop and they probably couldn’t name you 5 groups unless they’re wildly popular. that’s like assuming every american likes taylor swift or just pop in general cos it gets made in america.

there’s this habit kpop stans have of reducing real koreans to what they know through kpop or kdramas, and I know this probably isn’t that big of a deal but WE ARE MORE THAN JUST OUR ENTERTAINMENT

we have history, food, architecture, culture, and many other genres of music and art apart from kpop and dramas. kpop only started in the late 90s, so most people in korea predate the genre altogether.

as for fetishisation, I wouldn’t say it’s as widespread as some people say (preferences are valid) but it’s definitely weird as a korean to have someone suddenly treat you with more respect/interest just because you say the country you’re from.

I’ve definitely had experiences online that made me honestly feel like I was a specimen or an animal at a petting zoo just because of my nationality. I know most people have good intentions and are just curious, and I’m not really offended, just a little confused. you wouldn’t put an english person on a pedestal just cuz they’re from britain, so why would you do it with a korean? (I’ve seen this happen to Japanese people as well)

anyways, I don’t really know where I’m going with this, I just needed to rant about something that’s been bothering me for a while.

note: curiosity and genuine interest is completely fine as long as you remain respectful! I don’t agree with those who say people who learn korean bc they like kpop are koreaboos, it’s actually very nice that people pick up a whole new language and study korea’s history because of their interests! however, if you want to be korean or view people in a drastically more positive light SOLELY because they are korean, you may want to reevaluate the way you approach fandom 🙏🏻

[usafphantom2]

I flew the SR-71 Blackbird in the Cold War, here’s why it was so important

Hush KitSeptember 29, 2022

SR-71 In the Cold War

By BC Thomas

The SR-71 has the deserved reputation of being the most unique air-breathing aircraft ever built. No other could fly as fast, as high, or carry thousands of pounds of equipment above 80,000 feet. It was the primary strategic reconnaissance asset for the Free World during the latter 25 years of the Cold War. The SR-71 could sustain continuous Mach 3+ flight for over an hour while obtaining the highest quality reconnaissance information from multiple sensors, and with aerial refueling, the aircraft could have circumnavigated the Earth in one flight. The aircraft was one of the first to employ stealth technology, thereby ensuring that the airplane was almost invisible to radar. Its speed and altitude also cloaked its presence. During this time of sparse reconnaissance satellite coverage over potential enemy targets, the SR-71 could sneak up, gather vital information, and leave the area without warning, and often without notice.

The SR-71 was never successfully intercepted by surface-to-air missile or aircraft. It had a state-of-the-art electronic defensive system which would defeat an incoming missile’s homing and steering. Detectors on board would alert the crew of a missile launch instantly and, since the SR-71 did not normally fly at its maximum speed or altitude, the aircraft’s defense was simultaneously to jam the missile’s guidance while accelerating, climbing, and turning with 45º of bank. No surface-to-air missile could out-turn, thus hit, an SR-71, a fact demonstrated many times, especially during the Vietnam War. Attempts to shoot down an SR-71 continued until August 25, 1981, which was the last time an enemy (North Korea) fired a surface-to-air missile at an SR-71; that mission was flown by Maury Rosenberg, pilot, and Ed McKim, Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO).

It missed.

We carried an array of sophisticated sensors and recorders which could glean reconnaissance data with cameras capable of high-quality photographs horizon-to-horizon. We also had radar imagery capable of one-foot resolution. This was the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS), which could deliver readable radar pictures night or day, bad weather or clear. I’m no photo interpreter, but even I could tell what was pictured. The SR-71 also carried electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems which are still classified. We advertised that the SR-71, within 24 hours notification, could be over any target on earth and be capable of surveying 100,000 square miles of terrain each hour. It was no idle boast.

The SR-71’s potential versatility is not widely known. Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, the genius designer of all ‘Blackbirds’, was diligent in assuring that the Mach 3+ Blackbird aircraft could fulfil several roles, if needed for national contingencies. The first version was the A-12 aircraft, built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This was a single-person airplane and carried as principal sensor, one very high-resolution optical camera.

A differently capable aircraft was the YF-12, the Mach 3+ fighter/intercepter version of the Blackbird’s basic design. It was developed as part of Kelly Johnson’s “Universal Aircraft” concept of adapting the fore-body section to accept reconnaissance equipment, air-to-air missiles, or four nuclear weapons. Thus, the Mach 3+ Blackbird type could have been straight reconnaissance, a nuclear bomber, an interceptor, or recon/strike. There is at least one video, available to the public, which shows an actual missile launch from a YF-12 at Mach 3. I’ll add parenthetically that it was also outfitted to be a Mach 3 drone-launch vehicle, but the first test deployment of the D-21 drone failed and resulted in the loss of the Blackbird M-21 launch aircraft.

So it was versatile. But did it deliver?

By the late 1950s, we knew the Soviet Union had better, more capable rocket launch systems than any North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country. This was dramatically evidenced by two sudden leaps in Soviet advanced technology: 1957, Sputnik, the first artificial satellite; 1961, first man in space to orbit the Earth. These notable achievements shocked the people of the United States and indeed, the Western World.

Knowledge of the military and industrial strength of Communist states was extremely important, and reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union started as early as 1947. Several American aircraft conducted these flights: the RB-29, RB-47, RB-50, C-130, PB4Y-2, U-2, and the Ryan 147 remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). Reconnaissance flights penetrated Soviet airspace, overflew the land mass, and many were shot down. The Los Angeles Times, 11/12/1992, reported that 40 such reconnaissance aircraft were lost and 200 American airmen died conducting these flights. That number of lost personnel was confirmed by Paul Glenshaw in his article: “Secret Causalities of the Cold War,” Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, December 2017.

So aerial reconnaissance flights against potential enemies (the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, the Middle East) were a top priority. These flights had to be conducted routinely and had to be survivable.

The SR-71 was developed to fill that need. From 1966 to 1990, the SR-71 flew over 3,500 operational reconnaissance missions while logging 11,000 hours in a flight environment which was most hostile: aircraft skin temperature averaged 620º F, outside air pressure was 0.4 pounds-per-square-inch (psi), altitude was 15-16 miles straight up, aerodynamic damping was low, and true airspeed was typically 2,000 to 2,100 miles-per-hour, making pitch controllability critical.

For operational survivability, the SR-71 was one of the safest military aircraft, as no Air Force crew member was killed while flying one, a testament to outstanding aircraft maintenance and crew training. A remarkable record given its extreme flight envelope and potential attack risk.

I’ll summarize the importance of the SR-71 missions by quoting Paul Crickmore, noted aviation historian and Blackbird author, in a letter to me.

“In theatre, the SR-71 proved the concept of high-Mach, high-altitude flight, to obtain vital aerial reconnaissance. The SR-71 regularly conducted reconnaissance missions in the skies over North Vietnam – particularly around Hanoi in 1968-70 which at the time, was the most highly defended area on the planet.”

“The Blackbirds provided superior flexibility compared to satellites, time after time, specific examples—Yom Kippur War 1973, Yemen 1979, Cuba 1977—1990, Lebanon October 1983 (following the truck-bomb attack killing over 240 US Marines), Libya 1986, The Persian Gulf 1987, but perhaps most importantly, the on-going monitoring of Soviet nuclear submarine fleets for the US Navy—particularly the Northern Fleet with their submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), capable of hitting large areas of the United States, as well as all Allied Countries.”

“The simultaneous, synoptic coverage of information gathered by the SR-71’s sensors, provided the intelligence community and national leadership—with photographic imagery (PHOTINT), radar imagery (RADINT) and electronic intelligence (ELNT), that unquestionably helped to keep the Western World free.”

Richard H Graham, Colonel, USAF (ret) was an SR-71 Instructor Pilot, Squadron Commander, 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Commander, and assigned to the Headquarters USAF (Pentagon) to supervise Programs and Resources as a Strategic Force Programmer. His evaluation of the SR-71’s worth as a reconnaissance asset is quoted from his book: “SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane.”

“…the synoptic coverage (displaying conditions as they exist simultaneously over a broad area) provided by the SR-71 was far superior to satellite reconnaissance. Broad-area coverage from different approach angles, in a relatively short time span, produced considerably better intelligence than a predictable, single satellite pass, every ninety minutes. In 1990, the SR-71 was the only airborne reconnaissance platform that could penetrate hostile territory, accomplish wide-area synoptic coverage, and still survive. It could also be tasked reasonably quickly and had the element of surprise.”

Photographs of two SA-2 surface-to-air missiles which were launched against SR-71 #976, July 26, 1968 in the vicinity of Hanoi, Vietnam. Tony Bevacqua (Pilot), Jerry Crew (RSO).

Order the Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes here

@hush_kit via X

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[nabibeans]

Eternal Sunshine

Summary: Seonghwa, 19 has been in an online relationship with Hongjoong, 18 for nearly two years now. Due to high school they’ve never met. However now that they’ve graduated and have the whole summer before college Seonghwa’s family takes a trip to Los Angeles, coincidentally where Hongjoong lives.

Disc: they’re high school age here. So no smut! Just lots of fluff of two long distance boyfriends meeting.

•☀️•

Seongwha laid on his bed on his stomach, headphones plugged into his laptop while he worked on filling out paperwork for multiple colleges. He’d been offered to study at Seoul National University, Yonsei, you name it he probably got a scholarship for it. On the computer he’d forgotten the whole reason he even had it out. “Babe? You listening?” Seonghwa’s eyes snapped back to the screen, his boyfriend sat on the floor of his messy bedroom. Messy brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, he wore a sports bra with pajama pants, Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile at the bit of pudge his stomach had as he bent over to get closer to the screen. “I was asking what color I should dye my hair.” Seonghwa smiled softly, setting the paperwork aside for now. “What colors do you have this time babe?” The boy grabbed a few bottles holding them up. “Pink, red, and blue.” Seonghwa tapped his chin. “How about pink? You’ve never done that color.” The boy smiled, “okay I will! I gotta call-“ , “Hongjoong! Mom says clean your room!” A voice called from off camera. “Ugh, I gotta clean my room. Can you keep me company while I do?” Seonghwa laughed, “of course babe.”

Hongjoong smiled, picking up the laptop he had face time on and setting it on his dresser. Now that Seonghwa had a full view of the room he could see the state it was in, clothes scattered the floor with multiple art supplies, his bed was a mess of plushies and blankets, a trans pride flag hung on the wall next to a gay pride flag, the windows were covered by sheer black curtains. “Damn babe, when was the last time you cleaned.” Seonghwa joked. Hongjoong rolled his eyes, beginning to grab the clothes off the floor first. “I told you I got really sick recently, I was in the hospital for a day or two because I was dehydrated.” Seonghwa hummed. “I remember, we didn’t video chat for a couple days while you were sick.” He watched with nothing but love in his eyes as his boyfriend cleaned his room. He liked when he could see Hongjoong like this, his full body figure, the way his mullet reached just the tip of his spine. Hongjoong was skinny, but he also wasn’t. He was slim with the tiniest bit of fat in all the right places, it was cute. Seonghwa just wanted to squeeze him.

“Oh babe! Did I tell you? I was thinking of going to college in Korea. But I also don’t really want to go to college, plus the paper work of moving to Korea only to come back to Los Angeles. I haven’t spoken Korean since I was a toddler too.” Seonghwa nodded as he listened. When they first began dating Hongjoong had told him he was born in Korea but moved to Los Angeles at a young age after his mother booked a very large job there. He spoke mostly English, but knew a good amount of Korean. Seonghwa had learned proper English to be able to communicate with his long distance boyfriend, making it much easier for them both. “If you don’t want to come all the way here for college don’t baby. Do what makes you happy.” The door to Seonghwa’s door opened, “hey Hwa! Mom says dinner is ready. Gotta hang up on your boyfriend.” Seonghwa sighed, “I gotta go babe. I’ll call before you go to bed okay?” Hongjoong was tugging on the sheets when he looked up. “Okay babe, I’ll call you later. Bye! I love you!” Seonghwa smiled. “I love you too babe.” He hung up the call putting the laptop aside. “What’s your lover boy up to now?” His brother rubbed his head. Seonghwa pushed his hand away, “cleaning his room. Thinking about college.” , “so normal kid things.” The two laughed sitting at the table.

Hongjoong had finally finished cleaning his room, collapsing onto the bed he grabbed his AirPods of the nightstand, putting them in his ears before grabbing his phone. Scrolling through Apple Music he opened the playlist Seonghwa made for him and started it, he’d listen to music while coloring his hair. Grabbing a pair of gloves and a bowl for the dye the boy got off his bed and headed into the bathroom connected to his room. Normally someone would dye his hair for him, but this time he wanted to do it himself. Humming along to the playlist Hongjoong began to run the pink dye through his hair, suddenly a Group FaceTime notification popped up. “Damn it guys.” Answering the call he went back to dying his hair. “Hey guys what’s up?” The group were all scattered around right now, though Wooyoung and San were clearly in the same place. “We have a plan to go to the beach sometime next week. What do you think?” Hongjoong hummed, he wasn’t normally a fan of the beach. “I don’t know, I’ll have to see what Mom and Bumjoong have planned. We’re supposed to take a mini vacation to Hollywood sometime this month.” Hongjoong tugged the gloves off, throwing them away before grabbing another pair. “Let us know! Yeosang’s family is out of town and he’s alone with his sister, she said it was chill if we all hung out there sometime.” Yeosang nodded in agreement. “Maybe we could have a sleep over before Yunho leaves to Florida for college with Mingi.” Mingi and Yunho had both been accepted into the same college, deciding to move to Florida once the college season started. “Yeah that sounds nice, but..I kinda want to go to Korea and meet my boyfriend.” Hongjoong blushed, he’d been thinking about it for a while, his mother had even agreed to buy him a plane ticket. “You haven’t asked him yet? You guys totally need to meet!” Wooyoung gasped. “We will! We agreed we want to, but my schedules never line up with his.” , “you’ll figure it out. Hey wanna go out for burgers at about 6? San is paying.” Hongjoong nodded. “Yeah burgers are good. I’ll let my mom know.”

“So remember how we take a family vacation every month?” Seonghwa’s mother spoke. “Yea, what’s up?” Seonghwa’s brother, Seungmin spoke up. “Well, looks like Los Angeles is next on the list! Isn’t that where your boyfriend lives honey?” She smiled at Seonghwa. His jaw dropped, he’d get to meet Hongjoong!? “Yeah! He lives near Beverly Hills I think?” Seonghwa didn’t remember details, just that Hongjoong and most of his friends lived in a nice neighborhood. “I think it would be nice if you met him dear, you always talk about him and I can tell you really love him.” Seonghwa blushed. “I’m supposed to call him later, I’ll tell him I want to meet him. We’ve discussed him coming here a few times but his mom is so busy it never works out.” His brother nodded, “definitely ask him without saying we’re going. You want to surprise him.” His father who had been silent spoke up, “tell ya what kid, we’re gonna make sure you meet that boy. Regardless of how hard it is.” Seonghwa smiled. “Thank you.”

It was around 9pm when Hongjoong got home, a bit tired from his outing; after dinner he and his friends ended up doing a bit of shopping at the mall then got boba. “Mom! I’m home!” He called out, “Hongjoong! Welcome home honey!” She called from the kitchen, where she was making kimchi with Bumjoong. Hongjoong walked into the kitchen, bags in hand. “Here, got your favorite.” He handed one of the drinks to Bumjoong, then another to his mother. “Thanks shortstuff, how was it? What did you get now?” Hongjoong sat on the bar stool, pulling a few shirts out of the first bag. “I got a few shirts to wear for our trip, they’re all short sleeves. I also bought a swimsuit.” His mother looked up, “you haven’t worn an actual swimsuit since you came out. Let’s see it.” Hongjoong pulled out the swimsuit next, it was a tankini, the top red and the bottoms black. “I figured this would suit me best, so I’m not too aware of my boobs.” His mother nodded her approval. “It’s cute! I promise we will get that surgery scheduled as soon as possible honey. There’s just so much to do.” Hongjoong smiled softly. “Mom it’s fine, I’m in no rush to get top surgery, especially if Seonghwa and I decide we might want a baby.” Bumjoong spoke now, “do you want kids?” Hongjoong thought about it. “I think I’d like to have a baby yes, But not any time soon. I’m only 18.” His phone rang in his pocket, taking it out Seonghwa’s caller ID flashed across the screen. “It’s Seonghwa, I’ll be in my room!” Hongjoong grabbed his bags, answering the call as he walked upstairs. “Hey babe! I just got home!” He smiled seeing his boyfriend’s face. “Hey babe, did you have fun with your friends?” Hongjoong nodded, stepping into his room and switching the light on. “I did! We went shopping after we ate, I got some clothes and a swimsuit.” Seonghwa smiled affectionately. “I have to change and pee real quick, I’ll be right back babe.” Hongjoong set the phone down on his nightstand, giving Seonghwa a view of his plushie net. Going into the bathroom Hongjoong did what he needed to then changed, deciding on a pink tank top and some shorts to sleep in. “Okay I’m back!” Grabbing his phone he walked over to the light switch, switching it off. “I’ll show you my clothes tomorrow, I’m really tired.”

Seonghwa smiled at his boyfriend, “I can see that, you do look tired.” He laid in bed himself. “It was fun, but exhausting. Wooyoung dragged us everywhere.” Hongjoong settled into his bed, rolling over so he was facing the wall. Seonghwa’s eyes softened, his boyfriend was so cute. “You look cute, oh by the way. My mom wants us to meet up. Would there be a time we could?” Hongjoong choked on the soda he’d grabbed to sip on. “I uhm..yeah! Next week! I’m going to the beach with my friends we could meet there!” Seonghwa nodded. “Great! I’ll let her know. Do you know what day?” , “ah Friday, it’s the only day Jongho can come down from San Francisco.” Jongho was Yeosang’s boyfriend, they’d also been long distance before Jongho moved from Korea to San Francisco for college. “Okay, I can’t wait to finally see you. Get to hold you.” Hongjoong blushed, grabbing a plushie. “I can’t wait either! I want to bring you to my house to meet my mom and brother, could you maybe stay the night too?” Seonghwa nodded, “I’ll ask my mom babe, it would be better than staying in a hotel but it’s still a family trip.” He almost let it trip. “I know babe, my mom runs an air bnb I can send a link to a home that’s available right now.” Seonghwa was excited. He’d finally get to meet his boyfriend, the love of his life. “Thank you, I can’t wait to see you.” Hongjoong yawned softly. “I can’t wait to see you baby.” He mumbled sleepily. “Don’t fall asleep yet, last time you did that you called me at 3am your time while you walked to seven eleven for snacks.” Hongjoong laughed. “But I’m so sleepy baby.” The two chatted for at least two hours before Hongjoong fell asleep, hair covering his face and the tv making noise in the background. Seonghwa couldn’t wait to meet him.

It was raining when they got off the plane in Los Angeles, much to Seonghwa’s dismay; turned out it’d be raining the whole week so plans had changed with the beach. Instead Seonghwa would go straight to Hongjoong’s house and spend the next few days with him while his parents were exploring and having some much deserved alone time. “How excited are you to meet your boyfriend buddy!?” Seonghwa’s father shook the boy gently. “I’m very exited! I can’t wait to see him. He looks so small when we video chat but I think he’s shorter than that.” Hongjoong was very small, his testosterone hadn’t done much in that area. “You have to send us pictures of each other!” His mother cooed, “don’t worry I will, I’ll see you guys in a few days.” The family split up, Seonghwa walking nervously to the entrance. Hongjoong had said he’d be coming to pick him up, which shocked him. He hadn’t know Hongjoong had his license, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out his stomach began to do flips,

🐿️: I’m in the bathroom, I really had to pee and couldn’t hold it. It’s right by the entrance.

His boyfriend always had a small bladder, he couldn’t remember how many times Hongjoong left their calls every night to use the bathroom. Walking over to the restrooms entrance he decided to wait outside , leaning against a pillar. The next few people that exited the bathroom were definitely not Hongjoong, Seonghwa’s nerves began to build up. That’s when he saw him, Hongjoong was in fact very short, probably no taller than at least 5’7 on a good day, he wore a black cropped tank top and blue skinny jeans; pink hair messy. His face was buried in his phone, typing away at something that had his brows furrowed. Seonghwa carefully approached the boy, wrapping his arm around his waist. “Hey I’m looking for my boyfriend.” Hongjoong flinched. “Hey get your hands off me fucker-Seonghwa!?” The phone slipped out of his hands, immediately Hongjoong’s body was pressed against his own; both of them locked in a tight hug. “Oh my god! No fucking way this is happening! Are you real!? Are you really my boyfriend!? Oh my god you’re so hot in person!” Seonghwa smiled, pulling back from the hug to properly admire his boyfriend. “You’re just as cute in person as you are through a screen.” Hongjoong nodded, tears falling down his face now. “I’m so happy, oh my god.” Seonghwa smiled, pulling him back in. “I am too, you have no idea how long I’ve been dying to meet you.” The couple held each other a bit longer before pulling away. Hongjoong bending down to pick up his phone. “How was your flight? Are you hungry? Tired? Wanna drop your bags off at my place then get lunch?” Seonghwa chuckled. “Yeah sure sounds good. The flight was long but I slept most of it.” Hongjoong laced their fingers, blushing at the warmth of Seonghwa’s hand. He finally got to hold his boyfriend’s hand! “That’s good! I parked close not too much of a walk, my car is messy though so I’m sorry.” Seonghwa giggled at the boy’s obvious nerves. “It’s okay babe, I’m just happy I’m with you.” The two made it to Hongjoong’s car, putting Seonghwa’s bags in the backseat. “Your car is not messy! A few bottles of soda is nothing!” Hongjoong blushed, “it’s messy to me.” He slipped into the drivers seat, Seonghwa getting in on the passengers side. Hongjoong started the car, then looked towards his boyfriend shyly. “Can I kiss you? Is that okay? I really want to kiss you.” Seonghwa reached out to cup his cheek, gently running a thumb over the warm skin. “You don’t have to ask to kiss me, we’ve waited this long.” The pair leaned in, finally sharing a kiss. Their lips stayed pressed together for a few seconds before separating. “Wow, your lips are so soft.” Hongjoong blushed, “so are yours, nice chapstick by the way.” They shared another kiss, this time longer. Breaking apart again Hongjoong took his boyfriend’s hand. “Let’s go! Mom is excited to meet you.”

Seonghwa and Hongjoong chatted the whole ride to Hongjoong’s house, their hands never once separated. “I live in a gated community by the way, curfew is at midnight.” Seonghwa nodded. “I plan to have you in bed by midnight, you barely sleep.” Hongjoong giggled. “I did last night! I was really tired.” Opening his door a bit Hongjoong typed in the password to the gate, getting back in the car as it opened. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Seonghwa was shocked to say the least, Hongjoong’s house was huge; surrounded by a well kept yard and two other vehicles sat in the drive way. “This is my home, don’t be intimidated.” Hongjoong smiled as he leaned over, kissing his boyfriend once more. Seonghwa returned the kiss, “I’m not, well..maybe a little.” The two got out of the car, grabbing Seonghwa’s bags then heading inside. “Mom I’m back! And I have someone with me!” He tugged Seonghwa into the kitchen area. Seonghwa felt nervous as they entered the kitchen, Hongjoong’s brother and Mother were packaging the kimchi they’d made. “Oh my goodness! Are you Seonghwa!? It’s so nice to meet the young man my son has been so happy with.” Bumjoong bowed. “I’m Bumjoong, his big brother. Nice to meet you.” Seonghwa bowed back, “nice to meet you both, I’m so happy to finally meet Hongjoong in person after so long.” Hongjoong smiled, hugging his boyfriend’s waist. “We’re gonna get Seonghwa settled then go out for lunch, is that okay?” Hongjoong’s mother nodded. “Just be careful my baby!” Hongjoong’s ears turned red as they left the kitchen. “Your mom and brother are really nice. I like them already.” Seonghwa followed his boyfriend up the stairs, and into his room. It was much cuter in person than on camera. “This is my room, you’ve seen it on camera though.” Hongjoong sat on the bed, “I might change, the jeans are making me sweaty.” Seonghwa joined his boyfriend on the bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to hold him close. “You look cute no matter what. You know that right?” Hongjoong nodded, “I know.” He yawned. “You’re tired.” Hongjoong nodded. “Only a little, I haven’t drove that long in a while and it’s raining.” Seonghwa smiled. “Let’s take a nap instead then. I want my baby well rested.” Hongjoong thought about it then nodded. “Yeah okay, let me take my bra off and change into shorts. You can change too, I don’t like people in my bed with jeans on.” He smacked his boyfriend’s thigh. “Didn’t think you would.” Seonghwa stood up, grabbing his small boyfriend and picking him up. “God you’re tiny, perfect for me.” Hongjoong squealed. “I’m not that tiny! Now put me down!” Seonghwa put him down, but not before kissing his lips one more time.

The couple slid into bed after changing and Hongjoong shut the blackout curtains, the sound of rain was loud over the low voices coming from the tv. Seonghwa was only starting to fall asleep while Hongjoong snored softly in his arms, a sleepy smile on his face. “I love you.” Seonghwa whispered, pressing a kiss to his lovers head. As he fell asleep he heard a soft groan, followed by a sleepy, “I love you too.” The couple cuddled togeher, finally able to fall asleep in each others arms. No screen to separate them now.

[ceiling-karasu]

Have you ever thought about what an equivalent to the former states of East and West Germany would be like in the Squirrel and Hedgehog universe? (Apologies if you've already made a post about this)

I haven’t actually! Also thank you for bringing this up, because that is possibly something important that I would need to address I my own AUs.

If I remember correctly, East Germany may have been one of the first countries in Europe to recognize North Korea as its own nation.

Also, oddly enough, Germany is the only Western Nation to have a statue from the North Korean Mansudae Art Studio, that builds monuments, palaces, statues, and other artworks to send to overseas clients.

Specifically, they gave Frankfurt Germany the Fairy Tale Fountain.

It’s a rebuilt version, actually, since the original was melted down in World War Two for scrap.

In modern days relations are not that great, but when the shoe came out they might have been pretty good.

In the actual show, outside of my AU? It would depend on if some type of World War Two happened. North Korea and East Germany knew about each other due to the Soviet Union and the split between East and West. East Germany recognized North Korea but not South Korea, while West Germany recognized South but not North, so that would probably be mentioned (although I don’t think the concept of the international community recognizing Flower Hill as its own nation comes up).

It’s a propaganda show at its core, so the wolves would be running West Germany and everyone in there would be super miserable, while East Germans would be comfortable and happy with what they had.

I’m sure they would have a great relation with Flower Hill, and they would send aid and delegations back and forth. I can see Geumsaegi being sent as an envoy by the Weasels to help the wolves running the West Side, and having to meet with the East Side and pretending not to recognize anyone.

East Germany would probably help Flower Hill with Espionage, and there would be a plot of Geumsaegi trying to get information to them. West German citizens would probably be portrayed as brutal like the wolves or seen as something to pity with their hard and unfulfilled lives but not something to worry about.

They might still want to reunite due to separated family members.

Other than the Uncle Gom metaphor, I don’t think we have seen much of a Soviet Union that would be able to take over that region.

I think the general idea is that Rabbit Village represents China. China assisted North Korea in the war, especially with troops, but we don’t see a large rabbit force helping Flower Hill soldiers outside of what happens in Operation: White Snow. Although, China actually split from the Soviet Union at some point.

We don’t see a large Russian Soviet force appearing in the show, either, with Uncle Gom supposedly representing the Soviet Union as bloated and failing in episode one. A Soviet Union existing would result Flower Hill getting a lot of soldiers, orders, and equipment from their benefactors, or at least have them mentioned with high praise.

As such, Flower Hill appears to be going at it alone, with no Soviet Union, which would suggest that an East and West Germany situation is not happening. Germany was split from 1949 to 1990, and the first episode of Squirrel and Hedgehog came out in the 1970s (Korean War being in the 1950s) so the friendly relations would have been known, and could have been brought up at some point. Maybe they could have been going there had we seen more of S2, since the wolves that supposedly represented Americans appeared, which could have led into such discussions. But, we do not see any sign of this, so it could be up in the air.

Then again, given Uncle Gom, the writers appeared to know that the Soviet Union wasn’t going to last much longer with how it was growing, so they might not have bothered.

As for the AU, though?

I have the village of Dol Jogagga in chapter 6 that does sculpting and artwork for international clients to help relations between Flower Hill and other nations. International relations are mentioned a few times in the show itself, so that checks out close to canon enough to work.

So, since I am sort of working with blending Squirrel and Hedgehog with real North Korean relations, I did have the idea that Flower Hill did send some artwork to the Germany nation.

Unfortunately, that’s as far as I had gone with the idea at the time, other than some trade. I haven’t even come up with a fictional name yet.

Personally, I had the idea that the world wars, or at least the Second World War, did not happen in my AU due to species’ biology prohibiting wars on such a larger scale. Which means less of a Cold War, which means the split between West and East Germany would not have happened.

If there was a split between East and West Germany, the wolves would be in West Germany, and some other group would be in East Germany. I can’t create absolute union without scrapping everything and starting over at this point, and I have no intention of doing so since I figured that there was no huge Soviet Union due to the above reasons.

Which now makes me realize that I’ll have to come up with a reason for the Germany country to be friendly with Flower Hill, since the original friendliness came from being occupied by the Soviets.

I did kind of have the idea of using the silk trade (since I have a massive silk trade going on in Flower Hill due to the prevalence of silkworms for food in the Koreas), since Germany had a longstanding tradition and history with silk leading back into the 17th century, although I hadn’t decided on if they would be competitors acting friendly or a very good client (production wise, possibly the former since I already have Chaand Hadia and the Jindo Empire as major clients).

[ateezmiyeon]

miyeon | biography

seo miyeon was born at 15:07 on october 21 2000, in goseong-gun, gangwon-do, south korea to seo jaeyoung, a surgeon, and im soha, a dance teacher. she has one younger sister, seo sehyeon, who was born in 2006 and currently is studying at hanlim multi arts hisch school in the practical dance department. sehyeon is classmates with lapillus' seowon and friends with nmixx's kyujin.

her parents got married when they were young, having miyeon when they were both only 24. they raised miyeon catholic, baptising her with the name julia and she had her confirmation when she was 14. her parents made the girls regularly attend church growing up, something that miyeon still tries to do once she debuted.

she began taken dance classes at her mother’s studio when she was three, training in ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop. her mother trained with the korean national ballet and royal ballet school in london, before retiring due to an injury. she opened her own dance studio in gangwon shortly after she had miyeon, opening another studio in seoul when they moved in 2012.

her father traveled often for his work and would collect memorabilia and postcards for miyeon. she has a collection of her favoruite magnets that she brought to each of her dorms during training, buying a mini fridge for her room to store them.

her parents got divorced when she was twelve, leaving the two sisters with their mother as their father moved to sydney, australia. shortly after the divorce he began dating a nurse and they got married in 2017. miyeon and her sister visit their father during the winter break, meaning they both speak with strong australian accents when speaking english.

their father has two twin sons, mingyu and junghwa, born in 2018, making them eighteen years younger than miyeon. the twins often called miyeon and sehyeon auntie due to the age difference, confusing their half sisters for their father's.

miyeon had a proficiency for languages growing up, being able to speak both korean and japanese fluently by the age of nine. she is also fluent in english due to the amount of time she spent in australia visiting her father. she began studying chinese and spanish once she joined kq entertainment in order to be able to communicate with more fans around the world.

miyeon attended school of practical arts seoul in the practical dance department, graduating as one of the top students in her class. she was classmates with stray kids' hunjin, who she is still very good friends with to this day. she graduated in 2019, going on to get her bachelors in linguistics from the global cyber university in 2023.