In this article, we’re going to talk about one of the members of a K-pop group that is very talented and has a stunning visual too. He is the rapper of WEi, Yoo Yong-ha! Who is Yoo Yong-ha, you may ask? Well, let’s talk a lot of things about Yoo Yong-ha in the sections below!
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha’s Profile
Full Name: Yoo Yong-ha Given Name: Yong-ha Stage Name: Yong-ha/용하 Korean Name: 유용하 Birthday: January 11th, 1999 Birthplace: Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea Nationality: Korean Height: 177 cm Weight: 64 kg Blood Type: A Family: Parents, older sister Position: Lead rapper Hobby/Specialties: Rap, dance cover, etc. Debut Year: 2020 Agency: Oui Entertainment Group: WEi Instagram: @you_haaaaa
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha’s Facts
So, to see more charms from Yoo Yong-ha, let’s get to know him better by checking out his interesting facts!
Yoo Yong-ha originally debuted with 1THE9 and was the leader of the group. Yoo Yong-ha’s favorite food is chicken. Yoo Yong-ha is a supporter of pineapple on pizza. Yoo Yong-ha dislikes the taste of mint chocolate. Yoo Yong-ha’s nickname is Yongttaengi and it means dragonfly. That’s also because his name Yong means dragon. Yoo Yong-ha is just like soft tofu for anyone around him. He’s so soft and gentle just like an angel. It’s so different from his image as a rapper on stage. Because of that, fans call him Sundubu, which means soft tofu. There’s a slight difference between his left and right eye. Seems like his right eye is sharper. Even though Yoo Yong-ha comes from Jeollannam-do, he doesn’t really have a strong dialect when he speaks. However, there are some words where his dialect pops out. Yoo Yong-ha’s legs are taller than the usual from his height. So it looks like he is taller than he actually is. Yoo Yong-ha had never been into a flight before his debut. Hopefully, he can travel around the world and greet overseas fans later! Yoo Yong-ha didn’t attend Kim Dong-han‘s graduation ceremony because he overslept. That’s why he wasn’t in the photo even though he really wanted to attend the event. Yoo Yong-ha likes Monsta X, that’s why fans call him Yongbebe. It’s because the fandom name of Monsta X is Monbebe.
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha’s Pre-Debut
Yoo Yong-ha was born and raised in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. It is a place that is quite far away from Seoul. Yoo Yong-ha lived with his father and his older sister who was born in 1997, only two years older than him. He spent his childhood and his teenage years in Hwasun County. You might be wondering how did a boy from Hwasun County end up in Seoul and became an idol? Well, let’s start from the beginning. As a child, just like most boys at their age, Yoo Yong-ha learned taekwondo. Even so, he said that people often told him that he was not good at exercise. So maybe, he thought that his path in the future wasn’t in sports. And just like that, Yoo Yong-ha started to grow his love for rap music. Not only did he learn to rap, but he also learned to dance. Eventually, Yoo Yong-ha became part of a busking dance group called Liberty. The group consisted of him and other friends of his, some of them are Lee Jaehwan from Road Boyz and Kim Sang-yoon from D.O.B. Yoo Yong-ha’s talent in dancing and rapping enabled him to pass the audition of Oui Entertainment and become a trainee. In 2017, Yoo Yong-ha joined the line-up of OUIKID. In September 2017 he tried to audition for The Unit, a rebooting project survival show of K-pop idols who have debuted before. But unfortunately, Yoo Yong-ha and other members in OUIKID didn’t pass the elimination stage for The Unit. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop Yoo Yong-ha to train even harder. At that time, he was only 19 years old in the Korean age system and 18 years old in the international age system. He still had a long way to go until he turned into the Yoo Yong-ha from WEi that we know now.
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha in Under Nineteen
Under Nineteen is a survival show from the MBC channel. It’s a show that gathered 57 participants, who were trainees from various K-pop companies. Just like the name, the trainees were all under 19 years old. We talked about Yoo Yong-ha’s age when he failed to join The Unit, his age was still eligible to join this show. Yoo Yong-ha participated as part of the rap team. In fact, there were a lot of teams that could be chosen for the trainees. For example, a rap team, a vocal team, a dance team, etc. The show started in November 2018 and ended in February 2019. It had 14 episodes in which the participants tried their best to show their talents. Let’s see some clips of Yoo Yong-ha in the survival show Under Nineteen.
In the end, Yoo Yong-ha passed the final line-up of the project team that would be debuting. Congratulations!
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha with 1THE9
It would seem that after all, Yoo Yong-ha might not be a guy who has such bad luck. He might not have been able to join The Unit in 2017, but Yoo Yong-ha passed the Under Nineteen audition and even entered the top 9 participants at the end of the show. Along with Yoo Yong-ha, there were other members who debuted in the group project called 1THE9. The other members were Jeon Do-yum, Jung Jin-sung, Kim Tae-woo, Shin Ye-chan, Jeon Taek-hyeon, Park Seong-won, Lee Seung-hwan, and Kim Jun-seo. Both Yoo Yong-ha and Kim Jun-seo were trainees of Oui Entertainment. 1THE9 debuted by releasing their first single track “Spotlight” on April 5th, 2019. They debuted under PocketDols Studio, the same company as BAE173. Let’s check out some music videos of 1THE9!
Even though their performances were awesome, the project group was not meant to be permanent. It was just a temporary project just like some other groups such as I.O.I, Wanna One, etc. Instead, they disbanded in August 2020. Thus, the members of 1THE9 went back to their own agencies.
WEi’s Yoo Yong-ha’s Debut
After the sadness of 1THE9’s disbandment, Yoo Yong-ha along with Kim Joon-seo returned to their agency, Oui Entertainment. Some fans even thought that it was over for them, but it wasn’t. In fact, it was just starting. Yoo Yong-ha would make a debut in his own group instead of a project group. Oui Entertainment started introducing their male trainees in Oui Boys at the beginning of 2020. The group consists of Jang Dae-hyun, Kim Dong-han, Kim Yo-han, and Kang Seok-hwa. The four of them also participated in Produce x 101. Fans were speculating that maybe there would be additional members later, especially because Yoo Yong-ha and Kim Joon-seo who participated in 1THE9’s promotional activities are from Oui Entertainment too. And it turned out to be correct. After the end of 1THE9’s contract, Yoo Yong-ha and Kim Joon-seo were included in the line-up of Oui Entertainment’s new boy group. The boy group is called WEi. They would be debuting with 6 members. WEi officially debuted on October 5th, 2020. They released their first single titled “Twilight”. Let’s check out the music video of “Twilight” by WEi!
Don’t forget that they also shared the dance performance of “Twilight”. Check it out!
It’s the second time Yoo Yong-ha debuted. No wonder he’s getting better and better at both dancing and rapping. His vocal ability is also marvelous. What do you think about WEi’s debut era?
