It's nearly December, and December is a month that I consider to be pretty special as a Wannable because of what happened last year. ICYMI, (I'm pretty sure most of you did not!), Wanna One had a reunion in the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards—performed the songs "Energetic," "Burn It Up," and "Beautiful (Part 3)," which was a memorable surprise for us fans that made all of us emotional.
It was such a touching moment that I cried with my fellow Wannable friends as we watched the 10 of them perform together again (Lai Kuanlin, we really wished you were there, too!) from the moment we heard the ever-familiar intro of "Energetic". "Beautiful (Part 3)" was then released on music streaming platforms on January 27, 2022, which is exactly three years after their very last concert as a group.
While we cannot do anything as of the moment except miss them so much for so long until they have a reunion again, we're here to let you know what the members have been keeping themselves busy with.
Here's an update on the Wanna One members:
1. Yoon Ji Sung – leader, vocalist
Ji Sung was a part of the cast of the drama Let Me Be Your Knight which ended in January 2022. In the series, he played as Kim Yoo Chan and was a part of the band Luna having former NU'EST member JR, AB6IX's Kim Dong Hyun, U-KISS' Lee Jun Young, and Jang Dong Joo as the other members in the band. In April 2022, Ji Sung signed an exclusive contract with a new agency, DG Entertainment.
He also made a comeback with his third mini album MIRO during the same month, with "BLOOM" as the title track. One of his tracks in the album, "SUMMER DRIVE," was composed by his fellow Wanna One member Lee Dae Hwi and featured Kim Jong Hyeon. Aww! This just shows how strong their friendship is that was formed since Produce 101 Season 2. Ji Sung will be spending his Christmas Eve this year with BABALs for his 2022 Fan Concert, December. 24: Lucid Dream.
2. Ha Sung Woon – main vocalist
Three days after their Wanna One reunion, an Our Beloved Summer OST sung by Sung Woon was released, which was "Squabble." Since then, he has recorded other OSTs for a couple more dramas, "Who Are You" for Moonshine in January and "With You" with BTS' Jimin for Our Blues in April of this year. On December 24, he signed up with a new agency, Big Planet Made (BPM), a couple of months after his exclusive contract with his previous agency, Star Crew Entertainment, ended.
On August 24, Sung Woon released his seventh mini album Strange World with "FOCUS" as the title track. He is now currently serving in the military and the period will be 18 months from October 24, 2022. Originally, he was supposed to enlist in early September but caught COVID-19 just three days before his enlistment date. Sung Woon, HA:NEULs will definitely wait for your return!
3. Hwang Minhyun – vocalist
Minhyun recently made noise with his lead role in Alchemy Of Souls. He portrayed Seo Yul's character, which was perfect for him, being the dreamy guy that he is. Because of the drama's popularity and the writers saying that the whole story cannot fit into just 20 episodes, a second season was created. The first episode for Alchemy Of Souls: Light And Shadow will be aired on December 10 of this year.
In terms of music released in 2022, Minhyun dropped his single "Again" last September 13 for the Voltiz project volume 3. Also in September, he attended this year's Milan Fashion Week as Moncler's Global Brand Ambassador. By October, Minhyun traveled to Iceland and stayed there for a week and ticked one of the activities from his bucket list which is to witness the Aurora! He will also be the MC for this year's Asia Artist Awards After Stage on December 14. In the 2022 HYBE Briefing With The Community, they announced that Minhyun will be releasing his solo album.
4. Ong Seong Wu – main dancer, vocalist
Ong did not have any new music released for this year but has been really active with his acting career. He starred in the musical road film Life Is Beautiful which earned him a nomination for Best New Actor in the 58th Grand Bell Awards and 43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards. Ong was also part of the cast in the Netflix original movie Seoul Vibe and had a special appearance in the romance film 20th Century Girl as the adult Poong Jun Ho / Joseph.
Catch him play as one of the lead roles in the drama Strong Woman Gang Nam Soon which will be aired in 2023, a sequel to one of the all-time favorite rom-com series by K-drama fans released in 2017, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. WELOs are so excited to see you be back in portraying the main role in a K-drama series, Ong!
5. Kim Jae Hwan – main vocalist
As a 2021 year-ender for our main in everything Kim Jae Hwan, he released his fourth mini album THE LETTER on December 27. Just like Sung Woon, he has also sung a few official soundtracks for this year: "Talk To Me" for the series Soundtrack #1 in February, "How I Feel" for Sh**ting Stars in April, and "Cinderella's Love (Daily JoJo)" for the webtoon series Daily JoJo in October.
He dropped his singles "Snail" in June and "Delete" in July, followed by the release of his fifth mini album on September 5, Empty Dream, with "BACK THEN" as the title track, portraying the feelings of longingness for someone you loved back then and remembering all the moments you spent together before parting ways. Kim Jae Hwan has also blessed WIN:Ds with his heavenly voice in the performances he showed this year in Immortal Songs 2.
6. KANGDANIEL – main dancer, rapper, vocalist, center
Daniel started this year with his acting debut in the web series Rookie Cops where he also sang an OST titled "Hush Hush" featuring MIYAVI. In April, he released his fourth digital single, "Ready To ride." Daniel dropped his first studio album The Story in May, and collaborated with IVE's An Yu Jin and retired figure skater Kim Yuna for "Move Like This" which was released for the 2022 Gatorade Campaign in June. He reunited with MIYAVI in August for his Japanese debut pre-release single, "TPIR," and finally released his Japanese debut EP Joy Ride in October.
Daniel also started touring this year in Asia, starting off First Parade in Seoul last August followed by his EP release tour in Japan on October 15 and 16. He successfully finished his Manila concert last October 2022 and his next stop for his Asian tour is in Thailand which will be this November. Last September 23, Daniel made a legendary performance of "Parade" on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Just this month, KONNECT Entertainment announced Daniel's first full album repackage, Retold, which will be released on November 24. Also this month, it was announced that he will be having a world tour in Europe and North America in 2023. Daniel is spoiling us DANITYs so much!
7. Park Ji Hoon – dancer, vocalist, rapper, visual
Ji Hoon has been steadily building up his acting career as well. In 2021, he played Yeo Jun in At A Distance, Spring Is Green, which suited his personality very well just by having his naturally cute appearance and bright personality. This year, he made a special appearance in the drama Remarriage And Desires and is also playing a lead role in the webtoon-based series Weak Hero Class 1, an action school drama where he will be portraying Yeon Si Eun, a star student who's an easy target for bullies because of his physically weak character.
Aside from his acting activities, he held a special fan meeting in Japan last August 18 and 20 to make up for the lost time since his last visit which was two and a half years ago. Ji Hoon held his concert CLUE in Seoul last October 9 and 10 and has also returned with his sixth EP The Answer with "NITRO" as the title track. Ji Hoon really showed MAYs a different side of him this comeback and we can say that the almost one year of waiting was worth it!
8. Park Woo Jin – main rapper, main dancer
Debuting with Dae Hwi in 2019 under AB6IX, the group recently had their comeback with their sixth mini album TAKE A CHANCE. The group also met up with ABNEWs in South Korea, Japan, and the US for their 2022 Fan Meeting AB_NEW AREA.
In April 2022, Woo Jin released "How About Me" with Onestar. The artist said in his live broadcast that after he proposed this song, Woo Jin wrote the rap in just 30 minutes! Woo Jin, along with Dae Hwi, also dropped "Goosebump Streetman Fighter Version" as the second track of CJ LiveCity just this November.
9. Bae Jin Young – vocalist, visual
Jin Young is now under the K-pop boy group CIX which debuted in 2019 and they released their first Japanese studio album Pinky Swear last March 30, 2022, releasing a music video a day before with such a refreshing vibe that FIX surely loved. In August, CIX showed us their new side in their fifth mini album CIX 5th EP Album OK Episode 1: OK Not with "458" being the title.
The group is also now gearing up for their world tour Save Me, Kill Me to meet FIX in different parts of the world which was just recently announced. Starting from Seoul in December, CIX's first set of tour dates will then be in Europe and in the United States this coming 2023. Bae Jin Young also had his big screen debut last June 2022 in a three-part horror film, The Antique Shop, and played the lead character named Song. We are so excited to see more of actor Baejin in the future!
10. Lee Dae Hwi - vocalist, dancer, rapper
Aside from his activities under AB6IX and composing a song for his Ji Sung hyung in his recent album MIRO earlier this year, Dae Hwi sang an OST for the drama Crazy Love along with his AB6IX member Jeon Woong which was "I'm Crazy."
Dae Hwi has also participated in the KBS program Listen Up, which is a music competition show featuring the best music producers in the industry. He expressed his strong ambition in the show saying that he will show good music not only as a singer but also as a producer. Among all the producers who joined, he bagged first place which just proves how talented our Dae Hwi can be! Not to mention, he made his appearances on the show amidst his busy schedules by being an AB6IX member and having their world tour.
11. Lai Kuanlin – rapper, maknae
In July 2021, Kuanlin ended his contract with CUBE Entertainment after the Seoul Central District Court ruled in his favor regarding his request in 2019 to terminate his exclusive contract with the company, claiming that CUBE sold his artist management right to a third party without notifying him. After his success in the 2019 Chinese drama A Little Thing Called First Love, Kuanlin is on his way to building a steady career in acting in China.
In 2021, he was part of the cast of Don't Disturb My Study and also starred in the 2022 series, Love The Way You Are. Kuanlin will also be playing the main role in the Chinese drama Daydream Confession which has just begun filming in October of this year.
MORE GUIDES ON K-POP GROUPS:
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