K-Pop Group KINGDOM Announces New Member After Departure Of Chiwoo

The group will have seven members again.

Fans of K-Pop boy group KINGDOM were upset to learn back in May that member Chiwoo would be leaving the line-up due to “personal issues.” The announcement was particularly upsetting as it was only a little over a year since the group debuted in February 2021.

The group’s concept — an extremely expansive universe with each member and mini-albums representing a different king in history — relied heavily on the seven original members. Because of this, it made the departure of one of the members even more difficult to cope with as fans wondered how it would impact their ongoing concept.

Now, however, it has been announced that a new member will be joining the group to bring their number back to seven!

The new member’s name is Hwon, and though he’s brand new to the K-Pop scene, there has already been some information shared about him and what he’ll bring to KINGDOM.

His real name is Shim Youngjun. He was born on March 12, 2002, and is confirmed to be a vocalist for the group. He’s also very tall, standing at 185cm (about 6’1″), making him the tallest member of KINGDOM now! His MBTI type is ESTP, and he’s from Ansan, South Korea.

It’s unknown yet what role he’ll play in KINGDOM’s historical king concept, but there are a couple of theories. Some think he represents another Korean king who had “Hwon” in his name, or possibly a Chinese king/emperor with the name “Huan,” which sounds similar to his stage name.