What are your thoughts?
On November 10, 2025 (KST), a five-member boy group AM8IC debuted with a showcase held at MBC. So what’s the catch about this rookie “K-Pop” idol?
Well, it’s that all five members are Chinese.
AM8IC was produced by Yoon Beom No, a Korean choreographer-turned-CEO of TOV Entertainment. Yoon Beom No, who has worked in China for a long time—with over 800 idol trainees across 50 agencies and on Chinese survival programs like Youth With You 2—shared that it has always been his wish to produce a group made entirely of Chinese members.
Although it’s a Korean company, we established our base in China to reach this point. It was my wish to plan a group made entirely of Chinese members. K-Pop has now become more than just music—it’s a system. From the start, the goal was for Chinese members to grow and succeed within the K-Pop market. We invited Korean instructors and our company team to China to apply the K-Pop system exactly as it is, then moved the debut preparations to Seoul to continue them.
— Yoon Beom No
This, unfortunately, has not been well received by Korean K-Pop fans. Following AM8IC’s debut news, online communities like theqoo have been engaging in heated discussions over whether the group could truly be “considered as K-Pop.”
- “What the actual f*ck?”
- “I bet this group was made because not a lot of Chinese trainees get to debut these days.”
- “I watched their performance. Their visuals are OK. The song is also alright, haha. It was all in Korean, too. I mean, XG puts out all-English songs, so I thought at least these guys have some decency. Like someone else commented, this feels much more like a localized ‘K-Pop’ group.”
- “It’s C-Pop.”
- “How would this be K-Pop? It’s C-Pop. Don’t be ridiculous.”
- “Go back to China.”
- “Sure, it can be K-Pop. Why not? We already have a bunch of K-Pop idol groups without Korean members.”
- “This is really awful. They must think so little of Korean audiences. It’s so frustrating.”
- “It is K-Pop, IMO. But TBH, it looks like they’re trying to build foundation here and then go back to China to make big money. It’s obvious they’re all going to terminate their contracts and run off sooner or later.”
- “China likes taking everything away from Korea… So we’ll claim this one. Doesn’t matter if they’re all Chinese or Japanese. K-Pop is ours.”
- “We’re still saying Korean nationality is the only thing that constitutes K-Pop? C’mon, LOL. With that logic, ‘Golden’ would not be K-Pop. The artists are literally fictional characters.”
- “If they’re all Chinese, that makes it a C-Pop group, not K-Pop. How bizarre.”
Comparing AM8IC to groups like BLACKSWAN and XG, netizens remain fiercely divided between those who believe K-Pop is a genre and those who argue that the “K” in K-Pop needs to be exclusive to Koreans.
- “It’s not C-Pop because the group was produced by a Korean in a Korean style. That makes it K-Pop.”
- “It would be best to make it super clear. They’re a Chinese group produced in a K-Pop style.”
- “They held their showcase at MBC…?”
- “Lmao. I bet all of them will try to terminate their contracts and leave the group in a year.”
- “Wait, isn’t MBC’s mascot also named am-bic?”
- “It’s K-Pop if Koreans produce it Korean style. That’s how it has always been. Plus, it’d be more furiating to have them exploit the K-Pop system and then insist that they’re not K-Pop.”
- “I think it’s only fair we call it K-Pop if it’s a Korean person producing it… I hope they make a lot of money and pay a lot of taxes to the Korean government.”
Read more:
Are Non-Korean Idols Considered K-Pop? BTS Offers Their Opinion