18/07/2024
Famous KPOP friend groups
K-pop idols form friendships not only within their own groups but also across different groups in the industry. They often come together, forming larger circles of friends. These bonds develop through various means, such as training together as trainees, collaborating on joint stages or challenges, or meeting through mutual friends. How are these bonds formed? Let’s take a closer look at these K-pop idol friendships.
Table of Contents
KPOP friend groups united by Age
In the world of K-pop, there are groups of friends who are the same age. In Korea, Making friends, even with just a one-year difference, can be tough. Although things are slowly changing, there remains a clear distinction between older and younger siblings in Korea. That’s why friendships with peers of the same age are particularly special. Idols especially treasure these same-age friendships and often form groups based on this bond.
97-liners (Boys)
Hottest idol-line in the K-pop scene now, the ’97 -liners consists of BTS’s Jungkook, ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo, NCT’s Jaehyun, GOT7’s Yugyeom and BamBam, Stray Kids’s Bang Chan, SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu and DK. These male idols were all born in 1997.
Their friendship started when:
- Jungkook and Yugyeom bonded during a joint stage performance between BTS and GOT7 at the 2015 MAMA Awards in Hong Kong.
- Later, in December 2016, Mingyu, BamBam, DK, and The8 became friends through a joint stage performance at the KBS Gayo Daejun for the ’97-liners.
- Jaehyun joined their ’97-liners group chat in January 2017.
- In June 2018, Mingyu and Eunwoo’s friendship photo was posted, and the photo became famous.
This timeline shows that their friendship has been building for a long time. Although they don’t always gather all together, they regularly meet in small groups. They often visit famous BBQ restaurants in Seoul and leave autographs side by side.
Recently, Yugyeom, Mingyu, Jaehyun, and BamBam met up at Yugyeom’s album listening party.
With these idol-inspired pieces you can stylishly meet friends, just like the ’97-liners:
97-liners(Girls)
BLACKPINK’s Lisa, (G)I-DLE’s Minnie, and TWICE’s Jihyo and Mina are also friends born in 1997. This is how their friendship started:
- Jihyo and Lisa became friends early in their careers since they were the same age.
- Jihyo and Mina are in the same group.
- Lisa and Minnie, both from Thailand and the same age, naturally became friends, and so all of them became close.
They still keep in touch and meet up when they can.
On June 22, 2022, Minnie uploaded a photo to her Instagram account of her, Lisa, Jihyo, and Mina together in a photo booth like normal friends in Korea.
These are ways to dress casually when taking photos with friends:
98-liners
ASTRO’s Moonbin, SEVENTEEN’s Seungkwan, GFRIEND’s SinB and Umji, UngJae(Hello Gloom), and a former member of THE ARK, UNI.T’s Suji call themselves “9879”. In 9879, 7 and 9, pronounced as “chil” and “gu” each in Korean, combine to form “chilgu”. It is similar in pronunciation to “Chingu”, which means friends in English. Therefore, they are Chingu born in ’98.
They all became close friends during their early debut days:
- GFRIEND and The Ark shared the same choreographer, who encouraged them to get along. This led to note exchanges and a friendship between Suji, Umji, and SinB.
- Suji became friends with Seungkwan and Moonbin as their schedules for idol music shows overlapped.
- SinB and Moonbin had been friends since their childhood acting days. The members of ASTRO and SEVENTEEN were also close, which naturally led to the six of them hanging out together.
These friends not only shared private gatherings but also appeared on broadcasts together:
- SinB, Moonbin, Seungkwan, and Umji appeared together on the YouTube channel “MMTG” in 2022.
- SinB and Umji also appeared as guests on a congratulatory V Live broadcast when Suji debuted with UNI.T.
- On January 20, 2021, all the members of the ’98-liners’ gathered for Umji’s radio show “Aven-girls,” where she served as the host.
- In October 2023, Suji became the first among the ’98-liners’ to get married. 9879 attended her wedding on October 7.
- On April 27, 2024, SinB, Umji, Ungjae, and Suji attended SEVENTEEN’s encore concert.
- Sadly, On April 19, 2023, Moonbin tragically passed away at the age of 25.
- Seungkwan, Woongjae, Sinbi, and Umji visited the memorial space set up by Fantagio and left messages. Each of them expressed deep sorrow for Moonbin in their own way, uniting with fans in mourning together.
99-liners
Stray Kids’s Changbin, TXT’s Yeonjun, Ateez’s Wooyoung, Yeosang and San, SEVENTEEN’s Dino, all born in 1999, are close friends in the 4th generation. They often participate in SNS challenges together. When they meet at music broadcasts or other schedules, they warmly greet each other, celebrating each other’s music show wins.
How did they become close:
- Yeonjun, Wooyoung, and Yeosang have grown close during their time at Big Hit Entertainment. Also at that time, Yeonjun was friends with Ateez’s San, even sharing lunches together during high school. However, Wooyoung, Yeosang and San weren’t in the same group at that time like now, so they didn’t know each other well.
- Wooyoung and Changbin became close through mutual friends.
- Dino and Yeonjun, being from the same company and sharing a common interest in dance, also became close. They also take a challenge video together. (Watch Yeonjun and Dino’s challenge video)
How about dressing like them when they’re shooting an SNS challenge video?
KPOP Foreign line
K-pop groups have many non-korean members. These foreign members share their struggles and rely on each other while training in a foreign country. Even after their debut, they continue to support and rely on each other. They often gather during holidays and cheer each other on. Here are some famous foreign KPOP idol friends.
Thai-liners
The K-pop Thai-liners consist of Blackpink’s Lisa, GOT7’s BamBam, (G)-I-DLE’s Minnie, NCT’s Ten, and SORN, a former member of CLC. They are known as all-rounders in their groups. Moreover, they all have the common experience of coming to Korea from Thailand at a young age to pursue their idol dreams.
So, they rely on each other and comfort each other through the loneliness of living in a foreign country. They said they have a group chat where they update each other on their news.
They are also involved in business together.
- They participate in challenges together or share the same stage.
- Lisa and BamBam, who enjoy nationwide popularity in Thailand, have also filmed advertisements together.
- BamBam and Minnie got to know each other through Lisa’s introduction, as revealed on BamBam’s YouTube content, “Bam’s Diary.“
- At Lisa’s 27th birthday party, Minnie, and SORN gathered to celebrate her birthday.
Here’s how you can dress as flashy as their stage costumes:
China-Taiwan liners
In many K-pop groups, there are members from China and Taiwan. IDLE Yuqi and Shuhua (from Taiwan), TWICE Tzuyu (from Taiwan), Elkie a former member of ClC, Dreamcatcher Handong, Kep1er Xiaoting, and Everglow Yiren are known to share a bond:
- On December 10, 2022, Xiaoting shared pictures of her meeting with Tzuyu, Shuhua, and Handong on social media.
- Shuhua posted photos on Instagram showing her with Tzuyu, Xiaoting, and Handong on April 2, 2023.
- Shuhua, Tzuyu, and Elkie spent Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) together in 2019.
- Yuqi, Shuhua, Tzuyu, Handong, Yiren, and Xiaoting met up and left their signatures together on April 3, 2023.
- They are also known to study Korean together.
- Xiaoting and Handong filmed the challenge for Kepler’s song ‘Up!’ together. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tHWcB_czWDc
These are skirt fashion that you can wear like them:
Other kpop friend groups
Friendship Paddings
Jimin, Taemin, Kai, Ha Sungwoon, Timoteo and their non-idol friend Kwon Ho formed a friend group called “Friendship Paddings.” They enjoyed doing things together like a crew. They decided to attach a logo they designed together, resembling a hand, onto their paddings, hence the name “Friendship Paddings” was created.
As for how they became close, initially:
- Timoteo and Sungwoon are in the same group “Hotshot,” and they are close friends.
- Timoteo, being an SM trainee, was friendly with Kai and Taemin.
- Moreover, when Sungwoon introduced his friend Jimin from BTS, they all became close.
This is how you can dress like the Friendship Paddings, as if it’s a magazine photoshoot.
***
In the end, the strong bonds and friendships among K-pop idols give us heartwarming stories and show unity beyond group boundaries. Through shared trainee experiences, joint performances, or mutual friendships, these idols demonstrate the power of camaraderie. As fans, we can draw inspiration from their relationships and bring the same spirit of support into our own lives. Let these stories remind us that, like these idols, we too can find strength and joy in our connections. May you also find such warm and supportive friends, just like the ones in these stories.
