While K-Pop may be based in Korea, it’s become more open to non-Korean trainees and idols over the years, and it’s great to see such diverse artists! While some of the idols on this list are of Korean ethnicity, they were all born and grew up at least partially in another country, which makes it even more impressive that they were able to break into the K-Pop industry and be successful. Here are the 35 most popular artists not born in Korea, as based on a poll on Ranker.com.
35. Kun (NCT)
34. Krystal (f(x))
33. Henry Lau
32. Jay Park
31. Tiffany (Girls’ Generation)
30. Jessi
29. Kris (former EXO)
28. Samuel Kim
27. Luhan (former EXO)
26. Jae (DAY6)
25. Jun (SEVENTEEN)
24. Johnny (NCT)
23. The8 (SEVENTEEN)
22. Vernon (SEVENTEEN)
21. Joshua (SEVENTEEN)
20. Chenle (NCT)
19. Amber (f(x))
18. Bang Chan (Stray Kids)
17. Huening Kai (TXT)
16. WinWin (NCT)
15. Yuta (NCT)
14. Lay (EXO)
13. Ten (NCT)
12. Mark (NCT)
11. Rose (BLACKPINK)
10. Lucas (NCT)
9. Sana (TWICE)
8. Momo (TWICE)
7. Felix (Stray Kids)
6. Mina (TWICE)
5. Tzuyu (TWICE)
4. Mark (GOT7)
3. BamBam (GOT7)
2. Jackson (GOT7)
1. Lisa (BLACKPINK)
Source: Poll