Click for missing member AJ
U-KISS is a 5-member South Korean boy band who debuted in 2008. Their lineup. as of 2025, consists of:
- Soohyun, leader and main vocalist.
- Alexander, rapper and vocalist.
- Kiseop, main dancer and visual.
- Eli, rapper.
- Hoon, vocalist and maknae.
- AJ, full name Jaeseop, a rapper and English-speaker who is on indefinite hiatus due to studies and medical concerns.
Former members
- Kevin, main vocalist.
- Jun, vocalist, rapper, and maknae until his departure.
They experienced a lineup change in 2011, introducing new members AJ and Hoon and removing members Kibum and Alexander. In October of 2013, the group's maknae Dongho left the group. Jun was added in June 2014 as the new member. In 2018, Kevin left the group after his contract with NH Media expired. In 2019, Eli and Kiseop also left after their contract ended. In 2021, Jun and Hoon left the group and NH Media 2021 after their contract expired. In 2022, Soohyun, Kiseop, and Hoon signed with Tango Music, which revived the group. In 2023, Alexander and Eli returned to the group as they signed with Tango Music, making the current line-up of U-KISS being 5 members with special participation from AJ. However in December 2024, the group's contract with Tango Music expired, putting them into indefinite hiatus.
Despite being one of the older K-pop groups in the industry, they have yet to win any music show awards (until 2015 with Playground). Nevertheless, they have a devoted fanclub and are much more appreciated overseas due to their charms and catchy music.
U-KISS contains examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: Soohyun, Kiseop, Hoonmin, Jaeseop, Dongho... and Eli and Kevin. Former member Xander takes the cake, however, because his last name is 'Lee-Eusebio'.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: This describes Kevin, who has no tolerance for alcohol whatsoever.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: AJ, who is kitty-like to begin with but prone to grinning just before trouble happens in behind the scenes footage.
- Crossdresser: With the possible exception of Jun and former member Kim Kibum, all the members have dressed in drag at one point or another. Kevin is known for it.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Eli frequently comes across as a total dork, but is quite skilled in Taekwondo.
- Cuddle Bug: Kiseop and Kevin are both fairly touchy-feely, but Kevin in particular is known for his love of snuggling.
- Cunning Linguist: Early in their careers, part of their promotion involved boasting about having a large number of the multi-lingual members. Xander from the initial line-up takes the cake, though, speaking a total of seven languages.
- Disguised in Drag: Kevin has dressed in girls' clothes for many various reasons.
- Fanservice: The MV for 'Shut Up!!' is a particular example, featuring the members half naked in a locker room.
- Flanderization: In fanfiction there's Kevin acting like a girl, Kiseop being afraid of everything, Soohyun being a self-defeating, overworked emotional wreck, AJ obsessing over Kevin, Hoon being a cloudcuckoolander and Eli being an idiotic Jerkass who thinks with his dick.
- Functional Addict: Eli's addiction to Red Bull is well known among fans but it doesn't seem to have taken a toll on his health nor his activities. He's also known to drink. Some fans believe that he's more of an Addled Addict, however.
- Fun with Acronyms: The group's name stands for "Ubiquitous Korean International Super Stars".
- Fun with Foreign Languages: AJ apparently likes to eat 'chicken chest'
. - Gratuitous English: Many of their songs contain gratuitous English, however some of the phrases are a tribute, such as "Mordney Present," which can be heard in a number of their earlier titles.
- Green-Eyed Monster: AJ has been known to get rather jealous of others spending too much time, attention or affection on Kevin.
- The Hilarious Table: Commonly features in behind the scenes footage anytime the group is on the road, whether it's showcasing dinner or a really awkward breakfast where Hoon is lapping cereal out of his bowl like a cat.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Fans seem to enjoy spelling Kevin's name as 'Kebin', probably because this is how the other members tend to pronounce it. Also, nobody can seem to agree on how to spell Eli's Korean name, which ranges from 'Kyoungjae' to 'Kyeongjae' to 'Gyungjae'.
- The Leader: UKISS are an interesting example in that until the member change, they did not have a designated leader. Soohyun eventually became the designated leader, and he seems to take his position very seriously.
- Let's Duet: Applies to AJ and Kiseop's duet, "Obsession". Hoon and Soohyun also have a duet on their third album 'Collage'. Kevin has also performed a duet with Hoon in 'Take Me Away'.
- Mellow Fellow: Pleasant and generally mild, Kiseop is usually this. He does get excited occasionally, but that takes more effort than he generally seems to want to give.
- Older Than They Look: Kevin is sometimes mistaken for being younger than Dongho, who is a 1994er. Kevin is a 1991er.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Someday" encourages listeners that things won't always be perfect and that it's alright, because "eventually a day to smile will come".
- Put on a Bus: AJ is still member but is taking hiatus to focus on his studies and health.
- Secret Relationship: Eli revealed that he was married for a year to his girlfriend of five years and the two are expecting a child. This is impressive that he was able to hide a relationship for at least six years.
- Singer Namedrop: Their names are said in "Doradora" and "Believe".
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad:
- Dongho was the most well-known member of UKISS inside Korea, due to his young age and the fact that he has had the most exposure on TV.
- Kevin tends to do this for international fans due to his much more frequent appearances for media aimed towards English-audiences or otherwise.
- Stage Names: Hoon, whose full name is 'Hoonmin', and AJ, whose full name is 'Jaeseop'. AJ's stage name stands for "Adult Jockey" and was acquired during his stint with PARAN.
- Took a Level in Badass: Generally how Neverland appears, after their previous promoted song 0330. 0330 was a sad love song, a direct contrast to Neverland, which has complex choreography, and the majority of the promotions featured the members in all black outfits.