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MINGYU enters his next chapter, defined by growth, resilience and a life lived without regret
<figure id="attachment_114538" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114538" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114538" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-1FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114538" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; White men poplin shirt; green men half zip</figcaption></figure>
Ten years after his debut, MINGYU still retains a boyish shyness and curiosity. However, compared to when we last worked together last year, there is now a noticeable sense of calm assurance in the way he speaks. “Do what you want to do, and try what you haven’t done before.” This is his personal motto and also the lesson he has learned over the past decade. It may seem simple, but in reality, it demands immense courage to live by it.
<blockquote>Do what you want to do, and try what you haven’t done before</blockquote>
NEW INSIGHTS
“Recently, I’ve been trying to go to bed early and wake up early, and then start my day with exercise,” said MINGYU with a smile, describing a habit he has developed in recent years. No matter how packed his schedule is, he insists on sweating at least once a day, whether it’s lifting weights at the gym, running or simply going into the steam room and letting his body sweat naturally. He just doesn’t feel comfortable if he doesn’t sweat. “After sweating, I feel truly awake. That’s when the day really begins.”
Talking about wellness doesn’t seem like a topic for a young man in his twenties like him, but the love of sweating is, in itself, a symbol of youth. MINGYU now stands at the crossroads between youth and maturity, and at this crucial turning point in his life, he understands the importance of prioritizing his health—something truly admirable.
<figure id="attachment_114532" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114532" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114532" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-2FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114532" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; Light green men Revolution coat; beige men Revolution waistcoat; white men poplin shirt; black men canvas pants; Dior Roadie</figcaption></figure>
MINGYU admits that he used to not understand the importance of rest and he would burn through all his energy in a day, move from one job straight into the next and collapse into sleep once he got home. “Now I understand that going to bed early and waking up early, and having regular, structured rest is the real way to recharge. I used to think lying down was a waste of time, but now I see it as the best way to take care of myself.”
This shift has given him an unprecedented sense of ease and allowed him to discover a better way to handle pressure. After all, for an artist, the overwhelming workload isn’t the biggest challenge, the real test is how to deliver every task well despite being under immense pressure. When asked about stress, he mentioned a special coping mechanism: “When I’m stressed, I somehow keep having vivid dreams— lots of different dreams. Although this leads to poor sleep quality, the good thing is it helps me forget about the stress.” He then laughed and said that he was glad his body had such a protective mechanism, allowing him to reset his state of mind and keep moving forward.
DISCOVERING DIFFERENT SIDES OF HIMSELF
<figure id="attachment_114534" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114534" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114534" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-3FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114534" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; Brown men twill waistcoat; beige men canvas Caprice jeans; black men knot neckband</figcaption></figure>
The most recent challenge that put immense pressure on MINGYU was SEVENTEEN’s live performance at NPR Music Tiny Desk. “SEVENTEEN’s songs are already difficult and without choreography to rely on, I had to rely more on my voice and a live band&#8217;s performance, I wasn’t used to it at all,” he recalled, laughing as he described the tension during rehearsals, saying he almost started questioning everything. But the moment the performance ended, he felt incredibly exhilarated. “After finishing it, I thought it was so fun and it made me realize that I still have a lot to work on.” The experience became a mirror that fueled his fighting spirit. “I want people to recognize MINGYU’s voice the moment they hear it.” For him, music and performance are inseparable. He hopes to present the best work to everyone with the coolest stage and the most distinctive voice.
<blockquote>I want people to recognize MINGYU&#8217;s voice the moment they hear it</blockquote>
When people think of MINGYU, they often see him as SEVENTEEN’s visual center and his performances are particularly memorable. On a whim, I ask him, “If you hadn’t become a member of a boy group, what do you think you’d be doing now?” He thought for a moment and said, “I think I’d probably still be doing something related to creation. I’ve always been interested in things that require production, imagination and creativity, so I’d probably be doing design, writing or other forms of creative work.” He believes his curiosity would naturally lead him into a creative field. Perhaps, from another perspective, it’s precisely his love for creating that led him down the path of music and shaped who he is today.
CONSTANTLY EVOLVING
<figure id="attachment_114533" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114533" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114533" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-4FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114533" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; White men crewneck; beige men canvas Caprice jeans; Blue washed men knot neckband; Indior slipper; Dior men Book Tote</figcaption></figure>
If you’re familiar with MINGYU’s background, you’ll know that he has always loved trying new things. From a young age, he never thought about stopping. From elementary school until he became a trainee in his second year of middle school, he was a member of his school’s football team, playing as a striker. He once placed second in the national soccer tournament in elementary school. Just when he thought he might become a football player, he won an award in a model airplane flying competition—then went on to debut as a K-pop artist and gain international fame. All of it was guided by his curiosity.
Laughing, he says he’s currently in a “testing phase” of life—testing languages, instruments, different musical styles and testing every possible path. “If I suddenly had a lot of free time, I’d focus on learning languages first and then I’d want to learn an instrument.”
<figure id="attachment_114537" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114537" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114537" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-6FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114537" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; Grey men Bar jacket; black men knot neckband</figcaption></figure>
Since he loves trying new things, I asked him if he’d ever thought about leaving Korea and living in different places around the world. He gave an unexpected answer: “If possible, I don’t want to stay in one place forever. I want to live in different cities every six or twelve months.”
He starts calculating seriously. “I probably have about sixty years left to live, right? That means I could live in sixty different places.”
He says he’s endlessly curious about the unknown and believes the more experiences he has, the better “Instead of staying in one place for a long time, I’d rather travel the world—experience different environments, food and cultures.”
<figure id="attachment_114536" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114536" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114536" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="2560" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-240x300.jpg 240w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-768x960.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-5FILEminimizer-1568x1960.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114536" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; Blue men oxford canvas shirt; grey men V-neck sweater; light blue men Eldredge knot tie; navy men jog pants; Dior Roadie</figcaption></figure>
This mindset perfectly echoes his life motto: when you’re young, you should try more, venture more and feel more. Once you figure out what you truly love, then you can decide whether or not to stop. The future may change, but for now, he still wants to keep experimenting boldly.
That said, MINGYU is not someone who seeks change blindly. When faced with criticism, he has clear principles: “I will accept and improve upon reasonable criticism, but if it is a matter of differing values, as long as I’m not wrong, I will stick to my principles.”
<figure id="attachment_114535" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114535" style="width: 2560px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-114535" src="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-300x200.jpg 300w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://backend.daman.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MINGYU-7FILEminimizer-1568x1045.jpg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-114535" class="wp-caption-text">Dior &#8211; White men crewneck; beige men canvas Caprice jeans; blue washed men knot neckband; Indior slipper</figcaption></figure>
This ability to choose wisely what to change and what to protect is clear proof of his maturity. “I think my current life is successful to a certain extent, so the challenge next is to maintain this ‘success’ for a long time without wavering.”
Some things are harder to keep unchanged than to change, but MINGYU now understands clearly when to evolve—and when not to.
He believes that as long as he continues to live by his motto—do what you want to do, and try what you’ve never tried—life will naturally arrange the best path for him. As for which city comes next, or which song will truly belong to MINGYU, perhaps even he doesn’t know yet. But one thing is certain: he can’t wait to set off.
Photography Jooyoung Ahn 
Styling Paddy Chan 
Text Desmond Chan 
Hair Lim Jungho 
Makeup Son Gayoun 
Wardrobe Lim Jin 
Production Seraphic Studios 
All clothing and accessories: Dior Summer 26 menswear

SEVENTEEN’s MINGYU on Pressure, Performance and Maturity

Desmond Chan,

DIOR,

Jooyoung Ahn,

Lim Jin,

Lim Jungho,

Mingyu,

Paddy Chan,

Seraphic Studios,

Son Gayoun