Kim Sangwoo (김상우) is a South Korean idol under DIAMOND Entertainment. He is currently a member of QUANTUM after placing 4th in the survival show Search The Cosmos. He is also a former member of the boy group AMX.
Career[]
Early life[]
Kim Sangwoo was born on June 12, 1999 in Seoul, South Korea. He has a mother and father but no siblings, despite his wish to always have one. During his middle-high school career he expressed his want to be a K-pop idol. His family was hesitant but supportive in his endeavors and let him audition for numerous agencies, which he wasn’t accepted to.
Eventually in his junior year in high school, he decided to start training himself in rap instead of his vocals which helped him see his voice was suited for rapping. He stumbled upon an audition for MyDon Entertainment in 2019 and joined the agency as a trainee.
2020: AMX[]
In 2020, he joined AMX as the newest member after the departure of Rafael. He joined them for their first comeback after their hiatus in 2021 with “With.U” as the groups main rapper and lead dancer.
2022: Search The Cosmos, QUANTUM, Contract Termination[]
In 2022, he joined the survival show Search The Cosmos in order to form a new 7-member boy group under BE: ONE LAB. He auditioned with a trainee under his same agency, “Seo Jisang”. He consistently ranked in the TOP7, allowing him to place 4th in the finale, debuting in QUANTUM.
(scrollbox inspired by Riku ^^)
- Episode 1: Sangwoo and fellow MyDon Entertainment trainee Seo Jisang audition with “Etheria” by his group AMX. Sangwoo does okay, but Jisang beats him out, being ranked an A- compared to Sangwoo’s B+.
- Episode 2: The trainees train for their performance on ASD Nightmine, Sangwoo is re-evaluated to a B by the mentors, disheartening him as he wanted to go higher.
- Episode 3: The trainees, including Sangwoo, film themselves performing the signal song My Name. The videos are graded by the mentors, and then the votes to choose are revealed, and Seo Jisang is chosen. Sangwoo is a bit disappointed with himself as he can’t seem to impress enough to get past being average. The teams are chosen, and he is chosen to perform “It’s Ok” by EIZA.
- Episode 4: In this episode, they do extracurricular activities. They begin with testing their endurance, stamina and their muscular strength. Sangwoo isn’t able to finish all levels of the box jump making him a bit self-conscious and he started working out his body more often. They also did a Hidden Camera prank with “ghosts” coming out to scare the contestants. Sangwoo didn’t react scared like his peers and politely bowed to the ghosts.
- Episode 5: They announce the next performances, and Sangwoo is forced to take a vocal performance, as most of the high ranking trainees chose the ones he was suited for. He performs Lovelyz’s When We Were Us and does poorly, not being able to show his true colors with a soft performance. Visibly during the performance he was a bit uncomfortable and After the performance he pushed the cameras away and silently cried at how bad he did.
- Episode 6: Sangwoo decides to choose the “Magnolia” team for the Concept Evaluation, feeling he should be eliminated due to his lack of skill in his eyes.
- Episode 8: They finally perform Magnolia, and Sangwoo is still seen scolding himself about his poor performances. He was able to release his emotions during the performance, wowing the audience and gaining 184 votes before the benefits. He placed 1st overall, and cried tears of joy after seeing people actually appreciated him.
- Episode 9: They have a field day, and Sangwoo severely drops to 9th, allowing him to survive but with 8 positions lost. He feels bad in the beginning, but eventually grows past it knowing he can and will do better.
- Episode 10: The finale arrives and the trainees perform the final songs. The group name is announced as “QUANTUM” and Sangwoo was almost sure he wouldn’t debut. Eventually it got to 4th place, and Espada commented that this person had a lot of votes and he was surprised. It was Sangwoo. When he was announced he thanked his family, and all of the voters for how grateful for debuting. He explained the struggle he had throughout the show, unable to accept himself, and how now he was overjoyed and felt he had reached his full potential.
Rankings[]
- Episode 1: 6th
- Episode 2: 7th
- Episode 3: 7th
- Episode 4: N/A
- Episode 5: N/A
- Episode 6: 7th
- Episode 7: 7th
- Episode 8: 1st
- Episode 9: 9th
- Finale: 4th
On May 27th, CNA Entertainment announced they would be terminating the contract of Kim Sangwoo for an undisclosed contract violation. Later, he made a statement stating “Imagine you’re going about your day, YOUR BIRTHDAY, and then you find out that your best friend just ruined your life.” He also used the hashtag #AMX, leading fans to believe he was a bully in the group, or something happened between him and the former members. He went on hiatus after former member Hyunbok accused Sangwoo of bullying the other members on June 4th, 2022.
He returned to the group on July 25th after clearing his name and proving Hyunbok had fabricated the information for attention.
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Search The Cosmos | XS | Contestant (Finished in 4th place) | Survival Show |
| QUANTUM View | YouTube | Cast member | Pre-debut reality show | |
| Highlight Fiesta | KCC2 | Performer | Musical Festival |
Relationships[]
Yoon Jihan[]
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Jihan and Sangwoo both wearing cat ears at a fanmeeting
Sangwoo in the show really looked up to Jihan as a leader throughout the show. He loved Jihan’s vocals and made sure to compliment him on them, as he struggled with his own vocals and was wowed by actually good voices. Although he respects Jihan as his hyung, Jihan frequently makes jokes about Jihan’s height, and how much it contrasts with his although he is older. When asked about Jihan’s leadership skills as a sub-leader, he said “He mostly does what Isamu says, but he gives real criticism and has helped me improve my skills a lot before debut! He’s a very friendly person to go too when you’re having a problem and I really respect his… respectfulness!”
Momoi Masayuki[]
Sangwoo: Masayuki looks like such a baby when he’s sleeping, I’m getting a cuteness overload TT
Masayuki is like a child to Sangwoo, and he bonds a lot with the younger. Sangwoo on the show was seen frequently bonding with Masayuki as he was put in the “Magnolia” team in the concept battle with him. Sangwoo admires Masayuki’s hardworking attitude and bonded with him with their shared struggles in the show. He loves Masayuki’s positivity and he drives Sangwoo to be his best. Masayuki is one of Sangwoo’s support systems and helps him up whenever he feels he needs help.
Takanashi Isamu[]
Sangwoo had previously watched some dramas Isamu starred in, and wanted to get to know him on a personal level, not just with acting. He bonds with Isamu on their shared chill attitude, and Isamu, along with Masayuki, were the ones who comforted him when Sangwoo dropped in ranks and fell into a sadness. They are both good communicators, and never disagreed on much. Sangwoo treats Isamu as his senior, and respects him greatly for his great leadership skills and how he can get everyone on track when needed.
Trivia[]
- He is extremely flexible, so he is able to pull off intense dance moves that require this flexibility.
- He treats his members as his brothers, as he’s always wanted to care for someone.
- He is the tallest member, being 6 feet tall, in both QUANTUM and AMX, and is known to tower over his members.
- In QUANTUM he shares a dorm with Hwang Yuwon and Momoi Masayuki.
- Sangwoo was outed by Hyunbok as being aroace.