The K-pop group made its first appearance at the L.A. convention over the weekend since it took a hiatus 10 years ago
It was 2015 when Minhyuk of K-pop powerhouse group Monsta X first appeared at the KCON mainstage in L.A. Back then, baby-faced and bleached blond, he exhibited plenty of cheeky confidence.
Clad in black and white, he sported shorts emblazoned with the phrase “knock, knock,” a nod to the group’s hard-hitting debut single “Trespass.” It was the first time the rookie, only 21, was meeting his American fans onstage at what was then known as Staples Center, now Crypto.com arena.
Only three months after their debut, the then-seven-member outfit (singer Wonho amicably departed in 2019) already had fans holding up signs for them in the crowd.
Ten years later, Minhyuk, now 31 and only slightly less baby-faced, sits in a conference room at the Mondrian Hotel, where the group has a day lined up of press activities surrounding their return to KCON LA 2025, only now as headliners on Night 2 of the three-day-long festival last weekend of all things trendy in Korean pop culture.
Clad in a neutral-toned pinstripe collared shirt, he, along with his four bandmates, could be young executives at a business casual lunch. Only their toned physiques and rapper Joohoney’s punchy yellow hair give any signal of their pop star status.
Although its the start of a long day, you can tell they are enjoying being with each other, back in the swing of things . Typically quiet, dancer-singer Shownu quipped “Invest in Bitcoin!” to a question on what he would tell his debut self, and the members sometimes chatted among themselves a bit before who deciding who would answer.
While their return to KCON marked the first U.S. appearance of the group reunited after an extended break, their Connect X concert in Seoul a few weeks ago was their first time performing as a group in two years. “I was nervous,” Minhyuk says of those first moments back. “But when I was on the stage, I felt so alive.”
Last month, they also made their first appearance at Waterbomb, South Korea’s signature summer music festival, where artists and audience alike get soaked and where Shownu went viral as he tore off his white T-shirt to reveal an impressively muscular torso.
“Everybody, all the members, care about their health and body right now, he says. We always try to keep fit and healthy.”
Memes and fan-cams aside, their focus on health rings poignant as the sixth member I.M, was unable to join the group this time due to a back injury. As the band’s most fluent English speaker, the rapper, lyricist and producer’s acerbic wit helped ground the group’s sound, and his team deeply feels his absence.
Monsta X represents a vanguard of artists whose strong group dynamics strain beyond the milestone that used to be a breaking point for past K-pop groups: South Korea’s mandatory military service.
