On the November 12th broadcast of MBC FM4U’s “Kim Shinyoung’s Hope Song at Noon”, Seungyoon appeared as a guest to promote his second full-length solo album, PAGE 2.
Host Kim Shinyoung welcomed him back, saying, “It’s been three years and three months since your last visit. You were discharged from the military at the end of last year, right?” to which Seungyoon received applause from the studio.
Laughing, Seungyoon said, “It hasn’t even been a year since I was discharged. I still dream about the army sometimes — people keep teasing me for it.”
The host also mentioned his noticeably fitter appearance, and Seungyoon admitted, “I actually gained over 10kg in the army because I developed healthy eating habits. After getting out, I lost the weight steadily through diet and exercise — nothing extreme.”
He added that he trained under YG’s in-house fitness coach, known affectionately as “Master Hwang.” Kim Shinyoung laughed, saying, “Whenever I see singers running in that gym, I know a comeback must be coming soon!”
The DJ later mentioned that soldiers often find “certain people or things that give them strength” during service, Seungyoon laughed and admitted,
“That’s true. I didn’t want to be that kind of person, but it couldn’t be helped.”
He continued,
“Of course, I didn’t make things hard for anyone, but since I’m from YG Entertainment, you know how it is — if you don’t show off your labelmates, people won’t let it slide. I didn’t make up any weird stories, but I did say things like, ‘I know them, we’re close,’ and dropped names like BLACKPINK and BABYMONSTER.
Honestly, I didn’t mention the male artists — it just didn’t have the same effect,” he joked. “So I ended up promoting 2NE1, BLACKPINK, and BABYMONSTER instead.”
When DJ Shinyoung teased, “So did you have their photos stuck up in your locker too?”, Seungyoon replied,
“Sometimes people would ask for posters, and I’d say, ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ but… I never actually brought them any,”
drawing laughter in the studio.
Seungyoon enlisted in June 2023 and completed his 18-month service before being discharged on December 19, 2024. He served actively in the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, where he received an Exemplary Trainee Award in boot camp and was later recognized as a “Special-Class Warrior”, a title given quarterly to soldiers with outstanding combat performance.
When DJ Kim Shinyoung asked how it felt to perform on a music show again after 3 years and 8 months, Kang Seungyoon replied,
“My first stage back was a pre-recording. I went early in the morning, and it really felt the same — the building, the scenery, everything. It brought back so many memories of the years I used to walk that same path.”
He continued,
“I thought I’d be meeting a lot of younger artists from a new generation, but it turned out U-Know Yunho hyung was there at the same time. It ended up being just the two of us recording during that time slot. It actually made me feel comfortable — I could greet him like, ‘Hello, hyung,’ just like in my rookie days. When you go as a senior artist, it sometimes feels more burdensome, but thanks to Yunho hyung being there, I was able to relax. Watching his stage, I just thought, ‘As expected — he’s amazing.’”
Moving to the topic of releasing new music with his 2nd full album PAGE 2 which features collaborations with Red Velvet’s Seulgi and SECHSKIES’ Eun Jiwon, Kang Seungyoon share some behind stories.
Talking about “Love Play (Feat. Seulgi),” track 3 on the album, he said,
“I’d actually been keeping this song for a while. I didn’t want it to be used up too quickly, so I saved it until now. When I decided to include it on this album, I wanted to give it a twist, something impactful. I told the producer I was working with, ‘What if we turn it into a male-female duet?’ and he liked the idea. So, we completely rewrote the second verse with a female melody. I even recorded it all in falsetto myself.”
When asked how he decided on Seulgi, he replied,
“As I was imagining the tone, I just thought, ‘This has to be Kang Seulgi,’ and immediately reached out to her.”
Kim Shinyoung praised the collaboration, saying, “That’s an unexpected pairing, but such a brilliant move — a divine choice.”
As for track 6, “Pick You Up (Feat. Eun Jiwon),” Eun Jiwon took part as a featuring artist.
Kang Seungyoon explained,
“The reason I picked Jiwon hyung is because, while I was writing the second verse, I had him in mind. To me, Jiwon hyung feels like a hero. The song itself starts from the idea of wanting to go pick up and comfort fans who might be struggling — like a hero coming to get them. Jiwon hyung embodies that image for me. Even when I was writing the guide, I sang it while imagining how he would deliver it — thinking, ‘This is how Jiwon hyung would rap this part.’”
Full Episode (Raw)
Cuts
‘ME (美)’ Live
Photos/SNS Updates
WLSY 