Click-B's Yoo Ho-seok addresses 'Wall Street heir' rumors

Yoo Ho-seok, a member of the first-generation idol group Click-B, has personally revealed the truth behind the so-called 'chaebol second-generation' and 'Wall Street heir' rumors that have followed him since his debut. He explained that these rumors were created when certain facts regarding his life studying abroad and his parents residing in the United States were exaggerated and distorted.

Yoo Ho-seok and Oh Jong-hyeok appeared on the YouTube channel 'Donghaemul and Baekdu Eunhyeok' on the 31st, where they shared stories about Click-B's debut, anecdotes from their heyday, and their lives following their hiatus.

In particular, the 'chaebol second-generation rumors' that have long trailed Yoo drew significant attention. After Click-B's activities, Yoo changed his stage name to EVAN and promoted as a solo singer, during which time rumors such as "Isn't he a chaebol second-generation?" and "He is a Wall Street heir" became major topics of conversation among the entertainment industry and fans.

When the host brought up these stories, Yoo first acknowledged the facts, stating, "It is true that my parents resided in the United States." However, that did not necessarily mean he was from a chaebol family.

He explained that after leaving the team during Click-B's peak, he went to study abroad, and at that time, he had visited the home of the president of his father's company while staying in the United States. Yoo said, "It seems that as that fact was misconstrued, stories about being a chaebol second-generation or a Wall Street heir were attached to me."

This moment reveals the process by which unverified rumors in the entertainment industry are expanded and reproduced. In particular, the late 1990s to early 2000s was not an era where one could check a star's daily life in real-time through SNS and official platforms as they can today. Information that is difficult to verify, such as studying abroad, family occupations, or economic backgrounds, was easily exaggerated through speculation and word-of-mouth within fandoms.

In Yoo's case, it appears that the unverified stories were accepted as more plausible due to the combination of his actual background—having parents living in the US and studying abroad—with his exceptional looks and mysterious image at the time.

Yoo also received attention from the entertainment industry even before Click-B was formed. He revealed that before debuting with Click-B at DSP Media alongside Oh Jong-hyeok, he was first cast by an official from SM Entertainment. The two entered the entertainment industry in earnest after catching the eye of a casting professional who discovered many stars at the time.

Yoo described the casting professional as the "Midas touch of casting," saying, "They found truly many celebrities."

In the atmosphere of the late 1990s, when entertainment agencies discovered new faces through street casting and auditions, Click-B was also born through such a system.

Click-B, who debuted in 1999, drew attention for its unique color that combined band and idol elements in the first-generation idol market represented by H.O.T., Sechs Kies, and Shinhwa. In particular, the members' looks and individuality served as important drivers for forming a fandom.

During the broadcast, Click-B's 'flower boy idol' image from their heyday was also recalled. Super Junior's Eunhyuk said, "There were really many handsome members in Click-B," citing Oh Jong-hyeok, Kim Sang-hyuk, and Yoo as representative visual combinations of that time.

Kim Sang-hyuk's long hair, wolf cut, and track jacket style were also mentioned as elements that left a strong impression on fans at the time. Unlike today, where idol fashion and hairstyles spread rapidly through SNS, music programs, magazines, and fan clubs were the core media for distributing new styles back then. This is the background of how the looks and fashion of Click-B members were consumed like a cultural phenomenon.

Yoo later left Click-B to study abroad in the United States and continued his activities as a solo singer under the name EVAN. As the gap between his group activities and solo activities grew longer, public curiosity about his personal background increased, and it is interpreted that the unverified image of being a 'chaebol second-generation' expanded further during this process.

However, what was confirmed through Yoo's explanation on this day was not the life of a grand chaebol heir, but the life of a young man who studied abroad while having parents residing in the United States. A part of his actual experience was reconstructed into a completely different narrative by combining with the public's imagination.

Yoo currently places weight not only on his entertainment activities but also on his daily life with his family. He married a non-celebrity who is seven years younger in 2019 and has two daughters. He recently shared that he has been living a quiet life focused on parenting, noting, "I have 6-year-old and 4-year-old children."

The sight of a star who was known as a 'flower boy idol' over 20 years ago now becoming a father of two and looking back at his past with a smile symbolically shows the passage of time for first-generation idol culture. At the same time, it serves as an example of how easily rumors regarding a celebrity's private life, which once piqued public curiosity, can solidify into a narrative that differs from the truth.

Through this broadcast, Yoo directly cleared away the long-standing label of 'chaebol second-generation,' calmly explaining his actual life rather than a highly polished past. For fans who remember Click-B's heyday, his explanation serves as more than just a correction of rumors; it is an opportunity to look back at the culture and memories surrounding first-generation idols.