If you’re reading this, you’ve probably found yourself starting to like the K-Pop group P1Harmony and want to learn more about the group’s leader Keeho. Or maybe you just want to know more about the idol with one of the most controversial pasts in the K-Pop industry — either way, you’ve come to the right place.
Keeho is P1Harmony’s leader and a vocalist in the group (while K-Pop groups often specify whether a member is a lead, main, or sub-vocalist, P1Harmony does not). Keeho was born on Sep. 27, 2001, in Toronto, Canada, and attended an art school there before he moved to Korea to be a trainee. Like many aspiring K-Pop idols, he loved music from a young age and found himself especially drawn to R&B singers like Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo (via DIVE Studios). This influence comes through in his soulful vocals; Keeho frequently showcases his vocal prowess by performing jazzy vocal arrangements of P1Harmony songs along with covers of popular songs.
We’ve established that Keeho’s a great singer and performer and, since we have eyes, we can see he’s a good-looking dude. Add in the fact he can speak fluent English and it’s easy to see why FNC Entertainment was eager to place him in a K-Pop group. However, as soon as his company announced him as the first member of P1Harmony, the internet was up in arms about his prospective debut.
When his picture was released ahead of his 2020 debut, some Twitter/X users realized he looked familiar. It didn’t take long for K-Pop stan Twitter to recognize Keeho as one of their own, a user who had gone by the handle @busanwings. And almost just as quickly, they started accusing him of racism, harassment, and generally thirsty “stan Twitter” behavior (this Reddit thread sums up the entire event nicely). The allegations vary in intensity and in validity, but it soon became apparent this problem was big enough for FNC Entertainment to step in.
Sure enough, FNC Entertainment made a statement denying racism allegations while confirming the account was technically Keeho’s but specified that because he shared passwords with his online mutuals, the offending posts weren’t made by him. The company’s response to the backlash, especially the part where it basically says Keeho was racially discriminated against in Canada so he knows better than to be racist toward others, went over as poorly as you’d expect. The issue continued to grow until Keeho came forward to address the same. In his statement, Keeho accepted responsibility for letting others make posts on his account and for allowing said posts to stay up, thus appearing to implicitly agree with their poor takes.
Despite the chaos, Keeho did debut with the rest of his P1Harmony members in late 2020 and continues to promote with the group. To this day, some of his detractors believe he was the one who made the offending posts and that he shouldn’t be a K-Pop idol due to his prior behavior. Others believe he should be given the benefit of the doubt as he was only 14 when he was on stan Twitter and people can change.
Based on just appearances, Keeho seems to be a well-spoken, funny guy and is one of the few idols to speak out against the rampant cultural appropriation in the world of K-Pop (via the Zach Sang Show). Thus, at the end of the day, it is ultimately up to you to choose whether you want to support Keeho and his group or not.
