WOODZ is opening up about a deeply personal loss.
Appearing on the March 11th episode of the tvN talk show You Quiz on the Block, the singer reflected on the difficult years early in his career, including the death of his father when he was 21.
WOODZ debuted at 19 as a member of the Korea-China project group UNIQ after training under YG Entertainment. But just two years later, the group’s activities abruptly stopped after restrictions prevented Korean members from promoting in China.
“I had friends who were doing really well, and everyone knew their names—but nobody knew mine, ” he said. “When people talked about my friends’ parents, they’d say ‘so-and-so’s mom.’ But no one knew my mom. That was really hard.”
Around the same time, he received devastating news about his father. “One day my mom called me,” WOODZ recalled. “Before I even answered, I had a strange feeling. As soon as she said, ‘Seung Yeon, don’t be shocked when you hear this,’ I knew something was wrong.”
His parents had divorced when he was in elementary school, and his father had been living in the Philippines. “I still don’t really know the cause of my father’s death. He had been living in the Philippines, so we had him cremated there and brought his remains back to Korea,” he said.
WOODZ said the moment felt surreal. “I kept thinking, ‘How can someone who was such a big presence fit into this small urn?'” he added. “When you say goodbye at the temple, you call the person’s name three times as a final farewell to this world. That’s when it finally felt real.”
After “Drowning” recently surged in popularity, WOODZ said he visited his father’s grave. “Sometimes a lot of white butterflies gather around me,” he shared. “I looked it up and learned about something called ‘butterfly sleep,’ which is said to mean someone who has passed away is letting you know they’re nearby.”
He added emotionally, “I think my father might be telling me he’s always by my side.”
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