DAY6’s Young K laid it all out, from his trainee years to his royalty checks, serving up another dose of the real story.
On December 1, the web variety show Jjanhan-hyung featured Young K and Dowoon of DAY6, who spoke candidly about the years they spent sizing each other up and the days they had to grit their teeth and endure.
A wide gap once stood between them. Young K trained for six years, while Dowoon joined the band just three months after coming on board. “It took a long time to close that gap,” Young K recalled. Dowoon added with a laugh, “He was the efficient type; I was way too emotional. But thanks to that process, we can be totally open with each other now.”
The conversation naturally turned to role models. Dowoon surprised everyone by naming Kim Jong-min as his, saying, “I loved how he kept smiling no matter what.” But after filming with him, he admitted, “It’s not like he smiles all the time. There are tough days too,” which cracked everyone up. Host Shin Dong-yeop quipped, “Everyone’s different on and off camera. People are people.”
Young K’s role model is G-DRAGON, leader of BIGBANG. “I came back to Korea and became a trainee because of G-DRAGON,” he said, before confessing the limit he quickly felt. “That’s a realm you can’t reach with effort alone. I told my dad more than once that maybe being a singer wasn’t my path and that I should quit.”
His father held him back, saying, “You gave up studying abroad to come here. Make the call when you have a different, concrete goal.” Young K then said, “I want to be a singer-songwriter,” and his dad encouraged him: “Then give it a little more time.”
That choice reshaped his survival strategy. In an environment where debuting was impossible without strong songs, he armed himself with songwriting and composing. He even asked collaborators to “at least put my name on the credit,” willing to win by volume and endure. The result: 216 songs registered with the Korea Music Copyright Association.
Asked about royalties, Young K smiled modestly. “In terms of the sheer number of songs, I’ve passed G-DRAGON. The payout is nowhere near comparable, though,” he said. He made it clear that the massive output wasn’t just talent — it was survival. Before wrapping, he added, “If I hadn’t been a songwriter, I couldn’t even have debuted. The company also pushed us to build our own sound.”