RIIZE Anton's Dad Has Another Son Heading Into K-Pop

South Korea has a new K-pop dynasty in the making — and it all starts with a 90s icon who once tried to stop it from happening.

On May 7, 2026, legendary Korean singers Yoon Sang, Lee Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyun-chul reunited on KBS 2TV's variety program Okttapbang's Problem Children (옥탑방의 문제아들), catching fans both old and new completely off guard. While their appearance alone was enough to send nostalgia-soaked viewers into a frenzy, it was Yoon Sang's bombshell revelation that truly dominated the conversation: his second son is now a K-pop trainee — and RIIZE's Anton is not exactly thrilled about it.

Three Decades of Friendship, One Stage at a Time

To the generation who grew up in 1990s Korea, the names Yoon Sang, Lee Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyun-chul need no introduction. The three artists — affectionately nicknamed the "Original Vocal Boyfriend Trio" (원조 고막 남친 3인방) — dominated the pop charts with smooth romantic ballads that defined an entire era of Korean music.

Their friendship, it turns out, stretches back just as far as their careers. The three first met on the television program Kim Hye-soo's Plus You, later appearing together on the variety show Ya Han Bam-e. What started as a professional connection quickly deepened into something far more lasting.

"In our twenties, we each tried to outshine one another," Lee Hyun-woo admitted on the show, laughing. "But as we've gotten older, we've just become more relaxed around each other."

Kim Hyun-chul added with characteristic bluntness: "When the three of us have a meeting, it's over in ten minutes. We never disagree." Yoon Sang, for his part, could not resist a gentle jab — revealing that Kim Hyun-chul speaks to him without honorifics, a mild breach of Korean social etiquette that clearly still amuses him decades later.

That easy camaraderie will be on full display this month when the trio returns to the concert stage. Their 2026 Triple Concert "A Breeze of Memory" — which opened with a Seoul performance on May 9 at the World K-pop Center in Jung-gu — marks another chapter in a touring tradition that has become an annual reunion. Across multiple South Korean cities, the three artists will perform under the concept of "a sweet and romantic May concert," evoking first love and spring nostalgia in equal measure.

The K-Pop Father Who Almost Said No

For younger fans tuning in, Yoon Sang is perhaps best known today not for his own catalog but as the father of Anton, the charismatic maknae of SM Entertainment's fourth-generation boy group RIIZE. But that story did not begin as a smooth handoff from one musical generation to the next.

On the show, Yoon Sang opened up about the moment he first learned his son wanted to become a K-pop idol. His initial response? Skepticism. "There was no guarantee he would even debut," Yoon Sang recalled. Anton had spent ten years training as a competitive swimmer — a disciplined, structured path that seemed to offer real security. Then COVID-19 arrived, swimming facilities closed, and a teenager who had dedicated years to the pool suddenly found himself at a crossroads.

Rather than lobbying his father with words, Anton made his case the only way that truly worked: he composed his own song and sent it to Yoon Sang. The music spoke for itself. When he heard what his son had created, Yoon Sang realized this might genuinely be Anton's calling — and he gave his blessing for Anton to return to Korea and begin the demanding process of idol training.

The risk paid off dramatically. Anton debuted with RIIZE in 2023 and the group quickly rose to become one of K-pop's most closely watched fourth-generation acts. The generational handshake between father and son reached its most visible peak at the 2023 MBC Gayo Daejejeon year-end festival, where Anton and Yoon Sang shared a stage, performing Yoon Sang's iconic 1996 hit "Running" in a duet that moved viewers across generations.

Among RIIZE's fanbase, Yoon Sang has quietly become a beloved presence. Fans have taken to calling him "Yoon-beo-ji" (윤버지) — blending his name with the Korean word for father — and his visible pride in Anton's career has won over even those who came to him as a complete stranger. On the May 7 broadcast, he added another moment for the scrapbook: after Anton received his first official payout from RIIZE activities, the eldest son promptly purchased a watch for his father and a luxury bag for his mother, actress Shim Hye-jin. "He's a good kid," Yoon Sang said simply. The understatement landed like a full sentence.

And Now, the Second Son Is Heading to K-Pop Too

Just when it seemed the Yoon family's K-pop chapter had found its complete shape, Yoon Sang dropped the revelation that set the internet spinning: his second son, five years younger than Anton, is currently training as an idol candidate at an entertainment company.

What makes the disclosure even more compelling is the internal family drama surrounding it. Anton — who knows firsthand how grueling the trainee path is — has made his opposition clear. His younger brother, however, has shown zero interest in listening. "His words just fell on deaf ears," Yoon Sang said, seemingly torn between amusement and mild exasperation.

Yoon Sang's own position has shifted entirely from his initial stance on Anton. "I'm open to it," he said with quiet conviction. "If it doesn't work out, he can always go back to studying." It is the answer of a father who has already watched one son navigate the impossible and come out the other side — and who has learned, perhaps, not to underestimate what the Yoon family can do when its mind is set.

Fan reaction online was immediate and enthusiastic. Comments flooded in praising the younger son's appearance — many fans noting a resemblance to Anton — and speculation about his potential debut began before any formal announcement had been made. The internet has already decided it is interested. The only question is when.

The family's connection to SM Entertainment also adds an intriguing layer. Yoon Sang himself signed with SM as a producer and singer-songwriter in the early 2000s, long before the agency became the global machine it is today. Anton's eventual debut under SM feels less like coincidence and more like a circle closing. If his younger brother follows a similar path, the Yoon story will have spanned three distinct chapters of the Korean music industry — something few families in entertainment history can claim.

What This Story Actually Means

Zoom out far enough and the Yoon family narrative becomes something larger than a celebrity gossip item. It is a portrait of how Korean popular music has transformed across a generation — and what it looks like when that transformation becomes literal.

Yoon Sang, Lee Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyun-chul built their careers in the 1990s on the simple, durable power of a great voice and a great song. They were not products of a training system. They did not have synchronized choreography or meticulously crafted fan engagement strategies. They had music, they had chemistry, and they had time — thirty years of it, as the reunion on KBS made warmly evident.

Yoon Sang's son grew up in a different industry entirely: one defined by multi-year trainee contracts, international fandoms, and streaming charts that refresh by the hour. And yet he chose it — chose it so deliberately that he composed original music just to prove to his father it was the right call.

Now a second son stands at the same threshold. The path is harder than it looks from the outside. Anton knows that better than anyone, which is presumably why he tried to talk his brother out of it. But if the Yoon family's track record is any guide, the effort was always going to be futile.

The 2026 Triple Concert "A Breeze of Memory" is currently touring South Korea. Yoon Sang, Lee Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyun-chul's new single Breeze of Memory is available on all major streaming platforms.