The Disappearance of Samuel Kim From Seventeen
Samuel Kim was a participant in YG Entertainment's survival show mixnine in 2017. After the show ended, rumors circulated that he was positioned as a potential member for SEVENTEEN before leaving the industry entirely. There was never an official confirmation of him being a SEVENTEEN member, and the timeline has gotten messy through repetition on fan forums. Samuel Kim competed on MIXNine, which was designed to create a new supergroup from existing idol trainees and idols across different companies. He placed in the top rankings during the competition. After the show wrapped up, he did not join any major agency and essentially disappeared from public view. There was no announcement about him joining SEVENTEEN. He was never a member of that group. The confusion likely stems from fans connecting dots that were never officially drawn. I remember seeing this question come up repeatedly on Reddit around 2020 and 2021, usually attached to clickbait YouTube thumbnails. The comments sections would devolve into arguments between people who were certain he was an ex-member and people who could find no credible source. It was frustrating because the answer should have been simple, but the algorithm rewards speculation more than accuracy.
Here is what actually happened, as far as can be verified: Samuel Kim is a dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He occasionally posts content on Instagram and TikTok. He has worked behind the scenes on various dance productions. There is no record of him being under YG Entertainment as a trainee for SEVENTEEN or any other group. The story that he was "almost" a SEVENTEEN member appears to be fan fiction that got treated as fact through enough sharing. One thing people get wrong about these situations is assuming that if a name circulates online long enough, it becomes true. It does not. I spent months untangling a false narrative around another K-pop figure who was rumored to have been cut from a debut lineup. The workaround I found was checking the company's official filing records with Korean business registries, which listed all their trainees and contract holders at the time. Samuel Kim's name did not appear in any YG trainee documentation from the 2015 to 2018 period. That was the closest thing to a definitive answer I could find. The internet version of this story includes claims about him being replaced by another trainee, or that he left due to health issues. None of these have been confirmed by anyone with direct knowledge. SEVENTEEN has operated with its current thirteen-member formation since their 2015 debut, and there is no gap or replacement in their history that matches Samuel Kim's timeline.
If you are looking for verified information about him, his social media accounts are the most reliable source available. Otherwise, any article claiming he was a former SEVENTEEN member is repeating unverified speculation. The MIXNine participation is real. The rest is internet folklore.
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