SEOUL, March 22 — Growing up in North Korea, Hyuk’s childhood was about survival. He never listened to banned K-pop music but, after defecting to the South, he’s about to debut as an idol.

Hyuk is one of two young North Koreans in a new K-pop band called 1Verse — the first time that performers originally from the nuclear-armed North have been trained up for stardom in South Korea’s global K-pop industry.