Act two, scene one: Kang Daniel takes the stage, with a poised smile and an indescribable touch of melancholy. Maturity lingers in his eyes while the spotlight shines down and his resolute hands grab the microphone, declaring the beginning of a new chapter.

“I’m just grateful for everything,” Kang told reporters during an interview held Monday in southern Seoul for the release of his new album, “Act,” the same day.


“There were things that I tried to do and wanted to do in the past but couldn’t because I didn’t have what it took back then,” he said. “But with everything that I’ve been through and everything that I’ve done, I think I’m ready now. I’m ready to enjoy what may come.”

“Act” is Kang’s first new album in a year and three months since his fourth EP, “Realiez,” was released in June 2023. “Act” refers to the theater term signifying when the curtain closes and a new story opens, which Kang hopes to do — especially regarding the recent series of unfortunate events that came his way.

Kang signed with his new agency, ARA, in July after he shut down his self-established agency, Konnect Entertainment, in June because he found out that a major shareholder of his company had been embezzling money and using his name to make deals that he wasn’t even made aware of.

The case is being investigated by police, and the artists who were signed to Konnect Entertainment — including Kang himself along with Chancellor, Yuju of girl group GFriend and the dance crew We Dem Boyz — each separated from the agency. Kang established Konnect Entertainment in June 2019 after winning a suit against his former agency, LM Entertainment, and made his solo debut in July 2019.

“I felt stranded,” he said, thinking back to the first time he found out the news. “It felt like five years of time had just vanished into thin air. I felt so empty that I couldn’t describe it. I just locked myself up in my house for three whole months and lost 14 kilograms [31 pounds] during that time.”

Kang’s career trajectory has been a roller-coaster ride in K-pop.

He first debuted as part of a project boy band named Wanna One in 2017, which came as the result of cable channel Mnet’s hugely successful audition program “Produce 101” that aired earlier that year. After spending a year and a half in Wanna One, he fell out with his then-agency LM Entertainment and filed for an injunction to have the contract nulled.

The court took his side, and he was able to start afresh at Konnect Entertainment — until he was reported to be dating Jihyo of girl group Twice in August 2019, just two weeks after releasing his first solo album. He was bombarded with hateful comments from Jihyo’s fans as well as his own, who felt “betrayed” by his actions. Four months later in December, he announced a hiatus due to depression and an anxiety disorder.

“I felt terrified on stage,” he said. “I’ve come to, in a way, enjoy it now, but every time I saw people’s faces on the stage, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My anxiety disorder was really bad, but I can talk about it now because it’s in the past. I can just casually brush it off now.”

What helped him through the ordeal was what brought him into the cutthroat K-pop industry in the first place — the music.

“At the end of the day, my best friend was music,” he said. “But not the kind of friend who’s just always quietly supportive. Music is quite the opposite. It constantly talks to you and makes you get even more depressed when you’re depressed or happier when you’re happy. Music is the best channel to vent your emotions and eventually allows you to comb through all the different grains of your emotions.”

Kang transferred all the experience into the “Act” album. The six tracks walk the listeners through the thoughts he had, according to Kang.

For instance, the first track, “Losing Myself,” begins with his hurt after being betrayed by someone but still longing to hold onto his dream, followed by “Get Loose,” telling himself that it’s O.K. to relax a little, leading up to the lead track “Electric Shock,” where Kang finds the love for music again and remembers why he began all of this in the first place.

“I’ve really come to realize the value of being on the stage,” he said. “After all, it was the former agency that went awry, not the job itself that was wrong. It may sound weird for me to say it, but I definitely feel like I’ve matured. I’ve realized, during the break, that nothing should be taken for granted — the fans who love me, the stages I was on and the songs I sang. They could have gone to anyone else but they came to me. I’ve learned to become grateful of those things.”

Despite his popularity, which made him the winner of “Produce 101” and one of the most well-known figures in K-pop, Kang showed excessive humility during the interview, which he also attributed to his maturity over the years.

“One of my friends told me that he liked me because I’m like a country boy — in a good way,” he said. “He complimented my aspiration toward my ‘Seoul dream’ — kind of like the American dream, but instead I came from Busan to Seoul in search of my goals. I kept trying even though I felt shattered in between, but I think that’s the spirit that made people think highly of me.”

Having opened up the second act of his career, Kang has grand dreams for the future. He has concerts set for Oct. 12 and 13 at the Jangchung Arena in central Seoul as well as other events for fans.

But that’s not all.

“I’m extremely organized,” he said. “I already have a song ready to be released just before I start my mandatory military service next year. And I also have an idea of a what I want to do after I finish that service [a year and a half later], too. I want to start my own band and show people another kind of music that’s not released under the name Kang Daniel.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]