ATEEZ's Mingi Chats With Fans For 1st Time Since Returning From Hiatus + Talks About "Kingdom" And "Imitation"

Jul 20, 2021

ATEEZ’s Mingi has shared his thoughts on his long-awaited return!

On July 20, Mingi held his first Naver V Live broadcast since going on hiatus for health-related reasons in November of last year. Earlier in the week, KQ Entertainment had announced that Mingi would be returning to group activities after eight months.

Mingi greeted his fans by saying, “It’s been a long time. I missed you.” After seeing his fans’ welcoming comments, he added, “I’m back. I’m happy right now.”

Describing how he spent his hiatus, Mingi remarked, “It was a long time, wasn’t it? I spent a lot of time looking back on myself as a person, and I also diligently worked out. I think I spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of person I am. So I got a lot better, and though it wasn’t quick, I was able to return like this.”

He went on to confess with a smile, “This is my first [V Live] in a long time, so it feels a little awkward. I watched a lot of the other members’ V Live broadcasts, and they were so much fun.” Referring to the fact that all of the ATEEZ members are currently in self-quarantine, he went on, “I want to quickly reunite with the other members and do one together.”

Saying hello to newer fans who commented that this was their first time watching one of his V Live broadcasts, Mingi noted, “It seems like there are a lot of people who are watching me for the first time. Let’s become closer, starting from now on.”

He also expressed his gratitude to the fans who had been waiting for him by saying, “I missed you too. You waited for such a long time, and I’m grateful. Thank you. But the time we’ll spend together from now on will be even longer, right?”

While Mingi was on hiatus, the other seven members of ATEEZ appeared together on Mnet’s “Kingdom: Legendary War”—and Yunho, Seonghwa, San, and Jongho are currently starring in the KBS drama “Imitation.”

Mingi shared, “I watched both ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Imitation.’ Out of all the ‘Kingdom’ performances, I personally thought it was really cool when the members performed ‘WONDERLAND,’ so I contacted the other members a lot about it.”

He also mentioned watching Yunho, Seonghwa, and San’s guest appearance on the famous KBS music talk show “Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook,” where the idols appeared in character as the fictional boy group “Sparkling” from “Imitation.”

Mingi jokingly remarked, “So I thought to myself, ‘Wow, Sparkling is amazing.'” However, when asked whether he preferred Sparkling’s Lee Yoo Jin (Yunho’s character) or ATEEZ’s Yunho, he replied, “I like ATEEZ’s Yunho better.”

During his hiatus, Mingi’s parts were typically covered by either fellow rapper Hongjoong or vocalist Seonghwa, who doesn’t usually rap in ATEEZ’s songs. Mingi praised Seonghwa’s rapping multiple times throughout the broadcast, commenting, “Seonghwa is so good at rapping. I really like it when Seonghwa raps.” He also remarked, “Seonghwa has a really great rap tone.”

When a fan asked if it was hard dancing again after taking a long break, Mingi replied, “Actually, I thought that it would be tough [physically] going back to dance practice after so long, but because I’ve been working out consistently, I feel like it might actually have gotten easier. I think I’m better now because my health has improved. It sort of feels like my skills have gotten better.”

At the end, Mingi wrapped up the broadcast by saying, “This was my first time greeting you in a long while, but because I was a bit awkward, I don’t know if it was fun to watch. I’ll return a lot in the future with content that’s more fun, so please keep an eye on me. Thank you for watching.”