Why Does Seventeen Only Have 13 Members? All About the K-Pop Band’s Name

A decade after their official debut, Seventeen is “still shining like a diamond.”

The K-pop boy band made their official debut with the release of their first EP, 17 Carat, in May 2015. Seventeen is comprised of 13 members — a mix of singers, rappers, and dancers — including S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The 8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino.

Since then, the group has become one of the biggest musical acts in the world, releasing five studio albums, in addition to multiple EPs and compilation albums.

Now, Seventeen is commemorating their 10th anniversary with the album, Happy Burstday, which rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart in June 2025.

The celebration continues with the debut of a four-part documentary, Seventeen: Our Chapter, debuting Nov. 7 on Disney+. The docuseries covers the band’s first 10 years, and features exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and videos of their tour performances.

So, why does Seventeen only have 13 members? Here’s everything to know about the boy band’s roots.

Who are the members of Seventeen?

Seventeen consists of 13 members: S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The 8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino.

The world was first introduced to Seventeen through Seventeen TV, an online series that chronicled the band’s formation and development over a few live seasons.

The potential members were put through a strenuous apprenticeship that “lasted maybe four to five years,” Wonwoo, one of the first recruits in 2011, told the BBC in June 2024.

After Seventeen TV premiered in January 2013, the group made their official debut in May 2015, with a live special on South Korean TV and the release of their debut EP, 17 Carat.

Why does Seventeen only have 13 members?

Seventeen was originally set to have 17 members, but four of the trainees left before the group made their official debut in 2015.

With 13 aspiring artists, Seventeen had more members than an average boy band, so the group was split into three teams: vocal, hip-hop and performance. The three units also play into the name of the group, which they kept even after some left.

“Seventeen is a team comprised of 13 members, who are categorized into three different units to ultimately make one team. Those numbers (13 + 3 + 1) together add up to 17,” S.Coups explained to Rolling Stone in January 2021.

He continued, “The 13 of us have different backgrounds and strengths, but we take advantage of these differences to create something unique to us, and to make the most of our music and performances.”

What happened to the trainees who left?

During the process of building the band, four trainees left before the group’s official debut.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, those who didn’t stay with Seventeen either became members of other K-pop groups or continued their careers in the entertainment industry in other ways.

One of the trainees was Samuel Kim — also known as Samuel — who released new K-pop music in 2024 and 2025, after taking a five-year break, according to AsiaOne Backstage.

Why does Seventeen have three leaders?

Because of Seventeen’s large number of members, the band performs as a cohesive unit, but they are also divided into three subgroups specializing in three areas: hip-hop, vocals and performance.

S.Coups leads the whole group as well as the hip-hop element, Woozi is the head of vocals and Hoshi is the performance leader.

The members of the hip-hop unit are: S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon. The vocal unit consists of Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK and Seungkwan, and the performance unit features Hoshi, Jun, The 8 and Dino.

There are also subunits, which include “BSS” made up of Seungkwan, DK and Hoshi.

Most recently, S.Coups and Mingyu teamed up to form the subunit, CxM (Coups x Mingyu). The duo released their first mini album, HYPE VIBES, in September 2025.

Is Seventeen on tour?

Yes, Seventeen is on tour, but the boy band is performing with only nine of its members, as four are currently serving mandatory military service.

According to Rolling Stone, Jeonghan enlisted in September 2024, followed by Wonwoo in April 2025. Hoshi and Woozi enlisted in September 2025, per Billboard.

The mandatory service lasts from 18 to 21 months.

“We understand that the fans are very sad that some of us are going to be away, but among ourselves, [we] don’t consider this to be a really huge deal because we know that we are going to stay together,” Woozi told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2025.

He continued, “We should consider this as quite a long preparation phase for the next album that’s going to be even better and greater.”

In July 2025, Seventeen announced the New_ World Tour, which kicked off Sept. 13 in South Korea.

The group brought the concert to the United States for multiple dates in October 2025. In December 2025, they will take the show to Japan, followed by Singapore and the Philippines in March 2026.