Vogue Korea — 'THE REBELS' April 2022 Cover Story (Seonghwa)

Vogue Korea's "THE REBELS" ATEEZ cover story, Seonghwa on rebellion and ATINY as "treasure."

Vogue Korea's April 2022 group cover story, shot around a "rebel of the era" concept, ran as a long-form narrative feature (published March 22) followed by a companion piece with additional B-cut photos and a short written Q&A (published April 2). Across both, Seonghwa discusses rebellion as tied to pursuing his dream against his parents' early objections, losing himself in character on stage, and naming ATINY as his "treasure."

Seonghwa's Words — English Translation

The April 2 companion piece is a printed Q&A; the three exchanges below are translated directly from it, in order.

Q: You shot this pictorial around the concept of "a rebel of the era." Is "rebellion" a word that fits you? A: "It feels like a distant story now, but I did a lot of it at one point. Looking back, I think I did well. For me, expressing rebellion was really about my obsession with my dream. My parents were against it, but in the end, I got through it in a good, healthy way. I can say that rebellion had an influence on this dream I have now."

Q: Lately you've often taken the "killing point" on stage. You must have had to intuitively catch people's eyes — what did you focus on? A: "The killing part isn't decided from the start. Each member sings through the whole song and the parts get decided that way, so nobody knows until the final result comes out. It wasn't so much that I planned a strategy — studying what elements catch the eye, in order to make a better stage overall, helped a lot."

Q: Since debut, you've shown a universe about searching for treasure. What is "treasure" to you? A: "In my closing remark on the tour, I said, 'right now things couldn't be better, and it feels like I've gained a treasure called ATINY' — and that's exactly what I meant, literally. To me, treasure is ATINY — the people I'm grateful to for making me who I am today, and also the people I want to walk alongside for the rest of my life. Honestly, at first I really thought a lot about 'what is my treasure?' But looking back on it now, then and now, treasure is ATINY."

The March 22 main feature is a group narrative article that weaves quotes from all eight members into its own prose rather than a printed Q&A, so the topics below are drawn from that framing rather than quoted questions.

On losing himself in character on stage: "I'm usually really shy in everyday life, but on stage I don't have to be myself. The stage is a place where anything is allowed. At debut, I did mental conditioning like, 'I really am a pirate. Don't even try to stop me.' After it's over, I'm amazed and think, when did I even do that? (laughs)"

On studying acting to fully inhabit a concept: "Whether it's an actor, a singer, or a model, everyone is making art. Having no prejudice about that is the most important thing."

On what he wants to build up physically: "Lately I've been worrying a lot about my stamina. Just like practicing singing or practicing dance, I've come to feel that stamina needs practice too. I've been managing my conditioning since before this tour, but this year I especially want to focus on it more."

On his ever-shifting music taste: "Lately I really love the rock genre, both musically and fashion-wise. This is a purely personal thought, but if the chance ever comes, I'd like to put together a stage like that sometime. Each of our own music tastes keeps changing, so it's hard to pin down, and it makes it even harder to predict what our next music will be like. (laughs)"

Translated directly from the original Korean text of the two Vogue Korea articles linked below.

magazineinterviewgroup contentzero fever era

Official Sources

Photography, video, and audio remain the property of their respective rights holders.

Era Context

ZERO: FEVER Era · 2020 – 2022

A period of rapid international growth. Seonghwa's role expands across broadcast stages, variety appearances, and the group's first large-scale tours, alongside a growing presence in fashion and magazine editorials.