SM Rookies

I. Introduction

SM Rookies (임팩트) is a pre-debut team created by SM Entertainment in South Korea, running from 2013 to 2020, that was reactivated in 2022. Members of the SM Rookies are trainees that performed in live performances, music videos and variety shows, but had not yet debuted formally in an idol group. Of the original group, 24 of the 30 members eventually made their debut in SM groups, including Red Velvet, NCT, NCT 127, NCT Dream, WayV and aespa. Of the current group, the 3 are assumed to debut in NCT.

II. Career

III. 2013: The First Rookies

SM announced the formation of SM Rookies in December 3, 2013, adding 12 members over the course of the month. Seulgi, Jeno and Taeyong were introduced on December 3, 2013, while Irene, Jaehyun and Lami were introduced on December 9. Mark, Hansol and Jisung were introduced on December 16, followed by Johnny, Ten and Yuta on December 23.

Although all members were SM trainees, the length of their time with the company varied - Johnny had been a trainee since 2008, while Jeno had been cast the same year he was announced as a rookie.

IIII. 2014: More Rookies and Red Velvet

Yeri was introduced on March 11, 2014, and Wendy on March 13. Although not officially debuted, some members still released songs on soundtracks or appeared as dancers or actors in label mate's videos. In April, an official website and YouTube channel were launched. Members continued to sing and dance at performances and in videos released online, including a series about the rookies. On August 1, 2014, Seulgi, Irene and Wendy debuted in Red Velvet.

IIIII. 2015: Mouseketeers, SR15B and SM Rookies Show

Donghyuck was introduced on July 17, 2014.

Doyoung was introduced on January 16, 2015, and became MC on MBC Music's Show Champion with Jaehyun. Yeri was introduced on March 17, 2015 and then joined Red Velvet. Members Hansol, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Ten and Jaehyun released a video dancing to "Bassbot" under the name SR15B. Jaemin was formally introduced on April 22, 2015.

On July 8, 2015, Kouen, Hina and Herin were introduced. They became mouseketeers on Disney Channel Korea's The Mickey Mouse Club with Mark, Jeno, Donghyuck, Jaemin, Jisung (all future members of NCT Dream) and Lami.

Taeil was introduced on October 13,2015, while Kun was introduced on December 18, 2015.

The SM Rookies boys performed a series of live shows, some of which was documented in the reality/variety show NCT Life in Bangkok.

Jaehyun and Herin on the Mickey Mouse Club

IIIV. 2016: NCT

On January 5, 2016, Winwin was introduced. Taeil, Taeyong, Ten, Jaehyun and Mark debuted under NCT's first sub-unit, NCT U on April 8, 2016. In July, Yuta, Winwin and Donghyuck, now professionally known as Haechan, debuted in the second sub-unit, NCT 127. In August, Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung debuted in the third sub-unit, NCT Dream.

Yiyang and Ningning were introduced on September 19, 2016, after appearing in an online reality show. Johnny made his debut in December in NCT 127.

IIV. 2017-20: WayV, aespa and End of Rookies

Lucas was introduced on April 5, 2017, followed by Jungwoo on April 17. Herin and Hansol left SM. Lucas and Jungwoo made their debut with Kun in NCT U in January 2018.

SM introduced three male Chinese trainees, Hendery, Xiaojun and YangYang. Yiyang left SM. The new trainees debuted in the fourth NCT sub-unit, WayV.

Although SM Rookies was not officially disbanded, they were no longer featured in SM content and social media channels were not updated after December 2018, until the channels were reactivated in 2022. In February 2020, Koeun and Lami left SM, while Hina departed in October. Ningning was the final SM Rookie (at the time) to debut in November 2020 as part of Aespa.

IIVI. 2022: New group debut, reactivation

After a 4-year gap, SM Rookies was reactivated for the boys on July 1, 2022, with the announcement of three new SM Rookies on the previously inactive SM Rookies social channels and the hashtag "SR22B," which is consistent with the way they previous named rookie announcements. (SR for SM Rookies, 22 for the year and B for Boys). The new rookies Shohei, Eunseok and Seunghan are the first rookies since Xiaojun, Hendery and YangYang.

The rookies appeared in NCT content and performed in a unit at SMTOWN in their first public performance with NCT's Shotaro and Sungchan. This was assumed to be the new rumored Japanese unit.

Shohei and Eunseok also appeared as part of a runway show in New York Fashion Week with designer Peter Do that included NCT Dream's Jeno. In November, a new reality series with Shotaro, Sungchan, Doyoung and Jungwoo of NCT 127 and Jeno of NCT Dream will introduces the SM Rookies members to NCT. The series, Welcome to NCT Universe, will feature all the NCT sub-units.

III. Members

Name	Country	Date Introduced	Age at Intro	Debut date	Debut group
Seulgi	S. Korea	Dec. 3, 2013	19	August 1, 2014	Red Velvet
Jeno	S. Korea	Dec. 3, 2013	13	August 24, 2016	NCT: NCT Dream
Taeyong	S. Korea	Dec. 3, 2013	18	April 8, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Irene	S. Korea	Dec. 9, 2013	22	August 1, 2014	Red Velvet
Jaehyun	S. Korea	Dec. 9, 2013	16	April 8, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Lami	S. Korea	Dec. 9, 2013	10	-	left SM
Mark	Canada	Dec. 16, 2013	14	April 8, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Hansol	S. Korea	Dec. 16, 2013	19	-	left SM
Jisung	S. Korea	Dec. 16, 2013	11	Aug. 24, 2016	NCT: NCT Dream
Johnny	U.S.A.	Dec. 23, 2013	18	Jan. 4, 2017	NCT: NCT 127
Ten	Thailand	Dec. 23, 2013	17	April 8, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Yuta	Japan	Dec. 23, 2013	18	July 6, 2016	NCT: NCT 127
Yeri	S. Korea	Mar. 11, 2014	15	Aug. 1, 2014	Red Velvet
Wendy	Canada	Mar. 13, 2014	19	Aug. 1, 2014	Red Velvet
Donghyuck (Haechan)	S. Korea	July 17, 2014	14	July 6, 2016	NCT: NCT 127
Doyoung	S. Korea	Jan. 16, 2015	18	April 8, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Jaemin	S. Korea	April 22, 2015	14	Aug. 24, 2016	NCT: NCT Dream
Koeun	S. Korea	July 8, 2015	16	-	left SM
Hina	Japan/S. Korea	July 8, 2015	15	-	left SM
Herin	U.K.	July 8, 2015	13	-	left SM
Taeil	S. Korea	Oct. 13, 2015	21	April 9, 2016	NCT: NCT U
Kun	China	Dec. 18, 2015	19	March 14, 2018	NCT: NCT U
Winwin	China	Jan. 5, 2016	18	July 6, 2016	NCT: NCT 127
Yiyang	China	Sept. 19, 2016	19	-	left SM
Ningning	China	Sept. 19, 2016	13	Nov. 17, 2020	aespa
Lucas	China	April 5, 2017	18	Jan. 17, 2019	NCT: WayV
Jungwoo	S. Korea	April 17, 2017	19	Jan. 17, 2019	NCT: WayV
Hendery	Macau	Dec. 31, 2018	18	Jan. 17, 2019	NCT: WayV
Xiaojun	China	Dec. 31, 2018	18	Jan. 17, 2019	NCT: WayV
YangYang	Taiwan	Dec. 31, 2018	18	Jan. 17, 2019	NCT: WayV
Shohei	Japan	July 1, 2022	25/26 (1996)
Eunseok	Korea	July 1, 2022	20/21 (2001)
Seunghan	Korea	July 1, 2022	18/19 (2003)

IV. Videography

V. Trivia

- All of the members of NCT 127 were SM Rookies.

- All of the members of WayV were SM Rookies.

- Joy is the only member of Red Velvet who was not a SM Rookie.

- Chenle and Renjun are the only members of NCT Dream who were not SM Rookies.

- Chenle, Renjun, Sungchan and Shotaro are the only members of NCT who were not SM Rookies.

- Lami and Jisung were the youngest girl and boy rookies.

- Irene and Taeil were the oldest female and male rookies.

- The Rookies program was inactive on its social channels from 2018-2022.

- Shohei is now the oldest rookie, including male and female rookies.