K-pop star Joshua rose to fame in Seoul but forever reps L.A.: 'It's where my roots are'

Joshua didn’t expect an “L.A. accent” pop quiz when he signed on to Zoom for an interview from Seoul.

It was a holiday in South Korea, but Joshua Hong, who goes by his first name, took his one day off to chat about his group’s upcoming world tour. The impromptu test came as a surprise. “OK,” Joshua calmly says as he preps to pronounce the oncoming words flashed before him.

It’s been over 11 years since the 28-year-old performer moved from Los Angeles to Seoul to begin his K-pop journey as one of 13 members of the global superstar group Seventeen. Dominating the charts and awards circuit in Korea, the group has skyrocketed to international success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 Chart last year, with multiple albums peaking in the Top 10 of Billboard’s 200.

This weekend they return to Los Angeles for two sold-out shows at BMO Stadium for their fourth world tour, dubbed Seventeen Right Here. Joshua feared his knowledge of L.A.

would be limited, or he’d forgotten L.A. mannerisms and landmarks.

“Everything was way bigger than I remembered,” Joshua recalls all the locations he used to frequent in L.A..

“Now, it’s a lot smaller. I couldn’t experience [grown-up] changes in L.A.

.” According to the latest TikTok trend , Californians are known to drop the “t” sound in words in a process called “flapping.” He anxiously begins to answer the pronunciation of California landmarks — “Monterey Park,” “Santa Ana,” “Sacramento” an.