aespa Makes History at Taipei Dome! Former Mentor Wu Chun Attends Concert,炎亞綸 Also Once Trained Ning Ning

South Korea's top girl group aespa held their world tour concert at Taipei Dome on the 11th, marking their first performance at the iconic venue. Despite being a weekday evening, the event drew a massive crowd of fans, including actor Wu Chun, who was spotted in the audience. Wu shares a unique past with aespa member Ningning (Ning Yizhuo), tracing back to her pre-trainee days in South Korea.

In 2014, a teenage Ningning appeared on the second season of the Chinese singing competition "The Voice of China Kids" under her real name, showcasing her vocal talent as a contestant. Wu Chun served as one of the show's music mentors at the time. Over a decade later, the girl who once stood on that stage has now become a K-pop star performing at Taipei Dome—this time with Wu watching from the audience as a fan.

Photos from the past show a young Ningning with a ponytail and braces, smiling brightly, and another image of her in a black leather jacket standing beside Wu Chun, giving a "YA" hand sign. Comparing those images to her current role as aespa's main vocalist highlights her remarkable journey.

Notably,炎亞綸, another member of the Taiwanese band Fahrenheit, also crossed paths with Ningning. In 2015, she returned for the third season of "The Voice of China Kids," where炎亞綸 served as a music mentor. Ningning performed the song "Dad" and was selected as the episode's "Song to Leave for the Children." She even handwrote a message for Teacher's Day: "Happy Teacher's Day, Teacher炎亞綸!"

Ningning was scouted by SM Entertainment in 2016 after her performance videos caught the attention of talent scouts. She moved to South Korea through social media contact, debuted as part of SM ROOKIES the same year, and underwent nearly four years of training before officially joining aespa in 2020 with the release of their debut track "Black Mamba."

At the Taipei concert, aespa surprised fans during the finale by delivering heartfelt messages in Mandarin. Winter shouted "I love you all!" in Chinese, while Karina asked, "Did you have fun today?" receiving an enthusiastic response before saying, "Thank you, we love you so much, see you next time!" As the final song played, confetti rained down, concluding the historic performance at Taipei Dome.