ATBO
South Korean boy band (2022-2025)
ATBO (Korean: 에이티비오; RR: Eitibio; an acronym for At The Beginning of Originality) was a South Korean boy group formed through IST Entertainment's survival competition The Origin, A, B, Or What? in 2022. The group consisted of six members: Junseok, Junmin, Hyunjun, Seunghwan, Yeonkyu, and Won Bin. Originally a septet, Rakwon left the group on May 6, 2024, due to health issues. They debuted on July 27, 2022, with the extended play (EP) The Beginning: 開花, and disbanded on December 17, 2025.
01Name
"ATBO" is an initial of At The Beginning of Originality which means the start of a dream. The name was originally "ABO", but was changed due to fan concern as the original name is a racial slur in some regions.
02History
On February 6, 2022, it was reported that IST Entertainment, home to male idol groups Victon and The Boyz as well as female idol group Apink and Weeekly, was planning to debut their first boy group under the new company name in the first half of the year. The members would be selected from a group of 13 trainees through a survival program called The Origin - A, B, Or What?, jointly produced with Kakao Entertainment and Sony Music Solutions.
The line-up, consisting of the seven contestants Junseok, Junmin, Hyunjun, Donghwa, Rakwon, Seunghwan and Yeonkyu, was determined on the final episode aired on May 7, 2022, alongside the debut name, ABO, which was later changed to ATBO. Junmin and Rakwon were SM Entertainment trainees, the latter also being a former child model, while Yeonkyu was a YG Entertainment trainee who participated in YG Treasure Box, but did not make it into the show's final debut lineup.
On June 13, 2022, IST Entertainment announced that Donghwa would not be debuting as a member of ATBO after his past misconduct when he was a student surfaced online. Won Bin, who was originally eliminated in episode 5, replaced him in the group.
ATBO debuted on July 27, 2022, with the EP, The Beginning: 開花.
On May 6, 2024, IST announced that Rakwon would be leaving the group due to health issues dating back to March. On June 27, the group collaborated with Just B to form the project boy group The CrewOne. The project group then joined Mnet's competition program Road to Kingdom: Ace of Ace, which premiered on September 19, 2024.
On December 17, 2025, IST entertainment announced that its exclusive contracts with the members have been terminated, thereby confirming the group's disbandment.
03Members
- Junseok (준석), leader, rapper, dancer
- Junmin (준민), vocalist
- Hyunjun (현준), rapper
- Seunghwan (승환), vocalist, dancer
- Yeonkyu (연규), vocalist
- Won Bin (원빈), rapper, vocalist
- Rakwon (락원), vocalist, dancer
04Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR | |||
| The Beginning: 開花 |
|
6 |
|
| The Beginning: 始作 |
|
5 |
|
| The Beginning: 飛上 |
|
5 |
|
| Must Have |
|
9 |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak position | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOR DL | |||
| "Monochrome (Color)" | 2022 | 147 | The Beginning: 開花 |
| "Attitude" | 116 | The Beginning: 始作 | |
| "Next to Me" | 2023 | 186 | The Beginning: 飛上 |
| "Must Have Love" | 163 | Must Have |
05Videography
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) | Length | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Monochrome (Color)" | 2022 | Gibeak Lee (BOLD) | 3:58 | |
| "Attitude" | Jimmy (VIA) | 3:40 | ||
| "Next To Me" | 2023 | Haansol Rim (Haans) |
3:45 | |
| "Must Have Love" | Jimmy (VIA) | 3:16 |
06Filmography
Television shows
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Origin, A, B, Or What? | Survival show determining ATBO's members | |
| ATBO Walkshop | Reality show |
07Ambassadorship
- PR Ambassador for Korea Forest Love Youth Boys (2023)
08Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s)/work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Artist Awards | 2022 | Focus Award | ATBO | Won | |
| Asia Model Awards | 2022 | Rookie of the Year, Singer | Won | ||
| Asia Star Entertainer Awards | 2024 | Hot Trend | Won | ||
| Genie Music Awards | 2022 | Best Male Rookie Award | Nominated | ||
| K-Global Heart Dream Awards | 2023 | K-Global Next Leader Award | Won | ||
| MAMA Awards | 2022 | Best New Male Artist | Nominated | ||
| Artist of the Year | Longlisted |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “ATBO”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.