'Hangout with Yoo' Yoo Jae-suk × Lee Hyori × Rain, Legendary Mixed Group 'SSAK3'... Full-Scale Debut Preparation

Photo by MBC, screenshot from the broadcast of 'How Do You Play?'

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Park Hee-eun] Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyori, and Rain from 'Hangout with Yoo' have finalized the name of their co-ed group as 'SSAK3' and have begun full-scale preparations for their activities.

In the MBC show 'Hangout with Yoo' aired on the 6th, the scenes of Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyori, and Rain preparing for their co-ed group debut were shown.

In the broadcast, Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyori, and Rain gathered in one place after forming the team to discuss the group's concept and role distribution. When Lee Hyori and Rain humbly said they could be sub-vocals, Yoo Jae-suk suggested, "Then shall I be the main?"

They also established the '20 Prohibitions' to avoid during their team activities. These included Article 1: Not to be ugly, Article 2: Not to get angry, Article 3: Not to compare each other, among others.

Discussions about the new song they would sing together continued. They exchanged various ideas about songs such as 'Give Up' and 'Imagination FLEX.'

To select the title track, Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyori, and Rain commissioned songs from several composers. They had serious conversations about the new song with producers Zico and Park Moon-chi.

A week later, the three held a YouTube live broadcast. Lee Hyori appeared with a glamorous makeup style reminiscent of a Korean-American star. Seeing this, Yoo Jae-suk created Lee Hyori's alter ego, Linda. They received group name suggestions from viewers watching the live broadcast.

Among various ideas, Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Hyori, and Rain finally decided on 'SSAK3' as the team name. It means to sweep the music charts this summer.

Rain's alter ego was named 'Biryong,' meaning to become a dragon in the music industry. Lee Hyori confirmed her alter ego as 'Linda G,' and Yoo Jae-suk as 'Yoo Dragon.'