Yoo Young-jae (; born January 24, 1994), also known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Youngjae, is a South Korean singer and actor. He debuted as an

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

in the six-member group

B.A.P B.A.P (; an acronym for Best Absolute Perfect) was a South Korean boy band formed in 2012 under TS Entertainment. B.A.P made their musical debut with the single "Warrior" on January 26, 2012, followed by the release of their debut EP ''Warrio ...

under

TS Entertainment TS Entertainment (also known as TS ENTER (티에스이엔티이알)) was a South Korean record label and entertainment agency founded in 2008 by Kim Tae‑song (김태송). It was located at Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The compan ...

, where he served as the main vocalist from 2012 to its dissolution in 2019. He released his debut mini-album ''Fancy'' in April 2019.

Early life

Yoo was born on January 24, 1994, in

Bangbae-dong Bangbae-dong is a ''dong'', or neighbourhood of the greater Gangnam area Seocho-gu district of the South Korean city of Seoul. Bangbae-dong is divided into 5 different dongs which are Bangbaebon-dong, Bangbae 1-dong, 2-dong, 3-dong and 4-dong. Th ...

in the

Seocho District Seocho District () is one of the 25 ''Administrative divisions of South Korea#Gu (District), gu'' (local government districts) which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Seocho is generally referred to as a part of Gangnam (Seoul), Greater Gan ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. He is the second and younger son of his father and fashion brand business-owning mother. He lived in a wealthy household up until the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

; his family struggled financially thereafter. They lived in a