Lim Young-woong

Lim Young-woong (; born June 16, 1991) is a South Korean ballad, pop, and trot singer, entertainer, and YouTuber. He signed with Mulgogi Music in 2016 and debuted as a singer with his first single "Hate You". Four years later, he rose to stardom after competing on the reality television show Mr. Trot, where he won first place out of 17,000 applicants. In 2021, Lim achieved his first number-one song on the Gaon Digital Chart with the single "My Starry Love".

Since his debut in 2016, Lim has released two studio albums and one collaborative medley album, scoring four Gaon Digital Chart number-ones. He is also the first trot artist ever to receive the Gold Play Button for achieving one million subscribers on his official YouTube channel.

Career 2016–2019: Career beginnings Lim initially dreamed of being a ballad singer, but later discovered his talent as a trot singer after winning an Excellence Prize at a singing contest. At the contest held in his native city of Pocheon, he performed 's song "What's Wrong with My Age?" , considering the age groups of audiences. This experience made him dream of his career as a trot singer in earnest. He then released another single entitled "What's So Important?" on January 2, 2017. However, these two singles did not do well commercially.

Lim slowly gained popularity through his appearance in KBS1's morning show , where he became the final winner of its televised audition "Challenge! Dream Stage". On March 28, 2018, he released his third single "Elevator" . The song was re-arranged and released under the title "Not by Stairs, but by Elevator" almost five months later. On December 21 that year, Lim released a collaborative medley album with fellow trot singer , titled Newness of Trot . The album's popularity at expressway rest areas made him called the "Expressway Idol Star".

Lim was appointed as the ambassador for the city of Pocheon on July 23, 2019.

2020–present: Mr. Trot and rising popularity Lim entered TV Chosun's music competition show Mr. Trot, which aired from January 2 to March 14, 2020. During the final episode of the show, he was eventually crowned the winner out of 17,000 applicants. He also joined the main cast of Romantic Call Centre and , the follow-up variety shows of Mr. Trot. On April 3, 2020, Lim released a single titled "Trust in Me". Written by lyricist Kim Eana and composer , the track was produced as a special song for Lim as the Mr. Trot winner. At the end of the year, it earned him a Melon Music Award for Best Trot and a Genie Music Award for Best Trot Track. In August 2020, the Sisa Journal, one of the major weekly news magazines in South Korea, announced the results of "2020, Who Makes Korea Move" survey. Lim was ranked 5th (5.8%, tied with singer Lee Hyori) for leading the Mr. Trot craze and occupying the advertising world. In addition to his singing career, Lim made his cameo appearance on TV Chosun's historical fantasy series Kingmaker: The Change of Destiny. On October 1, 2020, he made his debut as an emcee, co-hosting the first annual Trot Awards with television presenter Kim Sung-joo and actress Jo Bo-ah. He also made his big screen debut through Mr. Trot: The Movie, a musical documentary film starring the top six finalists of Mr. Trot. The film was a commercial success, selling more than 150,000 tickets after release. On November 4, 2020, Lim collaborated with SsangYong Motor on the promotional single "Hero". Unlike his previous singles, the song's musical style approximates pop music. He premiered the track at an online showcase hosted by the company. On December 16, 2020, Lim was announced as a winner of the 2021 Korea Image Awards, being awarded as a member of Trot Men, the top six finalists of Mr. Trot. They were given the Stepping Stone Award for "their work on revitalizing the lives of people exhausted from COVID-19 and spreading out trot music all over the world".

As a result of his rising popularity in 2020, Lim became the most searched figure on web portal Naver that year. At the end of the same year, according to the annual survey conducted by Gallup Korea for Singer of the Year, he was named one of the five most favorite singers by both people aged 13–39 ( 4) and people aged 40 and over (no. 1). Furthermore, he was the second most-streamed artist domestically on YouTube that year, only behind boy band BTS.

Lim released the single "My Starry Love" on March 9, 2021, one year after winning Mr. Trot. The song was penned by , one of South Korea's best-known trot singer-songwriters. Five days prior to its release, he premiered the song at the finals of the second season of Miss Trot. "My Starry Love" debuted atop the Gaon Digital Chart, making it the first number-one single of his career. The song also earned Lim the first music program award ever since his debut, winning first place on MBC's Show! Music Core. This feat made him the first trot artist to receive a music show win in 14 years since on KBS2's Music Bank in 2007.

On May 2, 2022, Lim released his first studio album, Im Hero, which includes a wide range of genres aside from ballad and trot, such as pop rock, reggae hip-hop, jazz, and folk pop. One of the tracks from the album titled "Our Blues, Our Life" was pre-released on April 17.

On November 15, 2022, Lim released the double single "Polaroid", containing the pop rock tracks "Polaroid" and "London Boy". The latter marks his first songwriting credit as a lyricist and composer.

Lim released the single "Grains of Sand" on June 5, 2023. The single marked his second songwriting credit as lyricist and composer. Lim then released the digital single "Do or Die" on October 9, 2023. Lim then released double singles "Warmth" and "Home" on May 6, 2024.

Lim released his second studio album, Im Hero 2, on August 29, 2025. It was his first album release in more than 3 years and would include a wide range of genres aside from ballad and trot, such as pop, hip-hop, dance, and folk pop.

Lim will release the 10-track special digital album, Im Hero 10, on September 8, 2026. The album is led by the title track "ToTo", in which Lim is also credited lyricist and composer.

Other ventures As a YouTuber Lim began using his eponymous YouTube channel in 2016 with an official audio video for the debut song "Hate You". Since then, Lim has promoted himself, steadily posting his song cover videos there. He has also communicated with his fans through the channel, posting contents including behind-the-scenes, live performance videos, highlight clips, comment reading, birthday live broadcast, and vlogs. On February 23, 2021, Lim opened a YouTube Shorts channel named "Lim Young-woong Shorts", with his 28-second competition practice video for Mr. Trot uploaded the same day.

Lim received the Silver Play Button for having more than 100,000 subscribers on his official channel in March 2020. In October that same year, the channel surpassed one million subscribers, making him the first trot artist to achieve this feat. He received the Gold Play Button the following month. As of November 15, 2021, it has gained over 47 million views.

Philanthropy On March 8, 2022, Lim donated million to the Fruit of Love Social Welfare Community Chest to help the victims of the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has spread to Samcheok, Gangwon. On March 11, it was confirmed that Lim donated million for the February Good Han Star singing competition. to children with pediatric leukemia. On June 9, Lim donated million prize money from the May Song competition in Good Han Star to support emergency medical expenses for childhood cancer patients, leukemia and it is rare that incurable sickness. On August 8, Lim donated million for the July Good Han Star singing competition, to the Emotional Support Program for Children with Pediatric Leukemia and their Families. On September 1, Lim donated million for the August Good Han Star singing competition, to the Emotional Support Program for Children with Pediatric Leukemia and their Families. In October, Lim donated million as prize money from the Good Han Star Singer Competition to patients with childhood cancer deficiencies, leukemia and incurable diseases. On November 4, Lim donated million in Sunhan Star Gawangjeon's prize money in October to support the emotional support of children with pediatric cancer, leukemia, and incurable diseases. On December 23, Lim donated million on behalf of the 'Heroic Age' fandom via The Fruit of Love Social Welfare Community Chest.

In January 2023, Lim donated a total of million from Good Star Gawangjeon to Korea Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

Discography

Im Hero (2022) Im Hero 2 (2025)

Filmography Film Title Year Role Notes Mr. Trot: The Movie 2020 Himself , narrator Musical documentary film

Music show Title Year Role Notes Hall of Music 2017 Performer July 1 2017–2020 Golden Oldies 2018–2019 Show! Music Core 2020–2021 Episodes 674–675, 718–719 Show Champion Episodes 349, 388 Inkigayo 2020 Episode 1042 MBC Gayo Daejejeon December 31 M Countdown 2021 Episode 702 The Show Episode 255

Variety show Title Year Role Notes Korea Sings 2016–2019 Contestant (pre-debut) Episode 1787 (2016) Guest singer Episode 1900, year-end special (2018) Episodes 1938, 1964 (2019) Fantastic Duo (season 1) 2016 Contestant (pre-debut) Episode 12 Mr. Trot 2020 Contestant, final winner Romantic Call Centre 2020–present Main cast Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend 2020 Performer Episodes 457–458 Miss Trot (season 2) 2020–2021 Special judge Episodes 1–3 (2020) Himself Special episode "Lucky Trot Festival" (2021) Special performer Episode 11 (2021) Special performer Episode 12 (2021)

Television series Title Year Role Notes Kingmaker: The Change of Destiny 2020 One of would-be singers Cameo (episode 11) 2020 Guest March 16 April 10 Himself Episode 101 ("The Secret of Mr. Trot Fever")

Hosting Title Year Notes 2020 Trot Awards 2020 with Kim Sung-joo and Jo Bo-ah Guest July 16 (2020) Melon Trot Show 2021 Host February 10, 16, 23

Concerts and tours

Awards and nominations