SM Entertainment once promised that the K-pop boy group and brand, NCT, would offer “infinite expansion.” However, infinity turned out to be pretty finite. SM confirmed back in February 2023 that its upcoming Tokyo-based NCT unit would be the end of new units. SM Rookies Sion and Yushi were confirmed to be members of the group in June 2023, and then the 2023 survival program, NCT Universe: Lastart, determined the other members of the final lineup. Unfortunately, one finalist from the series, Jungmin, would not ultimately debut because of health problems. Riku, Sakuya, Daeyoung (Jaehee), and Ryo would round out the lineup though, for the group that would ultimately be named NCT Wish. So here is the full answer then to when Sion, Riku, Yushi, Jaehee, Ryo, and Sakuya officially made their debut as NCT Wish.
NCT Wish Made Debut in Japan on February 21, 2024, and “Wish” Was Released on February 28, 2024
NCT Wish made their debut at Tokyo Dome during SM Town Live 2024 SMCU Palace @ Tokyo on February 21, 2024. On February 28, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. KST, the NCT Wish debut song, “WISH,” was released in both Japanese and Korean versions, along with Japanese and Korean versions of a B-side song, “Sail Away.” (The “WISH” MVs were released concurrently and were filmed in Barcelona, Spain.) Notably, while the group is based in Japan and most of the members are Japanese, Sion and Jaehee are actually both Korean, so the group has an international composition.
At the time that NCT Universe: Lastart decided the final member lineup on September 6-7, 2023, the group was going by the temporary moniker of “NCT New Team” and planned to be seven members. The winning finalists of that series were ranked as follows: (1) Riku, (2) Sakuya, (3) Daeyoung (Jaehee), (4) Jungmin, and (5) Ryo. (Sion and Yushi were not ranked, since they had already been confirmed for debut.) NCT New Team, as a six-member group without Jungmin, performed for the first time to the public on September 9, 2023, with the song “Hands Up” at 2023 NCT CONCERT – NCT NATION : To The World, in Osaka, Japan. On October 2, 2024, SM confirmed that Jungmin would not debut and had returned to being a trainee to focus on recovery from a health issue. “Hands Up” would finally be released as an NCT New Team predebut single on October 8, 2024, along with B-side “We Go!,” and a “Hands Up” music video was released on October 19, 2024. Between October and December 2023, the group went on a predebut tour in Japan.
On January 18, 2024, SM Entertainment confirmed that the final name for NCT New Team would be NCT Wish, and it released a promotional video, “NCT WISH : WISH for Our WISH.” On January 29, 2024, NCT Wish released a performance video for “NASA,” as well as a “moving” dance practice video.
In summary, NCT Wish made their debut on February 21, 2024 at SM Town Live 2024 SMCU Palace @ Tokyo, and their debut song, “WISH,” was be released on February 28, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. KST in Japanese and Korean versions. A predebut song, “Hands Up,” was released on October 8, 2023 when they were performing under a temporary name, NCT New Team.
For more about the group, check out how old the NCT Wish members currently are and who their leader is. We also maintain a convenient archive of all of the NCT Wish music videos, to make it easy to watch everything in one spot. And for more Japanese boy groups created in the K-pop system, check out the story behind the debut of &Team at HYBE and the debut of NEXZ at JYP Entertainment.