When you rise and realize at the same time, you have SM Entertainment boy group RIIZE. With their warm visuals and “emotional pop” music, the group instantly developed a fanbase, who are officially called BRIIZE, and as expected, the fandom is very global. Likewise, like many popular K-pop groups these days, RIIZE speaks more than one language. So among members Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Seunghan, Sohee, and Anton, here is the full answer to who speaks English or another language (like Japanese) in RIIZE.

Anton Speaks Native English in RIIZE

Anton speaks fluent, native English for the group. He was reportedly born in Massachusetts, (We are in the process of seeking a primary source for that.) and it is confirmed that he grew up in New Jersey, where he was a competitive swimmer prior to seriously pursuing becoming an idol. His parents are former Lovelyz producer Yoon Sang and actress Shim Hye-jin (born 1975, not the 1967 actress of the same name), who had moved to the United States to study together.

Immediately after the group’s debut, on September 5, 2023, BuzzFeed UK published a “Who’s Who” interview with RIIZE that established clearly that Anton and Shotaro are the only members that fluently speak a language other than Korean. Shotaro speaks native, fluent Japanese for RIIZE, having been born in Japan. So when the group was asked, “Who knows the most languages?” Anton and Shotaro were selected by the others.

Vouching for Shotaro’s skill at speaking Korean, Eunseok noted, “His Korean is at the level 5.” This was presumably referencing level 5 of TOPIK, the “Test of Proficiency in Korean” that foreigners often take to demonstrate their fluency, typically for job-seeking or educational purposes. As of the time of the BuzzFeed UK video’s publication, level 6 is the highest attainable level of TOPIK. The other RIIZE members noted that Shotaro had also studied English at one point, and they half-jokingly suggested he could become trilingual soon. Shotaro did not seem so confident in that, saying, “Please wait for a while, everyone!”

Meanwhile, Shotaro praised Anton for his ability to speak English and Korean in RIIZE, and he noted that Anton had also studied Chinese. Anton did not comment on that, but he may have some limited ability to speak Chinese.

So in summary, when it comes to languages that RIIZE members speak, Anton speaks native English, Shotaro speaks native Japanese, and everyone speaks fluent Korean. Anton may potentially know some limited Chinese as well. As more relevant examples of RIIZE speaking other languages appear with time, this space shall be updated accordingly.

We have much more fact-checked trivia about the group where that came from, so next up, you might want to check out how old the RIIZE members currently are, their unusual leader situation, or what each member’s MBTI is. We also maintain an archive of predebut photos for each member and an archive of all RIIZE music videos and related content.

Alternatively, for more language analysis of K-pop groups, check out who speaks English in Boynextdoor or the amazing English skills of Itzy.