Pentagon (; stylized in all caps; abbreviated as PTG) is a South Korean multi-national boy band formed by Cube Entertainment in 2016. They were introduced through the Mnet survival show Pentagon Maker. Pentagon released their self-titled debut EP on October 10, 2016. The current group members are: Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, Shinwon, Yeo One, Kino and Wooseok. Pentagon was originally composed of ten members; E'Dawn left the group on November 14, 2018, and as of July 21, 2026 the group remained with seven members following the departures of Yan An and Yuto.
Name The group name Pentagon refers to becoming a perfect group by completing the five elements that an idol must have: vocal/rap, dance, teamwork, talent, and mind.
History Pre-debut In 2010, Hui was a trainee at JYP Entertainment after winning first place on Best Male Vocal at JYP 7th Audition Final Round. He also competed in the first season of Chinese Idol but failed to make the cut. Kino was a member of a dance team called Urban Boyz. In December 2013, Hui, E'Dawn, Yeo One, and Kino participated in the special stage dance at the KBS Song Festival. In February 2014, E'Dawn and Kino danced at Jirayu Tangsrisuk's 1st concert "James Ji Monkey King Fan Meeting". Jinho debuted under the stage name Jino as a member of SM the Ballad. Hongseok participated in Mnet and YG Entertainment's reality survival show Mix and Match. However, he failed to become a member of the winning boy group, iKon. He and Jinho joined Cube Entertainment in 2015. Yan An and Yuto (the latter of whom is a former JYP Entertainment trainee) passed the "Cube Star World Audition" overseas selection and became Cube trainees in 2014. In February 2015, Jinho and Hui participated in a vocal project group Seorin-dong Children () and released a remake of Lee Won-jin and Ryu Keum-deok's 1994 classic "For All the New Lovers".
On December 31, 2015, Cube Entertainment revealed that they would debut their third boy group, after Beast and BtoB, named Pentagon.
2016: Pentagon Maker, debut with Pentagon and Five Senses and Japanese debut On April 26, 2016, Cube Entertainment introduced Pentagon with the trailer, "Come into the World". The group's official Twitter, Facebook and Weibo opened on the same day.
The group participated in South Korean television channel Mnet's reality program, Pentagon Maker, which aired online through Mnet's digital content brand M2. The team was based on five categories: vocal or rap, dance, talent, mind, and teamwork. Each member was judged individually or as a unit, to determine whether they were suitable to become a member of Pentagon. They were set to debut on July 16, 2016. By the end of the show, Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, Yeo One, Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok were confirmed as the official members of the group.
On July 9, Pentagon released the collaboration songs "Young" (produced by Dok2) and "Find Me" (produced by Tiger JK). A music video for "Young", featuring members Hui, Yeo One, Kino, Wooseok, and Yuto, was released. The group was originally scheduled to host their debut concert on July 23, 2016, at Jamsil Indoor Stadium, but Cube Entertainment delayed the concert and debut date of the group due to internal issues.
Pentagon made their official debut on October 10, 2016, with 10 members, including the members eliminated from Pentagon Maker, E'Dawn, Shinwon, and Yan An. On the same day, Pentagon released their first Korean EP Pentagon comprising seven tracks including the lead single "Gorilla", and held their debut showcase. The EP peaked number seven on the Gaon chart and remained top 10 for two consecutive weeks in the Japan's Tower Record Kpop weekly chart. On October 24, Shinwon was not able to participate in the promotions due to knee injury. On November 4, Cube revealed that Pentagon would be making their official debut in Japan on December 10, 2016. On November 7, Pentagon held their first fan signing with an attendance of 100 people. Pentagon received the nickname "King Kongdol" due to their gorilla dance in their debut song "Gorilla".
The group held their first solo concert, "Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 1", on December 6 at the Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul. The tickets for the concert were sold out within eight minutes of going on sale. They gave a sneak preview of their new song "Can You Feel It" ahead of their comeback.
On December 7, the group released their second EP Five Senses. Rappers Wooseok and Yuto contributed lyrics to the lead single of the EP titled "Can You Feel It". It was described as a medium-tempo hip-hop song that combines strong beat with a cheerful guitar riff and an intense brass sound.
On December 10, Pentagon held their first showcase in Japan at Toyosu Pit, Tokyo, Japan, with more than 3,000 people attending. On December 11, Pentagon appeared in Abema TV 'Fresh!' Kpopstarz and recorded over 340,000 live viewers. The group recorded at least four times the average live viewers of Beast, VIXX, B.A.P, Boyfriend, and U-Kiss, and has the second highest number of viewers in the history of the program. Pentagon set three 'high speed' records, including the fastest group to debut in Japan, fastest domestic solo concert, and the fastest concert to sold out. Pentagon participated in Cube Entertainment's Christmas season song, with their label mates Hyuna, Jang Hyun-seung, BtoB, Roh Ji-hoon and CLC. "Special Christmas" was released digitally on December 12, 2016, as a Christmas gift for fans.
Pentagon ranked 9 on Billboard's 10 Best New K-Pop Groups In 2016.
2017: "Pretty Pretty", rise in popularity in Japan, Gorilla, Ceremony, Demo_01 and Demo_02
On January 22, 2017, Pentagon released a special music video for "Pretty Pretty", a track from their second Korean EP Five Senses, featuring I.O.I's Kim Chung-ha.
On March 29, Pentagon released their first Japanese EP Gorilla, which debuted at number six on the Gaon chart and third on the Oricon Chart. The album contains six tracks, including Japanese versions of previously released tracks "Gorilla", "Can You Feel It", "Pretty Pretty", and "You Are", along with two new Japanese tracks, "Hikari" and "Get Down". Pentagon sold out a reservation for their special mini live & talk concert at Shinagawa Stellaball in Tokyo to commemorate the release of their first Japanese EP on March 24. More than 5,000 people applied to attend but due to the capacity limit, only a total of 4,000 seats were available. According to Japan's Tower Records, Gorilla was ranked first in the album charts throughout the day and peaked at third place on Oricon's Daily Album Chart with debut sales of 10,292 copies. On March 3, Gorilla took first place in the Japanese Tower Records Monthly Chart and the group became the fastest to achieve first place in the Japanese chart.
On May 18, the group released the single "Beautiful", a ballad produced by label-mate Jung Il-hoon. The group held their three-day concert titled "Tentastic Vol. 2 'Trust'" from June 10–12 at the Shinhan Card Fan Live Hall. The concert was divided into "P day", "T day", and "G day" and showcased different concepts and performances. Tickets to the concerts were sold out in ten minutes.
On June 12, the group released their third Korean EP Ceremony that includes the pre-released single "Beautiful" and the lead single "Critical Beauty" (). The EP became their first U.S. chart entry, arriving on Billboard's world chart at number 14. Member Yan An was unable to participate in the album promotions and activities due to a right-hand injury sustained on May 31, 2017. On July 24, they released a surprise music video for their fans, "To Universe". On the same day, Pentagon received their first rookie award at Asia Model Awards.
In September, they released a short film "When I Was in Love" starring Gong Seung-yeon ahead of the comeback. On September 6, the group released their fourth Korean EP Demo_01 which includes the lead single "Like This", produced by Hui. The EP marked their first all self-composed songs since debut. They also held their third solo concert, "Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 3, 'Promise'" at the Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, Seoul. The group made a special appearance on television series, Hello, My Twenties! 2, that was aired on JTBC. Pentagon received their second rookie award at 1st Soribada Best K-Music Awards on September 20, followed by the Rising Star Award at Korea Music Festival Special Awards.
On October 10, one year after debut, Pentagon hit 10,000 likes on MelOn for "Like This".
They released a pre-release song, "Stay" on November 14, which featured Pentagon's vocalists. On November 22, the group released their fifth Korean EP Demo_02 which includes the lead single "Runaway", the second single to have been produced by Hui. The group subsequently held their fourth solo concert, "Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 4, 'Dream'" at Blue Square I-Market Hall in Seoul. The following day, the group released a special music video, "Violet". The song is a sentimental song composed by Kino and co-written by E'Dawn, Yuto and Wooseok.
Pentagon's Gorilla EP took third place in the K-pop Japan Top 10 album.
2018: Violet, Positive, Shine, E'Dawn's departure, and Thumbs Up!
On January 17, 2018, Pentagon released their second Japanese EP Violet. The EP debuted at number one on Tower Record weekly album chart and ranked fourth in the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. They held their last solo concert, "Pentagon Mini Concert Tentastic Vol. 5, Miracle" on April 1 at Blue Square I-Market Hall, Seoul.
On April 2, Pentagon released their sixth Korean EP Positive which features six tracks including lead single "빛나리 (Shine)". The song eventually becoming a sleeper hit by word of mouth from listeners due to its unique melody and powerful choreography. Since its release, the lowest it placed on Melon's daily chart was in the 500s, but it slowly rose to number 186 on April 29. A month after its release, on May 1, the track rose to number 95 on Melon's real-time chart. The single peaked at number 16. "Shine" debuted at number 85 on Gaon Digital Chart and peaked at number 27. Subsequently, the company announced that the promotion period was extended by two weeks. They made their debut on Top 10 Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart.
On August 18, Pentagon held their first fan meeting in Japan "僕たちの第一歩 (Our First Step)". The Japanese version of "Shine", released on 29 August, was used as the opening song of TV Asahi's late-night music program series Break Out throughout the month.
On September 10, Pentagon released their seventh Korean EP Thumbs Up!, which features five tracks including lead single "청개구리 (Naughty Boy)". E'Dawn and Yan An were absent from the comeback. After Hyuna announced her relationship with E'Dawn in August, on September 13, Cube Entertainment announced that they would be terminating their contracts, citing that they could not "maintain trust" with them. On November 14, Cube Entertainment officially confirmed E'Dawn's departure from the group and company.
Pentagon made their first appearance on an episode of Immortal Songs on October 6, 2018. The theme for the episode was "Korean Lyric Awards Special", and they performed a rendition of Kim Wan-sun's classic hit "The Pierrot Smiles At Us", a song recorded and released in 1990. The group received 383 points but lost to Jung Dong-ha by one point. On November 25, the group held a fan meeting "PENTAGon MOVINGon" at Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo with an attendance of 2,000 people. It was their first activity since E'Dawn's departure.
In Japan, Shine ranked 4th and Violet ranked 10th on Oricon's 2018 Indie Albums. Violet also ranked 8th on Tower Records' list of 2018 K-Pop Domestic Albums.
2019: Debut in Japan, Genie:us, Sum(me:r) and first world tour