SM Rookies (, stylized in all caps as SMROOKIES) was a pre-debut training team created by South Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment in 2013, composed of trainees who have yet to join an idol group. From 2013 to 2023, the team officially introduced 35 members, of which 30 debuted under SM Entertainment as part of Red Velvet, NCT, Aespa, Riize, and Mytro, with rookie Lami debuting as an actress. Since 2024, the team has had no active members.
History 2013–2017: Formation and debuts of Red Velvet and NCT
SM Entertainment formally announced the creation of SM Rookies on December 3, 2013, featuring members Seulgi, Jeno and Taeyong. On December 9, Irene, Jaehyun and Lami were introduced. On December 16, members Mark, Hansol, and Jisung were introduced, followed by Johnny, Ten and Yuta on December 23.
In January 2014, SM Rookies opened their official Twitter account. Wendy was introduced on March 13, 2014, with the song "Because Of You", recorded for the soundtrack of the SM C&C-produced series Mimi. On March 19, 2014, a video of Wendy singing "Speak Now" by Taylor Swift was released. In April, SM Entertainment launched the official website of the SM Rookies project, which they announced with a video teaser uploaded onto their official YouTube channel, featuring Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Mark. Seulgi later featured on labelmate Henry's song "Butterfly". On July 17, a performance video of Irene and Seulgi dancing to the song "Be Natural" by S.E.S. was released, credited to SR14G. Member Donghyuck was later introduced on July 17, 2014. On July 21, Taeyong released a track video for the song "Open The Door". On July 22, Mark and Donghyuck were featured in the first video of the Rookie Station project. Later that month, the agency confirmed Irene, Seulgi, and Wendy as members of the group Red Velvet. On August 14, SM Rookies member Yeri was featured in the third video of Rookie Station alongside Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Mark, Jeno and Donghyuck. On August 21, the fourth video of the Rookies Station series was released. On August 24, a video of Johnny, Taeyong and Hansol dancing to the song "Super Moon" was released, credited to SR14B. On September 16, the sixth video of the Rookie Station was released, featuring members Johnny, Yuta, Ten, and Jaehyun. On October 9, Taeyong was featured in Red Velvet's single "Be Natural".
On January 16, 2015, member Doyoung was introduced as he and Jaehyun were to become the new MCs of MBC Music's Show Champion. On February 19, 2015, Johnny, Yuta, Ten, and Lami released their Lunar New Year greetings. In February, a report of Red Velvet filming a music video with trainee Yeri leaked online. The following month, SM Entertainment formally introduced Yeri as the fifth member of Red Velvet. On March 6, a clip of Hansol, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Ten, and Jaehyun (as SR15B) dancing to the song "Bassbot" was released. After months of being featured in various SM Rookies events, Jaemin was formally introduced in April. In June, Ten and Jaehyun competed in the Hope Basketball All-Star event. Later that month, SM Rookies were featured in News 'Korean Pop Idols Rule Asia' featuring Mark giving a short talk. On July 9, 2015, members Koeun, Hina, and Herin were introduced as they were to become "Mouseketeers" on Disney Channel Korea's The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Mark, Jeno, Donghyuck, Jaemin, Jisung, and Lami. On July 26, SM Entertainment announced a concert for the team's male members, titled SM Rookies Show. On July 30, a video of Hansol, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Ten, and Jaehyun (as SR15B) performing a dance routine was released. On October 13, 2015, Taeil was introduced after being featured in multiple SM Rookies events. In November, female members of SM Rookies performed a dance performance in the video "Rookies Entertainment App Launching". On December 18, Kun was formally introduced. On December 22, Lami, Hina, and fellow trainee Park Jungyeon appeared in video teasers for Winter Garden 2015.
On January 5, 2016, WinWin was introduced. On January 26, Taeil released the song "Because Of You" for the soundtrack of the series The Merchant: Gaekju 2015. SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man announced a concept for a new boy band, to be called NCT, in which different teams would debut based in different countries around the world. In April 2016, the agency announced Taeil, Taeyong, Doyoung, Ten, Jaehyun and Mark as members of NCT's first sub-unit, NCT U. In July, the agency also confirmed Yuta, WinWin and Donghyuck (now known by his stage name Haechan) as members of NCT's second sub-unit, NCT 127. In August, the agency confirmed Jeno, Jaemin and Jisung as members of NCT's third sub-unit, NCT Dream, alongside Mark and Haechan. On September 19, Yiyang and Ningning were introduced followed by their appearances on the online reality show My SMT. In December, the agency confirmed Johnny as a new member of NCT 127.
On April 5, 2017, Lucas was introduced, followed by Jungwoo on April 17. Jungwoo and Koeun made appearances in the music video of Super Junior member Yesung's single "Paper Umbrella" later that month. After an almost one-year absence, member Kun appeared with Lucas and Jungwoo for the opening of SM Rookies' Instagram account. In late June, Herin was confirmed as a contestant of Mnet's survival show Idol School, leading to her departure from the team and SM Entertainment. Hansol followed in October, participating as a contestant in the KBS survival show The Unit.
2018: New NCT members and debut of WayV In January 2018, NCT unveiled a "large scale project" called NCT 2018, and some members of SM Rookies were seen in Ukraine filming a music video for a possible comeback. Members Jungwoo and Lucas were spotted alongside other NCT members in the airport en route to Ukraine. On January 30, SM Entertainment confirmed the debut of remaining SM Rookies members Kun, Lucas, and Jungwoo through the video "NCT 2018 Yearbook #1". On February 14, NCT U released the single "Boss", recorded by Lucas and Jungwoo alongside members Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Winwin, and Mark.
On July 17, three male Chinese trainees, Hendery, Xiaojun, and Yangyang, were introduced. On October 1, Yiyang confirmed she had left SM Entertainment and returned to China to join the idol competition show The Next Top Bang. On December 31, SM Entertainment announced the debut of Hendery, Xiaojun and Yangyang as members of NCT's Chinese sub-unit, WayV.
2020: Formation of Aespa On October 26, SM Entertainment announced the formation of their new girl group, Aespa. On October 29, Ningning was introduced as the third member of the group, which debuted on November 17.
2022–2025: Lami's debut, Formation of Riize and NCT Wish
On July 1, 2022, SM Entertainment introduced three new male trainees: Eunseok, Shohei, and Seunghan. In November 2022, it was announced they would star in the reality show Welcome to NCT Universe.
On December 9, 2022, SM Entertainment confirmed that Lami would debut as an actress, making her return to the agency after leaving in 2020. She would be the last member of the original SM Rookies lineup, introduced in 2013, to debut. In May 2023, she appeared on the ENA television series Oh! Youngsim.
In 2023, Hina signed with Japanese modelling agency Trapeziste, hence it is assumed that she has departed from SM.
On May 24, 2023, SM announced that Eunseok and Seunghan would no longer debut in NCT's new unit and instead debut as members of the company's upcoming boy band. Shohei was not added to the lineup due to personal health reasons, with the company planning to support his individual activities in the future. On May 31, 2023, Eunseok and Seunghan announced they had graduated from the team through handwritten letters posted on the SM Rookies's Instagram. On July 31, 2023, SM confirmed the name of the boy band, Riize, which debuted on September 4.
On June 28, 2023, SM Entertainment released a teaser video introducing two new male trainees, Yushi and Sion. It was later confirmed that they would debut with NCT's new six-member sub-unit and would appear on the reality show NCT Universe: Lastart, dedicated to selecting the remaining four members out of ten trainees. On September 27, Yushi and Sion announced they had graduated from the team through handwritten letters posted on the SM Rookies's Instagram. In September 2024, Shohei was announced as a member of SM's upcoming trot boy band, Mytro. The trot boy band debut was canceled without announcement and Shohei continue his solo activities under SM Japan. In November 2025, Shohei later transferred to SM's sub label SM C&C.
Members Debuted members Stage name Date introduced Debut date Debut group Irene December 9, 2013 August 1, 2014 Red Velvet Seulgi December 2, 2013 Wendy March 13, 2014 Yeri March 11, 2014 March 17, 2015 Taeyong December 3, 2013 April 8, 2016 NCT Doyoung January 15, 2015 Ten December 23, 2013 Jaehyun December 9, 2013 Mark December 16, 2013 Taeil October 13, 2015 April 9, 2016 Yuta December 23, 2013 July 6, 2016 Winwin () January 5, 2016 Haechan July 17, 2014 Jeno December 2, 2013 August 25, 2016 Jaemin April 22, 2015 Jisung December 16, 2013 Johnny () December 23, 2013 January 4, 2017 Kun () December 18, 2015 March 14, 2018 Jungwoo () April 17, 2017February 18, 2018 LucasApril 6, 2017 Xiaojun ()July 17, 2018January 17, 2019 Hendery () Yangyang () Ningning () September 19, 2016 November 17, 2020 Aespa Lami () December 9, 2013 May 15, 2023 Eunseok ()July 1, 2022September 4, 2023Riize Seunghan () Sion ()June 28, 2023February 28, 2024 NCT Yushi () Shohei () July 1, 2022 Mytro
Former members Stage name Date introduced Hansol () December 16, 2013 Herin () July 8, 2015 Hina ()Koeun (고은) Yiyang () September 19, 2016
Filmography Television shows Year Title Member(s) 2014 Exo 90:2014 Hansol, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Ten, Jaehyun, Mark, Haechan, Jeno, Jaemin, Jisung2015 Show Champion Doyoung and Jaehyun Non-Summit Yuta Mickey Mouse Club Koeun, Mark, Hina, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Jisung, Herin, Lami Doyoung, Jaehyun (guest performers)2016 NCT Life Hansol (Season 1); Kun, Winwin (Season 2) My SMT Johnny (regular MC from Episode 5) Yiyang, Koeun, Hina, Ningning (Who's The Best? corner) 2022 Welcome to NCT Universe Eunseok, Shohei, Seunghan 2023 NCT Universe: LASTART Sion, Yushi
Discography Official releases Title Recorded by Year Album "Because I Love You" Wendy 2014 Mimi OST "Butterfly" Henry featuring Seulgi Fantastic "Be Natural" Red Velvet featuring Taeyong "Because of You" Taeil 2015 The Merchant: Gaekju 2015 OST "Without You" (Chinese version) NCT U with Kun 2016 NCT 2018 Empathy "Switch" NCT 127 featuring SR15B NCT #127
Songs recorded Names in italics indicate other trainees participating in the recording.