David Yong is a Singaporean lawyer turned businessman turned K-pop artist – in that order, though not one he's ever fully left behind. Bristol-trained in law, he took over his father's timber-trading company in 2014 and rebuilt it into Evergreen Group Holdings, a multi-country operation spanning real estate, alternative finance, and lifestyle branding, with a personal net worth north of $10 million. Then, in August 2022, he signed with RBW under a KOL-style deal, a role the agency and Yong would later brand "influencer CEO" – part artist, part brand ambassador, part case study in how far a K-pop contract can stretch.

By the time that deal happened, Yong was already several careers deep. Vocal training, though, came earlier than any of it – lessons under Singaporean veteran Pan Xiu Qiong when he was eighteen, years before anyone associated his name with a microphone. That detail alone complicates the easy read of Yong as a businessman cosplaying as an idol. The music, he says, was never the surprise to him. It was the surprise to everyone else.

His K-pop entry point traces back to a BIGBANG concert, then deepened at a TWICE show he brought his brother and friends to in 2017 – the kind of fan-first origin story that sits oddly next to his day job, and deliberately so. By 2021 he'd relocated to Seoul, learning Korean on a compressed timeline while building out a schedule of vocal and dance training that replaced the networking circuit he'd spent a decade in. The releases that followed – "My Way" for the School 2021 OST, his debut single "In My Pocket" with Kid Milli, and "Maybe Love," a Top 10 collaboration with MAMAMOO's Moonbyul – each came with production timelines Yong describes less as gruelling than clarifying, a crash course in the unseen labour behind a finished track.

The business side never fully stepped back. In 2023 he moved roughly ₩10 billion into Attrakt, home to FIFTY FIFTY, then followed it in 2026 with Power Entertainment's deal to represent Sandara Park across Southeast Asia as she launched her independent label, ARADNAS.

You first encountered K-pop through a BIGBANG concert, and TWICE deepened it further. What do you remember most about how those two moments felt different from each other?

BIGBANG and TWICE are iconic in their own right, but also show how broad K-pop is musically and creatively. Both moments showed how different forms of music can unite fans from all over the world, and that magical feeling is one that I’ll never forget.

Vocal training at 18 under Pan Xiu Qiong came long before RBW. What did that early training give you that you still draw on now?

It goes to show how much hard work goes on behind the scenes. Not many people know about the vocal training, which meant that my recording music came as a complete surprise to them. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes, and this sometimes goes on for years. That’s also the same in K-pop – what we see is the glitz and glamour, but no one truly knows how much hard work and dedication has gone on behind the scenes. Beyond K-pop, this applies in everything I do. I believe in preparing myself the best as I can, so that I’ll be ready when opportunities come knocking.

"My Way" took 36 hours to shoot and "In My Pocket" took 30. What surprised you most about the physical demands of making a K-pop music video?

A three to four minute video taking that many hours to shoot was within what I expected, as there have been so many others that require a lot more time to complete. It gave me a newfound appreciation for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to complete a single music video, or any other end product that fans get to see.

You had to learn Korean within months of relocating to Seoul. How did that timeline shape the way you approached recording and performing?

The way I learned Korean was pretty much on-the-joe, because there was just so much to pack into so little time. I’m very blessed to have many helpful and patient colleagues around to have helped me in such a short period of time.

Moving from networking dinners to vocal, dance, and language lessons is a big shift in daily structure. What part of that new routine took the longest to adjust to?

In fact, it wasn’t really changing from one to the other – it was adding these new responsibilities on top of my existing ones. There wasn’t much adjustment per se, but more of learning how to focus and manage my time a lot better. I also spent much less time on my social life.

"Maybe Love" with Moonbyul reached Top 10 in three markets. What did collaborating with an established idol teach you about performance that solo work hadn't?

I’m very thankful to Moonbyul and the RBW team as the teamwork and chemistry was really important in ensuring that we could release a song that we were all proud of.

Your RBW deal is built around an "influencer CEO" role rather than a standard artist contract. How do you see that role functioning inside a K-pop agency structure?

It really depends on the agency, and how the influencer CEO role is designed. The whole point of the partnership is to ensure that everyone grows together and becomes better versions of themselves, and this is really up to all parties involved to sit down and discuss what works best for them.

Evergreen's distribution deal with RBW connects your business world directly to the music. Where do you feel that overlap works well, and where does it get complicated?

There’s no complications as the boundaries were established very early on – that the distribution is purely on the business side of things. I steer clear from giving input on anything creatively in this aspect.

Your investment in Attrakt came the year after your RBW deal. What made you want a financial stake in an agency rather than staying purely on the artist side?

Being an investor versus an influencer CEO is very different. Being an investor is something that Attrakt and I agreed worked best for us at that point of time.

Power Entertainment now represents Sandara Park across Southeast Asia as she launches ARADNAS independently. What does supporting an artist's independent era look like from where you're sitting?

Sandara has an iconic career spanning over two decades, and nothing can take that away from her. Now, she wants to focus on the music and messages that she wants to convey to fans, which is what Power Entertainment wants to support her in as well.

You've described yourself as someone who inspires others to not limit themselves to one lane. Where do you think that mindset came from originally?

I’m very blessed to have the opportunities over the years that were presented to me, and having that space to do so is something I don’t take lightly. I don’t think I can pinpoint a single moment, as it’s because of the multiple cultures, countries and industries that I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of over the years that has led me to believe that exploring is one of the best ways to find the most authentic and happiest version of yourself.