Japanese Singer Shin Triumphs Over Kang Moon-kyung in '2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers'

Japanese singer Shin captures attention with a decisive victory over Kang Moon-kyung.

On the night of the 2nd at 9:50 PM, MBN aired the '2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers', featuring a showdown between male contestants from both countries, following last year's female edition.

During the broadcast, host Shin Dong-yup mentioned last year's victory by the Korean team, stating, "This time, it's a completely different story." Lyn, who participated last year, joined the panel and remarked, "Last year, we barely won," adding, "This year promises to be an even fiercer competition."

Before the main event, a preliminary round featured the top 7 singers from both countries. The format is a best-of-three series, where winning two out of three battles secures the final victory. The first match is a 'ranking exploration match' rather than the main competition, where singers of the same rank face off.

Lyn commented, "Losing would feel really bad," while Daesung added, "Falling behind when hanging out with peers hurts the pride," eliciting laughter. The ranking exploration match is judged solely by a panel of citizens from both countries, not celebrities.

Among the comments, Seol Woon-do noted, "The Japanese team looks younger than the Korean team," and added, "Korean ladies tend to vote for younger ones, but I'm more worried about age than skill." Enoch, upon learning the average age of the Japanese team is 28.1, quipped, "How can I compete with my son?" Choi Soo-ho expressed, "I believe singing is about experience," and confidently stated, "We are much better."

The first match featured a showdown between the 7th-ranked singers from each country, Kang Moon-kyung and Shin. Before the battle, Shin, a five-year veteran singer from Japan, humorously remarked, "I want to finish quickly and go eat my favorite yukhoe and nakgopsae." Kang Moon-kyung chose Kim Soo-hee's 'Who Are You', while Shin selected Hashi Yukio's 'Kizuna', known in Korea as Nami's 'Sad Fate'. Shin drew further attention by singing the second verse in Korean. The result was a victory for Japan's Shin, who scored 66 points against Kang Moon-kyung.

Reporter Chaeryeong Lim, TenAsia syjj426@tenasia.co.kr