After a year and a half of compulsory duty, South Korean singer and producer WOODZ is finally discharged. WOODZ, real name Cho Seung-youn, finished his mandatory military service on Monday, July 21 . He enlisted in January 2024 and joined the military band.
WOODZ Is Back
Singer WOODZ is now officially discharged from his military duty. At the Military Academy in Seoul, he met up with his fans and media professionals for his first official greeting as a civilian. WOODZ saluted and greeted all the people who had been waiting there for him to celebrate his return. Feeling grateful, he said, ‘Thank you so much for waiting for me’. When asked what he would want for his first meal as a civilian, he quickly named “Samgyeopsal,” or grilled pork belly.
못 가신 분들을 위해… (거의) 풀영상! pic.twitter.com/ieZQLwJomb
— 🦷 (@chiacldk) July 21, 2025
WOODZ’s Remarkable Resurgence During Service
Despite his time away from the spotlight, WOODZ suddenly became popular during his military service as his self-composed song “Drowning,” which came out in April 2023, started climbing up the music charts towards the later part of 2023. Interest was mainly created by a viral performance of the song on the KBS show “Immortal Songs” by WOODZ in his military uniform. This performance racked up millions of views and “Drowning” even took the top spot in the major music charts and won on music shows. WOODZ through agency, expressed how surreal it felt to receive such support even while being in the military.
thank you KBS2’s ‘Immortal Song’ for changing woodz’s life forever. pic.twitter.com/brg7Ih2DCg
— ⋆ (@jszydnwm) April 28, 2025
WOODZ Preparing for Full-Scale Comeback
With his demobilization, WOODZ will make a comeback to his career with a series of big-name activities. He has also already launched a new web fan community to return to his fans, titled MOODZ. His first appearance in public will be at the “2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon Summer” on July 27, and he is also going to perform at Japan’s “Summer Sonic 2025” music festival in August. WOODZ has also teased a new album and concert tour, vowing to keep challenging himself by experimenting with rock but also challenging himself with other genres.
Who Is WOODZ?
WOODZ, whose real name is Cho Seung-youn, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He initially debuted as one of the members of the boy group UNIQ, Chinese -Korean under Yuehua entertainment, in 2014. He subsequently became famous with his show stint on survival reality show “Produce X 101” in 2019, where he finished fifth and got accepted into the project group X1. Upon the split of X1, he went back to his solo life by releasing his first EP ‘Equal’ along with the title track ‘Love Me Harder’ on 29th June 2020 Since then he has released some albums and tracks representing his own musical style.
