OMEGA X: Starting Again, This Time Without Limits
With their fourth mini album UNCAPPED, OMEGA X turn their return into a new declaration of freedom. In conversation with CZMOS Magazine, the members discuss what they have carried forward from their past and the moment when ten different stories become one voice.
After more than two years without a new group release, OMEGA X returned on 19 June 2026 with UNCAPPED.
The title evokes emotions that can no longer be contained, but behind this idea of freedom lies something deeper: the determination to continue choosing the group despite the difficulties they have experienced.
Photo Credit: IPQ Photo Credit: IPQ Photo Credit: IPQ
OMEGA X’s story has been shaped from the beginning by the possibility of starting again.
Every member had already appeared on television programmes or debuted in another group before they came together in 2021. Those experiences do not simply belong to their past. They continue to inform the collective identity they are building today.
With JAEHAN, HWICHAN, SEBIN, HANGYEOM, TAEDONG, XEN, JEHYUN, KEVIN, HYUK and YECHAN, OMEGA X currently consists of ten members under IPQ.
Seven participated in the activities surrounding UNCAPPED: JAEHAN, YECHAN, XEN, KEVIN, SEBIN, JEHYUN and HWICHAN.
The fourth mini album contains five tracks and gives their fans, FOR X, a direct role in the creative process. Through a collaboration with Kooky, fans helped select the title track and determine the unit lineups for “Close to me” and “Cork”. JAEHAN and YECHAN are credited across all five songs, while XEN contributed to three tracks.
OMEGA X in Conversation with CZMOS Magazine
In this interview, JAEHAN, HWICHAN, XEN, JEHYUN, KEVIN and YECHAN discuss what they have retained from their previous experiences, what OMEGA X represents to them today and the moment when different individual stories become one voice.
OMEGA X brought together artists who had already experienced other parts of the industry. What did you carry with you, and what did you choose to leave behind?
I think what I do today naturally comes from the experiences I had in the past. I am making the most of both the parts that have been useful to me and those that were not as positive. - JAEHAN
My previous group had a freer atmosphere on stage. I think that kind of energy also emerges naturally during OMEGA X performances. - XEN
Their answers reveal two different ways of relating to the past. For JAEHAN, even the experiences that did not go as planned can become a resource. For XEN, his previous experience remains visible in the freedom with which he approaches the stage.
A second chance, in this sense, does not require erasing what came before. OMEGA X was built through the members’ ability to bring those identities into a new shared space.
Photo Credit: IPQ Photo Credit: IPQ
Your name contains the idea of an ending and, at the same time, possibilities that remain unknown. What does OMEGA X truly represent to you today?
To me, it means that challenges and difficulties never end. We continue moving forward anyway, searching for that ending. - JEHYUN
I think the meaning of a flame that never goes out has become even stronger. - KEVIN
To me, it is a home where I feel comfortable. When I think about how all the effort I have made over the years has been for this team, I realise that it is the biggest thing in my life. -YECHAN
In the original explanation of the name, omega represents the final letter of the Greek alphabet, while X stands for what remains unknown and its infinite possibilities. In the members’ words, however, that definition now takes on a less abstract meaning.
OMEGA X is an ongoing search, a flame that endures and, for YECHAN, a home. The group is not described only as a professional project, but as the place where years of work and difficulty acquire a shared meaning.
Your performances often seem to function as a language of their own. Is there something you find easier to express on stage than through words?
I think communicating what we want to express through our performances feels much more natural than saying it in words. - JEHYUN
I believe that feelings of freedom and running without stopping come across more clearly when performance and voice come together. - YECHAN
OMEGA X brings together many different stories. At what moment do those stories stop feeling separate and become one voice?
I truly feel that we become one when we sing and dance with our fans on stage. - JAEHAN
I feel it after recording and rehearsing, when we go on stage and perform in sync. - HWICHAN
I think going through the same experiences and sharing the same memories is what creates a single voice. - KEVIN
For JAEHAN, that unity is completed through the presence of the fans. For HWICHAN, it emerges from the work required to achieve synchronisation. KEVIN connects it to shared memories.
Photo Credit: IPQ Photo Credit: IPQ
OMEGA X’s collective voice does not erase the differences between its members. It takes shape when experiences, rehearsals, performances and audiences begin to support one another. This dynamic can also be heard in the two unit tracks on UNCAPPED.
“Close to me”, written, produced and performed by JAEHAN, XEN and YECHAN, explores the possibility of embracing differences. “Cork”, performed by HWICHAN, SEBIN, KEVIN and JEHYUN, uses the image of wine left to mature and finally uncorked to represent an identity ready to reveal itself.
CZMOS was founded in Italy to build a dialogue between Italian culture and contemporary Asia. Is there an Italian artist, musician, filmmaker, designer or creative figure who has surprised or inspired you?
Luciano Pavarotti. - JAEHAN
The musician Lucio Battisti left a strong impression on me. I know that he has been described as the Italian Cho Yongpil and that he had a major musical influence. - KEVIN
I was born into a Catholic family, so I think I developed an interest in Italy from an early age. My memories are a little unclear, but I remember taking a boat ride in Rome, eating and exploring the city. I do not know much about Italian culture yet, but since it is a country with such a deep history, I would like to discover more. - YECHAN
The Freedom to Keep Going
UNCAPPED closes with “Life Detox”, an alternative pop track that questions the idea of perfect purification.
Freedom does not necessarily come from eliminating every negative element, but from learning to loosen your grip and let what cannot be controlled pass through.
It is a conclusion that reflects the way the members describe their journey. They do not present this new beginning as something completely detached from the past. They carry previous identities, positive experiences, difficulties and memories with them, transforming everything they have lived through into a shared voice.
For OMEGA X, starting again from zero does not mean returning to the same point. It means continuing to move forward with everything they have experienced, this time without allowing anything to contain their energy.
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