Do we like them?

Do we like Xiumin?

Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and some giving on record, but too little is known on the big questions to score him higher.

Xiumin, real name Kim Min-seok, is a founding-era member of EXO, the K-pop group that debuted in 2012. He also sings in the sub-unit EXO-CBX, and in September 2022 he stepped out solo with the mini album Brand New. He has acted too, in dramas and musicals.

The big storyline is business, not behaviour. In 2023 he, Chen and Baekhyun announced they were ending their exclusive contracts with SM Entertainment, citing unfair terms, and the fight has dragged on since. In February 2026 SM filed to provisionally seize the three members' assets, according to Philippine outlet Manila Bulletin.

Other bits of the saga have been messy too. In March 2025 his agency said his Music Bank appearance had been blocked, and KBS denied that, per Korea Times coverage. In March 2026 he held a birthday fan meeting despite a reported dispute over unpaid music video production costs, and in June 2026 his agency said a separate company wrongly presented itself as his agency when signing an Asia Culture Festival booking.

On the harm check, we found nothing. No remarks from him on LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the climate turned up, good or bad, and no run of work with anyone pushing harm. A joint statement against online hate went out via INB100, but the reporting doesn't say who it covered. That's a clean sheet, but it's a quiet one.

On the good stuff, fans have run charity drives in his name for years, and in late 2025 EXO-CBX reportedly donated to relief for the Hong Kong fire. We couldn't confirm the details of his own giving beyond that, so we won't oversell it. That's honestly about the whole list.

So: a working idol caught in a long, ugly money fight, with no sign of nastiness toward anyone. We'd happily keep him on the playlist, but we couldn't dig as deep as we'd like, so call it a lean yes rather than a gold star.