In 2008, the year he turned 8, he came to Korea with his mother and siblings, after his father was recognized as a refugee in February that year. They first lived in Incheon.
The breakthrough yearIn February 2013, the year he turned 13, he appeared with his family on KBS’s Screening Humanity: Good Morning Mr. Yiombi, and gained the nickname “Congo Prince.” That year his father became a professor at Gwangju University and the family moved to Gwangju, which Yeoyu Manman covered in September.
In 2014 a follow-up to Screening Humanity aired. In 2017 he described the discrimination he had experienced in Korea on BBC News Korea, with the model Han Hyun-min and his older brother. In spring 2019 he appeared on Happy Together 4 and in summer on Radio Star. He started YouTube in earnest after seeing the response to the thank-you video he posted afterward, and passed 100,000 subscribers in September. In November he was admitted to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
In 2020 he appeared on tvN’s Noraetmal Ssami and entered the political science and diplomacy department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. In 2021 he posted a handwritten statement after his older brother’s crime was reported. That fall he appeared in the web variety show Gongbeom, and two days after appearing on Point of Omniscient Interfering View he signed a partnership with Sandbox.
In January 2022 he said on a broadcast marking 400,000 subscribers that he had decided to naturalize. In spring he joined Godfather with Kim Sook, and at the year-end KBS Entertainment Awards they won the Best Couple Award. In 2023 he became a regular on Han Moon-chul’s Dashcam Review, became a Maxim cover model, and appeared in Netflix’s Zombieverse with his sister Patricia.
In 2024 he hosted My Sibling’s Romance and made a surprise appearance in the epilogue of Netflix’s film Cross. In October he moved with his sister to Yoo Byung-jae’s Black Paper. In 2025 he appeared in Knowing International High School and Euracha Cha Myeolchi Camp and hosted the Chuseok Idol Star Athletics Championships. In November his YouTube channel passed 1 million subscribers.
In January 2026 he began Human Dark, a series with his Black friends, and in August he appeared on National Singing Contest with three of them.
Jonathan Yiombi (born Feb 1, 2000) became known when he appeared with his family on KBS’s Screening Humanity on Feb 11, 2013, the year he turned 13, and started YouTube in earnest after appearing on MBC’s Radio Star in 2019, the year he turned 19. His YouTube channel passed 1 million subscribers on Nov 24, 2025, the year he turned 25.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
02 / QUICK ANSWERS
Q & AFrequently asked
- How old was Jonathan Yiombi when he became known?
- In 2013, the year he turned 13. He appeared with his family in KBS’s Screening Humanity: Good Morning Mr. Yiombi, aired in five parts from Feb 11, 2013, and gained the nickname “Congo Prince.” It came five years after he came to Korea in 2008, the year he turned 8.
- How old was Jonathan Yiombi when he started YouTube?
- He says he posted videos for fun in high school, and started in earnest in 2019, the year he turned 19, after seeing the response to the thank-you video he posted after his appearance on Radio Star on Aug 21, 2019. He passed 100,000 subscribers on Sep 16, 2019 and 1 million on Nov 24, 2025, the year he turned 25.
- Is Jonathan Yiombi a Korean citizen?
- He holds Democratic Republic of the Congo citizenship. On Jan 27, 2022, the year he turned 22, he said he had decided to naturalize in Korea. No report that the naturalization was completed was found as of Sep 22, 2026.
- What agency is Jonathan Yiombi with?
- Black Paper. He signed a partnership with Sandbox Network on Nov 29, 2021, and on Oct 15, 2024, the year he turned 24, he signed an exclusive contract with Black Paper, a company founded by Yoo Byung-jae, with his sister Patricia.
- How old is Jonathan Yiombi?
- Born in 2000, he turns 26 in 2026 (26 as of Sep 22, 2026).