Eli Kim

Eli was born in Los Angeles, California to Korean parents. He spent most of his years in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has a younger sister Minah[3] and an older sister Hannah. He attended Ni River Middle School and Riverbend High School in Virginia.[4] After dropping out of high school, he went alone to Beijing, China at 15 to pursue his studies, and also learned Mandarin. He trained in Taekwondo and Kung Fu for 12 years, opening an opportunity for him to be cast as an extra in a Chinese movie. He is fluent in English, Korean and Mandarin.[2][5]

In January 2010, Eli and fellow member Kibum started their acting career in a Thai-Korean drama, Autumn Destiny,[15] with Thai actor Mario Maurer. Eli and Kibum's voices were dubbed since they could not speak Thai.

In 2011, Eli and fellow members Dongho and Kiseop were cast in an MBC sitcom titled Real School.[16] The trio acted in a 40-episode series, transforming into high school students who reside at an "English Village" in an attempt to face and crack their fear of speaking English.[17][18]

In October 2014, Eli was cast as the male lead in a Chinese adaptation of the Korean drama Full House.[5]

On April 18, 2011, Eli was injured during a rehearsal.[19] He fractured his right hand[20] and underwent surgery.[21] The hospital stated that it wouldn't be difficult for Eli to perform, and he managed to perform with a cast on his right arm.[22]

On December 4, 2015, Eli announced via instagram that he had been married for over a year, since June 5, 2014, having dated his wife, who is a model 11 years his senior, for five years. It was also announced that they were expecting a child.[23] His fellow members Soohyun and Kevin took to Twitter to comfort the fans about the surprising news of Eli's marriage news.[24] On December 6, 2015, U-KISS' label NH Media released a statement to clear up some questions. His label said that Eli's marriage would not affect his promotions with U-KISS and that he would continue filming his Chinese drama and asked fans to refrain from leaving hate comments, as he would soon be a father.[25] On June 8, 2016, Eli's son, Michael Min-soo Kim, was born.[26]

On August 30, 2016, Eli revealed his wife, Ji Yeon-soo[27][28][29] to the public on MBC Every1's Video Star. On January 4, 2017, Eli revealed his life as a husband and father by joining reality show, KBS's Mr. House Husband with his wife, Ji Yeon-soo and their son, Michael Min-soo Kim.[30][31]

Eli announced his separation from Ji in November 2020, with Michael remaining with his mother while he is staying in the United States.[32]