NCT (Hangul: 엔시티) is a K-pop boy group formed by S.M. Entertainment.[1][2] Their name stands for the Hallyu localization project Neo Culture Technology, a term coined by S.M. Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man to describe the group's concept of having an unlimited number of members[3][4][5] divided into multiple sub-units based in various cities worldwide.[6] The group's six-member main unit NCT U made their debut in April 2016 with digital singles "The 7th Sense" and "Without You."[7][8] The second unit, NCT 127 based in Seoul, made their debut in July 2016 with the mini album NCT#127. The third unit, NCT Dream made their debut in August 2016 with digital single "Chewing Gum". Subsequent units are expected to debut in Japan, Beijing and Shanghai. History[edit] Pre-debut[edit] Most of the members of NCT were formerly part of SM Rookies, a pre-debut group of S.M. Entertainment trainees.[10] In January 2016, S.M. Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man gave a presentation at the SM Coex Artium titled "SMTOWN: New Culture Technology 2016", speaking about the agency's plans for a new boy group in line with their "culture contents" strategy that would be debuting different teams based in different countries around the world.[4][5][6][11] 2016: Debuts of NCT U, NCT 127, and NCT Dream[edit] On April 4, 2016, S.M. Entertainment announced NCT's first unit, NCT U consisting of six members: Taeil, Taeyong, Doyoung, Ten, Jaehyun and Mark.[8] NCT U released double digital singles "The 7th Sense" on April 9 and [12] "Without You" on April 10 in two versions (a Korean version sung by Taeil, Doyoung, and Jaehyun, and a Chinese version with the addition of SM Rookies' Kun).[8][13] On April 9, 2016, NCT U made their first broadcast appearance with NCT On Air on Naver V-app, hosted by Super Junior's Kim Hee-chul.[14][15] The same day, they had their first live performance in China at the 16th Music Feng Yun Bang Awards,[16][17] along with two other Chinese members, Kun and WinWin. The group made their debut in Korea on music program KBS's Music Bank on April 15[18][19] and have subsequently appeared in three seasons of their reality series NCT Life, featuring other SM Rookies.[20] NCT 127 performing in Busan On July 1, S.M. Entertainment announced NCT's second unit, NCT 127. NCT 127 is based in Seoul, with the number 127 representing the longitude coordinates of Seoul. The unit consists of seven members: Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, WinWin, Mark and Haechan (formerly known as Donghyuck). On July 7, they had their official debut stage on the music program [21] M! Countdown, performing their title track "Fire Truck" and "Once Again" from their album.[22] Their debut EP NCT #127 was released digitally on July 10 and physically on July 11.[23] The 3rd season of NCT Life, which features NCT 127 in Paju, premiered on July 16, 2016.[24] On July 29, the unit released the single "Taste the Feeling" for the project SM Station in collaboration with Coca-Cola.[25] NCT Dream at a filming of Music Bank On August 18, S.M. Entertainment announced that NCT's third unit would be called NCT Dream. The unit consists of seven members: Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung. Their first single Chewing Gum was released on August 24 and the unit had their debut stage on M! Countdown on August 25.[26][27] On December 6, 5 members of NCT 127 (Yuta, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Mark and Winwin) released a special dance music video, Good Thing in collaboration with W Korea. On December 20, the music video for "Switch It" was released. The single was previously released as a bonus track on NCT 127's mini album NCT#127, and features SR15B.[28] On December 27, NCT 127 announced that they would be making a comeback with the addition of two members, Johnny and Doyoung. The unit would be releasing their second mini album Limitless, digitally on January 6, 2017 and physically on January 9, 2017