South Korea is no longer the center of the K-pop universe, according to the 23-year-old C-Clown vocalist Rome.

"Not many people realize that K-pop in Korea is actually dying," Rome told the Australian newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald, in an interview published Sunday.

"Idols come out week after week after week. Now, when the audiences see a new idol [group], they won't look for five seconds. They won't look at all. It doesn't matter about skills or how good the team is. I mean the good thing is that in Australia and Europe and other Asian countries, everything must be new to them, it's just blooming right now."

Rome grew up in Australia, graduating from Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts, and even performing in a heavy metal band, before moving to Seoul four years ago.

The C-Clown singer had reportedly been frustrated with how his studies at Australia's Sydney University were going when he decided to make the move to South Korea in what he described as an effort "to find his roots."

It was there that Rome stumbled into his big break, when a talent scout for the record label Yedang Entertainment spotted him on the street.

Rome recalls that when the representative for his future label stopped him to ask his age, the singer's skepticism almost sabotaged the whole thing.

"I was kind of suspicious because he was dressed in a suit on a really hot day," Rome said.

"I wanted to tell him I don't really roll that way. Then he said, 'don't be scared. It's not something weird.' So I said, 'okay, so what's this about?'"

When he found out that Yedang was recruiting members for a boy band, the experienced breakdancer became quite interested. With the addition of members Siwoo, Ray, Kang Jun, T.K, and Maru, the group C-Clown was born.

But the group's success took a lot of hard work right from the beginning, Rome recalled.

"Our team went out at 9 a.m. to the practice rooms and then we went back home at, like, 5 a.m, and that was every day," he said.

But Rome can tell the hard work has paid off, especially when he returns to Australia.

"When I was still [living] in Australia, only Koreans knew about the whole K-pop scene," he said.

"Now when I visit, I realize that so many people are actually getting into K-pop. Walking down the streets of [Sydney], someone would recognize me. They would come up and ask me if I'm Rome from C-Clown. So I was, like, 'wow, I can't believe our name reached all the way to Australia.'"