Being a member of the biggest boy band BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) in the world has a bunch of perks. The seven band army is known all over the world not only for their music, good looks, but for fans bigger than even the pop band the Beatles ever had.

With music, stories and news of K Pop happening all over the place, on Instagram, Twitter, Thread and other social media platforms, dozens of boy and girl bands emerging from South Korea, believe me when I say that K Pop is irresistible. Approach any young girl or even her parents, and chances are K Pop is their stalemate. Responses like “My daughter, she loves Korean music, She loves K-pop”. Stories like these abound everywhere. The Korean wave began somewhere in 2012 and once BTS came on, it was a tidal wave.

With fans all over the world and so much material of the band from their music, dancing, articles, social work and loads of other stuff, some facts are bound to be missed or misinterpreted here. So I’d say, if something on the band is not here, it means you probably know about the band more than anyone else, so in a 1000 words we put our focus on the youngest and most charming member of BTS, Jeon Jungkook, famously known by his moniker ‘Jungkook’.

But before we even hit out on the life of Jungkook, it would be nice to know how the band BTS really started. So it was Bang Si-Hyuk, a producer and songwriter, along with his K-pop label Big Hit Entertainment that created BTS, which made its debut in 2013. With the help of the government, Bang Si-Hyuk began his career at J.Y.P. Entertainment, one of the "big three" companies that helped turn K-pop into a five-billion dollar industry. Michael Jackson attended President Kim Dae-jung's inauguration in the midst of the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s. Dae-jung decided to massively invest in culture, following the lead of Hollywood and J-pop, Japan's popular music business. K-pop, K-dramas, and Korean genre films became a source of Korean soft power as a result of the successful expenditure.

The seven member group “Bangtan Boys” or BTShave been the buzz of the music industry for almost a decade now. The lads, Kim Taehyung, Jimin, Jin, Suga, Rap Monster, J-hope, and Jung Kook are the official members of the group. 

Jeon Jeong-Guk known mononymously asJungkook is a rapper, singer, and dancer, like many of his bandmates, he is the heartthrob of young girls across the globe.

Jungkook’s humble beginnings to being a K-Pop sensation was by no means easy. He was born on 1^st September 1997 in Busan, South Korea and spent his childhood with his parents and an elder brother Hyung. When he was in Middle school, Jungkook used to go to Baekyang Elementary school and later switched to Singu Middle School, which was located in Seoul.

A sports freak, Jungkook enjoyed sports since his childhood and if not for music, he was all set to make sports a career, his first love being the game of badminton.  But moving with his peers and watching his favorite music artists perform, especially a G-dragon performance, this  inspired him to become a singer.

Joining BTS was by no way a stroke of luck for the young singer. Once he had decided that he wanted to be a singer, he auditioned for a national talent search program, Superstar K, but failed to pass the audition elimination round. Upon departing the show, he was scouted and received offers from 8 different entertainment agencies. After randomly hearing and falling in love with future member Rap Monster's rap, he decided to join Big Hit Entertainment.

To brush up on his dance skills in preparation for his debut, Jungkook moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2012, to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle. He got his big break in June 2012, when he appeared in Jo Kwon’s I’m Da One music video and was taken on as backup dancer for Glam before he made his debut with BTS.

Jungkook has been with the group since BTS implanted the seed of the band back in 2013. He jumped into the music industry at the age of 15 and hit the world of glam with the song 2Cool4Skool. His three solo tracks with BTSBegin, Euphoria and My Time, were on repeat mode for youngsters. Although he has various stage names,Jungkook chooses to maintain his real name as his stage name as well. StillWith You, another solo work is one of his best releases. 

2022 was a big year for Jungkook. BTS’s main vocalist became the youngest Korean artist with the most Grammy Award nominations in history and was nominated for the “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for three consecutive years. For the 2023 Grammys, BTS was nominated for three awards: “Best Pop/Duo Group Performance”, “Best Music Video”, and “Album of the Year”, as a featured artist on Music of the Spheres by Coldplay.

His debut solo single Seven featuring American rapper Latto was released on 14^th July 2023 and debuted at number one on the Hot 100, the Global 200 and the Global Excl. US charts, making him the first Korean solo artist to simultaneously top all three charts and the second—after Jimin, to debut atop the Hot 100. The song Seven eventually became the fastest in history to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify. His second solo single 3D featuring Jack Harlow was released on 28^th September 2023 and debuted at number five on both the Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, making Jungkook the first Korean solo artist to earn two top-five singles on the latter. A month later he was back with a new single Too Much with the Kid Laroi and Central Cee, which was followed by his debut solo 11 track album ‘Golden’ that features songs featuring Major Lazer, DJ Snake with songwriting collaborations with Ed Sheeran (ai) (video), Shawn Mendes.

His other collaborations cherished by his fans, one being with Charlie Puth on We don’t talk anymore and Left and Right,

Jungkook loves art and this can be seen by the multiple tattoos seen on his skin and different parts of his body, each tattoo holding a different meaning. He has a hand tattoo that honors the band’s fandom, which is called ARMY. He enjoys doing endorsements for a bunch of top-notch brands. He is also a stylish person, his eyebrow piercing suits his personality.

Jungkook is also famous for his appearance in several TV shows like “BTS China Job”, “Flower Boy Bromance”, and “National Idol Singing Contest”.

Jungkook is also a style statement and girls not only from South Korea but also all around the world go gaga over his superb style with even a few boys trying to imitate his style. He was considered the 3rd most loved celebrity in the entire land of South Korea back in 2019. According to reports from the media, Jung Kook boasts an impressive net worth of $24 million.

Be it creating history with his 2022 FIFA World Cup performance Dreamers in Qatar or featuring on Rolling Stone magazine list of 200 Greatest Singers of all time, Jungkook has successfully cemented his name in the global music industry.

With around 22 Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) songwriting credits to his name, Jungkook is one of the most popular members of BTS. He is also one of the fastest K Pop soloists to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify with just three tracks Stay Alive, Left and Right and Dreamers, outside his group.

So have you tuned in to his new single Never Let Go which was released last year in June?

Trivia:

Favorite Color: Red

Jungkook is a food lover 

Favorite dish: Pork soup rice

His stage names: 'Seagull', 'Tattoo' and 'Ean'

Fans refer to him as: Daddy

He is the Global Brand Ambassador for: Calvin Klein

He has a pet dog named: Jeon Bam (a Doberman)

He loves Reading

By Verus Ferreira