Jeon Jung-kook / Jungkook

Early life

Jungkook was born on September 1, 1997 in Busan, South Korea. His family consists of his parents and an elder brother. He attended Baekyang Elementary and Middle School in Busan. When he became a trainee, he transferred to Singu Middle School in Seoul. Jungkook initially had dreams of becoming a badminton player when he was young, but after seeing G-Dragon perform "Heartbreaker" on television, it influenced him to want to become a singer.

In 2011, Jungkook auditioned for the South Korean talent show Superstar K during its auditions in Daegu. Though he was not selected, he received casting offers from seven entertainment companies. He eventually chose to become a trainee under Big Hit Entertainment after seeing RM, now his fellow band member and leader in BTS, perform. To work on his dance skills in preparation for debut, he went to Los Angeles during the summer of 2012 to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle. In June 2012, he appeared in Jo Kwon's "I'm Da One" music video and also worked as a backup dancer for Glam before his debut. He graduated from Seoul's School of Performing Arts, an arts high school, in 2017. In November 2016, he decided to forgo taking the CSATs, Korea's nationwide university entrance exam, and is currently enrolled at Global Cyber University along with BTS members RM, J-Hope, Suga, V and Jimin.

Career

2013–present: BTS

On June 12, 2013, Jungkook made his debut as a member of BTS with the release of the single 2 Cool 4 Skool. Under BTS, he has sung two solo tracks; the first, pop track "Begin" from the 2016 album Wings, told his story of moving to Seoul at a young age to become an idol and expresses his gratitude towards his fellow members for taking care of him during that time. The second track, a future bass song titled "Euphoria", was released with an accompanying nine-minute short film on April 5, 2018 as the introduction to the third part of BTS' "Love Yourself" series. The full studio track was included on their album Love Yourself: Answer on August 24, 2018. Euphoria was produced by DJ Swivel and charted at number five on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. It charted for 13 weeks on the Gaon Digital Chart.

Jungkook has been credited as the main producer for two of BTS' songs: "Love is Not Over" and "Magic Shop". On October 25, 2018, Jungkook (together with the rest of the BTS members) was ordained with the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit by the President of South Korea.

2015–present: Solo activities

In September 2015, Jungkook participated in the "One Dream, One Korea" campaign, taking part in a song collaboration alongside numerous Korean artists in memory of the Korean War. The song was released September 24 and presented at the One K Concert in Seoul on October 15.

In 2016, Jungkook was cast in the pilot episode of Flower Crew. He also appeared on Celebrity Bromance, and competed in King of Mask Singer under the name "Fencing Man," appearing in episode 72.

On November 6, 2018, Jungkook performed "We Don't Talk Anymore" with original singer Charlie Puth in a special collaboration stage during the MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards. The song was one he had previously covered twice, solo and with fellow BTS member Jimin.

Impact and influence

In a 2018 survey conducted by Gallup Korea, Jungkook ranked as the 8th most loved celebrity of the year in South Korea. In 2017, he was ranked 18th, and in 2016, he came in at 20th.

In 2018, Jungkook placed first for 10 weeks in a row for magazine Hi China, under the most beloved celebrities list in China. In October 2018, Jungkook broke the record of most real-time viewers with his solo live broadcast in V Live history with more than 3.7 million viewers worldwide. In December 2018, a video of Jungkook singing in his studio was the most retweeted tweet in South Korea that year. Various artists have cited him as an influence and role model, such as Kim Dong-han and Hyeongseop X Euiwoong.

In January 2019 Jungkook revealed that he used the fabric softener brand Downy for his laundry. The reveal led to an unexpected spike in the brand's sales and two month's worth of the Downy product sold out. The company's stock value rose by more than 11% in a day.

A wine Jungkook had been drinking (Merlot March wine) while filming a live stream on V Live had sold out shortly after the broadcast.

After Jungkook was found to be reading author Kim Soo-hyun's "I Decided to Live as Me", the book became a best-seller in both Korea and Japan. It also became the most sold Korean publication in Japan in that short a period of time (150,000 copies sold in 3 months). Jungkook was analyzed to be the reason why this occurred. The book was also scheduled to be published in other countries as well, such as Thailand, China, and Indonesia.

In July 2019, Jungkook wore a 'Modern Hanbok' outfit to the airport. The company, Zijangsa, reported that their server went down and their deliveries had to be delayed for three weeks due to high demand. In September 2019, Korean media reported that Jungkook had created a 'Modern Hanbok' trend in the Korean entertainment industry, as many celebrities such as Jun Hyun-moo, Jang Do-yeon, Gong Hyo-jin, MC Oh Seung-hwan and The Return of Superman's Park Joo-ho all started wearing it because of Jungkook.