Biography of Kim Hyun-joong
Kim Hyun-joong is a South Korean actor, singer and songwriter. He is the leader and primary rapper of the South Korean boy band ‘SS501’ along with other members Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun.
Kim Hyun-joong acted in the Korean drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’ as Yoon Ji-hu. ‘Boys Over Flowers’ is an internationally celebrated 2009 South Korean television series starring Koo Hye-sun, Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon, and Kim So-eun. It is based on the Japanese manga series ‘Boy Over Flowers’, written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio. Kim Hyun-joong also starred in the South Korean romantic series ‘Playful Kiss’ along with Jung So-min.
Early Life and Education
Career
Music Career
He marked his career as a member of the South Korean boy band ‘SS501’ on 23 June 2005. The Bands first EP was released in 2005 titled ‘Warning’, with their popular song ‘Never Again’. Their second mini album was titled ‘Snow Prince’ which was released on 5 December 2005. The band achieved widespread recognition and popularity by winning several new artist awards in the years 2005 and 2006.
Their debut Japanese maxi single ‘Kokoro’, was released in 2007 and was ranked number five on the Oricon charts. The band received the unique and exclusive ‘Newcomer Award’ at the ‘Japan Gold Disc Award’ ceremony. The band is one of the selected few South Korean artists to win the award.
Kim Hyun-joong’s popularity gained ground when he joined the cast of the reality variety show ‘We Got Married’. He was paired up with the South Korean singer and rapper, Hwangbo. The pair was commonly known as Lettuce Couple and won the Best Couple Award at MBC Entertainment Awards in 2008.
Kim Hyun-joong released his Korean solo mini album ‘Break Down’ on 23 June 2011 under KeyEast Entertainment. The album ranked the ninth best-selling album of 2011. The same year he released his second Korean solo mini album ‘Lucky’. The album ranked number one on the Goan Album Chart and ranked number five on the Billboards World Chart on 29 October 2011. The album earned the best-selling album of the year with 100,000 copies sold. After the endorsement with Universal Music Japan, he succeeded in performing in seven cities in Japan. Kim won the ‘Best Male Artist Award’ at the ‘Mnet Asian Music Awards’ in 2011 held in Singapore.
He released a digital single ‘Marry Me’ in 2012 from the album ‘Unlimited’. He released his first Japanese single album ‘Kiss Kiss/Lucky Guy’ on 25 January 2012. The album was certified gold in Japan and was number one on the Oricon DVD Chart. Kim Hyun-joong held his fan meeting tour titled ‘Kim Hyun-joong Fan Meeting Tour 2012’ as a means of promotion and performed in various locations like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Thailand.
Kim Hyun-joong released his second Japanese single ‘HEAT’ in collaboration with the Japanese rock duo ‘B’z’. The album ‘HEAT’ was ranked as Japan’s third best-selling album, which earned him his second consecutive gold certification. Kim won ‘Best Asian Artist’ at Asia Song Festival in 2012.
He released his first full Japanese-length studio album ‘Unlimited’ on December 12 2012 with 14 tracks. The album excelled on the Oricon Daily Chart and ranked number 3 on the Weekly Chart. His wax statue was revealed on 21 December 2012 at Madame Tussauds, Busan. He performed his Japanese tour in Kobe, Japan, on 6 January 2013 and in Brazil for the 2013 ‘FEEL KOREA’ event. Kim Hyun-joong performed with popular artists like Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Far East Movement, Naoto Inti Raymi and Kara at the U-Express Live 2013. He received the ‘Creator’s Factory Best Actor Award’ for Lucy Guy at the 5th ‘Okinawa Music Festival’.
He released his third Japanese single ‘Tonight’ on 5 June 2013. The album was sold for more than 1,00,000 copies and received gold and platinum certificates. He released his third Korean mini-album ‘Round 3’ on 22 July 2013. He lead two concerts at the Makuhari International Exhibition Hall in Japan. Kim released his fourth Japanese single ‘Hot Sun’ on 18 June 2014.
The single topped the Oricon Weekly charts, thus making him the first foreign male solo artist to top the chart twice. His world tour was performed in places like Taiwan, China, Japan, Thailand, Mexico and Peru. His fourth Korean mini-album was titled ‘Timing’ under the KeyEast label and was released on 11 July 2014. Along with prominent singers from China, he performed the anthem ‘Sunshine Again’ at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China where he also represented South Korea.
Acting Career
Kim Hyun-joong played his first lead acting role in the most celebrated Korean drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’ in 2008. Kim played the character Yoon Ji-hu and the series was a pioneer in the Korean high school series and became a cultural phenomenon both domestically and internationally. Kim won the ‘Most Popular Actor Award’ at ‘Seoul International Drama Awards’ in 2009 and he also won the ‘Most Popular Actor for Television Award’ at ‘Baeksang Arts Awards’ in 2009.
‘Boys Over Flowers’ was a smash hit and Kim Hyun-joong featured as the lead role in the drama ‘Playful Kiss’, a romantic comedy in 2010. He played the character Baek Seung-jo and the drama was aired on MBC from 1 September 2010 to 21 October 2010. The series failed to gain success in South Korea but had a high audience reception internationally raising Kim to his stardom.
Korean-Japanese Album
Kim Hyun-joong released his first Japanese single album ‘Re: wind’ in July 2017, which ranked number one on the Oricon album chart. In the same year, he released his first Korean album EP ‘Haze’. On 2 December 2017, Kim organised his 2018 World Tour titled ‘Haze’. He released his album ‘Take My Hand’ from his own record label Henecia Music on 6 June 2019. On 26 September 2019, Kim released his album ‘Wait for Me’ and his single ‘Just for My Love’.
He released his album ‘New Way’ on 4 February 2019 with the lead single ‘Why’. He released the Korean EP ‘SALT’ and his Japanese EP, ‘THIS IS LOVE’ in 2019. He held a world tour titled ‘BIO-RHYTHM’ which concluded on 25 January 2020. Kim released his full-length Japanese album ‘The Moon, The Sun and Your Song’ on 5 February 2020. The album ranked number three on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart and Number four on the Oricon Weekly Albums.
He held his first online concert, ‘A Bell of Blessings’, on 17 October 2020. He released his limited edition Korean album ‘A Bell Of Blessing’, on 19 October 2020. He released his full Korean album ‘MY SUN’ on 12 August 2022. The same year he released his Japanese single album song for the Japanese movie ‘Violence Action’. The single was a mega-hit ranking number one on the Oricon weekly rock singles and number 18 on the Billboard Japan Singles chart.
Achievements
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He won the Best Artist Award South Korea at Asia Song Festival in 2012.
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In 2010, Hyun-joong won the Male Popularity Award at the MBC Drama Awards.
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Kim Hyun-joong won the Best Male Solo Artist at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2011.
Military Life
In May 2015, he enrolled for South Korea’s mandatory military service. He completed five weeks of basic training at Gyeonggi-do 30th Recruit Training Squadron. He was stationed in the Korean Demilitarized Zone for border patrolling. While in service, Kim Hyun-joong released ‘The Best of Kim Hyun Joong’, the Japanese greatest hits album in commemoration of his 10 years in the music industry. The album ranked number one on the Oricon Daily charts. In February 2017, he was discharged from his military service after 21 months of service.
Personal Life
He has a son out of wedlock with his ex-girlfriend. In December 2015, the paternity test proved him to be the father of Choi, his first son who was born in September 2015.
Net Worth and Lifestyle
Kim Hyun-joong’s net worth is estimated to be around $5 million US dollars.
The famous pop singer and the leader of the band SS501, he is a well-established and recognised actor, singer and songwriter. He is a pop-cultural phenomenon in South Korea. He maintains a healthy lifestyle, keeping an eye on his health and beauty.
Kim Hyun-joong travels with his own stylist and makeup artist taking good care of his skin. He believes in having unique and charismatic personality traits rather than fashionable clothes. He ranks number four on the list of idols who have the most expensive mansions. His house was worth 1.7 million US dollars, in Chungdamdong, Seoul.
Awards
- Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2014)
Most Searched Asian Artist - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2013)
Most Searched Korean Artist - Korean Entertainment Awards in Japan (2013)
Male Solo Singer - Okinawa Movie Festival (2013)
Creator’s Factory Best Actor Award - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2012)
Hong Kong’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Taiwan’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Asia’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Most Popular Artist of the Decade - Miguhui Awards (2012)
Most Popular Overseas Singer - Tower Records K-pop Lovers Awards (2012)
Single Grand Prize - Asia Song Festival (2012)
Best Asian Artist Award
Best Artist Award – South Korea - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2011)
Hong Kong’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Taiwan’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Korea’s Top Buzz Solo Artist
Asia’s Top Buzz Solo Artist - MBC Entertainment Awards (2011)
Best Couple Award (with Hwang Bo) (2011) - Mnet Asian Music Awards (2011)
Best Male Solo Artist - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2010)
Hong Kong’s Top Buzz Korean Artist
Taiwan’s Top Buzz Korean Artist
The Best Search Asia Buzz Award - MBC Drama Awards (2010)
Male Popularity Award - Mnet 20’s Choice Awards (2010)
Most Influential Star - Sky Perfect TV Awards (2010)
Best Dresser Award - Baeksang Arts Awards (2009)
Most Popular Actor (TV) - Korea Junior Star Awards (2009)
TV Drama Newcomer Award - Philippine K-pop Awards (2009)
Hottest Male Artist - Seoul International Drama Awards (2009)
Popular Actor - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards (2009)
Korea’s Top Buzz Male Artist
Taiwan’s Top Buzz Korean Artist
Asia’s Top Buzz Male Artist
Interesting Facts about Kim Hyun-joong
- Kim Hyun-joong became the spokesman for the cosmetic companies Tony Moly’ and ‘Face Shop’.
- In May 2015 he was enlisted in the military as a border patrol guard.
- He is considered one of South Korea’s Hallyu stars of the early 2010s.
- His’s ex-girlfriend filed lawsuits and a paternity claim against him in 2014 and 2015.
- Kim Hyun-joong has also been charged with drunken driving and had his license revoked in early 2017.
- In 2011, he enrolled at Chungwoon University to study Stage Production Management.
- In March 2012, Kim Hyun-joong was appointed as the honorary ambassador for the United Nations Korean Campaign for social welfare.
FAQs
- Is Kim Hyun-joong married?
Kim Hyun-joong married his first love and non-celebrity girlfriend. - When is Kim Hyun-joong’s birthday?
Hyun-joong celebrates his birthday on the 6th of June. - How old is Kim Hyun-joong?
As of 2023, Hyun-joong is 37 years old. - What is Kim Hyun-joong Instagram ID?
‘hyunjoong860606‘ is Kim’s Instagram ID with 2.4 million followers.
