Jeon Jung-kook (: 전정국) was born on September 1, 1997, in , 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 . Jungkook initially had dreams of becoming a badminton player when he was young, but after seeing perform "" on television, it influenced him to want to become a singer.
In 2011, Jungkook auditioned for the South Korean talent show during its auditions in . Though he was not selected, he received casting offers from seven entertainment companies. He eventually chose to become a trainee under after seeing , now his fellow band member and leader in , perform. To work on his dance skills in preparation for debut, he went to during the summer of 2012 to receive dance training from Movement Lifestyle. In June 2012, he appeared in 's "I'm Da One" music video and also worked as a backup dancer for before his debut. He graduated from , an arts high school, in 2017. In November 2016, he decided to forgo taking the CSATs, Korea's nationwide university entrance exam. As of 2020, he is enrolled at Global Cyber University, majoring in Broadcasting and Entertainment.
On June 12, 2013, Jungkook made his debut as a member of with the release of the single . Under BTS, he has sung three solo songs; the first, pop track "Begin" from the 2016 album , 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, a song titled "", 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 version was included on their compilation album, released August 24, 2018. "Euphoria" was produced by and charted at number five on the Billboard chart. The third solo, off the band's 2020 studio album , is a strobing R&B song about forgoing teenage experiences because of his career. "My Time" charted at number 84 on the US . "Euphoria" and "My Time" are the first and second longest charting solo tracks among K-pop singers on Billboard's chart, having spent 85 and 81 weeks respectively on the ranking.
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 by the . In July 2021, he was appointed by , along with the other members of BTS, to help "lead the global agenda for future generations, such as sustainable growth" and "expand South Korea's diplomatic efforts and global standing" in the international community.
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 . 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 . He also appeared on , and competed in under the name "Fencing Man," appearing in episode 72.
On November 6, 2018, Jungkook performed "" with original singer in a special collaboration stage during the . The song was one he had previously covered twice, solo and with fellow BTS member Jimin.
On June 4, 2020, Jungkook released the song "Still With You", for free on platforms such as SoundCloud as a part of BTS' yearly debut celebrations. Billboard described the song as having "tinkling synths and gently strummed guitars and brushed drums". Jungkook produced the piece himself.
Impact and influence
In a 2019 survey conducted by , Jungkook ranked as the third most-loved celebrity of the year in South Korea. He debuted on the list in 2016 at 20th, then ranked 17th in 2017, and then 8th in 2018. In 2018, Jungkook placed first for 10 weeks in a row for magazine Hi China, under the most beloved celebrities list in China. Jungkook is also extremely popular on social media amongst fans. In December 2018, a video of him singing in the studio became the most retweeted tweet in South Korea that year. Various artists have cited him as an influence and role model, such as and . Jungkook has cited , and among his musical inspirations.
Jungkook's popularity has earned him the nickname "Sold Out King" as items that he is seen using often sell out quickly. These include shoes, fabric softener, wine, novels—namely I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Soo-hyun, which became a best-seller in both Korea and Japan—and . Korean media reported that Jungkook had created a "Modern Hanbok" fashion trend in the Korean entertainment industry when celebrities such as , , , MC Oh Seung-hwan and 's Park Joo-ho began wearing similar clothing after he was photographed wearing it.
Jungkook was 2019's most-searched male K-pop idol on according to their mid-year chart. He topped the chart again in 2020, and was the most searched K-pop idol on in 2019 and 2020. On , he ranked 1st in 'Top K-Pop Stars' for 3 consecutive years. On , he had the most retweeted tweet of 2019, and the 2nd most retweeted tweet of 2020. In March 2021, Jungkook set a new all-time record for the most real-time viewers in history when his solo live broadcast surpassed 22 million simultaneous viewers—he first broke the record in October 2018, when his broadcast surpassed 3.7 million viewers worldwide.
In June 2021, a lawmaker of the used photos of him to promote the legalization of tattoos in South Korea, which works under regulations. The posts were widely condemned by netizens, who accused the lawmaker of taking advantage of Jungkook's fame for political purposes. In the same year images of Jungkook were posted by the mayor of in the Philippines, , to convince citizens to receive the COVID shot.
