All About B.A.P [Compilation]

Bang Yongguk- Hot Debut Story

"They thought I was a mute because I couldn't speak till I was 5.."

"How did the celebrities inside our televisions become a star?"

With the outlooks on the entertainment industry rising one step higher, we as the public aren't just curious about their glamorous images, but their back stories before they became celebrities as well.

We have prepared the column "star story" in our publishing which not only tells a truthful side to stars, but their past that brought them to where they are today. This episode's protagonist is Bang Yongguk who has stepped forth into the music industry with his strong charisma as the leader of the six-member group B.A.P.

Bang Yongguk greeted us brightly on a day in April filled with a spring atmosphere when we met him in his company. Because we've met him before during the days when he promoted in a duet with Secret's Song Jieun with "Going Crazy," we were able to interview him in a comfortable state.

We weren't able to find the image of him shaking from nervousness before his first stage just a year ago as he exuded a confidence that was leader-like of him since he's currently the leader of the idol group B.A.P.

"Hello, this is Bang Yongguk. I'm already nervous in telling our fans my story haha. What should I start with? Since I was born? Then I should talk about the precognitive dream my parents had before they had me. Hold on, let me call my mother haha."

How does Bang Yongguk treat his mother? We thought that he would throw away his confidence that he carries as a leader of a team in showing aegyo to his mother but with not even much seconds passing by, those expectations were completely proven wrongly. He spoke to his mother on the phone with his normal deep voice which gave us the sense that he was a cold son.

"I was born in a hospital in Incheon on March 31st, 1990. I'm the youngest out of two sons and one daughter in our family. When my mother was pregnant with me, she said she had a precognitive dream about me and said that there was a really high sluice that gated the ocean and when the sluice opened, the ocean water seeped through and there were only silver-gleaming sand left but in it were two clams. For the fans who caught on early might know that I have an identical twin. Of course, my older twin brother and I both look alike and the way we talk is alike as well."

And that's how Bang Yongguk saw the light in the world with his older twin brother as they spent their adolescent days together. Right now, he's currently showing off the nation's greatest rap skills but from what we're told, he learned how to speak much later than other kids.

"I learned how to speak really late. I couldn't speak till I was 5 so my family thought I was mute. Because of how I was, there were a lot of people who were deeply concerned about me and I played a lot during my younger days, I was also a kid who received a lot of awards when I was in kindergarten. I received a lot of awards in competitions like children's arts or math competitions. My older brother always placed 1st and I was always 2nd though."

However, he didn't have many memories of his younger days as he confessed that it was due to his parents both working to earn a living for their family.

"Because both of my parents were working in Seoul to provide income for our family, I spent majority of my adolescent days at my grandfather's house. Even for school arts festivals, my parents never came and at the time, I was upset since I was younger but my grandmother always did. I remember being embarrassed when she did since all the other kids had younger moms and I remember being jealous of them (laughs). But because I've always had a strong set of pride since I was younger, I never showed these kinds of emotions to my parents and instead would say that things were better this way haha."