Kim Hyun-joong - South Korean Actor, Timeline and Facts

Kim Hyun-joong was born in Seoul, South Korea on the 6th of June, 1986. He has an older brother.

As a young kid, Kim was extremely sincere and studious. He excelled in academics and usually grabbed either the 1st or 2nd rank in school. He was considered a champion of mathematics and art competitions and won numerous accolades in them, in his early childhood. He was so dedicated to his studies that his parents never thought of him choosing any other field.

He was into academics for almost all his school life, until he was introduced to music in high school. He then started to play the bass guitar in the school band. This connection to music led to a lot of soul-searching and Joong decided to be a singer. He then dropped out of school and decided to pursue a career in music.

However, after he established himself in the boyband SS501, he came back to school and completed his graduation. He then studied stage production management from the Chungwoon University in 2011-2012.

Later, he studied applied music from the Kongju Communication Arts University.

Kim made his music debut through his band SS501 in their first album, ‘Warning’, in June 2005. Later, they promoted their first studio album ‘S.T 01 Now’.

In 2007, they decided to expand their music outside Korea, and they chose Japan for this. They launched their first Japanese single ‘Kokoro’. Soon, they also introduced the band SS501 in Japan through another single, ‘Distance’.

In 2008, Joong played the lead character in the television drama, ‘Boys Over Flowers’.

In 2009-2010, the band released the singles, ‘All My Love’, ‘Solo Collection’, ‘Rebirth’, and ‘Destination’. Soon after releasing 4 consecutive singles, their contract ended. In 2010, it was officially declared that Kim had left DSP Media and joined KeyEast Entertainment Company. He was also invited to perform at the Asian Games in Guangzhou as a representative of South Korea. He sang the popular single ‘Sunshine Again’.

Joong played the lead character in ‘Playful Kiss’, a Korean adaptation of a famous Chinese drama. On June 7, 2011, he released his first solo mini-album. It was called ‘Break Down’. A month later, he released his second album ‘Lucky’.

In January 2012, he released his first solo Japanese single. It was called ‘Kiss Kiss/Lucky Guy’. His most popular album ‘Unlimited’ consisting of his famous songs ‘Lucky Guy’, ‘Break Down’, etc. was released in December 2012.

Kim’s third Japanese single, ‘Tonight’, was released on June 5th, 2013. Soon, he released his album, ‘Round 3’, which became an instant hit. In May 2015, Kim enlisted himself in the mandatory military service. He was one of the best recruits there and got quickly promoted to the post of Team Leader. He was officially discharged as a Sergeant after having served his country for 21 months, on 11th February, 2017.

Kim Hyun-joong’s most famous studio albums include ‘Unlimited’ and ‘Imademo’. He excelled in extended plays in both Korean and Japanese languages.

Some of his popular singles are ‘The Reason I Live’, ‘Beauty Beauty’, ‘Your Story’, ‘Break Down’, and ‘Kiss Kiss’.

He has appeared in almost 20 video songs all of which proved to be super hit.

Kim Hyun-joong won the ‘Best Asian Artist Award’ and the ‘Best Artist Award - South Korea’ at the Asia Song Festival Awards 2012.

He won the Korean Entertainment Award in Japan for the ‘Best Male Solo Singer’ in 2013. He won the Mnet 20’s Award as the ‘Most Influential Star’ in 2010.

Joong won around 16 Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards during 2009-2014 in categories including ‘Top Buzz Solo Artist’, ‘Popular Artist’, and ‘Most Searched’.

His role in ‘Boys Over Flowers’ won him the ‘Korean Junior Star Award’ in 2009. His other big drama, ‘Playful Kiss’ also won him the award for ‘Male Popularity’ from MBC Drama.

Other than these, Kim has also won many awards like Youth Icon awards, Style Awards, Model Awards, Best Couple Awards, etc.

Kim Hyun-joong is a practicing Roman Catholic. He is well-known for his philanthropy. In January 2011, he was a part of the coal briquettes distribution campaign, where he distributed about 20,000 briquettes. He also donated $50,000 for the Korean Red Cross Association in 2011.

He made notable donations for the Summer Campaign for Senior Citizens Living Alone and the Kim Hyun-joong Scholarship. He donated around $90,000 to ‘One Foundation’ to help the victims of the earthquake in Ya’an, China, in March, 2013.

Kim was charged with physical assault by his ex-girlfriend, with complaints filed against him under domestic violence. She later took back almost all the charges. He was later accused by his ex-girlfriend of torture, miscarriage due to beatings at the hands of Kim, but these allegations could not be proved in the court and the court ruled in favor of Kim.

In September 2009, Joong was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. He received immediate treatment of the same in Japan.

Kim loves to play soccer. He plays as a striker for the celebrity football club ‘FC Men’.

As of September 2017, the estimated net worth of Kim Hyun-joong is 2 million KRW.