Krystal Jung

Krystal started dating Kai, a member of the Chinese-Korean boy band EXO in April 2016. Like f(x), EXO is also a product of the E.M. Entertainment stable. The couple are of the same age and joined the agency’s talent program at the same time. They grew up training together and despite joining their own successful groups, the friendship they had forged remained as strong as ever. When the rumours of a relationship began to fly around, their talent agency came forward and confirmed. However, they broke up in June 2017.

In the 1980s, Krystal’s parents moved from South Korea to San Francisco, California, where she was born on October 24, 1994. Her father is a boxer turned lawyer while her mother used to be a gymnast. Her older sister, Jessica Jung, is an established singer-songwriter herself.

She accompanied her family on a trip to South Korea in 2000. It was her first visit to the country where her parents were born. During their stay, both Krystal and her sister Jessica were spotted at a shopping mall by a member of S.M. Entertainment and asked to appear in Shinhwa's ‘Wedding March’ music video.

The talent agency later approached their parents with an offer to provide the girls with singing and dancing lessons which would ultimately lead to a career in the music industry. However, Krystal’s father and mother only accepted part of the offer. While they let Jessica join the agency, Krystal, they deemed, was too young.

Jessica went on to become a member of a K-pop group, Girl’s Generation. The Jung sisters have since collaborated many times together.

Krystal eventually started her entertainment career with television commercials, including an appearance in a Lotte advertisement alongside actress Han Ga-in. When she turned seven, her parents finally allowed her to begin training with S.M. Entertainment.

After three years of training, Krystal teamed up with Victoria (Song Qian), Luna (Park Sun-young), Amber (Amber Josephine Liu), and Sulli (Choi Jin-ri) to form f(x), a dance-focused K-pop group. They were introduced in a teaser put out on August 24, 2009. A week later, their debut single ‘LA chA TA’ was released. On September 5, the group was presented on MBC’s Music One. This was their first televised appearance.

In 2010, she sang the solo track ‘Melody’ for the Melody Project. She then teamed up with Thunder, a former member of the boy band MBLAQ, to host the music show ‘The M-Wave’. In the same year, she made her acting debut with a minor role in the comedy-drama ‘More Charming by the Day’.

She took part in SBS's figure-skating show ‘Kiss & Cry’ as a contestant in 2011, eventually winning the competition. She was also cast in the third instalment of the popular sitcom ‘High Kick 3,’ portraying the character of a shallow, urban girl.

In the 2013 series ‘The Heirs’, she played the supporting role of Lee Bo-na, the spoiled but kind-heart daughter of a media executive who was previously in a relationship with the male protagonist Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho).

Krystal joined S.M. The Ballad in 2014, four years after its formation. She collaborated with TVXQ's Changmin on the title track of the group’s second album ‘Breath’. Her duet ‘When I Was... When U Were...’ with EXO’s Chen became hugely popular, leading to a performance at the S.M. The Ballad Joint Recital on February 12.

All of f(x)’s studio albums have topped the Korean music chart at one point or another. ‘Pink Tape’, the second album, reached the #1 spot on the US World chart as well. Released on July 29, 2013, through KT Music, it was the group’s first work after a year of absence. The opening track of the album, ‘Rum Pum Pum Pum’, was ranked 59th on Billboard’s 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time list.