Xiumin - South Korean Men, Family and Childhood

Xiumin was born Kim Min-Seok on March 26, 1990in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

He has many nicknames like Bao Zi, Lil’ Fattie, Mandoo and King of Detail. The nickname Bao Zi was given to him by one of his friends because he likes steamed buns and has a round and white face.

Xiumin joined Martial Arts School at a very young age, and started learning Kendo and Taekwondo and eventually graduated to black belt. He is also trained in wushu and fencing and is a huge fan of football.

He was a student at Catholic Kwandong University where he attended a seminar and also gave a presentation for students in Applied Music.

In 2008, at the age of 18, Xiumin participated in the SM Everysing Contest, organized every year by SM Entertainment. He secured the second position in the contest. Later he enrolled in S.M. Entertainment's Casting System as a trainee.

Xiumin was trained under SM Entertainment for four years. At the end of his training in January 2012, the agency formed a boy band, EXO, and introduced Xiumin as its seventh member.

Xiumin made his debut with a cameo in the music video of South Korean singer Jin’s song “Gone”. He featured in the video with actress Kim Yoo-jung . He began his music career in January 2015 with the musical play, School OZ.

Breakin' Machine": Xiumin was the lead artist in the album Exology Chapter 1-The Lost, which is the first live album by band EXO. It was released on December 22, 2014 by S.M. Entertainment.

"Young & Free": In this single, Xiumin collaborated with Mark, a member of K-pop group NCT. It was released by S.M. Entertainment and distributed by Genie Music on July 7, 2017 through their digital music project SM Station.

You Are the One: The track is from a web drama series, “Falling for Challenge”. Xiumin was also featured in the video opposite actress Kim So-eun . The web drama became the most watched web drama in 2015 with more than 24 million views.

For You: This track is from the South Korean television series, Moon Lovers-Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Xiumin appeared in the soundtrack along with Baekhyun and Chen. It aired from August 29, 2016 to November 1, 2016 on SBS .

Call You Bae: Xiumin collaborated with Jimin, a member of band AOA, and released the track in February, 2016 He also appeared in the music video of the song.

Seondal - The Man Who Sells the River: Xiumin made his silver screen debut with this 2015 film. The plot of the movie is based on an ancient novel about a con man who almost sold off a river! Xiumin played the assistant of the conman and his character is named Gyeon. This comedy film was well received by the audience and Xiumin’s acting skills were hence noticed.

EXO Next Door: Xiumin forayed into web and started off with a short role in EXO Next Door. It aired on Naver TV Cast from April 9 to May 28, 2015. Exo Next Door became an instant hit with 50 million views.

Falling for Challenge: In 2015, Xiumin got featured in his next web drama “Falling for Challenge”. This time, he starred as a lead opposite actress Kim So-eun . The series is about the unspoken love of a brainy but shy boy named Na Do-jeon. The web drama was a huge success with over 20,000, 000 views.

Korea From Above: Xiumin got an opportunity to narrate and host the travel documentary “Korea From Above” along with South Korean singer Suho. They both introduced Korea and its various beautiful tourist spots. The documentary was aired on Naver TV and Naver Web in 2017. The show ran for a month.

Travel Without Manager: This web variety is Xiumin’s second travel show where he featured with Chen. Aired on Cockat TV, Xiumin hosted for only eight episodes of the show. The show is collaboration between SM Entertainment and Korean Tourism.

It's Dangerous Beyond the Blankets: Xiumin was a part of this reality show that featured five celebrities who had to stay at home and do nothing. It started airing on MBC from August 27, 2017.

School OZ: SM Entertainment produced this play where a movie is combined with a live play. This combination is known as hologram musical and is first of its kind in the world. This 110 minutes long musical was released in 2015, where Xiumin played Aquila. The SM Entertainment artists sang original songs for the production.

4th APAN Star Awards (2015): Xiumin won the Award for SNS Best Web Dramafor his role in the super hit web drama “Falling for Challenge”.

Click! Star WarsAwards (2017): He won the Most Popular Singer award for all his chartbusters.

There isn’t much information about Xiumin’s personal life. There is some confusion about his birth year as well.

Xiumin never revealed the identity of his little sister, as he had made a promise to his mother to not to do so.

He has never been involved into any controversies and there is no information about his romantic association as well.

Xiumin is a hygiene freak.

He is a prankster and a good cook.

His young looks make people think he is the youngest of all the EXO members, but in reality he is the oldest.

Because of his passion for football, he has been made an honorary ambassador of the Korea Football Association.

He knows Taekwondo, Fencing, Kendo, and Soccer.