Park Ji-hoon


Park Ji-hoon is a South Korean singer and actor. He is known for his participation in the reality competition show Produce 101 Season 2, where he finished in second place overall and became a member of the boy group Wanna One, which released several chart-topping albums and singles from 2017 to 2019. The group achieved both critical and commercial success, with six Korean topped-five singles. He also returned to the acting scene in September 2019, making a lead role on JTBC historical drama .
Park first made his debut as a child actor, appearing as a supporting cast member on the MBC historical drama Jumong and earned roles in the several television dramas such as The King and I, Kimchi Cheese Smile and Iljimae. He also established himself as a musical actor through his participation in the musicals Peter Pan, The Harmonium in My Memory and Radio Star. With the conclusion of the group activities in January 2019, Park began his solo career with EP O'Clock in March 2019.

Early life and education

Park Ji-hoon was born on May 29, 1999, in Masan, South Korea. Although he comes from Gyeongsang Province, Park has lived in Seoul since he was seven-years-old. He graduated from National Middle School of Traditional Arts, where he majored in musical theatre. Park majored in broadcasting arts at School of Performing Arts Seoul and graduated in January 2018. Park was accepted into Chung-Ang University’s Department of Theater for 2018.

Career

2006–2016: Beginnings

Park debuted as a child actor, participating in musicals Peter Pan, The Harmonium in My Memory, and Radio Star, and in television dramas Jumong, The King and I, Kimchi Cheese Smile, Iljimae, and more. Park also appeared in SS501's reality show SS501 SOS, although his face was blurred out through the episodes. In 2007, he appeared in KM Idol War with Big Bang. During his childhood, he continued to be active in musical theatre, television broadcasts, and film, as well as working as an advertisement model.
Less active in the entertainment industry in his teen years, Park began training to become an idol singer under SM Entertainment and Fantagio. Due to a knee injury, he did not make it to the final line up of Fantagio's boy group Astro and subsequently transferred to Maroo Entertainment.

2017–2018: ''Produce 101'' and Wanna One

In 2017, Park represented Maroo Entertainment in the second season of Produce 101. He experienced a sudden rise in popularity after going viral as "wink boy ", after the introductory "It's Me " stage on M Countdown, before the show had started airing. Consequently, Park's participation in the survival show received extensive media attention, to the extent that his self-made aegyo catchphrase "save you in my heart " trended on social media and was used by various companies using the phrase for marketing purposes. The phrase was later crowned as the best catchphrase of 2017 by KOCCA. Furthermore, Park received offers from various companies to become their advertisement model while the show was still being aired, and it was later revealed that Park had signed an exclusive contract with Maroo Entertainment before the show had started. He finished second, which made him a member of the project boy group Wanna One under YMC Entertainment. Wanna One disbanded on December 31, 2018 and officially completed activities after their sold out 4-day final concert series 'Therefore' that ran from January 24 to 27 at Gocheok Sky Dome.

2019-2020: Return to acting and solo career

On March 26, 2019, Park released his debut EP as a soloist, O'Clock, with the lead single "L.O.V.E." The same month, Park was cast in JTBC's historical drama , which was aired on September 16. On December 4, Park released his second EP, 360, and its lead single of the same name.
More than five months later, Park returned with his third EP,The W, with the title track "Wing" on May 26, 2020.

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Filmography

Television series

Television show

Theatre

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2019Asia Model AwardsAsia Star Award
2019Soribada Best K-Music AwardsBonsang Award
2019Soribada Best K-Music AwardsThe New K-wave Icon Award
2019Soribada Best K-Music AwardsMale Popularity Award
2019Asia Artist AwardsStarNews Popularity Award
202034th Golden Disc AwardsAlbum Bonsang
202034th Golden Disc AwardsPopularity Award
202034th Golden Disc AwardsRookie of the Year
202029th Seoul Music AwardsDance Performance Award
202029th Seoul Music AwardsPopularity Award
202029th Seoul Music AwardsK-Wave Award