Kim Hyun-joong

Kim Hyun-joong (born June 6, 1986) is a South Korean actor, singer and songwriter.

He is a member of the boy band SS501 and played roles in the Korean dramas Boys Over Flowers and Playful Kiss.

Kim Hyun-joong was born on June 6, 1986, in Seoul.

He described himself as a studious child, but he dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music.

He later passed his high school exams and enrolled in Kyonggi University.

After debuting with SS501 in 2005, Kim released his first Korean solo album, Break Down, in 2011, and his first Japanese solo album, Unlimited, in 2012.

Kim made his debut as a member of SS501 on June 23, 2005, with the group's first EP, Warning, released by DSP Media.

Their second EP, Snow Prince was released in late 2005, five months after their debut.

The group quickly gained popularity, winning multiple new artist awards in 2005 and 2006.

Tony Moly, a cosmetics brand for which Kim had been a spokesmodel since 2006, saw a 30 percent sales increase in 2009, which the company attributed to the popularity of the show.

The following year, in 2007, SS501 debuted in Japan with the single "Kokoro," which reached number five on the Oricon charts.

In January 2008, the group received a Newcomer Award at the Japan Gold Disc Award ceremony, making them one of only a few South Korean artists to win this award.

In 2008, Kim joined the cast of the reality variety show We Got Married, where he was paired with singer Hwangbo.

Dubbed the "Lettuce Couple," the pair was popular among viewers and won the Best Couple Award at the 2008 MBC Entertainment Awards.

They left the show at the end of 2008 to focus on other projects.

In 2008, Kim was cast in his first lead-acting role in the Korean drama Boys Over Flowers. The show was extremely popular in South Korea and other Asian countries, and Kim won the Most Popular Actor Award at the 2009 Seoul International Drama Awards and the Most Popular Actor for Television Award at the 2009 Baeksang Arts Awards.

Kim and his Boys Over Flowers costars also sparked a trend among South Korean men who copied their "flower boy" style.

Due to his commercial success, Kim is considered one of South Korea's biggest Hallyu stars of the early 2010s.

Kim's contract with Tony Moly ended in 2010, and he became the spokesmodel for another cosmetics brand, The Face Shop, later that year.

Following the success of Boys Over Flowers, Kim played his second lead role in a drama, in 2010's Playful Kiss, a Korean adaptation of the Japanese shōjo manga, Itazura na Kiss.

The show flopped on South Korean television, but was an international hit on foreign television and on online streaming platforms, helping solidify Kim's popularity as a Hallyu star.

At the end of 2010, Kim was chosen to represent South Korea at the opening of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, where he performed the anthem "Sunshine Again" with singers from Chinese-speaking countries.

The EP debuted at number five on Billboard's World Chart, and was the 10th best-selling album of the year in South Korea with over 100,000 copies sold.

Following up on the success of a concert he performed in Japan in June, Kim signed a deal with Universal Music Japan in November.

Shortly after that, he went on a tour of Japan, performing in seven cities.

After dropping out of university to focus on work, Kim enrolled in Chungwoon University in 2011 to study stage production management.

Kim released his solo debut, the EP Break Down, on June 7, 2011.

More than 70,000 pre-ordered copies of the album were sold in just 10 days.

The EP was the ninth best-selling album of 2011 on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and was certified platinum in Taiwan.

Later that year, Kim released his second album Lucky.

At the end of the year, Kim won the award for Best Male Artist at the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Awards held in Singapore.

On December 15, Kim released a digital single titled "Marry Me".

On January 25, 2012, Kim released his first Japanese single album, "Kiss Kiss / Lucky Guy," which was certified gold in Japan.

In May, his First Impact concert DVD sold 16,000 copies in its first week of release, taking the number one spot on the Oricon DVD Chart.

This was the first time a South Korean artist had taken the number one spot, and a second time a foreign artist had taken the number one spot on the chart.

Kim later held his Kim Hyun-joong Fan Meeting Tour 2012 for his album promotions, making stops in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Thailand.

In March 2012, Kim was appointed the honorary ambassador for United Nation's Korean Campaign on Contributions to Social Welfare.

Kim released his second Japanese single album "Heat" on July 4.

The album was Japan's third best-selling album in July, selling 196,850 copies, which earned Kim his second consecutive gold certification.

The following month, in August, Kim won Best Asian Artist at the 2012 Asia Song Festival.