Ok Taec-yeon

Ok Taec-yeon (born December 27, 1988), known mononymously as Taecyeon, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and entrepreneur.

He is the rapper of the South Korean boy band 2PM.

In 2008 he took part in Mnet's Hot Blood Men which follows the extreme training of 13 trainees in order to become a member of the boy band One Day.

One Day spawned two boy bands, 2AM and 2PM, the latter of which Ok became a member.

Six months after Hot Blood was aired on TV 2PM debuted with their first single "10 Points out of 10 Points" from their first EP Hottest Time of the Day, but it wasn't until their second EP 2:00PM Time For Change that their success in the Korean music industry skyrocketed.

Ok was featured in Baek Ji-young's 2009 hit song "My Ear's Candy".

Baek revealed that she asked Ok to feature on the song after having listened to his rap on 2PM's single "10 Points out of 10 Points".

In 2010, Ok debuted as an actor in the Korean drama Cinderella's Stepsister and since then has starred in Dream High (2011), Who Are You? (2013), Wonderful Days (2014), Assembly (2015), Let's Fight, Ghost (2016), Save Me (2017), The Game: Towards Zero (2020), Secret Royal Inspector & Joy (2021) and Vincenzo (2021), as well as the movies Marriage Blue (2013) and House of the Disappeared (2017).

Ok Taecyeon was born in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, but emigrated at the age of 10, with his parents and older sister Jihyen to Bedford, Massachusetts, a small town situated in the Greater Boston Area.

His sister Jihyen persuaded him to participate in a JYP Entertainment audition, whose promotion she had noticed on the Internet.

In 2010 he made his acting debut in KBS drama series Cinderella's Sister alongside Moon Geun-young and Chun Jung-myung.

He then starred in high school drama Dream High, which received high domestic ratings as well as international popularity.

In September 2011, FujiTV announced that Ok was going to become a regular on their Sunday drama Boku to Star no 99 Nichi, along with Japanese actor Nishijima Hidetoshi and South Korean actress Kim Tae-hee.

This is his first regular role in a Japanese drama.

In 2012, Ok teamed up with his fellow Dankook University alumni students to produce a digital album titled Blue Bears with Taecyeon.

The album was performed live at Dankook University for the matriculation ceremony.

The title song “Wings” featured penned rap lyrics written by Ok.

The second song, a remake of Lee Gwangjo's “A Night Like Tonight" was also included in the performance, with an original rap written by Ok himself. The album went on sale in February 2012, with all proceeds donated back the University.

In February 2013, it was announced that Ok would form an on-screen couple with Taiwanese actress Emma Wu, in the Global Edition of the reality show We Got Married.

The same year, he made his film debut in romantic comedy Marriage Blue.

He composed two songs for the soundtrack of the film.

In 2014, he starred in KBS' weekend drama Wonderful Days, playing a tough-fisted bodyguard.

The same year, he joined tvN's cooking variety show Three Meals a Day directed by Na PD.

He later rejoined for a second season in 2015.

Ok was praised for his hardworking image and easygoing personality on the show.

In 2015, Ok was cast in KBS' political drama Assembly.

He plays an aspiring police officer who studies at the library to pass his entrance exams by day and works as an official's chauffeur by night.

After his reluctant agreement to participate, both headed for New York City on his 17th birthday.

A week later he was chosen for the final 35 and got the call to go to South Korea to go further in the competition.

At first Ok applied to become a model, but the judges suggested he try dancing and singing.

Eventually, he was named one of the dozen finalists (including his future members, Lee Junho and Hwang Chan-sung) to compete in the show Superstar Survival but was the first contestant to leave the show.

Ok lived in Massachusetts for seven years, attending Bedford High School where he was a member of the Chess Club, Jazz Band, JV Soccer Team, and National Honor Society, before returning to pursue his career in Korea.

Ok transferred to Young Dong High School in Seoul and then studied Business Administration at Dankook University and attended Korea University Graduate School of International Studies.

He is fluent in English, Korean, and Japanese.

Ok is also familiar with the use of the Busan dialect, which he used in the KBS2 drama Wonderful Days.

Ok released his first solo Japanese album Taecyeon Special: Winter Hitori in 2017.

As part of the solo project, he successfully held his first solo concert, "Taecyeon (From 2PM) Premium Concert" at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Japan on January 2–3.

In July 2018, it was announced that Ok had signed an exclusive contract with 51K, an agency founded by actor So Ji-sub, following the end of his contract with JYP Entertainment.

His former agency reported that he will remain a member of 2PM despite the move.

He formerly hosted SBS' music show Inkigayo with Wooyoung and was a permanent cast member on Family Outing 2 before it was cancelled.