PARK BO GUM

With his fresh-faced angelic looks and teen idol image, South Korean actor Park Bo-Gum has established himself as a successful film star across Asia. Away from the big screen he has also occasionally turned his hand to music, dipping into the world of K-pop.

Born in Seoul and given a name meaning "precious sword", his mother died when he was young but he grew up playing piano and singing in the church choir from the age of five, pursuing his musical dreams by becoming a vocal trainee with entertainment agency Sidus HQ. The company pushed him into acting when they gave him his first small part in the movie 'Blind' in 2011 and he also studied musical theatre at Myongji University, while building his reputation with roles as a psychopathic serial killer in 'Hello Monster', a playboy in 'Wonderful Mama' and the son of a naval commander in 'The Admiral: Roaring Currents', which became the highest grossing film of all time in Korea in 2014. He also hosted popular show 'Music Bank', starred in the hit television series 'Encounter' and topped the Forbes Magazine list of most powerful Korean celebrities in 2017, as his humble personality and clean-cut persona helped him to stardom.

Although it was acting that brought Park Bo-gum fame, he had the opportunity to return to music in 2016 when he recorded 'My Person' for the soundtrack to coming-of-age drama 'Love in the Moonlight'. The dreamy romantic ballad reached number three in the Korean charts and Park also lent his gentle vocals to the single 'Let's Go See Stars', which was used in a promotional campaign for an outdoor clothing brand. There was another big starring role for the teen heartthrob in the sci-fi thriller 'Seo Bok', but in 2019 he turned again to music when his glossy K-pop ballad 'Bloomin'' was released in Japan showing him off as a talented, swooning, gentle, pop crooner.