Jung Yong Hwa

Jung Yong Hwa (정용화; pronounced [tɕəːŋ joŋ hwa]; born on June 22, 1989) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. His name is also written as Yonghwa, Yong-Hwa, or Yong-hwa. Jung made his show business debut as “Kang Shin-woo” in the drama You're Beautiful on 7 October 2009 and played the male lead as “Lee Shin” in the 2011 drama Heartstrings. Jung is the leader, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band CN Blue.

Life and career

Early life

Jung Yong Hwa was born June 22, 1989, in Seoul, South Korea.^[2][3] His family consists of his parents and a four-year-older brother. He moved to Busan in 1991 and lived there through high school, where he first began composing music.^[2] After taking his college entrance exam, he moved back to Seoul where he joined FNC Music and began training in bass technology at F&C Academy. In 2009, Jung left for Japan to study music with his bandmates.^[4] While staying there, they did street performances and released indie albums.^[4]

Music career

Jung made his singer debut with the idol band CN Blue on 14 January 2010. On 25 May 2010, an FNC Music representative announced that Jung had been diagnosed with vocal cord nodules and acute laryngitis. Jung was hospitalized for treatment from 24 to 27 May 2010 and may require surgery in future. On 14 January 2011, Jung released his first solo digital single, "For First Time Lovers."^[5] On 20 August 2011, Jung and Girls' Generation member Seohyun performed Banmal Song together as a special duet on stage at the "K-pop All Star Live" concert in Niigata, Japan.^[6] On 19 October 2011, Jung made his Japan major debut with his self-composed title song "In My Head" under the major label Warner Music Japan.^[1][7] The song "In My Head" was also chosen as the ending song for the Japanese animation Supernatural. ^[8]

Acting career

In 2009, Jung landed his first acting role as Kang Shin-woo in the SBS drama You're Beautiful, which aired from October 7 to November 26, 2009. As the series revolves around the life of a musical group, he played the role of the lead guitarist in the faux idol band A.N.Jell along with fellow co-stars Jang Geun-suk the group leader, Park Shin-hye, and Lee Hongki of FT Island. He gained high popularity through his acting. Nearly two years after his acting debut, Jung was chosen as the male lead of MBC's drama Heartstrings, along with Park Shin-hye, a co-star from You're Beautiful. The drama Heartstrings is a South Korean youthful melodrama about the main characters' love and dreams, which was first aired on 29 June 2011.

Variety shows

After his successful acting debut, Jung's next TV contract was for MBC's Sunday Sunday Night program Korea Ecosystem Rescue Centre: Hunters, which featured seven celebrity MC's, including Kim Hyun Joong going out to capture wild boars. The show premiered on December 6, 2009 but was forced to prematurely cease its run in mid-January 2010 due to protests by animal-rights groups.^[9] He subsequently continued as one of the MC's on the replacement program Eco House, which deals with global climate change. In February 2010, he was paired with Seohyun of Girls' Generation as part of a virtually wed couple, YongSeo Couple (hangul: 용서커플), for MBC's popular TV show We Got Married. They filmed their final episode of We Got Married on 15 March 2011. The couple have been very popular overseas, including Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.

MC appearances

Jung was an MC at the first-ever Melon Music Awards held on December 16, 2009 together with actress Lee In Hye. Alongside Kim Heechul and Park Shin-hye, Jung was an MC for the 2009 SBS Gayo Daejeon award ceremony which was held on December 29, 2009.^[10] Jung temporarily replaced Tiffany & Yuri of Girls' Generation as co-host MC's for MBC's Show! Music Core episode to be aired on May 29, 2010 together with Min Sun-Ye and Kim Yoo-Bin of the Wonder Girls. In June 2010, he was also a co-host MC for Music Core along side Yuri and Seohyun of Girls' Generation. Finally on July 18, 2010, he officially started as one of the new hosts of SBS's Inkigayo together with f(x)'s Sulli and 2AM's Jo Kwon. He ended being a host of Inkigayo March 13, 2011 due to his tight schedule. He also appeared as an MC for 2010 SBS Gayo Daejun which was held on 29 December along with Jo Kwon, Kim Hee Chul and Hwang Jung Eum .

Filmography

TV series

Variety shows

MC

Awards

Endorsements

• 2011: Scotch Puree
• 2011: Hazzys Acc
• 2011: BangBang
• 2011: Suit House
• 2010: Suit House
• 2010: NII (Spring)
• 2010: Holika Holika
• 2010: Sony Ericsson Xperia (X10)

References

External links

• CN Blue official website (Korean)
• CN Blue official Japanese website (Japanese)