Happy September birthday to these hot Korean male celebs: Hyun Bin, Song Joong-ki and more

Who here hasn’t caught the BTS bug? BTS is currently one of the biggest South Korean cultural export and their maknae, Jungkook, 24, is one of the pivotal members of the boy band. Since their debut with 2 Cool 4 Skool in 2013, BTS has found fans worldwide with their musicality, performance and how their lyrics resonate with the youths and issues of today. This year, the band treated fans to new music with English-language singles Butter and Permission to Dance.

Since then, doe-eyed singer-songwriter Jungkook has expanded his portfolio beyond group activities. He has participated in TV shows such as Flower Crew and King of Mask Singer, as well as released the solo single Still With You, which he produced himself.

RM, which formerly stood for Rap Monster, is the stage moniker of Kim Nam-joon who is another member of BTS turning a year wiser this month. The leader of the band, RM, 27, is known for his fluency in English (he scored 900 out of 990 in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC)), which he had picked up watching Friends with his mother. RM was also tested to have an IQ of 148 and previously ranked in the top one per cent of the nation in his high school exams.

Outside of the group, RM has released two solo mixtapes – RM and Mono in 2015 and 2018 respectively – and has worked with renowned artists such as Fall Out Boy, Honne and Lil Nas X. RM is also a prolific songwriter and has over 176 credits to his name, according to the Korea Music Copyright Association.

Remember the dalgona coffee trend that every0ne and their mothers were making last year? Well, you can thank Jung Il-woo, 34, for bringing light to the product after tasting it in Macau for the variety show Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant.

Korean drama fans, however, will recognise the actor from his many roles including Unstoppable High Kick (2006), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012) and most recently in Bossam: Seal the Fate (2021) opposite Girls’ Generation member Yuri. Another fun fact: Jung and Lee Min-ho are good friends and have known each other since high school.

Even if you haven’t heard of his name, you might have heard Zico’s 2020 viral single Any Song that trended across TikTok and social media, inducing celebs such as Hwasa to participate in the dance challenge.

Zico, or Woo Ji-ho, 29, first made his debut as the leader of boy band Block B in 2011 with the song Freeze and later debuted as a solo artist in 2014 with the single Tough Cookie. He conscripted as a public service worker in July 2020 but not before releasing his third EP Random Box that featured Rain in the title track Summer Hate.

We might know Lee Jong-suk as an actor, but his humble beginnings started on the runway where he was the youngest male model (and 186cm tall!) to debut at the Seoul Fashion Week at the age of 17. Now 32, the fair-skinned beauty has given us shows such as School 2013 (2012), Pinocchio (2014) and Romance Is A Bonus Book (2019). Besides his acting career, Lee is also a proud founder of his own entertainment agency A-man Project (Itaewon Class‘ Kwon Nara is in the agency) and had sold off his dining cafe 89Mansion.

Lee was discharged from his military service at the start of 2021 and made his comeback with a cameo in The Witch: Part 2. Keep your eyes peeled as Lee is set to star in the film Decibel and drama series Jade Lover.

Raise your hands if you had fantasised about being in the arms of Captain Yoo Shi-jin, Song Joong-ki’s character in the blockbuster drama Descendants of the Sun (2016). Since his breakout role in Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010), Song, 36, has steadily risen in fame thanks to The Innocent Man (2012), A Werewolf Boy (2012) and Arthdal Chronicles (2019), among many others.

Descendants of the Sun was particularly prominent for him as: 1) it cemented his international popularity and 2) it was where he met his former wife and actress Song Hye-kyo, whom he had a highly publicised wedding and divorce in 2017 and 2019 respectively. For those who miss this pretty face, you can catch the popular drama Vincenzo and the film Space Sweepers while you wait for the criminal thriller film Bogota to be released.

Kim Jong-dae, or better known by his stage name Chen, is a member of Korean boy band EXO. As the main vocalist, Chen, 29, has sung his way into many hearts, thanks to his melodic voice. In fact, one of his songs, Everytime, was an official soundtrack for Descendants of the Sun. In 2019, Chen dropped his first solo album April and a Flower and quickly followed up with a mini-album Dear My Dear that topped the charts in many countries.

Outside of his singing career, Chen made headlines after abruptly announcing his marriage to a non-celebrity at the start of 2020. Shortly after, the happy couple welcomed their first child, a girl, in April. He later released two songs – Your Moonlight for the drama Do You Like Brahms? and Hello – before enlisting in the military in October.

While most of us would know Park Jin-young, 27, as being a member of boy band GOT7, he had actually debuted way before that. In 2011, he was cast in the drama Dream High 2 and was part of a duo group JJ Project with fellow GOT7 member JB. The group has since disbanded in January 2021, though Park has continued his solo career with the single Dive released in July.

Outside of his singing career, Park has been in productions such as Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), He Is Psychometric (2019) and The Devil Judge (2021). He is also set to star opposite Kim Go-eun in Yumi’s Cells that will drop this month.

He can sing, dance, rap, act (theatre, television and film btw), host, and has even designed clothes. It is no wonder that Key (or Kim Ki-bum) is known to be an all-rounder. Turning the big 3-0, Key was first propelled to fame as part of boy band SHINee, with hits such as Ring Ding Dong, Lucifer and most recently, Don’t Call Me as part of the group’s 2021 album of the same title.

Key has also made his solo debut in 2018 with the album Face, where he wrote the lyrics to four of the 10 songs. Now a regular cast member of the Amazing Saturday variety show, Key just released the new single Hate That… featuring fellow labelmate and host Taeyeon ahead of his first EP dropping later this month.

It goes without saying that Crash Landing On You was one of the highlights of 2020. From the chemistry between Hyun Bin, 39, and Son Ye Jin to the plotline and fashion, it’s evident why the show was such a hit. The show was a blessing for the couple as their on-screen relationship became reality after news broke at the start of 2021, much to the pleasure of adoring fans of the ‘RiRi’ couple.

Besides CLOY, Hyun Bin has an impressive list of hits ranging from his breakout role in My Name is Kim Sam-soon (2005), Secret Garden (2010-11), Memories of Alhambra (2018-19) to films including A Millionaire’s First Love (2006) and The Negotiation (2018), where he first starred opposite Son. Hyun is set to star in the film The Point Men (2021) and is currently filming Confidential Assignment 2: International alongside Girls’ Generation Yoona.

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