Your new obsession is Park Bo-gum: Everything to know about him

The South Korean entertainment industry is popping with new stars hitting the scene on a regular basis. There’s always someone new to ogle at – whether it’s someone producing music, movies, television, or all three.

Who’s catching our eye now? From K-pop star to actor, Park Bo-gum is our next Korean idol – and soon he’ll be yours too! Here’s everything to love about the talented heartthrob Park Bo-gum.

Dreamy singing voice

Park Bo-gum’s journey to stardom started like so many – he followed his dreams and made a leap. Park shared with fans that he’s always wanted to become a singer and started out by sending a video of himself singing and playing piano to many talent management agencies. From there Park he scored many offers & auditions in the music industry.

Though Park eventually made it big after dabbling into acting, he never let go of his passion for music. In March, he finally released his debut full-length solo album Blue Bird which has eleven tracks including the hit single “Bloomin”. He also recently shared the song “All My Love” with the world, saying that it was a tribute to his devoted fans. The sentimental melody is filled with touching moments.

Acting career

Kicking off his career with the thriller film Blind in 2011, Park quickly climbed up the ladder. Signing on with Blossom Entertainment led him to roles like comedy Runway Cop, drama Still Picture, and period drama Bridal Mask. He finally scored a lead in weekend drama Wonderful Mama. 

From there Park soared to the top, netting countless acting roles and becoming very popular for a diverse range of roles such as a psychopathic lawyer in Hello Monster, a prodigy “Go” player in Reply 1988, and a prince in Love in the Moonlight. 

Park’s successful acting career gained him a lot of esteem and he became the first ever actor to make it to the top of the Korea Power Celebrity list by Forbes. He also became the youngest artist to be named Actor of the Year by Gallup Korea.  

Park Bo-gum magic

Seeing Bo-gum’s spark, advertising companies were eager to snatch him up. He became an advertising golden boy of sorts. According to the Korean search engine Naver, the brands he advertised had a spike in reputation. This led the Korean Corporate Reputation to call the phenomenon the “Park Bo-gum effect”, nodding to Bo-gum’s success at drawing fans from all ages to increase sales. 

The term “Park Bo-gum effect” evolved into “Park Bo-gum magic” amongst smitten fans. Korea Times explained how his magic entrances people, saying, “once people look at Park, they can’t take their eyes off him”.  Park even hosted multiple music & award shows, a coveted face in all places. 

Record of Youth

Unfortunately, we can’t expect much Park Bo-gum media for a while because he just enlisted for his mandatory military service on August 31st. On the bright side, he left us with his new K-drama Record of Youth which came out on September 7th on tvN & Netflix. 

The story focuses on Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum), a model struggling to make it as an actor. Hye-jun comes from humble means, but stuns with his dazzling good looks. Bo-gum’s leading role is joined by Parasite star Park So-dam who plays Ahn Jung-ha, an aspiring makeup artist.  

Record of Youth was widely watched on Netflix, becoming an international hit. The K-drama series instantly garnered appraise, becoming the second highest rated premiere – second only to the premiere rating of Stranger season 2. 

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