Kim Jong Kook (김종국) (born on April 25, 1977) is a South Korean singer. He first entered the Korean music industry in 1995 as a member of the group Turbo, which became fairly popular for their catchy music. After the group dissolved a few years later, he became a solo singer in 2001, mostly concentrating on ballads. Although his unusually high tone of his voice is often criticized and joked about (with many stars jokingly calling it a “mosquito voice”), he has had many hit singles and has also been a frequent guest on many variety shows, most notably X-Man. In addition, his body is often considered one of the best in K-Pop, due to all his muscle training.
By 2005, Kim Jong Kook became one of the most popular artists; his third album sold in excess of 300,000 copies [2], making it one of the year’s best-selling albums in Korea. He capped off that year by winning 3 out of the 4 possible “Artist of the Year” awards, losing only the “Golden Disk Award”.
On January 21, 2006, Kim Jong Kook, Jeon Hye Bin, and Tae Kyung Im participated in Thuy Nga’s Paris by Night 81 concert in California. Kim Jong Kook performed “To Her Man”.
In order to fulfill his duty to perform two years of mandatory service, Kim entered the military in 2006. However, he is still involved in the music business, releasing a fourth album in early 2006. Unable to directly promote it while in the military, he has taken to using unorthodox methods in order to do so. In order to observe with Korean law, the music video was shot so that his face would never be seen on screen. Also, in order to raise awareness, Kim’s rumored girlfriend Yoon Eun Hye was asked to star in the music video. Though there has been no direct promotion, his latest album has sold in excess of 100,000 copies [3].| |
