Jung Yonghwa

Jung Yong Hwa

This is a Korean name; the family name is Jung.

Jung Yong-hwa (정용화; pronounced [tɕəːŋ joŋ hwa]; born on June 22, 1989) is a South Korean musician, singer, songwriter and actor. His first name is also written as Yonghwa, Yong-Hwa, or Yong Hwa. Jung made his show business debut as “Kang Shin-woo” in the Korean 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 CNBLUE.

Early life and pre-debut

Jung Yong-hwa was born June 22, 1989, in Seoul, South Korea.[2][3] His family consists of his parents and a brother, who is four years older. 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. In 2009, Jung left for Japan to study music with his bandmates.[4] While staying there, they did street performances and released independent albums.[4]

Before joining the company and his subsequent debut in the entertainment industry, he was already well known in Busan for his good looks and singing. He was also well-known on the Internet as an “Eoljjang”.[5] He was scouted by a FNC casting agent, who happened to see the photos of Yong-hwa at the ski resort on the internet which were re-uploaded from his personal blog by an unknown netizen on an ulzzang cafe. The casting agent then contacted him, first before his high school exam. However, he didn't accept the company's casting offer as he didn't want to be an artist. Later, 50 days before his exam, the casting agent went directly to Yong-hwa's hometown to convince him. He then told his parents, who didn't know that Yong-hwa was approached by the company, regarding the company's request to audition to be an artist. His parents encouraged him to give it a try and return to his hometown to continue his studies, doubting that he would pass the...