Kim Ji-woong (; born December 14, 1998) is a South Korean singer and actor. Kim is best known for competing on the

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show ''

Boys Planet ''Boys Planet'' () is a 2023 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It aired on Mnet from February 2, 2023, to April 20, 2023, every Thursday at 20:50 ( KST). Out of thousands of applicants, 98 contestants from various backgrou ...

'' where he ranked 8th in the final episode, earning him a spot in the South Korean

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Zerobaseone Zerobaseone (stylized in all caps; abbreviated as ZB1; ) is a South Korean boy band formed through Mnet (TV channel), Mnet's reality competition program ''Boys Planet'' and managed by WakeOne. The group consists of nine members: Kim Ji-woong, Zh ...

. Prior to this, Kim was a member of the boy group INX under the name Jinam until their disbandment in 2017. He made his debut as an actor in the

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

''The Sweet Blood'' (2021), and is best known for his roles in ''Kissable Lips'' (2022) and ''Roommates of Poongduck 304'' (2022).

Early life

Kim Ji-woong was born on December 14, 1998, in

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

, South Korea. Kim's father was a member of the

Republic of Korea Marine Corps The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC; ), also known as the ROK Marine Corps, ROK Marines or South Korean marines, is the naval infantry of South Korea. The ROKMC is a branch of the Republic of Korea Navy responsible for amphibious operat ...

. He has two brothers: an older brother, who is one year older than him, and a younger brother, who is ten years younger than him.

Career

2016–2018: Debut with INX, disbandment, and agency lawsuit

Kim made his debut as a singer in 2016 as a member of the South Korean boy group, INX, under the stage name Jinam. The group disbanded at the end of 2017 and in 2018, they filed a lawsuit against their agency asking for their exclusive contract to be terminated under claims of mistreatment. The Seoul District Court favored the group in the verdict, voiding the contract between them and their agency.

2018–2020: Ateen, B.I.T, and ''Burn Up: Challenge to Billboard''

After the disbandment of his previous group, Kim joined pre-debut boy group Ateen under the stage name "King". The group was supposed to promote in South Korea after releasing with the single "Boku wa Chotto Chigau" in Japan on September 1, 2018, but the plan never got realized. Six out of the ten members of the group sued the CEO of their company for sexual assault. The group disbanded in 2019 after the group won the lawsuit and their contract was terminated. After the disbandment, Kim worked as a model in

China Fashion Week China Fashion Week is an international fashion event held twice a year at various venues in Beijing, China. The event originated in 1997 and hosts professional contests, exhibitions, fashion forums and professional evaluations. The event showc ...

. Following this, Kim and fellow former Ateen members Segun, Joel and Rookie, joined the pre-debut group B.I.T. The group only promoted in Japan and disbanded in August 2020. Following the disbandment of B.I.T, Kim participated in the 2020 reality survival show ''Burn Up: Challenge to Billboard''. He won first in the male category and soon released the single "Sick of Love" together with Kim Min-jung, who placed first in the female category.

2021–present: Acting debut, ''Boys Planet'', and debut with Zerobaseone

In 2021, Kim made his acting debut with his first leading role in

Naver TV Naver TV (; formerly Naver TV Cast) is a South Korean Streaming service, online video streaming and Online video platform, video sharing service developed and operated by Naver. The service primarily distributes web dramas and entertainment sho ...

''The Sweet Blood'', which is adapted from the

webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

''The Sweet Girl''. In 2022, Kim acted in the BL web series ''Kissable Lips''. Kim then acted in the web series ''Roommates of Poongduck 304'' which is based on a novel by Noh Ga-jeong. The series gained a significant amount of attention and ranked 1st for the BL genre on the South Korean streaming service "Watcha." On December 29, Kim was unveiled as a contestant on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

show ''

''. On March 19, 2023, singer

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

announced on his

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

accounts that Kim will be featured in the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

of his song titled "Number Boy" for his newest album of the same name which was released on March 30. On April 20, Kim placed 8th with a total of 1,338,984 points in the final episode of ''Boys Planet'', allowing him to debut with the winning group,

. He re-debuted in July 2023 with their first mini album "Youth in the Shade." In May, Kim played as Lee Ji-woong in the series ''

The Good Bad Mother ''The Good Bad Mother'' () is a 2023 South Korean television series directed by Shim Na-yeon, and starring Ra Mi-ran, Lee Do-hyun, Ahn Eun-jin and Yoo In-soo. It aired from April 26 to June 8, 2023 on JTBC's Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:30 ...

''.

Discography

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Composition credits

All song credits are adapted from the

Korea Music Copyright Association The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) is a South Korean non-profit copyright collective for musical works, administering public performance and broadcasting rights, and mechanical recording and reproduction rights. Founded in 1964, it ...

's database unless stated otherwise.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Web series

Television shows

Web shows

Hosting

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Kim Ji-woong
at Nest Management * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Ji-woong 1998 births Living people People from Wonju Male actors from Gangwon Province, South Korea K-pop singers South Korean male idols South Korean male rappers South Korean male dancers South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors South Korean male web series actors Boys Planet contestants 21st-century South Korean male singers 21st-century South Korean male actors Reality show winners WakeOne artists Zerobaseone members