So Jung-hwan

Treasure (; ; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2019 by YG Entertainment through ''YG Treasure Box'' (2018–2019); and consists of 10 members: Choi Hyun-suk, Jihoon, Yoshi, Junkyu, Yoon Jae-hyuk, Asahi, Doyoung, Haruto, Park Jeong-woo, and So Jung-hwan. Its former members, Mashiho and Bang Ye-dam, departed from the group in November 2022. Treasure debuted with the single album '' The First Step: Chapter One'' (2020)—the first in a tetralogy of albums which collectively sold over one million copies in five months.

History

2017–2019: Formation and pre-debut activities

Following the establishment of YG Entertainment's representative boy bands Big Bang (2006), Winner (2014), and iKon (2015), speculations regarding their next creation circulated as early as 2017. ''K-pop Star 2'' (2012–2013) runner-up, Bang Ye-dam, was prominently featured in reports as a member of the nascent ensemble—heralded as the label's youngest male act, comprising trainees aged 15–17 with an average of four to five years of training. Potential aspirants had also appeared in ''Stray Kids'' (2017), namely Bang and ''K-pop Star''s (2011–2012) Choi Rae-sung. In lieu of an immediate debut, a reality program was produced to facilitate their formation. It documented their creation through ''YG Treasure Box'' (2018–2019), revealing twenty-nine trainees who were gradually eliminated. It concluded with the selection of Haruto, Bang Ye-dam, So Jung-hwan, Junkyu, Park Jeong-woo, Yoon Jae-hyuk, and Choi Hyun-suk; collectively named Treasure. A secondary lineup was later introduced: Ha Yoon-bin, Mashiho, Doyoung, Yoshi, Jihoon, and Asahi, under Magnum. The two were collectively to be called Treasure 13; however, Ha's departure to become a soloist led to the amalgamation of Treasure and Magnum into a single definitive group, as the former.

In the band, several members attained stints in entertainment; with Junkyu as a child model, Bang Ye-dam recording for animated shows, and So Jung-hwan briefly starring as a child actor and participating in the Taekwondo demonstration team K-Tigers, earning accolades with them. Mashiho starred in Akdong Musician's ''Spring of Winter'' (2016), while Choi Hyun-suk and Junkyu competed on ''Mix Nine'' (2017–2018). Bang became the first of the twelve to be scouted in June 2013 after the singing contest. Mashiho was accepted later that year as the second recruit through an audition held in Japan. Junkyu, Choi and Doyoung, and Jihoon, joined through private auditions facilitated by their respective academies in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. So, the youngest member, was cast less than a year before the broadcast of ''YG Treasure Box''. Yoon Jae-hyuk, the only member to be street cast, joined the label a few months ahead of the show's premiere, as well as Asahi.

2020–2022: Debut with ''The First Step'' tetralogy, reformation, and first Asia tour

In January 2020, Treasure was re-introduced to the public with pictorials and a performance video for "Going Crazy" (미쳐가네; ''michyeogane''), first unveiled on ''YG Treasure Box'' (2018–2019) and co-written by Mino of Winner. Their re-introduction also included variety programs such as ''Treasure Map''. Modeled using Big Bang's debut as a blueprint, plans were set to release new music 3–4 times throughout the year, similar to how the quintet debuted with single albums in 2006. Prior to their official debut, Treasure became the fastest Korean act to chart on the ''Billboard'' Social 50, remaining on the chart for six consecutive weeks, and peaking at number 3 on August 29. Additionally, the group amassed an estimated 1.49 million subscribers on their YouTube channel ahead of their debut.

Treasure debuted on August 7, 2020, with the single album '' The First Step: Chapter One'', the inaugural installment of ''The First Step'' series. It garnered 170,000 pre-orders prior to its release, debuted atop the Circle Album Chart (formerly Gaon Album Chart), and was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), becoming their first-ever certification. The music video for its titular single, "Boy", received a "record amount of money" for its creation, surpassing 10 million views in 26 hours and 20 million views in six days on YouTube. It also became their first to reach 100 million views on the platform. Treasure commenced with promotions on August 9 with their first broadcast on ''Inkigayo''. The second installment was released on September 18 and placed second on the Circle Album Chart. The lead single, " I Love You" (사랑해; ''saranghae''), topped Rakuten Music for the month of September with less than two weeks of tracking. The third installment and its release on November 6 included lead single " Mmm" and the B-side "Orange" (오렌지; ''olenji''), the group's first self-written song, created by Asahi. Concluding ''The First Step'' series, their first studio album was released on January 11, 2021. It marked their third number one on the Circle Album Chart and debuted atop for the month of January. The series ended with over 710,000 copies sold in three months and one million in five months, earning the band multiple awards, including their first at the Asia Artist Awards.

Treasure lent their voices to the soundtrack of the TV Tokyo''. First revealed on January 5, 2021, in the anime itself, the song also served as the band's first original Japanese release.ALT URL
/ref> It was digitally released as two versions on January 22 and February 14, respectively; where the full version of "Beautiful" entered the ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 chart at number 58, and the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales chart at twenty-third. In commemoration of ''Black Clovers final episode, the full version was aired at the request of its director. Their Japanese debut album, sharing a title with their first full-length album, was released on March 31. It included the Japanese versions of all their Korean releases to date, with the group's newest single, "Beautiful", and the accompanied music video. The album debuted and consecutively charted at number one for four days on the Oricon Daily Chart, and debuted atop the weekly chart with over 57,000 sales in its first week. The band first appeared on terrestrial broadcast in Japan with the Nippon TV music program ''Buzz Rhythm'', where they performed the Japanese version of "Boy", in conjunction to their official debut in the country.

YG Entertainment publicized a prelude for "The Second Step" on New Year's Day, heralding '' The Second Step: Chapter One'', their first extended play (EP), and its release on February 15, 2022. 600,000 records were pre-ordered in eight days
whilst 700,000 were sold in three days. It was also listed in the twenty-five best K-pop albums of 2022 by ''Billboard'' staff. Its titular single, "Jikjin" (직진), obtained ₩500,000,000 ( $420,000) for its music video, amassing 10 million views in 21 hours, and 20 million in under three days, also career highs rising five times faster. It reaped their first music show trophy on ''Show Champion'' and earliest entry on Circle Digital Chart. Its B-side, "Darari" (), found success on TikTok, reaching 500 million views with over one million uploads, and was one of the most shazamed and streamed K-pop songs of 2022 on Apple Music and Spotify. Released on October 4, titular single, "Hello", from their sophomore EP was listed as one of five best K-pop songs of 2022 by Time while its Japanese equivalent became their first album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). Bang Ye-dam and Mashiho, who went on hiatus in May to pursue studies in music and recuperate in health, respectively, were absent; both departed in November. They embarked on their first arena tour in Japan that month—the largest debut tour held in the country by a Korean act, exceeding 300,000 attendees—later extended to an Asia tour dubbed "Hello", in correlation to its latest release, concluding with 420,000 people.

2023–present: ''Reboot'' project and career expansion

The ten-piece reunited with the ''Black Clover'' franchise for its theatrical soundtrack, with "Here I Stand". It became their first number one hit on the ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100, and first platinum certification awarded by the RIAJ ensued from its integration into their Japanese single album of the same title. Its certification was attained five days following its release on March 29, 2023, and placed second on the Oricon Weekly chart with 235,347 copies sold, generating ¥464.4 million ( $3.51 million) in five days. The band toured for two months across five cities of Japan for a nationwide fan meeting until its completion on November 12, 2023. It resulted them to visit an audience of half a million attendees across all stages since the outset of the year, and steered the band to become the first Korean act to enter Tokyo Dome for a fan meeting.

Treasure ushered a "reboot" project through a partnership with Columbia Records for global distribution and local marketing in North America, in tandem to their first official sub-unit, T5, with So Jung-hwan, Junkyu, Jihoon, Yoon Jae-hyuk, and Doyoung. Its creation was fostered amidst those who raised their hands and believed to be the most "handsome" within the band, molding the self-proclaimed "flower boy quintet". Its digital single, "Move", served as a pre-release for the decet's second studio album, and marked Junkyu's first solely penned piece. Released on July 28, 2023 ''Reboot'' achieved a three-fold increase in sales since its last release, selling 1,718,517 copies across various formats in two days. Its titular single, "Bona Bona", reached a career high, charting at number 27 on the Circle Digital chart, and peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100, a personal best amongst their Korean releases. Its B-side, "B.O.M.B", received interest as it topped the ''Billboard'' Hot Trending Songs chart, and became the band's first work to enter an official chart in the United Kingdom. In conjunction to their latest release, the band commenced on their second Asia tour, named after their second full-length album.

Cited as a continuation of a new era that launched with ''Reboot'' (2023), Treasure released the digital single "King Kong", on May 28, 2024. In Japan, Treasure was selected to sing the opening song "Reverse" for the Japanese TV series ''Densetsu no Atama Sho'' (Legendary Head Sho), starring Fumiya Takahashi. It was further incorporated into the band's second Japanese single album, ''King Kong / Reverse'', and its release on August 21.

Following New Year's Day, Junkyu and Asahi succeeded the leadership of the band from Choi Hyun-suk and Jihoon in 2025. For Treasure's third extended play (EP), a pre-release digital single titled "Last Night" was released on December 5, 2024. The EP ''Pleasure'', was released on March 7, 2025, with the lead single "Yellow".

Public image

Dubbed the "fastest growing K-pop act in the world" of 2020 by Twitter, ranking above Tomorrow X Together and Stray Kids amidst other acts, the duodecet also placed sixth and ninth as the "Top 10 most mentioned K-pop artists in the world" and "Most tweeted K-pop accounts in the world", respectively, listed below musicians including BTS and Blackpink, and was the only group to be included in the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 (Rising Star) beside Aespa and STAYC.

Other ventures

Endorsements

In their career, Treasure became endorsement models for the naturalist cosmetics brand, Manyo Factory, assisting in achieving its highest sales through the group's product advocacy to the viewers on a live broadcast hosted with CJ Olive Young, and I'mmune, an aloe immune health functional food under Univera. Ongredients, an eco-friendly organic beauty brand, also recruited them as its newest muse for their Korean and Japanese affiliates, as well as lifestyle sports brand, FCMM.

Treasure also partook in various partnerships, including with the global creative studio, Line Friends,—in which their products, branded as Truz, sold out domestically in one minute through the official smart store, and under an hour in eighteen countries abroad—Shinsegae's convenience store, Emart24, and its branches in Korea and Malaysia, Pucca Puzzle Adventure game, Thai shoe brand Baoji, Unilever Japan, Crocs, and Uniqlo.

Ambassadorship

Philanthropy

Members of Treasure joined senior label-mate, Sean of Jinusean's charity marathon event, ''Miracle 365'', across various occasions ahead of their debut. Funds and awareness were raised to construct South Korea's first-ever Lou Gehrig rehabilitation hospital for those requiring medical treatment, resulted by the disability. Further acts include partaking in a program organized by YG Entertainment through the Blue Angel Volunteers at an animal shelter where they created shelters, cleaned, and restocked feed supply amidst other acts; and was involved in opening a school support fund through Naver's Happy Bean with Muju YG Foundation and Um Hong-gil Human Foundation, to construct schools for youths and adolescents, in Nepal's underprivileged areas. Treasure also donated ¥10 million ( $66,485 approx.) to Red Cross for those affected by the 2024 Noto earthquake.

Treasure advocated for children diagnosed with cancer and partnered with YG Entertainment and Muju YG Foundation, to encourage individuals to provide help and create a difference by donating through the Naver platform. Happy Bean, and further used their social media platforms to advocate for the 51st Earth Day, voicing concerns on environmental problems which include climate change, and promoted how to confront these issues.

Artistry

Produced under YG Entertainment, which has traditionally presented music largely rooted in hip-hop, the act offered a broader notion, with sounds more in line with other conventional K-pop groups with strong dance performance-based elements. The twelve-piece (currently ten) line-up signified a departure from the label's previous bands with four to five members, and is also more in line with those, including NCT 127 and Seventeen. Its leader, Choi Hyun-suk, cited the band offered a "plus alpha" element to the existing traditional "YG style", creating synergy with their cadence-heavy dance performances.

The band is known to be heavily involved in their craft and music.

Influences

In the band's debut press conference, they stated their main role model and influence towards their careers were their labelmate seniors under YG Entertainment through their various music releases and videos.

Members

Adapted from their YGEX official website

Current

* Choi Hyun-suk () – rapper, dancer
* Jihoon () – vocalist, dancer
* Yoshi (; ) – rapper
* Junkyu () – leader, vocalist
* Yoon Jae-hyuk () – vocalist
* Asahi (; ) – leader, vocalist
* Doyoung () – vocalist, dancer
* Haruto (; ) – rapper
* Park Jeong-woo () – vocalist
* So Jung-hwan () – vocalist, dancer

Former

* Mashiho (; ) – vocalist, dancer
* Bang Ye-dam () – vocalist

Timeline

Discography

* '' The First Step: Treasure Effect'' (2021)
* ''Reboot'' (2023)

Filmography

Television shows

* ''YG Treasure Box'' (2018)
* ''Treasure Map'' (2020–2022)
* '' Shining Solo'' (2024)

Web shows

* ''T.M.I'' (Treasure Maker Interaction) (2020–present)
* ''Fact Check'' (팩트체크) (2020, 2023–present)
* ''3-Minute Treasure'' (3분 트레저) (2020, 2023–present)
* ''T-Talk'' (2020, 2023–present)
* ''Treasure Studio'' (2020–2021)
* ''Find Your Korea'' (2021)
* TMI Log (2021–2022)
* Treasure World Map (2023–present)
* Re:all Treasure (2023–present)
* Yellow Days (2025–present)

Web series

* ''It's Okay, That's Friendship'' (2021)
* '' The Mysterious Class'' (2021)
* ''My BF is Treasure'' (2023)

Tours and concerts

Tours

Fan meeting

Concert

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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K-pop music groups
Musical groups established in 2019
South Korean boy bands
South Korean dance music groups
South Korean hip-hop groups
YG Entertainment artists
Musical groups from Seoul
2019 establishments in South Korea