Choi Jong-hoon (, ; born March 7, 1990) is a South Korean former musician and actor. He served as the leader, guitarist, and keyboardist of rock band
F.T. Island from its debut in 2007 until his retirement from the entertainment industry in 2019.
On March 14, 2019, Choi retired from the entertainment industry, amidst allegations of being involved in bribery and sharing of illicit sex videos and pictures, a part of the
Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms
The Jung Joon-young KakaoTalk chatrooms was a South Korean entertainment and sex scandal publicized in 2019 as part of the Burning Sun scandal. The two scandals were tied together by the release of revealing KakaoTalk messages that exposed alle ...
, first revealed in the
Burning Sun scandal. On November 29, 2019, Choi was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.
Early life and education
Choi Jong-hoon was born in
Seoul, South Korea on March 7, 1990,
according to the
solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar.
T ...
, and February 6 according to the
lunar calendar. He attended the Shindongshin Middle Information Industry High School. During his high school years, he was accepted into the FNC Music talent agency, which later formed the band
F.T. Island with Jong-hoon as its leader and guitarist.
Choi attended
University of Suwon
The University of Suwon (Hangul: 수원대학교) is a university in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.
Foundation
The university was founded by the Kowoon Foundation in 1977 and authorized in 1981 with nine departments. The sister ...
, majoring in
digital music alongside former band member Oh Won Bin.
Career
Music career
In January 2009, members Choi Jong-hoon, Choi Minhwan, and Lee Jaejin were put into the sub group "A3". This group debuted at the 2009
New Year concert "My First Dream" held at the
JCB Hall
The Tokyo Dome City Hall (TDC Hall) is a facility for sports, fashion shows, circuses, and live music, located inside Tokyo Dome City in Tokyo, Japan. It is on the opposite corner of the Tokyo Dome, and hosts a variety of events at any given ti ...
in Tokyo, Japan on January 2, 2009. Choi performed as the guitarist and a sub-vocalist. The group's name was "A3" due to each of the three members having type A blood. This group was formed to help take up some singing time during their concerts, so that lead singer,
Lee Hong-gi, would not overstrain his voice.
In 2019, Choi's agency announced that he will be leaving
F.T. Island and retiring from the entertainment industry.
Television and acting
Choi began making cameos and guest appearances on many television series starting in 2008. Together with Song Seung-hyun, he starred in ''Style Wave'' in December 2009 and January 2010. In this show, stars discuss major style trends and dress a shopper according to a chosen style theme.
Choi participated in episode 15 of
Seoul Broadcasting System
Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) () is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. The broadcaster legally became known as SBS in March 2000, changing its corporate name from Seoul Broadcasting System (서울방송). Its f ...
's ''Idol Maknae Rebellion'' () with fellow band member Seung-hyun, who was a cast member of the show; the episode aired on February 15, 2010. He made his acting debut as a supporting character in the film ''
You're My Pet'' (2011) starring actors
Jang Keun-suk
Jang Keun-suk () is a South Korean actor and singer. He is best known for starring in the Korean television dramas ''Beethoven Virus'' (2008), ''You're Beautiful'' (2009), '' Mary Stayed Out All Night'' (2010), ''Love Rain'' (2012), ''Pretty Ma ...
and
Kim Ha-neul. Based on the Japanese manga ''
Tramps Like Us'', Choi plays the younger brother of Kim's character. The film centers around a woman living with her human pet.
In December 2012, Choi joined the second season of tvN's ''The Romantic & Idol''.
Choi was cast as the lead character Park Shi-hyun in the web drama ''Prince's Prince'' (2015).
Seo Yu-na
Seo Yu-na (Hangul: 서유나; born December 30, 1992), better known by the mononym Yuna, is a South Korean singer, actress and yoga instructor. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group AOA and its sub-groups, AOA Black and AOA ...
of girl group
AOA, who plays his onscreen younger sister Yu-na,
Lim Yoon-ho
Lim Yoon-Ho (born October 20, 1989), also known as Im Yoon-Ho, is a South Korean actor. He debuted in the MBC's television series ''7th Grade Civil Servant'' (2013) and left a strong impression on the viewers with his acting performance.
Film ...
as Lee Mong-ryong, also played co-leads. Based on the
webtoon of the same name, the series revolves around Shi-hyun's sister and her immersion into video games. As a first-time lead role, Choi remarked during a press conference prior to filming, "I previously did a bit of acting, but I should carefully and cautiously undertake this role". He also starred in the drama ''Heroes'' and ''Unexpected Heroes'' (2017).
Other activities
With fellow band member
Song Seung-hyun
Song Seung-hyun (; Japanese:ソン•スンヒョン born 21 August 1992) is a South Korean actor and musician. He is best known as a former member of the rock band F.T. Island, where he replaced previous guitarist Oh Won Bin and served as guit ...
, Choi modeled at the 2009 Autumn Seoul Fashion Week on October 17, 2009 for Lee Ju Young, the designer of the "Resurrection" collection. On June 29, 2009, he was featured with Core Contents Media's soloist
Hong Jin Young as one of the main characters in her
music video "Love Battery". In August, he participated in episode 19 of ''MNet Scandal''.
Controversies
Allegations and departure
In March 2019, Choi was revealed to be a member of an online group chat that shared sexually explicit videos of women filmed without their knowledge or consent, together with celebrities
Lee Jong-hyun and
Jung Joon-young
Jung Joon-young (born February 21, 1989) is a South Korean former singer-songwriter, radio DJ, host, actor, television personality and convicted serial rapist.
Jung first gained recognition in the 2012 season of the musical reality competitio ...
. He was also reported to have bribed the police in order to prevent newspapers from covering a drunk driving incident he was involved in 2016. Subsequently, his agency announced that he will be leaving
F.T. Island and retiring from the entertainment industry.
In April 2019, police booked Choi for illegally filming women without their consent, distributing a total of six videos, and bribery to cover up his drunk-driving incident. On April 11, 2019, Choi admitted to spreading hidden camera photos taken without consent and also filming illegal hidden camera footage. He was charged with one count of sharing personally taken illegal footage and five counts of sharing footage from other sources.
Sentence to prison
On April 19, 2019, a woman came forward to
SBS funE, claiming that five men including Choi, had raped her after she was intoxicated in March 2016, and then shared the footage in a group chat. Choi denied the allegation, but admitted that he and the woman were together on that day. On May 10, 2019, Choi was arrested on the gang rape allegations and was indicted on charge of taking part in a gang rape in 2016. On November 29, 2019, Choi was sentenced to five years in prison.
On May 12, 2020, Seoul High Court reduced his sentence from five years to two and half years after reaching an agreement with one of the victims.
On November 8, 2021, it was reported that Choi was released from prison.
Filmography
Television series
Film
Music video appearances
Discography
Guest appearances
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Jong-hoon
1990 births
Living people
Singers from Seoul
Male actors from Seoul
FNC Entertainment artists
South Korean keyboardists
South Korean male idols
South Korean pop rock singers
F.T. Island members
South Korean rock guitarists
South Korean people convicted of rape