Hong Jin-young (born August 9, 1985) is a South Korean
trot
The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...
singer and entertainer. She was a member of the short-lived South Korean girl group SWAN, which debuted in 2007. In 2009, she returned to the music scene, debuting as a
trot
The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...
singer. She is known for her vocal ability, signature
aegyo
() in Korean refers to a cute display of affection often expressed through a cute voice, changes to speech, facial expressions, or gestures. literally means behaving in a flirtatious, coquettish manner and it is commonly expected for both male ...
, appearances on many variety programs, and prevalence at events throughout South Korea all year round.
Career
2006–2008: Career beginnings
Hong made her debut in small film and television roles. In 2006, she had a small part in the movie ''Who Slept With Her?'' (누가 그녀와 잤을까) and she also played a role in ''
Yeon Gaesomun
Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (594–666) was a powerful militar ...
'', a historical Korean drama that takes place in the seventh century.
Hong began her music career in 2007, with SWAN (스완), a Korean girl group consisting of members, Han Ji-na, Hong Jin-young, Heo Yoon-mi, and Kim Yeon-ji, with their debut song "Call Me When You Hear This Song" (이 노래 들으면 전화해), featuring Coolapika.
2009–present: Solo career
In 2009, her agency (
CCM) CEO suggested her to switch to become a solo trot singer, a suggestion she initially resisted given her young age, as trot is regarded as an "older" genre of music in Korea. Nonetheless, she released her first digital single, "Love Battery" (사랑의 배터리).
On August 6, 2010, she returned with a new digital single entitled, "My Love". On June 30, 2011, Hong along with many of South Korea's rising stars sang at the Changwon Sports Complex in a concert called "Changwon's First Anniversary Hope Concert, We Are".
On March 22, 2013, she returned with the release of the digital single, "Boogie Man" (부기맨). During the year 2014, she had parted ways from
Core Contents Media
MBK Entertainment (), was a South Korean entertainment company established by Kim Kwang-soo.
The company was originally founded in 1999 as GM Planning. The company was absorbed by Mnet Media in 2006, following Kim Kwang-soo joint with CJ Group a ...
alongside
Davichi.
Hong is well known for her multiple appearances on popular music variety shows like ''
Immortal Songs 2
''Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend'' (), also known as ''Immortal Songs 2'' (), is a South Korean television music competition program presented by Shin Dong-yup. It is a revival of ''Immortal Songs'' (2007–2009), and each episode features s ...
'' and ''
King of Mask Singer
''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...
''. In 2014, she was a panelist and also in a virtual marriage with
Namkoong Min
Namkoong Min (Hangul: 남궁민, born March 12, 1978) is a South Korean actor, director and screenwriter. He first gained recognition with neo-noir film ''A Dirty Carnival'' (2006), and has since received praise for his performances in '' Rememb ...
on a popular variety show, ''
We Got Married
''We Got Married'' () was a South Korean reality variety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017. The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together. The show ran for four seasons and ...
''. In November of that year, Hong released her first
EP, ''Life Note'' (인생노트) with the title song “Cheer Up” (산다는 건). Her virtual husband, Namkoong Min, appeared as her love interest in the music video in a cameo role.
In 2016, she released her second EP, ''The Most Beautiful Moment in Life'' (화양연화), with the title song “Thumb Up” (엄지 척) and “Love Wifi” (사랑의 와이파이). She also released a cover of a well-known Chinese song called “
The Moon Represents My Heart” (月亮代表我的心/월량대표아적심). For the Korean remake, Hong wrote the lyrics herself.
In February 2017, Hong released a digital single called “Loves Me, Loves Me Not” (사랑한다 안한다) from
“A Fabricated City” (조작된 도시) OST.
In 2017, Hong was cast as a regular member of ''
Sister's Slam Dunk
''Sister's Slam Dunk'' () is a South Korean reality show that aired every Friday on KBS 2TV from April 8 to December 2, 2016. The show's first season featured an all-female cast consisting of Ra Mi-ran, Kim Sook, Hong Jin-kyung, Min Hyo-rin, J ...
''. She was assigned as a rapper by the producers as it has been Hong's dream to become a rapper for a group, and she received direction from group leader
Minzy
Gong Min-ji (; born January 18, 1994), better known by her stage name Minzy, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and dancer. She debuted in 2009 as a member of South Korean girl group 2NE1, which became one of the best-selling girl groups worldw ...
and
Jeon So-mi
Ennik Somi Douma (born March 9, 2001), known professionally by her Korean name Jeon Somi (), is a Korean and Canadian singer, rapper and dancer signed under The Black Label. Jeon shot to domestic stardom as the first-place winner of the sur ...
wrote the rap lyrics for their single, "Right?" (맞지?).
Hong collaborated with comedian
Kim Young-chul to release the electrot (EDM and trot) single "Ring Ring" (따르릉) on April 20, 2017, for which they won Best Trot at the 2017
MelOn Music Awards.
In 2018, Hong released a retro trot style digital single, "Good Bye" (잘가라), composed by her long-time collaborator Jo Young-soo (who also composed “Love Battery” and “Cheer Up”) and well-known K-pop lyricist
Kim Eana
Kim Eana ( ko, 김이나; born April 27, 1979) is a South Korean lyricist. She is best known for writing the lyrics to hit K-pop songs, including "Abracadabra" performed by Brown Eyed Girls, and " Good Day" performed by IU. She has been active ...
. She wrote and composed a second electrot single "I Kicked My Luck Off" (복을 발로 차버렸어) for
Kang Ho-dong
Kang Ho-dong (born June 11, 1970) is a South Korean television host and comedian, who first became known to Koreans as one of the top Korean traditional wrestlers.
In 2008, Kang Ho Dong became the first comedian in history to win the Baeksan ...
, which was released through
SM Station
SM Station is a digital music project by South Korean record label SM Entertainment. It undertook to release one digital single every Friday starting from February 3, 2016. The project's first season ended on February 3, 2017, with 52 songs. Its ...
. In December 2018, Hong released a trot single about people and experiences in Seoul, entitled "Seoul" (서울사람), a collaboration with rapper Bray (브레이) which she produced with Park Keun-tae (박근태).
In January 2019, Hong released a digital single, a ballad titled "Love Is…" (사랑은 다 이러니). On 12 January 2019, Hong made her U.S. concert debut at the
Pechanga Resort & Casino
The Pechanga Resort Casino is a Native American casino on the Pechanga Indian Reservation adjacent to the city of Temecula, California. Pechanga Resort Casino is one of the largest casino/resorts in the United States, with more than 5,400 slot m ...
in California, to an audience of over 3,000. In March 2019, Hong finally released her first studio album, titled ''Lots of Love'' (랏츠 오브 러브). She often appears on the
KBS 1TV '
Golden Oldies ( ko, 가요무대)'.
On March 21, 2022, Hong's agency announced that has finished recording a new song and filmed a music video as well. After the announcement, on April 6, 2022 the single "Viva La Vida" was released with both Korean and English versions of the song and video.
On November 1, 2022, Hong's agency announced that the release of "You are there" has been postponed from November 3rd to November 11th due to the
Seoul Halloween crowd crush
On the night of 29 October 2022, a crowd crush occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea. At least 158 people were killed and 196 others were injured. The victims were mostly young adults.
The crow ...
.
Education
Hong holds a
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...
from
Chosun University
Chosun University () is one of the oldest private universities in South Korea. Its campus is situated in Gwangju metropolitan city, in southwestern South Korea. Around 33,000 students are enrolled.
Academics
Undergraduate courses are offered ...
. She also received a
Master’s degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in Trade in 2009 and a
PhD degree in Business Administration in 2012 from the same university, which were both revoked in 2020 due to plagiarism.
Plagiarism
On November 5, 2020, Hong was accused of plagiarizing her Master of Trade's thesis after scoring 74 percent on the plagiarism review site "Copy Killer". On the same day, her agency released a statement denying all accusations, stating her thesis was "under review in 2009" and that "Copy Killer is a system that began obligatory use in universities beginning 2015 and is meant to filter out submissions with more than 50 percent plagiarized content. It is inevitable that a thesis that was reviewed in 2009 when the system did not exist would come out with a high score."
On November 6, 2020, Hong released another statement after the accusation continued to spread. In her statement released through her personal Instagram, she stated that "I've decided to give up my master's and doctoral degrees. I think that is the best thing that I can do at this moment."
On December 15, 2020, the Research Integrity Committee under the Chosun University Ethics Committee made the tentative judgement of plagiarism regarding Hong's master's thesis and come to a conclusion that the thesis may be plagiarized. The committee later referred the case to the Graduate School Committee, which had given Hong until 5 PM KST on December 18 to submit a written explanation, before making a final decision to determine if the plagiarism took place through a meeting which will be held on December 23. If the meeting determines that she plagiarized, then both her master's and doctoral degrees will be cancelled automatically.
On December 18, 2020, Hong released another statement through her personal Instagram, stating that she will accept Chosun University's tentative conclusion of plagiarism and she admitted to plagiarizing her thesis.
On December 23, 2020, Chosun University Graduate School Committee confirmed that Hong master's thesis was plagiarized and accordingly all her postgraduate degrees obtained from the university will be cancelled.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Collaborations
Soundtrack appearances
Compilation appearances
Writer and composer
* "Ring Ring" (따르릉) sung by
Kim Young-chul (2017)
* "I Kicked My Luck Off" (복을 발로 차버렸어) sung by
Kang Ho-dong
Kang Ho-dong (born June 11, 1970) is a South Korean television host and comedian, who first became known to Koreans as one of the top Korean traditional wrestlers.
In 2008, Kang Ho Dong became the first comedian in history to win the Baeksan ...
(2018)
Filmography
Film
Television series
Television show
Awards and nominations
Listicles
Notes
References
External links
*
Official YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Jin-young
1985 births
Living people
MBK Entertainment artists
Trot singers
South Korean Buddhists
South Korean film actresses
South Korean television actresses
South Korean female idols
South Korean singer-songwriters
MAMA Award winners
Melon Music Award winners
21st-century South Korean singers
21st-century South Korean women singers
South Korean women singer-songwriters
People involved in plagiarism controversies