Hongjoong, whose full name is Kim Hong-joong, was born on November 7, 1998, in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. He is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, composer and producer best known as the leader of the eight-member K-pop group ATEEZ. Within the group he is commonly called “Captain,” a title reflecting both his formal leadership role and his position in the group's creative development. Since ATEEZ debuted in 2018, Hongjoong has contributed lyrics to a substantial part of the group's catalogue while developing an individual artistic identity through songwriting, rearrangement projects, collaborations, radio hosting and fashion.

Early Life and Musical Interests

Hongjoong developed an interest in songwriting and music production while still young. Rather than initially focusing only on becoming an idol performer, he was particularly interested in creating songs and understanding the production process. During his school years he began making his own music and preparing material that could demonstrate his potential as a songwriter and composer.

He attended Dongan High School and later continued his education at Global Cyber University. Music increasingly became the central direction of his life during his teenage years, and he began actively searching for a company that could help him develop not only as a performer but also as a creator.

Becoming KQ Entertainment's First Trainee

Hongjoong's entry into the Korean music industry was unusual by K-pop standards. While still a teenager, he sent a letter and a mixtape containing his own musical work to KQ Entertainment. At the time, the company did not yet have a fully established plan to create the group that would eventually become ATEEZ.

The material did not immediately result in contact. According to accounts of the group's formation, the package was later rediscovered by company staff, and Hongjoong's ability to construct melodies and communicate emotion through his compositions attracted the attention of KQ chief executive Kim Kyu-wook. He was invited to become a trainee and became the company's first official trainee.

For approximately six months, Hongjoong trained without another future ATEEZ member alongside him before Jeong Yun-ho joined. Other future members subsequently arrived, gradually transforming what had begun with one aspiring songwriter's mixtape into the foundation of a new boy group.

Mix Nine and KQ Fellaz

Before his official debut, Hongjoong competed in the 2017 survival program Mix Nine. He reached a final ranking of 42 among the male contestants before being eliminated. Although the program did not give him a debut opportunity, it provided experience in televised competition and public performance before ATEEZ was formally introduced.

The future members of ATEEZ were later presented publicly under the pre-debut name KQ Fellaz. The lineup consisted of Hongjoong, Park Seong-hwa, Jeong Yun-ho, Kang Yeo-sang, Choi San, Song Min-gi, Jung Woo-young and Choi Jong-ho. Their pre-debut activities included dance training in Los Angeles and the reality project KQ Fellaz American Training.

During this period, Hongjoong composed and produced From, a pre-debut song performed by the trainees. The track was an early demonstration that his role within the developing group would extend beyond performing rap verses.

Debut with ATEEZ

Hongjoong officially debuted as the leader of ATEEZ on October 24, 2018, with the mini album Treasure EP.1: All to Zero. The group's debut songs included Pirate King and Treasure, beginning a musical and visual narrative built around travel, ambition, rebellion, youth and the recurring imagery of pirates and alternative worlds.

As leader, Hongjoong became the principal spokesperson in many interviews and public appearances, while Park Seong-hwa, Jeong Yun-ho, Kang Yeo-sang, Choi San, Song Min-gi, Jung Woo-young and Choi Jong-ho completed the group's eight-member lineup. Fans and the members themselves increasingly used “Captain” rather than simply “leader” when referring to him, connecting his role with the nautical imagery that became associated with ATEEZ.

The group's international growth was unusually rapid. Releases across the Treasure, Zero: Fever, The World and Golden Hour eras progressively expanded its audience outside South Korea. Songs including Wonderland, Answer, Deja Vu, Guerrilla, Bouncy (K-Hot Chilli Peppers) and Work helped establish ATEEZ as a performance-driven group with a particularly strong international following.

Songwriting and Creative Role in ATEEZ

Although ATEEZ's production is closely associated with the Eden-ary production collective led by Eden, Hongjoong has remained one of the group's most consistent member-level songwriting contributors. He works particularly closely with fellow rapper Song Min-gi, with both members regularly receiving lyric-writing credits across the group's discography.

Hongjoong's creative participation is not limited to writing his own rap sections. His background in composition and production gives him an understanding of arrangement, demos, recording and the larger conceptual process surrounding a release. His early ambition to become an in-house composer remained visible even after he became primarily known to the public as an idol and performer.

His writing has accompanied ATEEZ through successive musical phases, from the cinematic scale of the group's early pirate concept to the darker dystopian atmosphere of The World series and the more contemporary direction of the Golden Hour releases. This continuity has made him one of the clearest links between the group's performance identity and its internal creative process.

International Expansion with ATEEZ

As ATEEZ developed into a global touring act, Hongjoong's leadership role increasingly operated on international stages. The group built substantial audiences across the United States, Europe, Japan, Latin America and other markets through repeated world tours and festival performances.

In 2024, ATEEZ became the first K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The appearance represented an important point in the group's expansion in the United States and placed Hongjoong at the center of one of the most internationally visible performances of the group's career.

The group's Golden Hour period continued that growth. Golden Hour: Part.4 was released in February 2026, with Hongjoong and Song Min-gi participating in the lyrics. In June 2026, Golden Hour: Part.5 followed with the title track BAD. Hongjoong and Song Min-gi received lyric credits across all five tracks on the EP. The release debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, giving ATEEZ another major achievement in the American market.

BY. HONGJOONG

Outside the group's formal album cycle, Hongjoong created BY. HONGJOONG, a personal project in which he reinterpreted songs by musicians who had influenced or interested him. Rather than presenting conventional reproductions, he frequently altered arrangements, added his own lyrics and participated in the visual concept of the performances.

The project began in December 2019 with his interpretation of David Bowie's Space Oddity. He later reworked Purple Rain by Prince, Black or White by Michael Jackson, Numb by Linkin Park, Lemon Tree by Fools Garden and Wonderwall by Oasis. He also interpreted work by Korean singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin.

In February 2025, Hongjoong released his interpretation of Michael Jackson's Beat It, adding his own verses and visual references while retaining elements associated with the original performance. The release effectively brought the long-running BY. HONGJOONG series to a concluding point after more than five years.

Musical Influences

Hongjoong has frequently cited artists beyond contemporary K-pop when discussing his creative influences. Michael Jackson has been one of his most important musical role models, particularly in the relationship between music, dance and visual presentation. David Bowie has also been significant to him both musically and stylistically.

His choice of material for BY. HONGJOONG further demonstrates the breadth of those influences. Prince, Linkin Park, Oasis and Fools Garden come from very different musical traditions, yet he used the project as an opportunity to reinterpret them through his own performance and production sensibility.

Radio Hosting and Entertainment Work

From September 2022 until December 2023, Hongjoong and fellow ATEEZ member Jeong Yun-ho worked as DJs for the third season of MBC Idol Radio. The role expanded his activities beyond concerts and album promotions and required regular live communication with musicians, guests and listeners.

The radio period also strengthened his experience as a presenter and interviewer. As the leader of a group that regularly conducts international interviews and promotional activities, broadcasting became another area in which his communication skills were visible outside musical performance.

Work with Other Artists

Hongjoong has gradually expanded his individual musical collaborations while remaining primarily active as a member of ATEEZ. In March 2024, he featured on Chungha's single Eenie Meenie, contributing rap and appearing in the official music video. The collaboration placed two established performers with very different career paths within the same dance-oriented release.

He has also provided guidance to younger artists within KQ Entertainment. Members of xikers have discussed receiving advice from Hongjoong concerning songwriting, recording and the importance of developing an individual artistic identity. His position in this context reflects the transition from KQ's first trainee to a senior artist within the company.

Fashion and Personal Style

Fashion has developed into one of the most visible extensions of Hongjoong's creative identity. Known for experimenting with silhouettes, accessories, altered garments and unconventional styling, he has described clothing as another form of self-expression rather than something separate from music.

His growing relationship with international fashion became especially visible in 2024 and 2025. In June 2024, he attended the Comme des Garçons Homme Plus show in Paris. Later that year he appeared at Balmain Spring/Summer 2025 and Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2025 presentations during Paris Fashion Week.

In January 2025, Hongjoong attended the Paul Smith Fall 2025 menswear presentation and the Jacquemus Fall 2025 show. In June he attended another Jacquemus presentation at Versailles, where the house presented its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Le Paysan. These appearances increasingly positioned him within the overlap between global K-pop celebrity and European fashion.

He has identified David Bowie as an important style influence, which is consistent with his preference for fashion as theatrical and individual expression rather than simply luxury branding.

Petit Coussin and Fashion Design

On November 7, 2025, his twenty-seventh birthday, Hongjoong moved from attending fashion shows to designing one. He presented his first fashion collection, Petit Coussin, consisting of 24 looks created around memories of childhood and his mother's clothing business.

The project had an autobiographical foundation. Hongjoong recalled playing with his brother in the storage space beside his mother's clothing shop when he was a child. For the collection, those memories of clothes, play and childhood freedom became material for a fashion project that he approached through sketching, fabric selection and garment development.

The collection also reflected the influence of his earlier exposure to fashion houses. Hongjoong has said that visiting Olivier Rousteing's atelier at Balmain during Paris Fashion Week encouraged his interest in eventually attempting design himself. Petit Coussin therefore represented a significant expansion of his creative work beyond music and stage styling.

Istanbul Festival 2026

On August 14, 2026, Hongjoong performed in Istanbul, Türkiye, as part of ATEEZ's appearance at Istanbul Festival. The concert was held at Festival Park Yenikapı in cooperation with the Korean Cultural Center around events marking the Republic of Korea's Liberation Day.

Solo artist Kwon Eun-bi performed before ATEEZ on the same evening. The event brought one of South Korea's internationally prominent boy groups to a large-scale festival stage in Türkiye and marked another stop in the group's expanding relationship with audiences outside its traditional Asian, North American and Western European touring markets.

Leadership and the “Captain” Identity

The title “Captain” has become inseparable from Hongjoong's identity within ATEEZ. It reflects the group's early pirate imagery but also describes a leadership style that places considerable emphasis on responsibility, creative preparation and communication among the members.

His position is unusual because the history of ATEEZ begins in significant part with his own attempt to contact KQ Entertainment. Before there was a finished group concept or an eight-member lineup, there was a teenage songwriter who sent the company a letter and a mixtape. His later roles as leader, lyricist, performer and senior KQ artist developed from that initial ambition to create music professionally.

By 2026, Hongjoong's activities extended across group leadership, international touring, songwriting, rap, individual collaborations and fashion design. Nevertheless, ATEEZ has remained the center of his musical career, with his creative contributions continuing through the group's increasingly successful Golden Hour period.

Selected Individual and Collaborative Works

2018 – From – Composer and Producer – KQ Fellaz pre-debut project
2019 – Space Oddity – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by David Bowie
2020 – Purple Rain – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Prince
2020 – Black or White – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Michael Jackson
2020 – 모처럼 – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Yoon Jong-shin
2021 – Numb – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Linkin Park
2022 – Lemon Tree – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Fools Garden
2024 – Eenie Meenie – Chungha feat. Hongjoong
2024 – Wonderwall – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Oasis
2025 – Beat It – BY. HONGJOONG – Original by Michael Jackson

Selected ATEEZ Releases

2018 – Treasure EP.1: All to Zero – Mini Album
2019 – Treasure EP.2: Zero to One – Mini Album
2019 – Treasure EP.3: One to All – Mini Album
2019 – Treasure EP.Fin: All to Action – Studio Album
2020 – Zero: Fever Part.1 – Mini Album
2021 – Zero: Fever Part.2 – Mini Album
2021 – Zero: Fever Part.3 – Mini Album
2021 – Zero: Fever Epilogue – Mini Album
2022 – The World EP.1: Movement – Mini Album
2023 – The World EP.2: Outlaw – Mini Album
2023 – The World EP.Fin: Will – Studio Album
2024 – Golden Hour: Part.1 – Mini Album
2024 – Golden Hour: Part.2 – Mini Album
2025 – Golden Hour: Part.3 – Mini Album
2026 – Golden Hour: Part.4 – Mini Album
2026 – Golden Hour: Part.5 – Mini Album

Selected Career Milestones

2016 – Became the first official trainee of KQ Entertainment
2017 – Competed on Mix Nine
2018 – Participated in the KQ Fellaz pre-debut project
2018 – Debuted as leader of ATEEZ
2019 – Started the BY. HONGJOONG reinterpretation project
2022–2023 – Co-hosted MBC Idol Radio with Jeong Yun-ho
2024 – Featured on Chungha's Eenie Meenie
2024 – Performed with ATEEZ at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
2024–2025 – Became increasingly active at international fashion events in Paris
2025 – Completed the long-running BY. HONGJOONG project with Beat It
2025 – Presented his first fashion collection, Petit Coussin
2026 – Contributed lyrics to Golden Hour: Part.4
2026 – Contributed lyrics to all tracks on Golden Hour: Part.5, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
2026 – Performed with ATEEZ at Istanbul Festival in Türkiye

Source: Biyografiler.com