Skip to content
Free Shipping from 120€ - We bring K-Pop to Europe
Free Shipping from 120€ - We bring K-Pop to Europe

2PM - debut, military service and future projects!

by Helen Bosch
2pm members taecyeon jun.k chansung junho wooyoung nichkhun sitting in a row next to each other wearing white tops bare arms
2pm members taecyeon jun.k chansung junho wooyoung nichkhun sitting in a row next to each other wearing white tops bare arms

K-Pop Blog > Artists > 2PM

2PM is a six-member boy band that debuted in 2008 and is still active, although they' ve been quiet for a while because the members were doing their military service. Just recently, however, the group released a new album, making it clear that we will continue to hear from them, even after just over 13 years! A great achievement, as only a handful of idol groups have reached this age, including SHINee, Super Junior, Girls Generation and A-Pink.

In all these years, 2PM has of course experienced a lot and released quite a few albums. But don't worry, you don't have to fight your way through a page-long list of their works and extensive explanations. We'll shorten the story a bit and mainly go into the really interesting details.

One Day

In a documentary called "Hot Blood Men," JYP Entertainment showed the group's hard training before their debut and the creation of the boy group "One Day." During the documentary, several trainees were eliminated, including Yoon Doo Joon who then moved to Cube Entertainment and debuted in B2ST (now Highlight) in 2009. Eventually, One Day consisted of eleven members. The band was then split into two groups: The seven-member hip-hop boy group 2PM and the four-member ballad group 2AM.

2PM debuted on September 4, 2008, less than two months after 2AM, with the single album "Hottest Time of the Day". In the music video for the title track "10 out of 10", the boys showed acrobatic dance moves and a mature image that made them stand out among the boy bands of the time. But it was the second single album "2:00PM Time For Change" with the song "Again & Again" that catapulted them to the top of the charts in April 2009!

Jaebom

2pm leader jaebom photoshoot image

In September 2009, articles about 2PM's leader Jaebom surfaced on the Internet because of a private social media account in which Jaebom expressed his dislike for Korea before his debut. The singer was born in Seattle and moved to South Korea in 2005 after attending a talent audition for JYP Entertainment in his home country.
JYP Entertainment's founder Park Jin Young announced shortly after the articles surfaced that Jaebom would not be forced to leave 2PM, as some fans demanded. However, the very next day, Jaebom announced that he would return to the United States so that the situation could calm down.

2pm members taecyeon jun.k chansung junho wooyoung nichkhun sitting in a row next to each other wearing withe tops bare arms

Thus, 2PM released the next album "01:59PM" in November 2009 as a six-piece group. But although Jaebom was not featured on the cover or in the music video for the title track "Heartbeat", his voice was heard in a few of the other songs. In addition, Park Jin Young said that Jaebom could return to 2PM at any time. At this point, it was also clear that the comments that caused the scandal had been poorly translated and taken out of context. Fans wished that the leader would rejoin the group, but in February 2010 JYP announced that his contract had been terminated. This announcement was followed by protests: 2PM fan sites were closed and products promoted by the group were boycotted. The situation soon calmed down, however, and the album "Don't Stop Can't Stop", released in April, topped several charts!

Jabeom returned to Korea before the end of 2010 and made his debut as a solo artist. Today he is known under the stage name "Jay Park".

Other achievements

In October 2010, the new album "Still 2:00PM" placed 13th on the Billboard World Album Charts. Since 2PM had no promotion in the United States, this was an unexpected success! In the same month, the boy group became the first Korean artist ever to win the "Most Popular Asian Singer" award at the "Annual Mandarin Music Honors" in China.

In May 2011, 2PM released their first Japanese single "Take Off" and then held their first Japanese concert tour with six dates. However, the boy group already made their official Japan debut in December 2010 with a show called "2PM 1st Contact in JAPAN LIVE".

With the album "Grown", 2PM landed on the Billboard World Album Charts for the second time in May 2013 and stayed there for three weeks! In addition, the song "A.D.T.O.Y" from the album was later included in Billboard's list of the 20 best K-pop songs of 2013! After Grown, the eighth Japanese single "Winter Games" was released in October and the Japanese album "Genesis of 2PM" was released in January 2014. Fans had to wait a relatively long time for a new Korean album, because the comeback announced for April was postponed because a fire broke out during the shooting of the music video! Fortunately, no one was injured and the fire was already extinguished when the fire department arrived. Later the album was postponed again because of the individual activities of the members, but in September it finally happened! 2PM released "Go Crazy" and a music video for the title song of the same name.

Two Japanese and one Korean album later, "Gentlemen's Game" was released in September 2016; the last album before the members of 2PM began their mandatory military service. At the beginning of 2017, the boy group gave a few more concerts, but then it was time to wait.

2pm taecyeon jun.k chansung junho wooyoung nichkhun sitting in front of an open window photoshoot image

Fans who longed for the group's return got good news in January 2018, as JYP Entertainment announced that five of the six members had renewed their contracts with the agency while Taecyeon was still in negotiations. Then in July, there was more news: Taecyeon had decided to change agencies and signed a contract with "51K." If anyone's heart stopped at this, they were quickly reassured, as both JYP and Taecyeon himself announced that he would continue to be active as a member of 2PM!

The group proved this year that this really works, because just three months after Junho was discharged from the military as the last of the six, the boy group released a new album titled "Must"! As usual, they inspire with their mature image and a casual choreo. By the way, the title song "Make It" was written by Wooyoung, among others.

It seems that the members were as happy about the reunion as their fans, because at the end of September they released another new Japanese album together (With Me Again) and at the end of October a new photo book will be released! Read more about "The Hottest Origin: Must Making Book" here!

Now that we've given you an overview of 2PM's history, we'd like to take a moment to talk about the individual members. How old are they? Who is pursuing a solo acting career? Are there any confirmed projects for the future? You can find out about all that and more here!

The members

Stage nameReal nameBirthday
Jun.KKim Min Jun15.01.1988
NichkhunNichkhun Buck Horvejkul24.06.1988
TaecyeonOk Taecyeon27.12.1988
WooyoungJang Wooyoung30.04.1989
JunhoLee Junho25.01.1990
ChansungHwang Chansung11.02.1990

Jun.K

On October 7, 2011, three years after his debut in 2PM, Jun.K released his first solo single "Alive", which was later included on the best of album "2PM Best: 2008-2011 in Korea" released in March 2012. He then released his first Japanese solo album "Love & Hate" in May 2014. Another Japanese album followed in November 2015, before Jun.K finally presented his first Korean album "Mr.No" to his fans in August 2016. To date, he has added six more solo albums to his discography, the latest "This Is Not A Song" just this March!

Love & Hate (Jap)released on 14.05.2014
Love Letter (Jap)released on 25.11.2015
Mr.No (Kor)released on 09.09.2016
No Shadow (Jap)released on 14.12.2016
77-1X3-00 (Kor)released on 12.01.2017
My 20's (Kor)released on 30.11.2017
No Time (Jap)released on 04.04.2018
20 Minutes (Kor)released on 09.12.2020
This Is Not A Song (Jap)released on 10.03.2021

Nichkhun

Nichkhun was born in the United States and raised in Thailand by his Thai-Chinese parents. In 2006, he moved to Korea after being discovered by JYP Entertainment. The singer now speaks five languages - Thai, English, Korean, Japanese as well as Chinese - and has appeared in Japanese as well as Chinese and Thai films and series since 2011. In 2017, Nichkhun starred in a Korean series for the first time (Magic School).

After focusing on his acting career for years, Nichkhun released his first solo album "Me" in December 2018; first in Japanese and then in Korean in February 2019. The song "Umbrella," dedicated to his fans, was released in three more languages in 2019: English, Thai and Chinese. So his music reflects his diverse background! The second and so far last solo album "Story Of ..." was released like "Me" both in Japan and Korea.

Me (Japanese Version)released on 19.12.2018
Story Of ...released on 25.12.2019

At the end of last year, it was confirmed that Nickhun will play a leading role in a Hollywood movie called "Hong Kong Love Story". So hopefully we will see him on the big screen soon!

Taecyeon

Taecyeon made his acting debut in the K-drama "Cinderella's Sister" in 2010, but is best known for his starring role in "Dream High" in 2011.

In 2012, he produced a digital album called "Blue Bears with Taecyeon" together with other former students of "Dankook University". In 2017, he released his first and so far last Japanese solo album "Taecyeon Special: Winter Hitori". After returning from military service, Taecyeon continued to pursue his acting career, playing leading roles in "The Game: Toward Zero" (2020) and most recently in the very popular drama "Vincenzo" (2021). Then in November, we'll see him in a new series called "Royal Secret Inspector Joy."

Wooyoung

Wooyoung made his acting debut in 2011 and released his first solo album "23, Male, Single" in Korea a year later. Like the other members, however, he didn't stick to one language and presented his Japanese single R.O.S.E. in 2015. Since then, fans could add another Korean album and two Japanese albums to their collection.

23, Male, Single (Kor)released on 08.07.2012
Party Shots (Jap)released on 19.04.2017
It Is Still… (Jap)released on 11.10.2017
Bye (Kor)released on 15.01.2018

So far, his role in "Dream High," in which Wooyoung co-starred with Taecyeon in 2011, is his only real activity as an actor. In an interview shortly before he began his military service, the singer stated that he has no interest in an acting career and Dream High will likely remain his last drama. Although some fans may be disappointed about this, we hope even more that a new solo album will be released soon, now that Wooyoung is back!

Junho

Junho made his solo debut in 2013 with the Japanese mini album "Kimi no Koe", for which he wrote, composed and produced all the songs himself! Since then, he has released more solo albums than any other member of the group, though only two more than Jun.K.

Kimi no Koe (Jap)released on 24.07.2013
Feel (Jap)released on 09.07.2014
So Good (Jap)released on 15.07.2015
One (Kor)released on 14.09.2015
One (Jap)released on 30.09.2015
DSMN (Jap)released on 20.07.2016
2017 S/S (Jap)released on 26.07.2017
Canvas (Jap)released on 11.09.2017
Winter Sleep (Jap)released on 25.01.2018
Souzou (Jap)released on 11.07.2018
Junho The Bestreleased on 05.12.2018
Tworeleased on 15.01.2019

Chansung

Chansung appeared in the series "Unstoppable High Kick" before his debut in 2008 and is still active as an actor today. He attracted attention with roles in "Whats Wrong with Secretary Kim," "My Holo Love" and most recently in "So I Married the Anti-fan," among others. Like Junho, Taecyeon and Nichkhun, he has already confirmed his next role and will be seen in a new series called "Show Window: Queen's House" later this year!
In 2018 he released his first and so far only Japanese solo album "Complex".

Bonus

Did you know that 2PM hasn't had an official leader since 2010? After Jaebom left the group, the members did not fill the position, making it one of the few K-Pop groups without a leader. Other groups without a leader include Blackpink and Oneus.

This might also interest you

2PM - Vol.7 [MUST] (Random Ver.) - Pre-Order
2PM - Vol.7 [MUST] (Random Ver.) - Pre-Order
2PM - Vol.7 [MUST] (Random Ver.) - Pre-Order
2PM - Vol.7 [MUST] (Random Ver.) - Pre-Order
2PM - Vol.7 [MUST] (Random Ver.) - Pre-Order

2PM - Vol.7 [MUST]

€25,99
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae
LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift Nolae

LEE JUNHO - 2024 SEASON'S GREETINGS (Holiday with LEE JUNHO) + JYP Shop Gift

€76,99
L'OFFICIEL HOMMES - S/S 2PM (Cover by Lee JunHo) Nolae Kpop
L'OFFICIEL HOMMES - S/S 2PM (Cover by Lee JunHo) Nolae Kpop
L'OFFICIEL HOMMES - S/S 2PM (Cover by Lee JunHo) Nolae Kpop
L'OFFICIEL HOMMES - S/S 2PM (Cover by Lee JunHo) Nolae Kpop

L'OFFICIEL HOMMES - S/S 2PM (Cover by Lee JunHo)

€29,99

5% DISCOUNT ON NEWSLETTER REGISTRATION

The latest products, promotions and news. Straight to your inbox.

Section
Drop element here

Tags:

1 comment

  • eraudyApr 22, 2022

    Junho acteur dans Koke of love 2018 role principale, Rain or shine 2017 role principale ( a voir absolument a aussi comme titre just between lovers celon les plateforme) , confession 2019, the red sleeve 2021 role principale ,…

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published