The Cutest Signatures of K-Pop Artists

5. Himchan 'B.A.P'

Kim Him Chan (Hangul: 김힘찬; born April 19, 1990), known mononymously as Himchan, is a South Korean rapper, dancer, singer and multi instrumentalist, best known for being a member of a South Korean boy band, B.A.P as well as being the face of the group .

B.A.P (Korean: 비에이피; an acronym for Best Absolute Perfect) is a six-member hip-hop South Korean boy band formed in 2012 under the management of TS Entertainment. The group consists of Bang Yong Guk, Kim Himchan, Daehyun, Youngjae, Jong Up, and Zelo. On January 26, 2012, B.A.P made their recording debut with the single "Warrior", followed by the release of their debut EP, Warrior in February 2012. Later in the year, B.A.P's performance on October 28 in Changwon, South Korea, was considered by the Grammy Awards to be one of the best moments of 2012.

 4. Heechul 'Super Junior'

Kim Hee-chul (Hangul: 김희철; Hanja: 金希澈) was born on 10 July 1983, mononymouly credited as Heechul. He is a South Korean singer, actor, and presenter. He is a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior and its subgroup, Super Junior-T. On 1 September 2011, Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service. He is serving as a public service worker for 23 months, after undergoing four weeks of basic training at the Nonsan military camp in Chungcheongnam-do Province

Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어; Syupeo Junieo) is a popular South Korean idol group. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak. Super Junior originally debuted with twelve members, consisting of leader Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kibum. Kyuhyun joined the group in 2006.

Known as the "Kings of the Hallyu Wave", Super Junior launched into international recognition following the release of their best-selling single "Sorry, Sorry" in 2009, the title song of their most critically successful album Sorry, Sorry and was the best-selling K-pop artist for three years in a row.

Over the years, they have been divided into smaller subgroups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting.
In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned fourteen music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, sixteen from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003. In 2012 they were nominated for "Best Asian Act" in MTV Europe Music Awards showing one more time their popularity around world.

In December 2009, Hankyung departed from the group after filing a lawsuit against their agency SM Entertainment. Hankyung subsequently won the lawsuit in December 2010, though his departure from Super Junior was not made official until September 27, 2011, when S.M. Entertainment finally released a statement to that effect. Heechul enlisted for his mandatory military service on September 1, 2011. Kangin was absent from the group for their fourth and fifth album promotions, but completed his service in April 2012, and rejoined the group for their sixth album in mid 2012, however, the absent three members are considered as part of the group regardless. Leeteuk enlisted for his mandatory military service on October 30, 2012. As of 2012, Super Junior has nine active members: Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun.

3. Park Bom '2NE1'

Park Bom (Korean: 박봄) (born March 24, 1984), is a South Korean idol singer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she eventually moved to the United States where she learned English. She is currently a member and main vocalist of girl-group 2NE1 which is signed to YG Entertainment.

Starting in 2006, Park recorded with labelmates Big Bang, Lexy, Masta Wu and starred with Lee Hyori in her CF, "Anystar" as a co-actress. Later in 2008, she starred as the lead actress in Kim Ji Eun's music video, "Tell Me Once More". In 2009, she debuted with 2NE1 as the main vocalist.

Up until now, Park has released two solo singles, namely "You and I" and "Don't Cry". "You and I" and "Don't Cry" reached number one on the Gaon Chart, the national music chart of Korea. "You and I" also won "Best Digital Single" the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2010.

2NE1 (Korean: 투애니원; pronounced To Anyone or Twenty One) is a four-member South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The band consists of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom. The name 2NE1 combines the phrases "21st century" and "new evolution" (NE).

First appearing in "Lollipop", a commercial campaign with Big Bang for LG Electronics, 2NE1's debut single "Fire" was released on May 6, 2009. Since then, the group has released two extended plays, 2NE1 and 2NE1 2nd Mini Album, and one studio album, To Anyone. Their first EP, 2NE1 spawned the number-one single "I Don't Care", which won them the "Song of the Year" award at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their follow-up singles, such as "Go Away", "Lonely" and "I Am The Best" were similarly successful, with "I Am the Best" winning 2NE1 their second "Song of the Year" award in 2011.

2NE1 officially debuted in Japan in September 2011 with a mini album titled NOLZA, which contained re-made versions of the Korean songs featured on the group's 2nd Mini Album. Since then, the group has released one studio album, Collection, and two physical singles in Japan. 2NE1 are set to debut in the United States in 2013, with work on the group's debut English studio album beginning in 2010 with producer will.i.am. In 2012, The New York Times named 2NE1's performance at the Prudential Center in New Jersey as one of the "Best Concerts of 2012". As of 2013, the band has 400 million video views on YouTube.

 4. Soohyun 'U-Kiss'

Shin Soohyun (Korean: 신수현, born March 11, 1989) is a South Korean idol singer, best known as the leader and main vocalist of seven-member boy band, U-KISS formed by NH Media in 2008. Bandmates include Kiseop, Eli, AJ, Hoon, Kevin and Dongho.

U-KISS (Korean: 유키스, Japanese: ユーキス) is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International idol Super Star. The group consists of Soohyun, Kiseop, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Hoon and AJ (the latter two joining the group in 2011). Their breakthrough hit was Man Man Ha Ni (2009) from their EP ContiUKiss. They released their first full-length album Only One on February 3, 2010. In September 2011, U-Kiss released their second full-length album, Neverland. They made their formal debut in Japan in 2011 with the release of the single "Tick Tack". The second single is entitled "Forbidden Love" while their first Japanese full-length album was A Shared Dream (2012). Since their debut, the group has released three full-length albums, seven extended plays and various singles. The group also participated in various TV reality shows and films.

5. Taeyeon 'SNSD'

Kim Tae-yeon (born March 9, 1989) is a South Korean idol singer, TV presenter, dancer, actress and promotional model. She is the main vocalist and leader of Korean girl group Girls' Generation.

In 2012, Taeyeon ranked #42 on 'The 23rd Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Faces'.

Girls' Generation (Korean: 소녀시대; Sonyuh Shidae) is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. They are also referred to as SoShi (소시) or SNSD, both abbreviated forms of the group's Korean name, and are known in Japan as Shoujo Jidai. The nine member group consists of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun.

The group gained attention at the beginning of their career with songs such as "Into the New World" and "Kissing You" but it was not until 2009 when they gained significant popularity with their hit single "Gee", which would be named as South Korea's "Song of the Decade". The group solidified their place in the Korean music industry with follow-up singles "Tell Me Your Wish", "Run Devil Run", and "Oh!" from late 2009 to early 2010. In 2011, after a series of activities in Japan, the group returned to the Korean music scene with "The Boys", which was released in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and for the first time, English. Till the end of 2012, the group has sold over 100,000 copies for each of their six Korean studio album releases, totaling over 4.4 million albums and 30 million digital singles along with their EPs, singles and releases in other languages. In 2010 alone, the group sold more than 11,730,000 albums and singles collectively. The group's immense popularity in their native South Korea has earned them titles "The Nation's Singers" and "The Nation's Girl Group". The Sisa Journal named the group as the most influential entertainers for the years 2011 and 2012, making them the first female idol group in history to make the list. They have also been listed as #1 on the Top Female Singer's list for 4 consecutive years in a row (sans 2nd half of 2011 at #2) on the Leespiar Popularity Survey in Korea. Asia Today placed the group at forty-four on the 50 Korean Power Leaders list in 2011. Forbes also revealed the group were most powerful entertainers in South Korea for the year of 2011.

The group began a foray into the Japanese music scene in late 2010 under Nayutawave Records, with Japanese remakes of their 2009 Korean hits "Genie" and "Gee". The group's debut Japanese album, Girls' Generation, released in June 2011, is currently the highest selling album in Japan by a Korean group in Oricon history. It was certified "Million" by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, which made them the second Korean artist to earn such an achievement in Japan since label mate BoA's "Best of Soul" in 2005. The group returned to the Japanese music scene in June 2012 with single "Paparazzi", followed by two other single albums, "Oh! / All My Love Is For You" and "Flower Power", concluded by their second full length Japanese album, Girls' Generation II ~Girls & Peace~.

In April 2012, the group formed Girls' Generation-TTS (known simply as "TaeTiSeo"), their first sub-unit composed of members Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. The subgroup's debut EP, Twinkle, peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest charting K-Pop album on the chart thus far.

In January 2013, the group came back to the Korean scene with the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) I Got a Boy, which immediately became a domestic and global hit, receiving an all-kill on Korean charts and debuting at #1 on Billboard "World Albums" chart. The release of this album was followed by a series of live performances. The group will also embark on their second Japan Arena Tour in Febrary, 2013

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