Suho is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the leader and lead singer of one of the biggest boybands, Exo. The Exo-Ls (Exo fandom) lovingly call him ‘Bunny’.
Wiki/Biography
Suho was born ‘Kim Jun-Myeon’ on Wednesday, May 22, 1991 (age 32; as of 2022) in Seoul, South Korea. His zodiac sign is Gemini.
Suho in his childhood
He was educated at Seoul Yunjung Elementary School, Yunjung Middle School, Whimoon Middle School, Whimoon High School, Seoul, and Gaepo High School, Seoul.
Suho as a child
Suho as a kid
A childhood picture of Suho
He studied acting at the Korea National University of Arts in 2009 but dropped out in 2011. He did his bachelor’s from the Department of Culture and Arts in Business Administration at Kyung Hee Cyber University, Seoul. He did his master’s degree at the cultural management department of Inha University, Icheon, South Korea. He also attended Kyung Hee University, Seoul.
Physical appearance
- Height: 5’7″
- Weight: 58 kgs
- Hair color: Black
- Eye color: Black (dyed copper, golden blonde, red, silver, light brown, light blonde, and more)
Family & Ethnicity
Suho was born into a Buddhist family and also practices Buddhism.
Parents & Siblings
Suho’s father’s name is Kim Young-ha, who is a professor in the Department of IT Finance Management at Soonchunhyang University, Seoul, and also a politician. Her father is also a former director of the Korea Institute of Health and Welfare.
Suho’s Father
His mother’s name is Cho Tae-Ryeon. He has an older brother named Kim Dong-kyu.
Suho with her brother
Relations, Spouse & Kids
Suho (Kim Jun-myeon) as of 2022 is not known to be dating anyone.
Career
Agency: SM Entertainment
As a member of Exo
At the age of 16, he joined SM Entertainment as a trainee through company auditions after being scouted by a casting director from SM Entertainment. Suho was the first member of Exo to join SM Entertainment. Suho trained in SM for six and a half years, and eventually became the tenth member of Exo. Initially, Exo (a group of twelve members at the time) was also divided into two subgroups, Exo-K and Exo-M, the first of which was responsible for promoting their albums in South Korea, and the second in China. Suho was part of Exo-K. Exo (both K&M) debuted the single “What Is Love” on January 30, 2012; followed by the EP “Mama.” The group made its stage debut with the song ‘Mama’ on April 8, 2012.
Exo on the covers of Mama (2012)
The group released their first studio album “XOXO” in 2013.
The cover of XOXO (2013)
The album’s song ‘Growl’ was an instant hit in South Korea, Japan, and China.
The group continued to promote themselves as Exo-K and Exo-M until three of its members- Luhan, Kris and Tao left the group due to issues with SM Entertainment, leaving the group as a nine-member group. . The group has many successful albums such as XOXO (2013), Overdose (2014), Exodus (2015), Ex’Act (2016), The War (2017), Don’t Mess Up My Tempo (2018), Obsession (2019) and Countdown (2020). The group also has many hit songs to their name, Growl, Overdose, Call Me Baby, Monster, Lotto, Ko Ko Bop, Power, Tempo, Love Shot, and Obsession. In 2015, Exo made its Japanese debut with the single “Love Me Right Romantic Universe”. The group has Japanese singles like Coming Over, Electric Kiss, Drop That, TacTix, Run This, and Birds to their name.
Solo career
Suho made a cameo as an extra in the 2007 movie “Attack On The Pin-Up Boys.” In 2013, he voiced the character ‘Bernard’ in the Korean dub of the animated movie “Saving Santa.” He made his acting debut with the movie “One Way Trip” (2016) under the name ‘Sang-woo.’
Suho on the cover of One Way Trip (2016)
He also had lead roles in the films Middle School Girl A (2018) and The Present (2019). Suho made guest appearances in K-dramas, To The Beautiful You (2012), and Prime Minister & I (2014). He made his acting debut with the web K-drama ‘Exo Next Door’ (2015) as ‘Suho’ (the fictionalized version of himself).
Exo on the cover of Next Door (2015)
The Univers’s Star (2017), Rich Man (2018) and How Are You Bread (2020) are some of his popular K-dramas. Exo’s Suho and Xiumin were featured in the documentary “Korea From Above” (2017) in which they narrated the entire documentary about South Korea. He also hosted the SBS show Inkigayo. He also did theatre. In 2015, he made his theater debut with the play “School Oz” in which he played the lead role. He also played the lead roles in the plays The Last Kiss (2017) and The Man Who Laughs (2018 and 2020). He launches his first solo EP “Self-Portrait” in 2020.
Self Portrait (2020)
Awards, Achievements, and Honors
As a member of Exo
- BreakTudo Award for K-Pop Boy Group in 2019
- Korea Tourism Star (Government of South Korea) in 2019 – World Record
- Guinness for most Daesang (“Grand Prix”) awards won at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2018
- 2017 Prime Minister’s Commendation (Government of South Korea)
Exo receiving Prime Minister’s Commendation
- 2014 Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Commendation (Government of South Korea)
- World Music Awards for the World’s Best-Selling Korean Artists of 2014
- MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Korean Act in 2013
Gaon Chart Music Awards
- Album of the Year (Daesang -1st Quater) for ‘Exodus’ in 2016
Exo at the Gaon Chart Music Awards
- Album of the Year (Daesang- 2nd quarter) for ‘Overdose’ in 2015, ‘Love Me Right in 2016, ‘Ex’ in 2017
- Album of the Year (Daesang- 3rd quarter) for ‘XOXO’ in 2014, ‘Lotto’ in 2017
- Album of the Year (Daesang- 3rd quarter) for ‘Miracles in December’ in 2014, ‘Sing for You’ in 2016, ‘Don’t
- Mess Up My Tempo’ in 2018 and ‘Obsession’ in 2020
Golden Disc Awards
- Newcomer Awards (Exo-K) in 2013
Exo at Golden Disc Awards
- Disc Daesang for the albums ‘XOXO’ in 2014, ‘Overdose’ in 2014, ‘Exodus’ in 2016 & ‘Ex’Acť in 2017
- Disc Bonsang for the albums ‘XOXO’ in 2014, ‘Overdose’ in 2014, ‘Exodus’ in 2016, ‘Ex’Act’ in 2017,
‘The War’ in 2018 & ‘Don’t Mess Up My Tempo’ in 2019
Melon Music Awards
- Song of the Year (Daesang) for “Growl” in 2014
Exo at melon Music Awards
- Album of the Year (Daesang) for “Exodus” in 2015
- Artist of the Year (Daesang) in 2016 and 2017
Mnet Asian Music Awards
- Best New Asian Artist in 2012
- Daesang Artist of the Year 2014
- Album of the Year Daesang for ‘XOXO’ in 2013, ‘Overdose’ in 2014, ‘Exodus’ in 2015, ‘Ex-‘Act in 2016, ‘War’ in 2017
- Best Male Group in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016
Seoul Music Awards
- 2013 New Artist Award
Exo at Seoul Music Awards
- Bongsang in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
- Daesang in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017
Japan Gold Disc Awards
- New Artists of the Year (Asian) in 2016
- Top 3 new artists in 2016
The Best Chinese Music Awards
- Best Overseas Group 2016
- Best Popular Group Overseas 2016
- Best group in 2013
SBS Gayo Daejeon
- The ten best artists in 2014
- Best Male Group 2014
- Best Album for ‘Overdose’ in 2014
Note: In addition to the awards mentioned above, Exo has received other awards and nominations.
Awards and Accomplishments (As a solo artist)
- 7th Yegreen Musical Awards for Popularity (Male Actor) for ‘The Laughing Man’ in 2019
- Asia Culture Award for Male Rookies for The Man Who Laughs 2019
- 13th DIMF PR DIMF Ambassador Award in 2019
Suho with his DIMF award
- JIMFF Awards for Discovery of the Year- Male Actor for ‘Middle School Girl A’ in 2019
- 4th Macao International Film Festival & Awards – Mark of Recognition in 2019
Signature
Suho’s Autograph
Controversy
In 2018, Suho got into trouble when he commented, “That’s weird. People will think I’m mentally ill during Sehun’s Instagram live session when he asked Suho to pose with him for the session”. After the incident, some of the fans took to their Twitter and YouTube accounts and expressed their dismay that he should have been careful with his words and hurt the fans who are suffering from mental illness. They also trend the hashtag #엑소_수호_비하발언_사과해, which translates to ‘Exo’s Suho apologies for your discriminatory comments.
Favorites
- Painter: Vincent van Gogh
- Travel Destinations: Paris, Italy
Facts and Anecdotes
- He likes to travel, watch Netflix, and play basketball and golf.
- Suho is also a lyricist and writes under the name ‘SH2O.’
- He earned the title of ‘Type to get a meet-the-parents free pass’ which means, when you first meet the parents of your future wife, seeing you, they immediately call you ‘Our son-in-law’ In an interview, he said he got this title with Jin and Shinee’s Minho from BTS and liked the title the most.
- During his school days, he was nicknamed ‘Eom-chin-ah’ which translates to ‘mother’s friend’s son. The term is a Korean word used for a male student who successfully completes his studies and is the object of envy among the people. During his school years, Suho came in as one of the top 10 students in his class and was very good at his studies. He liked Korean literature and language at school.
Suho during his school days
- Once, his junior-senior dance club held a dance competition at Olympic Park in Seoul; he was an audience. He was spotted by an SM staff who recommended him to join their company. When he reached the third year of high school, he gave auditions for SM and was selected.
- In 2015, he appeared in the series “Fluttering India/Exciting India” (2015) as himself. The show featured some of the biggest K-pop stars who turned into reporters and explored various locations in Mumbai. The show aired on KBS Channel.
Suho in Fluttering India 2015
- Exo was listed in Forbes Korea’s Celebrity Power from 2014 to 2019.
- His Instagram profile mentions ‘Su Hwak Haeng’, which means ‘guaranteed happiness that comes from small/trivial things. Suho believes in Su Hwak Haeng’s idea.
- In an interview, Suho revealed that he only drinks five times a year.
- His album ‘Self-Portrait’ presents five portraits of him. Suho also drew a self-portrait which became trending on Twitter.
Self Portrait by Suho
Suho’s instagram post about his self portraits
- Once he got the names of all seven members of Exo and Exo-L inked on his back. He once also got Exo inked on the side of his neck. Interestingly, both tattoos were temporary.
Suho’s temporary tattoo on his back
Suho’s temporary tattoo on his neck
- He can play guitar!
Suho playing guitar
- Suho is a nonvegetarian and loves to eat fish.
Suho posted about his fish meal on Instagram
- He has been on the covers of many magazines like Allure.
Suho on the cover of Allure magazine
- On his Instagram account, he once posted about Hope Campaign and asked his fans to support it too.
Suho’s Instagram post about the UNICEF’s Hope Campaign
- He loves to visit many museums and has visited Le Louvre in Paris multiple times.
Suho clicked outside Le Lovre, Paris
- His first post on Instagram was on December 4 2018 where he posted a picture of a diamond with the caption “STAND BY.”
Suho’s first Instagram post
- In 2021, there was news floating around about the rumored marriage of Suho. A netizen reported on a forum at the end of October that an EXO member was set to marry in February 2022. They specified that the member had “SH” as their initials but dropped no other hints. There were only two members with the initials “SH”, Suho (수호, Kim Jun-myeon, 김준면) and Sehun (Oh Se-hun, 오세훈). However, Suho has not confirmed anything yet.
- Suho’s Instagram account is “kimjuncotton,” a play on the last syllable of his real name (Kim Jun Myeon) sounding like “cotton” in Korean.
- In May 2021, on the account of Suho’s birthday, he was trending worldwide. Shortly after midnight KST that day, the hashtag #KIMJUNCOTTONDAY soared to No. 1 on the list of trending topics worldwide on Twitter. Other worldwide trending topics for his birthday include his name Junmyeon and #토확행_준면아생일축하해. The Korean hashtag wishes him a happy birthday and appears to be a play on words with the first syllable from “bunny” (토끼 — a common nickname for Suho) and the popular slang phrase “small but certain happiness” (소확행).
Twitter trends for Suho’s birthday
- Suho officially enlists in the military on May 14 2020 and became a trending topic on Twitter. He said in a message,
“Hello to our EXO-Ls. This is Suho. I wanted to tell something to everyone today so I made this post. I’ll be doing my mandatory military service soon on May 14. I think I will really miss our EXO-Ls during that time. Hoping EXO-Ls who think of me and love me every day to always be healthy.
“Thank you very much and I love you. We are one. EXO, Let’s Love.”
Suho’s message to his fans on the app Lysn
- In 2019, Suho became an Ambassador For the 7th Animal Film Festival In Suncheonman.
Suho as an ambassador for 7th Animal Film Festivan in Suncheonman
Suho is the third member of Exo to be discharged from the military. Members Xiumin and D.O returned in December 2020 and January 2021, respectively. On February 14, 2022, Suho shared an emotional handwritten letter to his fans after being discharged from the military. He wrote,
“Hello, everyone. This is EXO’s leader Suho, Kim Junmyeon. As of today, February 14, 2022, I have finally been discharged! First, I want to say before anything else that I missed EXO-L the most. While I spent some time away from all of you during my service, thanks to you, it was a meaningful time that allowed me to think even more of EXO-L. For one year and nine months, I missed all of you and the EXO members so much that I even once dreamed that we held a concert… hehe. ”
He added,
“But like I once said, ‘If even the waiting is joyful, then it’s love’. I also think that maybe because we had this time, the waiting may have made our feelings grow even deeper. Still, from now on, let’s not be apart ever again! If I could hug you, I would hug you tight and not let you go. Starting from this moment right now, I’m preparing a gift for our EXO-L. I hope that it will be a gift that makes you feel it was worth it to wait for me. Since we haven’t been able to see each other for a long time, let’s promise to see each other even more often from now on!”
Suho pens down an emotional letter for his fans after returning from the military services
- On Suho’s 2020 birthday (while he was in the military) many fans wrote him letters. One of the letters was written in Pinkvilla’s Dear Oppa series where an Indian girl, Ananya, thanked him “for existing.”
A fan mail for Suho’s birthday
- During his time in the military, Suho reveals that he sharpened his skills in English by reading, Holes, Louis Sachar’s beloved 1998 YA novel, which is popular among Koreans for honing their English. He also worked out, practiced guitar, and cooked.
- Suho dreams of opening a winery in Napa Valley since he has started drinking wine now.
