Seoul — Jungkook, a member of the wildly popular South Korean boy band BTS, has been named most popular K-pop star of 2020, according to Tumblr’s 2020 Top 100 K-pop Stars.
This is not the first time Jungkook has won this title. This is the third year in a row that he is in first place. The rapper and songwriter for BTS is the youngest member of the seven-member group, which was formed by Big Hit Entertainment in 2013.
The Tumblr list includes the other BTS members, who also made it to the top 7 — the same as last year. Jimin, V and Suga made it to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, while RM, Jin and J-Hope ranked 5th, 6th and 7th.
A 2019 survey by Gallup Korea named Jungkook as the third most-loved celebrity of the year in South Korea. He debuted on the list in 2016 at 20th and was ranked 17th in 2017 and 8th in 2018.
In 2018, Jungkook placed first for 10 weeks in a row for the magazine Hi China, under the most beloved celebrities list in China. Jungkook is also extremely popular on social media among fans.
In October 2018, he broke the record of most real-time viewers with his solo live broadcast in V Live history, with more than 3.7 million viewers worldwide. In December 2018, a video of him singing in the studio became the most retweeted tweet in South Korea that year. Various artistes have cited him as an influence and role model, such as singer Kim Dong Han and the duo Hyeongseop X Euiwoong.
Jungkook’s popularity has earned him the nickname “Sold Out King” as items that he is seen using often sell out quickly. These include shoes, Downy fabric softener, wine, novels— namely I Decided To Live As Me by Kim Soo Hyun, which became a best-seller in both Korea and Japan.
Korean media have also reported that Jungkook had created a “Modern Hanbok” fashion trend in the Korean entertainment industry when celebrities such as Jun Hyun Moo, Jang Do Yeon, Gong Hyo Jin, MC Oh Seung Hwan and The Return Of Superman’s Park Joo Ho began wearing clothing similar to that he was wearing in photographs.
Jungkook was 2019’s most-searched male K-pop idol on Google, according to its mid-year chart. /TISG