SO JUNG HWAN
the former child performer who quietly grew into the six-foot punctuation mark at the end of the lineup. This page keeps the official facts separate from fandom shorthand and updates leadership to the 2026 NEW WAV era.
Profile
- Stage name
- SO JUNG HWAN
- Born
- February 18, 2005
- Nationality
- South Korean · Iksan
- Group
- TREASURE
- Role
- Vocalist, dancer and maknae
- Debut
- August 7, 2020
- Agency
- YG Entertainment
- Current era
- NEW WAV (2026)
Early life and training
Before YG, JUNG HWAN worked as a child model and performed with a taekwondo demonstration team. He competed on YG Treasure Box and debuted as the youngest member, meaning much of his adolescence happened under the camera.
The common mistake is to compress every TREASURE member into “survival-show trainee.” The show was the public gate, not the entire education. Training length, starting skill and the reason each member stayed visible were different. For SO JUNG HWAN, the useful thread is continuity: the qualities visible before debut are still present, but they now carry the weight of six years onstage.
Career
Pre-debut · earning the lineup
YG Treasure Box asked trainees to compete across vocals, rap, dance and audience response. The final plan changed repeatedly—from separate TREASURE and MAGNUM units, to TREASURE 13, to one twelve-member group—but SO JUNG HWAN remained part of the project that finally debuted.
2020–2021 · The First Step
TREASURE debuted with “BOY” on August 7, 2020 and released the First Step series at unusually fast speed. These stages established SO JUNG HWAN’s base identity before the group had enough songs to specialize.
2022–2023 · ten-member reboot
After MASHIHO and BANG YE DAM left in November 2022, the group reorganized as ten. REBOOT and its units gave the remaining members more space, more credits and more responsibility. JUNG HWAN joined T5 for “MOVE,” where mature choreography forced viewers to update the mental image they had kept from debut. By NEW WAV he is still the maknae, but not a child-shaped footnote to older members.
2024–2026 · chapter two
Singles, PLEASURE and LOVE PULSE led into NEW WAV, the 2026 all-hip-hop mini album. Read the connected review of “IF I” for the current ten-member sound, formation work and rollout tea.
Skills and stage identity
His physical control comes from a background that predates idol training. He is strong, clean and increasingly confident as a vocalist. The useful story is development: each era gives him more authority instead of treating “maknae” as a permanent skill level.
What to listen for
Find the moment the arrangement gives SO JUNG HWAN room rather than counting lines. In a ten-member song, impact matters more than raw seconds. Tone, timing and what happens immediately after the part tell you why it was placed there.
What to watch
Watch transitions and reaction shots, not only center time. TREASURE’s large formations depend on members remaining active when the camera is technically pointed elsewhere. SO JUNG HWAN’s value often becomes clearest in that connective work.
Era map
| Era | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| The First Step | Debut identity and the original twelve-member scale. |
| “JIKJIN” / “DARARI” | The split between YG-force performance and TREASURE’s softer viral side. |
| REBOOT | Ten-member redefinition, larger individual roles and unit work. |
| PLEASURE / LOVE PULSE | Fan-facing warmth, self-production and the road into chapter two. |
| NEW WAV | All-hip-hop framing, current leadership and the English title track “IF I”. |
Fandom file
Fans call him Super King Cow Baby, a nickname that captures the whole contradiction: youngest member, huge frame, surprisingly calm presence, and a group that will never stop treating him like the baby anyway.
The RaeRae take
SO JUNG HWAN matters because the former child performer who quietly grew into the six-foot punctuation mark at the end of the lineup. The page is not here to hand out a bias rating or reduce a person to three trivia bullets. The point is to show what changes when this member enters the song, the formation or the room.
The next step is evidence: every new TREASURE MV review will link back here with the exact vocal, rap, dance, writing or performance moment that belongs to SO JUNG HWAN. Profiles should get deeper as the review library grows, not sit untouched after publication.
Official links
TREASURE does not list a separate verified public YouTube, Instagram and X account for every member on its official YG profile. These are the verified channels that officially publish SO JUNG HWAN’s work; fan accounts are intentionally excluded.