Baekho (singer)

Kang Dong-ho (Korean: 강동호; Hanja: 姜東昊; born July 21, 1995), better known by the stage name Baekho (Korean: 백호; Hanja: 白虎), is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He debuted in 2012 as the main vocalist of South Korean boy band NU’EST. He is also known for competing in the 2017 series Produce 101 Season 2.

Baekho
Baekho in May 2018
Born	Kang Dong-ho July 21, 1995[1] Jeju Province, South Korea
Education	Hanyang University Institute for Future Talents [2]
Alma mater	Paekche Institute of the Arts[3]
Occupation	Singer-songwriter actor
Musical career
Genres	K-pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2012–present
Labels	Pledis
Associated acts	NU'EST NU'EST W
Korean name
Hangul	강동호
Hanja	姜東昊
Revised Romanization	Gang Dong-ho
McCune–Reischauer	Kang Tongho
Stage name
Hangul	백호
Hanja	白虎
Revised Romanization	Baek-ho
McCune–Reischauer	Paekho

Career

Pre-debut

Baekho became a Pledis Entertainment trainee after being scouted by the company in 2010. He became more well known after he appeared in After School's music video for the single "Play Ur Love". In 2011, he and bandmate JR appeared on the KBS talk show Hello Counselor and were revealed by After School's Kahi as two of the members of NU'EST.[4]

Prior to debuting, Baekho made appearances in labelmates' music releases as a member of Pledis Boys.[5] He was a backup dancer for After School Blue's "Wonder Boy", and featured in Pledis Entertainment's Christmas release "Love Letter".[6]

2012–present: NU'EST and solo ventures

On March 15, 2012, Baekho debuted as a main vocalist of NU'EST.[7] His stage name was chosen by labelmate Uee, because of his resemblance to Slam Dunk character Hanamichi Sakuragi (known as "Kang Baek-ho" in the Korean version). In 2013, Baekho appeared in the television drama Jeon Woo-chi.[8]

In early 2014, he was diagnosed with vocal fold nodules. However, he decided to continue performing with NU’EST while receiving treatment. Pledis Entertainment announced in November that he would be taking a temporary hiatus from all group activities. His doctors advised that he completely rest his voice and underwent vocal cord surgery.[9] In February 2016, it was reported that he had completely recovered.[10]

In 2017, Baekho participated as a contestant on Produce 101 Season 2 under his real name for a chance to debut in Wanna One.[11][12][13] After performing a cover of BTS's "Boy in Luv" on the show, he gained the nickname of 'sexy bandit' from online commenters.[14] In the position-based challenge, he covered Blackpink's "Playing with Fire", and the view count of his fancam reached one million views within three days.[15] He was also noted by commenters for his stable voice in the music removed (MR) performance.[16] After he was eliminated in the final episode, he and the remaining NU'EST members began promoting as the sub-group NU'EST W from 2017 to 2018.[17]

Baekho's struggles with weight and exercise earned him a reputation of being a "fit idol."[18][19] After a fan sent a photo of him in a gym to Men's Health Korea, the editorial team invited him to be the cover of the magazine's November 2018 issue.[18] He once again appeared in Men's Health Korea for its January 2020 issue.[20]

In September 2020, he became the hair care advertising model for brand The Wood of J One Cosmetic.[21]

Personal life

On March 10, 2020, Baekho, together with NU'EST members JR, Minhyun, and Ren, enrolled at Hanyang University Institute for Future Talents as freshman in Practical Music Course.[22]

Sexual harassment allegations

In June 2017, a former acquaintance alleged anonymously online that in 2009, when she and Baekho were both in middle school, she had been molested by him on the bus on their way home from cram school.[23] She pressed charges against Baekho later that month, while Pledis denied the allegations and filed a counter suit in response.[24] Pledis also filed a complaint against the accuser for violating the laws on information communication network and information protection.[25] The police forwarded the case to prosecutors in September 2017.[26] On April 16, 2018, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office cleared Baekho of the sexual assault charges, and have since dismissed the case.[25] Baekho was ultimately found not guilty and was acquitted of all charges.[27] The case was also raised to the Korea Communications Commission over the fairness of how the allegations were reported.[28]

Mnet vote manipulation investigation

On November 18, 2020, the Seoul High Court disclosed as part of the ongoing Mnet vote manipulation investigation that Baekho (under his real name Kang Dong-ho) was a victim of voting manipulation when he participated on Produce 101 Season 2.[29] According to the documents the Court released, the manipulation of Baekho's ranking only happened in the final episode of the season, which determined who would debut in the project group Wanna One. It was revealed that Baekho's final rank was swapped with another trainee's (who was the actual 13th place) by the show's producers, thus preventing him from being a member of the group.[30]

Although both of the show's producers Kim Yong-bum and Ahn Joon-young alleged that Baekho requested to be removed from the final lineup of his own volition,[31][32] Pledis Entertainment denied the allegations.[33] CJ ENM (Mnet's parent company) released a statement regarding the progress of negotiations to financially compensate all the trainees who were affected by voting manipulation across all the Produce 101 programs, including Baekho.[34] However, Pledis stated that they had not been contacted by CJ ENM regarding the compensation as of November 18, 2020.[35]

On November 20 2020, it was revealed that Baekho had been suffering from anxiety disorder during the filming of Produce 101 Season 2, and that Ahn and the Mnet staff were aware of Baekho's diagnosis.[36] Furthermore, Ahn alleged that after speaking to Baekho in May 2017 in regards to his mental health and his involvement in the show, he interpreted Baekho's responses to mean that Baekho wanted to be eliminated from the competition.[37] However, the Court re-affirmed that Baekho was not personally involved in the decision to have his rank manipulated, and ruled him as a victim of unfair elimination through vote manipulation.[38]

Discography

Songwriting credits

Year	Album	Artist	Song	Lyrics		Music
				Credited	With	Credited	With
2015	Good Life	Bumzu	"I Need You" (YA해)[39]	Yes	Bumzu	No	N/A
2016	Q is	NU'EST	"Lost & Found" (나의 천국 lit. My Heaven[40])	Yes	JR	Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae Lee Ki-young
			"VVith" (사실 말야 lit. In Fact[40])	Yes	Bumzu Minhyun JR	Yes	Bumzu
	Canvas		"R.L.T.L (Real Love True Love) (One Morning)"	Yes		No	N/A
			"Love Paint (Every Afternoon)"	Yes	Minhyun JR Ren Aron Bumzu	No	N/A
			"Look (A Starlight Night)"	Yes	Bumzu Minhyun JR	No	N/A
2017	W, Here	NU'EST W	"My Beautiful" (하루만)	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu
			"Where You At"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Royal Dive
		Aron	"Good Love"	Yes	Aron Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Curtis F
2018	To. Day	Fromis 9	"DKDK" (두근두근)[lower-alpha 1]	Yes	Baekgom	No	N/A
	Who, You	NU'EST W	"Signal"	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Royal Dive
			"Dejavu"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu
			"Polaris" (북극성)	Yes		Yes	Bumzu
			"Ylenol"	Yes		No	N/A
			"Gravity & Moon" (중력달)	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Royal Dive
			"Shadow"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae (Prismfilter)
	Produce 48 – Final[lower-alpha 2]	Produce 48 contestants[lower-alpha 2]	"We Together" (앞으로 잘 부탁해)[lower-alpha 1]	Yes	Baekgom	No	N/A
	Non-album single	NU'EST W	"I Don't Care (with Spoonz)"	Yes	JR Ren Aron	Yes	N/A
	Wake, N		"L.I.E"	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu
			"Help Me"	Yes		Yes
		Aron	"Wi-Fi"	Yes	Aron Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Daehan
		Ren	"You & I" (나, 너에게)	No	N/A	Yes	Ren Bumzu Park Gi-tae
		Baekho	"Feels"	Yes	Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae
2019	Non-album single	NU'EST	"A Song For You" (노래 제목)	Yes	Minhyun JR Ren Aron	No	N/A
	Happily Ever After		"Segno"	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae
			"Bet Bet"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Royal Dive
			"Bass"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu
			"Talk About Love"	Yes		Yes
			"Different"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae
			"Fine"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu
	The Table		"Call Me Back"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae Aaron Fresh Jo Michael (Singing Beetle)
			"Love Me"	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae
			"One Two Three"	Yes	Minhyun JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Anchor
			"Trust Me"	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu
			"Stay Up All Night" (밤새)	Yes		Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae
			"If We" (우리가 사랑했다면)	Yes	Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu
2020	Non-album single	NU'EST	"Let's Love (with Spoonz)"[42]	Yes	Minhyun JR Ren Aron Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Park Gi-tae BuildingOwner
	The Nocturne		"I'm in Trouble"	Yes	Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu
			"Firework"	Yes	JR Bumzu doubletenboy	Yes	Bumzu Nmore (Prismfilter)
			"Back To Me"(평행우주)	Yes	서지음 Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Anchor (Prismfilter)
			"꼭"(Must)	Yes	Ren Bumzu	Yes	Ren Bumzu
			"반딧별"(Shooting Star)	Yes	JR Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Anchor (Prismfilter) Bir$day (Prismfilter)
	Non-album single		"Best Summer (with Spoonz)"	Yes	Bumzu	Yes	Bumzu Ohway! (Prismfilter) Jozu (Prismfilter)

Soundtrack Appearances

Year	Title	Peak chart positions	Album	Note
		KOR (Gaon)[43]
2018	Beautiful Night (BEAST cover)	-	Masked Singer 160th (Live Version)	As masked contestant David Beckham
	I Remember (Boohwal cover)	-
2019	That Day, We	TBA	The Crowned Clown Pt.2 (Original Television Soundtrack)

Other appearances

Year	Artist	Title	Peak chart positions	Album	Note
			KOR (Gaon)[43]
2010	After School	Someone Is You	-	Happy Pledis 1st Album	Boys Choir including JR, Ren, Baekho
2011	Son Dam-bi & After School	LOVE LETTER	-	Happy Pledis 2nd Album	Feat. Ara, Hyelim, Minhyun, Baekho
2017	Knock	열어줘(Open Up)	10[44]	35 Boys 5 Concepts	As the produce 101 contestants
	Produce 101 Last 20 Contestants	Super Hot	19[45]	Produce 101 – Final
		Always	17[45]
2019	Yun Min Soo, Cheetah, Baekho	Bastard	-	The Call 2 Project, No.5	As part of Yun Min Soo family on The Call 2
	Yun Min Soo, Cheetah, Baekho, Song Ga In	Don't Worry	-	The Call 2 Project Final

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Network	Notes
2013	Jeon Woo-chi	KBS	with Ren
2017	Produce 101 Season 2	Mnet	Contestant[46]
2018	King of Mask Singer	MBC	Eps. 159-160[47][48]
	Battle Trip	KBS	Eps. 108-109 (with JR)[49]
2019	Law of the Jungle	SBS	Eps. 353-357[50]
	The Call	tvN	Final Lineup[51]
	Let's Go, Man Soo Ro	KBS2	Regular Cast[52]

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
2019	17th KBS Entertainment Awards	Hot Issue Entertainer Award	Let's Go, Man Soo Ro	Won	[53][54]
		Best Challenge Award (with Let's Go, Man Soo Ro ensemble)		Won	[55]

Concert/Tour/Fan Meeting

Year	Concert/Tour/Fan Meeting	Date/Venue	Notes
2018	Happy BAEKHO Day Busking Live	July 21/Olympic Park88 Waterside Stage	Special Busking Live[56]
2019	BAEKHO's Birthday Talk Live	July 18/Olympic Park 88 Waterside Stage	Special guerilla fan meeting[57]
2020	2020 Baekho Mini Concert in Macau 'BAEKHO-liday'	January 11/ Broadway Theatre	[58][59]
	2020 Baekho Mini Concert in Bangkok 'BAEKHO-liday'	TBA/ MCC Hall, The Mall Bangkapi	Postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic[60]

Notes

1. Credited as Bbaekkom (빼꼼).
2. "We Together" was later re-recorded by the winning contestants of Produce 48, Iz*One, on their extended play Color*Iz.[41]

References

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