Jung Il-hoon, known as Ilhoon, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He was the main rapper of the South Korean boy band BtoB. He is well known for his collaborations with artists such as Hyuna and G.NA and for being an assistant MC on the variety show Weekly Idol.
He was born on 4 October 1994 in Samseong-dong, Seoul, South Korea. He is currently 26 years old. He is the younger brother of singer Joo. While he may be a talented personality, recently, he has been facing a legal problem.
Jung Il-hoon Sentenced 2 Years In Prison For The Use Of Marijuana
The singer Jung Il-hoon was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 133 million won ($119,639) on 10 June 2021 for purchasing and using marijuana on 161 occasions, through three years starting from July 2016 up till January 2019.
Ilhoon was immediately taken into custody after the ruling was announced. He also had a group of seven accomplices with him, who were all sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1.5 to 2 years.
Earlier, in the court hearing prior to this, the prosecutions demanded a four-year prison sentence for Jung, along with the 133 million forfeiture. However, after this, Jung admitted to the charges and made a mercy plea, which led to a shorter sentence. The rapper had also left the boy band BtoB back in December 2020, after the news of his drug use came out.
Last December, Korean channel Channel A reported that the police investigated Ilhoon for marijuana use, and the drug was detected in his hair. It said that to avoid detection, Ilhoon used cryptocurrency to buy marijuana. He deposited cash in an account of an acquaintance who converted it to cryptocurrency to buy marijuana.
Ilhoon had postponed his mandatory military service, which was supposed to be carried out in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the rapper recently served in the military during the year 2020.
When Ilhoon’s drug use allegations came to light, he was called up for trial in court on 22 April. According to the prosecution, Jung Ilhoon conspired with the other defendants from 6 July 2016 to 9 January 2019, spending over 130 million won ($116,400) for drugs and smoking a total of 826g marijuana 161 times.
Ilhoon admitted to his charges, “I’m sincerely reflecting on my mistakes. I’m really sorry,” the rapper said. The legal counsel noted, “The defendant is reflecting deeply on his actions. He was fearful as it was the first trial and investigation of his life. He worked in the entertainment industry at such a young age and he tried to relieve the stress in the wrong way.”
Net Worth And Career Of Jung Il-hoon
With his endeavor throughout the years in the music industry, Jung Il-hoon has earned lots of fame and wealth in his name. Though his net worth is still in review, he may have accumulated millions of dollars to his name through his works in his professional career.
During G.NA’s debut promotion in 2010, Jung filled in some of Yong Junhyung’s parts during G.NA’s performance on a music show for the song I’ll Back Off So You Can Live Better. His debut as an actor was in 2011 through the JTBC sitcom I Live in Cheongdam Dong.
Jung debuted as the main rapper of the boy band BtoB in 2012 with the group’s official debut on Mnet’s M! Countdown on 21 March 2021. The band BtoB became quite prominent in the Korean music industry, earning them over $45,000 per appearance in an event. Ilhoon also became a special MC along with Bomi from Apink from 2012 until the 206th episode. In 2015, he starred in the web drama, Webtoon Hero: Tundra Show as the lead actor, portraying Kim Sung-min.
Jung Il-hoon with other BTOB members (©: allkpop)
Ilhoon as a singer has been featured in several songs, including G.NA’s Oops!, 2YOON’s Nightmare, HyunA’s Roll Deep, Samuel’s ONE, Yoo Sung Eun’s Hug me, as well as FT.Island’s Lee Hongki’s solo song COOKIES. He also joined Unpretty Rapster 3, the beauty shows The Cushion, and co-hosted Weekly Idol from 2012-1016. As a solo artist, he released his solo debut with She’s Gone MV and his solo debut album titled Big Wave in 2018. He has also collaborated in several songs, including My Love By My Side with Heo Ga-Yoon and Baesisi with Jisook.
On 31 December 2020, Cube Entertainment announced his departure from BtoB after being investigated by the police for marijuana usage. Ilhoon left the band because he felt responsible for breaking the trust of his fans, and still, the fans were devastated to see a band member left, and they reacted to the news on the internet with several posts.
One fan wrote: “BTOB will never be the same without Jung Ilhoon.” While another one said: “BTOB songs will be different without Ilhoon’s voice in it.” Many members of the BTOB fandom have pledged to continue supporting him. “I will never let go of your hands and I will continue to support you no matter what happens. You will always and forever be our BTOB’S JUNG ILHOON”, said one fan. Another Twitter user said: “I respect you Ilhoon… Respect your decision. You were thinking about your BTOB brother in making this decision right?”
With this much love and support from his fans, it may not be a surprise if he decided to return to the band after serving his time in prison, reflecting on his action.
Does Jung Il-hoon Have A Girlfriend?
While Jung Il-hoon may be a prominent personality in the industry, he has not had any dating or relationship history to date. However, it’s not that he doesn’t want to date anyone.
Ilhoon once revealed his taste or ideal type of woman he wants, saying that she should have “long eyelashes, big eyes, s line figure, slender body, it doesn’t matter if she is tall or short, has white skin, has brown colored pupils, it would be good if she has short bob hair.”
Considering the statements, many girls may be thinking of giving a strong impression if she ever met Ilhoon. Moreover, kfanatics.com has even released some pros and cons for the girls out there who are considering date Ilhoon. The pros listed as, he would show “you the original version of Gwiyomi,” give out lots of gifts from Gucci, and he has a perfect sense of things, has an outstanding ethic, and cares about image. Meanwhile, the con in dating him is that “You might not understand some words when you quarrel as he talks fast being a rapper himself.”
Ilhoon is also quite the fun guy. He once went to BTOB’s official Twitter account to reveal fellow member Hyunsik’s girlfriend. In August of 2013, he first tweeted, “Heol BTOB Hyunsik’s girlfriend” and followed up, “that’s me,” attaching a photo of his cross-dressing and wearing a wig.