Who’s who in Big O!cean, the first K-pop group with deaf members

Music is meant to be felt — that’s the idea behind Big O!cean, the first K-pop group with deaf members! Managed by PARASTAR Entertainment, the group is credited with creating the S-Pop (sign language pop) genre, as their tracks are performed in Korean Sign Language (KSL), American Sign Language (ASL) and International Sign Language (IS).

The name of the group, which translates as “Big Translation”, was chosen for a reason: to convey possibilities of something good, since, as reported by the Kprofiles portal: “the ocean is a place where people feel calm and peaceful” and “Big O!cean hopes to one day spread hope and positive energy”.

Fans, known as Pado, were able to watch the group’s debut on April 20th of this year, a date chosen because it is National Day for Persons with Disabilities in South Korea. They debuted with “Glow,” a remake of “Hope,” a track by the group HOT, released in 1998. Watch:

With the debut, it became clear that the group is made up of three members, but who are they? RECREIO gathered the main information about Park Hyunjin, Lee Chanyeon and Kim Jiseok so you can figure out who’s who in Big O!cean.

Park Hyunjin

Lead vocalist of the group, Park Hyunjin was born on October 24, 1999, and began losing his hearing after a high fever when he was just two years old, according to the Kprofiles portal. As a result, Hyunjin He used hearing aids until he was 9 years old and, since then, he has been hearing through a cochlear implant, that is, an implanted electronic device that has the function of restoring hearing function.

He, who knows how to play the piano and has Beethoven as one of his idols, he did not always have his artistic side as his main guide, since he graduated in a completely different area to his current position in the spotlight: computer engineering, earning a degree from Daegu University, in South Korea, and wanted to pursue a career in cybersecurity.

Still, at some point, he was inspired by the singer Kim Jongwook, and decided to follow new paths, becoming a trainee. Before he could put his talent into practice, Hyunjin He worked in a café, in addition to always being engaged in the cause of raising awareness about hearing loss, creating diverse content about the subject on social media.

Lee Chanyeon

The oldest of the group, Lee Chanyeon occupies the position of main rapper. Just like Hyunjinhe also has a cochlear implant and lost his hearing after a fever, the difference is that this happened when he was a little older, since he was 11 years old.

He graduated from the Department of Speech Therapy and Auditory Rehabilitation at Woosong University in South Korea, and worked as a speech therapist at Korea University’s Anam Hospital — in fact, it was through this work that he decided to become an idol, since he once got to meet deaf actors. Troy Kotsur and Kim Lihoowho told him about the Big O!cean project.

Curiosity:Lee Chanyeon knows how to play the guitar!

Kim Jiseok

Youngest member of the group, Kim Ji Seok was born on March 5, 2003 and, unlike the other members, he was born with a hearing impairment and uses hearing aids. The idol, whose specialty is modeling, occupies the position of main dancer in the group.