The child performer who appeared in YouTube’s most-viewed video of all time as the “Baby Shark Boy” is set to make his K-pop debut on 20 August, writes Korea Herald.
The Pinkfong Company, the global family entertainment company behind Pinkfong and Baby Shark, announced that Baby Shark Boy, whose real name is Park Geon-roung, will release his first digital single, WAVE.
The Korean-language song features Joohoney of K-pop group Monsta X, with Park also credited as a co-writer of the lyrics.
Park, now 17, first appeared in the Baby Shark Dance video in 2016.
The video has since surpassed 17.2 billion views on YouTube and remained at the platform’s global No. 1 spot for 69 consecutive months.
He returned to the spotlight last year through short-form videos marking the 10th anniversary of Baby Shark.
The videos collectively attracted around 22 million views.
“I’ve always been grateful that people still remember a video I appeared in as a kid,” Park said.
“Ten years ago I was dancing next to Baby Shark. Now, I wanted to share my own voice and a story I wrote myself. I’m happy to start something new with the people who’ve remembered me all this time, and I want to keep showing how I grow from here,” he added.
A representative of The Pinkfong Company said Baby Shark Boy had grown alongside the global franchise and developed a special connection with fans worldwide.
“This isn’t just about bringing back the boy from the video. It’s about him telling his own story, and we want to carry that new beginning forward authentically,” the representative said.
The project reflects The Pinkfong Company’s ambition to expand the Baby Shark brand beyond children’s entertainment and into the wider K-pop market.
However, the company told The Korea Herald that Park’s debut should not be viewed as a conventional K-pop idol launch.
Instead, WAVE is being treated as a one-off project, with decisions about his future activities to be made after the single’s release.
