Biography & Early Wealth Journey
Kwon Hyun-bin first attracted attention as a fashion model before becoming nationally known as a contestant on the hit reality competition "Produce 101 Season 2." Although he finished outside the show's winning group, his popularity with viewers led to his debut in the fan-created project group JBJ. The six-member group enjoyed a brief but successful run, selling hundreds of thousands of albums and scoring a music-show victory with "My Flower" before disbanding in 2018. Kwon subsequently launched a solo music career under the stage name VIINI, releasing the mini albums "Dimension" and "Moon & Butterfly."
Alongside music, Kwon steadily developed an acting career. He appeared in "Borg Mom," "Part-Time Idol," "The Red Sleeve," "Pandora: Beneath the Paradise," and the romantic drama "Love Andante," among other projects. He has also maintained ties to the fashion industry that originally launched his career. After spending much of his career within the YG Entertainment ecosystem, Kwon signed with acting agency Ghost Studio in 2024. In November 2025, he enlisted in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps to complete his mandatory military service.
Early Life
Kwon Hyun-bin was born on March 4, 1997, in Seoul, South Korea.
Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts
He spent part of his youth studying in Japan, where he played baseball at an international school. After returning to South Korea, Kwon became a competitive fencer and competed at the youth level.
An injury eventually forced him to give up fencing. The setback redirected him toward entertainment and fashion, fields in which his tall, athletic build quickly proved advantageous.
Modeling Career
Kwon began working professionally as a model in 2015 after joining YGKPlus, the modeling agency affiliated with YG Entertainment. At the time, he was among the agency's youngest models.
Trending Wealth Dossiers:
- → How Much Is Stephen King’s Net Worth—and What Powers His Empire? Net Worth & Annual Salary
- → How Much Is Thorn Live Free or Die Worth? The Hidden Wealth Behind New Hampshire’s Boldest Brand Net Worth & Annual Salary
- → How Much Is Daniel Amen’s Fortune Worth? The Neuroscientist’s Hidden Wealth Breakdown Net Worth & Annual Salary
Real Estate, Luxury Assets & Personal Investments
He walked in Seoul Fashion Week shows and appeared in fashion editorials and magazines, including GQ Korea. His modeling career gave him an early foothold in the entertainment industry before he had any formal experience as an idol singer.
Kwon also landed commercial work. In 2017, cosmetics company Lilybyred selected him as a model, capitalizing on the surge in his popularity from television.
Unlike many Korean pop performers, Kwon did not begin his career after spending years in an idol-training system. That became an important part of his story when he entered one of South Korea's most competitive reality shows.
"Produce 101 Season 2"
Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections
In 2017, Kwon joined Mnet's "Produce 101 Season 2," the survival competition that assembled 101 male contestants competing for spots in a temporary boy group.
Kwon entered the program representing YGKPlus and had only a short period of idol training behind him. His inexperience with singing and dancing initially became a storyline on the show, but he improved over the course of the competition and developed a sizable fan following.
Kwon ultimately finished in 22nd place. That meant he did not qualify for Wanna One, the 11-member group created from the show's highest-ranking contestants.
Normally, finishing 22nd would have marked the end of the opportunity. Instead, fans began promoting the idea of forming another group from several eliminated contestants they particularly liked.
That fan campaign became JBJ.
JBJ
JBJ was one of the more unusual groups created by the Korean idol industry. Fans of "Produce 101 Season 2" had imagined a lineup featuring several eliminated contestants and began referring to the hypothetical group as JBJ. The idea became popular enough that the contestants' agencies eventually agreed to make it real.
Kwon debuted as a member of JBJ in October 2017 alongside Noh Tae-hyun, Takada Kenta, Kim Sang-gyun, Kim Yong-guk, and Kim Dong-han.
The group released its debut mini album, "Fantasy," followed by "True Colors" and the deluxe album "New Moon." "Fantasy" sold more than 130,000 copies in South Korea, while "True Colors" sold more than 120,000. Collectively, JBJ's three releases sold more than 300,000 copies.
In January 2018, JBJ earned its first television music-show victory when "My Flower" took first place on KBS's "Music Bank."
Despite the group's popularity, JBJ was always intended to be temporary. Attempts to extend its contract were unsuccessful, and the members concluded their activities on April 30, 2018, after approximately seven months together. Their final period included the song "Call Your Name" and farewell concerts in Seoul.
For Kwon, JBJ transformed the recognition he had gained from a reality show into an actual music career.
VIINI and Solo Music
After JBJ disbanded, Kwon continued pursuing music within the YG Entertainment family.
In 2019, he announced that he would promote as a solo recording artist under the stage name VIINI. His debut mini album, "Dimension," was released in August 2019 and featured the title track "Genie." Kwon participated creatively in his music, including writing lyrics and working on compositions.
His second solo release, "Moon & Butterfly," followed in March 2020. One of its principal tracks, "Love the Moon," featured Lee Su-hyun of AKMU and rapper BLOO. Kwon co-composed the song and co-wrote its lyrics.
His solo music career was considerably smaller commercially than JBJ. "Dimension," for example, sold a little over 7,000 physical copies according to Korean chart data.
Rather than focusing exclusively on becoming a recording artist, Kwon increasingly divided his attention among acting, modeling, and music.
(Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)
Acting Career
Kwon began acting while JBJ was still active. In 2017, he appeared in the MBC comedy "Borg Mom" and played a version of himself in the Netflix/YG production "Part-Time Idol."
He subsequently appeared in web and television projects including "Don't Let Go of Your Mind," "Girl's World," and "Summer Guys."
Kwon made his feature-film debut as a gifted white-hat hacker in the 2021 film "Twenty Hacker."
That same year, he appeared in the historical drama "The Red Sleeve," playing Jeong Baek-ik. The series became a major ratings success in South Korea and gave Kwon exposure in a much more prominent television production.
In 2023, Kwon joined the cast of tvN's thriller "Pandora: Beneath the Paradise." He played Cha Pil-seung, a mysterious assassin whose connection to the central characters becomes increasingly important to the story. The role allowed Kwon to take on both action sequences and more emotionally dramatic material.
Kwon moved into a leading role in 2024 with "Love Andante." The romantic drama, set against the backdrop of an experimental peace village near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, paired him with actress Song Ji-woo. Kwon played pianist Im Joo-hyung.
Ghost Studio
In March 2024, Kwon signed an exclusive management agreement with Ghost Studio, signaling a stronger emphasis on his acting career.
Ghost Studio manages actors while also developing television, film, streaming, webtoon, and other entertainment projects. The company highlighted Kwon's progression from modeling through music and into increasingly substantial acting roles when announcing his signing.
The move also represented a significant break from the YG-affiliated companies where Kwon had spent much of his professional career.
Military Service
In October 2025, Ghost Studio announced that Kwon had been accepted for service in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps.
He entered the Marine Corps training center on November 24, 2025, before beginning his mandatory military service. His agency did not hold a public enlistment event, citing consideration for the other recruits and their families.
The enlistment temporarily paused an entertainment career that had already moved through several distinct phases: fashion model, reality-show contestant, idol-group member, solo musician, and actor.
Hyun-bin
Sang-woo