Han

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Han Ji-sung was born on September 14, 2000, in Incheon, South Korea as the younger of two sons. His family moved to Mokpo when he was very young, and he attended elementary school there. Later, his family relocated to Malaysia, where he briefly attended Fairview International School before leaving to be homeschooled. At fourteen, Han returned to South Korea intending to audition to become a K-pop idol, while also committing to pass all three levels of the Korean Qualification Exam as part of a promise to his parents that he would return to Malaysia to pursue further education if he was not successful at auditioning within twelve months. Three months after he had returned to South Korea, Han initially auditioned for JYP Entertainment and following a second audition, was accepted as a trainee. After debuting, Han enrolled at Gukje Cyber University, to study performance and broadcast entertainment.

In Their Own Story

While a JYP Entertainment trainee, Han attended Def Music Academy in Gangnam District. He co-founded 3Racha with bandmates Bang Chan and Changbin after they took MIDI classes together. Formed in 2016, they serve as the primary production team for Stray Kids. Prior to debuting, 3Racha released three mix-tapes on SoundCloud: J:/2017/mixtape on January 18, 2017; 3Days on August 16, 2017, featuring Han's solo track 'I See' under the alias J.One; and Horizon on December 21, 2017. In the later half of 2017, Han participated in the reality competition series Stray Kids. He officially debuted with Stray Kids on March 25, 2018, with the debut EP I Am Not. In February 2023, alongside fellow members of 3Racha, Han was promoted from associate to full member of KOMCA, making him, at age 22, the youngest K-pop idol to be awarded membership. As of May 14, 2026, Han had credits for 196 songs registered with KOMCA, placing him behind bandmates Bang Chan and Changbin within fourth-generation idols, and among the top ten most credited K-pop idols overall. In summer of 2024, a year ahead of its expected expiration, it was announced that alongside his bandmates, Han had renewed his group contract with JYP Entertainment.

Reader's Guide

Han has been the most prolific contributor to Stray Kids' SKZ-Record/Player project, with thirteen original solo songs as of May 2026: 'Close', 'I Got It', 'Alien', 'Wish You Back', 'Happy', 'Volcano', 'Miserable (You & Me)', '13', 'Maybe', 'Human', 'Hold My Hand', 'Raining Stars', and 'Back to Life'. He also contributed three original sub-unit songs ('Zone' as part of 3Racha; 'Want So Bad' with Lee Know; 'Respirator' with Seungmin), one original duet with Bae of Nmixx ('1, 2, 3, 4, 5'), and two Day6 covers with Seungmin. Six of these, plus a previously unheard solo song 'Run', were released on the digital compilation album SKZ-Replay in December 2022. 'Hold My Hand', first performed in August 2024 as part of Stray Kids' DominATE tour in Seoul, was later released on the special album Hop in December 2024. In March 2025, Han and Felix released a duet 'Truman' as part of the digital single album Mixtape: Dominate. In October 2025, Han featured with Felix and I.N on the Netflix original series soundtrack 'Genie' for Genie, Make a Wish, which reached number 4 on the Billboard World Digital Sales chart. Later that month, Han released his first solo original soundtrack 'Updraft' (상승기류) for TvN's period drama Typhoon Family. In April 2026, his second solo OST 'Let It Show' was released for Yumi's Cells season three.

Did You Know?

• Han became the youngest K-pop idol to be awarded full membership of the Korea Music Copyright Association in February 2023 at age 22.
• As of May 2026, Han has 196 songwriting and production credits registered with KOMCA, making him the eighth-most credited K-pop idol overall.
• Han co-founded 3Racha with Bang Chan and Changbin after they took MIDI classes together as JYP trainees.
• Han passed all three levels of the Korean Qualification Exam within three months of returning to South Korea at age 14, as part of a promise to his parents.
• Han's first official individual guest feature, 'Can't Love' with South Korean indie band Can't Be Blue, was announced in May 2026.