‘Baby Shark Boy’ grows up: YouTube sensation to make K-pop debut
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Baby Shark Dance, featuring Park Geon-roung, has been viewed 17.2 billion times since it first appeared on YouTube in 2016.
PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM THE PINKPONG COMPANY/YOUTUBE
- Baby Shark Boy, Park Geon-roung, is making his K-pop debut on Aug 20 with a digital single, WAVE, featuring Joohoney from Monsta X.
- The Pinkfong Company aims to expand Baby Shark’s brand into the wider K-pop market through this unique, one-off project.
- Park expresses gratitude for ongoing fan support and wants to share his own story and growth through this new musical venture.
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SEOUL – The child performer featured in YouTube’s most-viewed video of all time, known as “Baby Shark Boy” in South Korea, is set to make his K-pop debut on Aug 20, according to The Pinkfong Company.
The global family entertainment company behind Pinkfong and Baby Shark announced on Aug 10 that Baby Shark Boy will release his first digital single, WAVE, a Korean-language track with lyrics he co-wrote, featuring Joohoney of K-pop group Monsta X.
Baby Shark Boy, whose real name is Park Geon-roung, 17, first appeared in Baby Shark Dance in 2016.
The video has since surpassed 17.2 billion views. It held YouTube’s global No. 1 spot for 69 consecutive months.
Park made a surprise return in 2025 in short-form videos marking the song’s 10th anniversary, which together drew 22 million views.
“I’ve always been grateful that people still remember a video I appeared in as a kid,” he said in a statement.
“Ten years ago, I was dancing next to Baby Shark. Now, I want 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.
“Baby Shark Boy grew up alongside Baby Shark and built a special connection with fans around the world,” a company representative said. “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 move signals Kosdaq-listed The Pinkfong Company’s ambition to extend the Baby Shark brand beyond children’s content and into the broader K-pop market, where idol debuts routinely generate international attention.
The company told The Korea Herald, however, that this is not a typical K-pop idol debut but a one-off project, and that decisions on his future activities will be made after the single’s release. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
