6 Things You Might Not Know About BTS Jungkook’s Childhood

9 years ago, BTS‘s Jungkook was a talented rookie with big dreams. Now, he’s a 25-years-old superstar who brings joy to millions. From teens to twenties, The Golden Maknae grew up before ARMY’s eyes. To celebrate Jungkook’s birthday, here are 6 things you might not know about his childhood.

1. He wanted to be Haku from Spirited Away

When Jungkook was in the first grade, he dreamed of becoming Haku, a shapeshifting dragon from the 2001 film Spirited Away. Jungkook was just 4 years old at the time of the film’s release.

Why Haku? “He is very good-looking,” Jungkook said in an interview. “and can transform into a dragon.” 

Remember when Jungkook said his childhood dream was to become Haku from Spirited Away pic.twitter.com/0UOmmKCiTT

— Diksha⁷ jungkook day 💌 (@Dikshubts7) March 29, 2022

2. His mom taught him an invaluable life lesson.

“When I was little,” Jungkook said during a livestream, “I cheated on a spelling test and I got into a lot of trouble. I got a really good spanking.”

She taught him that honesty outweighs academic success. There’s no greater achievement than having good character.

My mom…I’m not sure what she told me, to be honest, but I think it was something like, “I don’t care if you get 100 or 0 on your tests. I don’t care about that. But the issue here is that you cheated.” I made a big mistake. Why am I talking about this?

— Jungkook

3. “Santa Jeon’s” plan backfired.

During BTS’s FESTA party, Jungkook told a childhood Christmas story. To convince Jungkook that Santa was real, his father dressed up as Saint Nick himself. One Christmas Eve night, Jungkook felt Santa’s beard brush his face.

Unfortunately, this “magic” had the opposite effect! Instead of convincing Jungkook that Santa was real, that brush of a beard confirmed that Santa was make-believe.

JUNGKOOK sharing a story of his childhood 😭💜
pic.twitter.com/BlmsUr0HVT

— Shi⁷ ❥ •᷄ʚ•᷅ (@koo_Diaries97) December 1, 2021

4. He used to exercise with his mom.

Athleticism runs in this family!

jungkook playing basketball and reminding of his childhood 🐰🏀

🐰 when i was a kid, my mom and i used to go to the schoolyard to exercise at night. it reminds me of that. pic.twitter.com/XEXnTrkvu3

— jk vids | koo day 🎈 (@jjklve_) August 21, 2021

5. He hasn’t outgrown some of his childhood habits.

In his BANGTANTV “Camping Vlog,” Jungkook revealed that he has always had a habit of saying how delicious food tastes as he’s eating it. Compliments to the chef!

When I eat good food, I keep saying it’s good. My dad said I was always like that…I was always like ‘This is good, this is good!’

— Jungkook

6. In the seventh grade, his interest in b-boying introduced him to…

…BIGBANG.

On talent shows, I saw b-boys and became interested in dancing, and was fascinated so I looked up video clips. That’s when I found BIGBANG on the video. ‘These are the most amazing people.’ That’s what I thought. And I wondered how I could be as amazing as them.

— Jungkook