BigHit Music Unveils the Reason Behind Breaking Their Own Rules to Recruit Jungkook

 

Over the past decade, the story of Jungkook receiving seven casting offers from entertainment companies—including some of the most prominent at the time, such as Cube Entertainment and Starship Entertainment—after being eliminted from Superstar K3 has become widely known within the fan community. ARMYs have also half-jokingly suggested that BigHit Music succeeded in recruiting him—despite being a relatively smaller company at the time—because he admired RM from their very first meeting.

However, the story behind how BigHit Music convinced Jungkook to join is far more complex. In fact, the company even broke its own recruitment rules for him. An excludive interview with Noh Min-mi, who was directly involved in signing Jungkook 14 years ago, has revealed the fully story behind his highly valuable contract.

First, casting director Noh Min-mi recalled her first meeting withJungkook:

"The first artist for whom I personally conducted casting from the very beginning was Jungkook. He took part in the program 'Supertar K', where he received a lot of business cards from different companies... Then I saw a boy with bright, shining eyes, a very cute appearance, and even ome kind of 'aura' around him. I thought, 'Wow, what a wonderful boy!' As if under hypnosis, I immediately gave him my card, took his contact information, and let him go."

However, Noh quickly realized that BigHit might lose this talented boy, as many other companies were also paying close attention to him. As a result, she was forced to make an immediate decision regarding Jungkook's exceptional case.

Noh Min-mi explained, "At that same moment, I noticed that other casting directors from different companies were also paying attention to Jungkook. Usually, the process is like this: you bring a person to an audition, he passes the selection, and only then can he become a trainee. But at that moment, he had already received so many offers that I realized I could lose him. I turned to the company and asked, 'What should we do? I think we cannot miss him.' Unexpectedly, I heard in response, 'If you're sure, then let's sign a contract right away.'"

"I was shocked, because things are not usually done this way. But I felt this was a chance that could not be missed. Right then, I called Jungkook's father and said, 'We want to sign a contract with your son,'" she recalled, describing the urgency felt by her and the team.

Meanwhile, Jungkook's father was also surprised and skeptical asking, "Why doesn't BigHit set an audition date like all other companies, and instead immediately offer a contract?" At that moment, No responded sincerely, "Your son has huge potential. I must bring him in."

As Noh mentioned, the standard recruitment process follows the sequence: audition → evaluation → conract. However, Jungkook's case was truly exceptional. BigHit Music allowed her to sign him directly without any additional screening. Clearly, this was a bold business decision—one that ultimately changed the fate of an entire music empire. Without that immediate decision and instinct, the history of K-pop, BigHit Music, BTS, and Jungkook might have been written very differently.

Noh also shared an interesting detail from when she first called Jungkook: his ringtone was a song by 2AM, a group managed by BigHit at the time. She believes this connection helped build initial trust and familiarity between them.

She recalled, "When I called Jungkook, his phone had a ringtone of a 2AM song. At the time, we were managing the group 2AM, and I even mentioned this to Jungkook's father. We talked for a long time over the phone, and one day he suddenly called me himself and said, 'We've decided to sign a contract with BigHit.'"

Notably, although many other companies were reportedly willing to wait at Seoul Station just for the chance to meet Jungkook, his family ultimately chose BigHit. Noh Min-mi shared emotionally, "Later, I found out something interesting: other companies were literally begging to meet him, saying they would wait at Seoul Station just for a chance to talk. But Jungkook's father replied, 'No. We've already decided to sign a contract.'"

"Even now, it still feels amazing to me every day," Noh Min-mi said. "It truly felt like fate—that his father believed in our company and that the management agreed to sign him without an audition. All of this came together and became a real miracle."

What seemed like a bold and unconventional decision in 2011 became the key that unlocked the golden era of Jungkook, BTS, and BigHit Music in the years that followed. A decade later, that "miracle of fate" may still be difficult to explain—but one thing is clear: beyond destiny itself, it was the ability to seize the moment and remain steadfast in conviction that ensured neither Jungkook nor BigHit Music ever regetted that choice.