Unnamed Legend Jang Han-byeol Claims KTOPSTAR Trot King Title

Trot singer Jang Han-byeol has emerged as the new protagonist of ‘KTOPSTAR’.

In the 99th ‘Best Trot (Male)’ category tallied from May 25 to May 31 on ‘KTOPSTAR’ (KTOPSTAR), a global K-pop voting site that reflects the current state of K-pop, Jang Han-byeol took 1st place.

There was a major shift in this KTOPSTAR ‘Best Trot (Male)’ category. Jang Han-byeol climbed to the 1st place position, displacing Kim Yong-bin, who had held the top spot for 46 weeks. Kim Yong-bin dropped to 2nd, and Kim Ho-jung made the list in 3rd.

Jang Han-byeol rose to stardom after placing 3rd on MBN's 'Unnamed Legend'. On May 30, he appeared on MBN’s ‘Kim Joo Ha's Day & Night’ and shared the story of his efforts to realize his dream of becoming a singer.

His parents immigrated to Queensland, Australia, five years before he was born and operated a Korean cuisine restaurant. He was born and raised there.

Because there were almost no Asians around him during his childhood, he worked harder at sports than studying to avoid being looked down upon by people. As he adapted to school, he naturally focused on his studies and entered dental school. However, the dream of being a singer always resided in his heart.

So, he eventually finished his second year and came to Korea to begin life as a trainee. After two years of trainee life, as the period for his leave of absence expired, he experienced conflict with his father. His father pressured him to return to school, and he even bought a plane ticket to Australia.

However, one week before returning to Australia, he received contact from his agency, and at a crossroads, he ultimately gave up his studies. While he spent time as an unknown singer, his parents sold their house in Australia and came to Korea to support him. Having been born and raised in Australia, he is a quadrilingual who can speak not only English but also Malay and Japanese.