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Stray Kids' Hyunjin: how his name is written in English and Japanese, his full name, age and debut date

How Hyunjin's name is written in Korean, English and Japanese, his birth name Hwang Hyun-jin, his birth date and age, debut date, role in the group, and his schedule as of October 2026 — drawn from 17 press reports.

Hyunjin (ヒョンジン in Japanese) is a member of Stray Kids, the eight-member boy group under JYP Entertainment, and his birth name is Hwang Hyun-jin (황현진). He was born in 2000 on March 20, which makes him 26 as of October 2026. He came through Mnet's 2017 show "Stray Kids" and debuted with the group in March 2018.

In August 2026 the group's mini album THIS & THAT became its ninth straight No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and in September it headlined Rock in Rio in Brazil. Shows are scheduled at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan on October 24 and at the Tokyo Dome on November 6–8, and tickets for a worldwide cinema live broadcast of the Tokyo Dome show went on sale on October 14. Common questions are answered below, with a source number on every claim.

YearEventDetail
2017Mnet's "Stray Kids" airsPremiered October 17; he was listed as "Hwang Hyun-jin" among the nine trainees vying to debut.1
2018Official debutShowcase at Jangchung Arena, Seoul, on March 25; debut mini album I am NOT out March 26, led by "District 9."2
2022Self-written solo trackHis solo song "Love Untold" appears on the digital album SKZ-REPLAY, released December 21.7
2023–2024Luxury brand ambassadorVersace global ambassador from July 2023; Cartier ambassador from September 2024.10,11
2024Renewed with JYPIn July all eight members renewed their contracts with JYP Entertainment.12
2025Unit track and overseas collaboration"ESCAPE," a unit track with Bang Chan, in March; featured on American singer-songwriter d4vd's "Always Love" in June.8,9
2026New world tour · 9th straight Billboard No. 1New world tour opens with Run It Seoul; THIS & THAT tops the Billboard 200 in August; Rock in Rio headliner in September; Japan dome shows in October and November.13,14,15,16

How his name is written: Korean, English, Japanese — and his birth name

His stage name is written 현진 in Korean and "Hyunjin" in English, and English-language outlets such as Billboard list him as "Hyunjin." Japanese music media write it as "Hyunjin(ヒョンジン)," adding the katakana ヒョンジン next to the English. His birth name is 황현진 (Hwang Hyun-jin). Coverage of the first episode of Mnet's "Stray Kids" in 2017 introduced him as 황현진, and in a 2026 W Korea interview he said there is no separate "Hwang Hyun-jin the person" — "all of this is me." None of the reports checked for this page give an official romanization of his birth name set by the agency; "Hwang Hyun-jin" here follows standard Korean romanization.

1,13,16,17

Age: born March 20, 2000

Hyunjin was born in 2000; in 2018 Xportsnews introduced him and Seungmin, born the same year, as "millennium babies." His birthday is March 20. In 2022, a fan-made birthday ad ran on a billboard in New York's Times Square from March 14 to 20. By international age, then, he turned 25 on March 20, 2025, and 26 on March 20, 2026.

3,4

Debut date: March 25–26, 2018

  • Before debut. The JYP–Mnet program "Stray Kids" premiered at 11 p.m. on October 17, 2017, with Hwang Hyun-jin on the nine-member trainee team alongside Bang Chan, Kim Woo-jin, Seo Chang-bin, Lee Min-ho, Felix, Han Ji-sung, Yang Jeong-in and Kim Seung-min.1
  • Debut. Stray Kids held its debut showcase at Jangchung Arena in Seoul on March 25, 2018, and released its debut mini album I am NOT on March 26, led by "District 9." Music-show promotions began on Mnet's "M Countdown" on March 29. The debut date is therefore usually given as March 25 (the showcase) or March 26 (the album release).2
1,2

Role in the group: performance first, plus rap, vocals and songwriting

Sports Kyunghyang reports that Hyunjin forms the performance unit "Dance Racha" with Lee Know and Felix. Vogue Korea describes him as a dancer, rapper and vocalist. A 2022 report on his Times Square ad likewise cited his dancing, singing, rapping and songwriting. On a 2024 web variety show, Hyunjin recalled that when he said as a trainee that he wanted to be the main dancer, many people reacted negatively. He said he learned the basics from Lee Know after seeing him compete in a dance contest during their trainee days.

4,5,6,11

Songwriting and solo work

  • Self-written solo songs. The digital album SKZ-REPLAY, released December 21, 2022, featured solo songs each member helped write; Hyunjin's is "Love Untold," which expresses longing through rock and hip-hop sounds. The album also gave official releases to two of his songs first shared through the group's own content, "꼬마별" (Little Star) and "ice cream."7
  • Unit track. The digital single Mixtape: dominATE, released March 21, 2025, includes "ESCAPE," a unit song by Bang Chan and Hyunjin, who wrote the lyrics themselves.8
  • Overseas collaboration. American singer-songwriter d4vd released "Always Love," featuring Hyunjin, on June 27, 2025.9
  • Fashion. Hyunjin was named a Versace global ambassador in July 2023 and joined Cartier as an ambassador in September 2024.10,11
7,8,9,10,11

Where things stand in October 2026

All eight Stray Kids members, Hyunjin included, renewed their contracts with JYP Entertainment in July 2024. In 2026 the group opened a new world tour with its Run It Seoul concerts, after which Hyunjin shot the men's cover of W Korea Vol. 9. The mini album THIS & THAT, released August 7, entered the Billboard 200 dated August 22 at No. 1, the group's ninth straight chart-topper. On September 11 the group became the first K-pop act to headline Rock in Rio's main stage in Rio de Janeiro, playing to about 100,000 people, then continued with STRAYCITY shows in Bogotá, Buenos Aires and Mexico City. According to Billboard, the next dates are Kyocera Dome Osaka on October 24 and the Tokyo Dome on November 6–8. The Tokyo Dome show will be broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on November 7, with tickets on sale from October 14.

12,13,14,15,16

How to read this page

Age is given in international years as of October 15, 2026. Concert dates are as of Billboard's October 7, 2026 report and may change. The group's full history is in the Hallyu Wiki article on Stray Kids.

Reading paths

Deep dive · 10 articlesHow Agencies Make Idols: Big Four, Auditions, PlatformsStart from the fact that Stray Kids belong to JYP: J.Y. Park and Twice, SM and YG, HYBE founded by a former JYP composer, CJ ENM and the Mnet audition that formed Iz*One, and the fan platform Weverse.

Related articles

Hyunjin Stray Kids JYP Entertainment Lee Know Felix Bang Chan

Sources

  1. press 쿠키뉴스, [쿠키영상] 첫방 ‘스트레이 키즈’, 2PM·2AM·트와이스 이을 JYP의 다음 주자는?…방찬 “무조건 9명 같이 데뷔할 것”, 2017-10-18
  2. press 텐아시아, 스트레이 키즈, 오늘(29일) 엠카부터 음악방송 출격, 2018-03-29
  3. press 엑스포츠뉴스, [비주얼가이드①] 스트레이 키즈 현진·승민·아이엔, 우리 모두의 소년들, 2018-11-02
  4. press 스포츠경향, 스트레이 키즈 현진, 美 타임스퀘어 전광판 장식, 2022-03-18
  5. press 스포츠경향, [화보] 스트레이키즈 리노-현진-필리스, 3인3색 단독화보, 2022-01-25
  6. press TV리포트, 스키즈 현진 "우상 태양과 춤 출 때 '성공했다' 느껴...눈물 날 뻔" (문명특급)[종합], 2024-07-25
  7. press 더팩트, 스트레이 키즈, 신보에 멤버 전원 자작 솔로곡 수록, 2022-12-16
  8. press 스포츠경향, 스트레이 키즈 방찬 & 현진, 잿빛 세상 속 불안정한 청춘! “Escape from reality, come with me”, 2025-03-18
  9. press 보그 코리아, 스트레이 키즈 현진과 d4vd, 마침내 이뤄진 협업, 2025-06-24
  10. press OSEN, 스키즈, 빌보드 이어 명품 앰배서더까지 싹쓸이 "끝없는 영감의 원천" [공식], 2025-01-25
  11. press 보그 코리아, 까르띠에 보이, 현진, 2024-09-13
  12. press 코리아타임스, New Stray Kids' album 'ATE' set to devour summer charts, 2024-07-19
  13. press 더블유 코리아, 더블유 Vol.9 맨 커버를 장식한 현진, 2026-08-10
  14. press 스포츠경향 (영문), Stray Kids, ‘Billboard 200’ nine consecutive No. 1s “A first on Billboard, a record of the century”, 2026-08-18
  15. press 코리아타임스, Stray Kids becomes 1st K-pop act to headline Rock in Rio, 2026-09-16
  16. press Billboard, 'Stray Kids World Tour 'RUN IT' Live Viewing' Coming To Theaters Next Month, 2026-10-07
  17. press THE FIRST TIMES, Stray Kids(ストレイキッズ)のHyunjin(ヒョンジン)が飾る、雑誌『W Korea』4月号のデジタルカバーが公開された, 2024-03-27
Cite this page

“Stray Kids' Hyunjin: how his name is written in English and Japanese, his full name, age and debut date.” Hallyu Wiki. https://hallyu.wiki/en/guides/hyunjin-stray-kids-faq/ (Retrieved 2026-10-15).

How this article was made: read official statements, court/regulator records and at least two independent outlets; community posts are used only as attention signals. Written by Hallyu Wiki editors with AI assistance — check the sources. Request a correction