For many fans, the process of becoming an idol trainee is nothing new. Whether someone is randomly street-cast or applies through an audition, the standard recruitment process typically follows the same sequence: audition → evaluation → contract signing. Most trainees—and virtually every idol under BigHit Music or HYBE—have gone through this exact process.

However, there was one extraordinary exception in the recruitment history of BigHit Entertainment (the predecessor of today's BigHit Music and HYBE): Jungkook's signing process!

Over the past decade, the story of how Jungkook received seven casting offers from entertainment companies—including some of the industry's biggest names at the time, such as Cube Entertainment and Starship Entertainment—after being eliminated from Superstar K3 has become well known among fans. ARMYs have often joked that BigHit Music ultimately succeeded in recruiting him—even though it was a much smaller company back then—simply because Jungkook was immediately drawn to RM after meeting him for the first time.

What many people may not know, however, is that BigHit itself went to extraordinary lengths to secure Jungkook's signature. The company was reportedly so determined not to lose him that it even broke its own recruitment protocol in order to gain the upper hand and earn the approval of both Jungkook and his family. Now, an exclusive interview with Noh Min-mi, the person who was directly involved in signing Jungkook 14 years ago, has finally revealed the full story behind one of the most valuable contracts in the company's history.

First, casting director Noh Min-mi recalled her first meeting with Jungkook: "The first member for whom I personally conducted the casting from the very beginning was Jungkook. He took part in the program Superstar K, where he received a lot of business cards from different companies… And then I see a boy with bright, shining eyes, a very cute appearance, and even some kind of “aura” around him. I thought: "Wow, what a wonderful boy!" And as if under hypnosis, I immediately gave him my card, took his contacts, 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 the same moment I noticed that other casting directors from different companies also paid attention to Jungkook. Usually the process is like this: you bring a person to the audition, he pαѕѕes the selection, and only then he can become a trainee. But at that moment he already received so many offers that I realized, I could lose him. I turned to the company: "What will we do? I think he cannot be missed". And υиєχρє¢тє∂ly I heard in response: "If you are sure, then let’s sign a contract right away"".

"I was ѕнσ¢кed, because usually it is not done like this. But I felt that 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, “"And why doesn’t BigHit set an audition date like all the other companies, but immediately offers a contract?” At that moment, Noh responded sincerely: "There is huge potential in your son. I must take him". 

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 the first trust and familiarity between them.

She remembered: "When I called Jungkook himself, he had a waiting melody on the phone, a song of 2AM. At that time we were engaged in the management of the group 2AM, and I even told Jungkook’s father about it. We then talked a lot and for a long time on the phone, and one day he suddenly called me himself and said: "We decided to sign a contract with BigHit".

Notably, 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 told emotionally: "Later I found out an interesting thing: other companies were literally begging him to meet, saying they would wait at Seoul Station just to get a chance to talk. But Jungkook’s father answered: "No. We already decided to sign a contract"". 

“Even now, every day it still seems amazing to me,” Noh Min-mi shared. “It really was like fate: both that his father believed in our company, and that the management agreed to sign without an audition, all this coincided 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, the 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 has ever regretted that choice.