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 eliminated 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 weaker company at the time—because he had 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 exclusive interview with Noh Min-mi, who was directly involved in signing Jungkook 14 years ago, has revealed the full story behind this highly valuable contract.
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".
As Noh mentioned, the standard recruitment process follows the sequence: audition → evaluation → contract. 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 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.
