Nichkhun Horvejkul (Thai: นิชคุณ หรเวชกุล, born June 24, 1988), known mononymously as Nichkhun (Hangul: 닉쿤) is an American singer of mixed Chinese and Thai heritage active in South Korea. He is a member of boy band 2PM. Predebut: Nichkhun was born in Rancho Cucamonga, California to Thai and Chinese parents. His father is of Thai origin while his mother is a fourth generation Thai Chinese. Nichkhun has one older brother Nichan and two younger sisters, Yanin and Sherleen. At the age of two, he moved to Thailand with his family and studied at Dhepkanjana school and Tangpiroondham school. At the age of twelve, he studied in New Zealand for a year and a half and moved back to the United States to finish his schooling at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California. There, he was scouted by Park Jin-young, a K-pop singer and the producer of JYP Entertainment, at the Los Angeles Korean Music Festival. After passing the audition hosted by JYP Entertainment, he signed a ten-year contract with the company but later resigned for an eight-year contract, not including training, and was brought to South Korea as a trainee, being put into a class of 24 other students. Park Jin-young informed him that he was required to learn Mandarin Chinese and Korean to also work out regularly and learn how to dance. First appeared through MNET's Hot Blood, a program that showed the intense physical training that 13 male trainees had to go through for the opportunity to debut in either 4-member ballad group 2AM or 7-member dance group 2PM under JYP Entertainment. Nichkhun participated in JYP's talent competition, Superstar Survival, where he took the role of the host. Debut: Main article: 2PM On 4 September, 2008, Nichkhun debuted as a 2PM member with their first single "10점 만점에 10점" ("10 Points out of 10 Points") from their single album "Hottest Time of the Day". Television: After 2PM's debut in 2008, Nichkhun became a popular choice for Thai endorsements, and was selected by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as the face of their newest campaign, "Come to Thailand; Let's Take a Break!" Nichkhun has also done a wide variety of runway modeling, including for Pony, and Andre Kim's fashion show in 2008 with 2AM member Seulong. On January 7, 2010, photographs surfaced of Nichkhun and Taecyeon with actress Yoon Eunhye for Cass Beer, in which 2PM were chosen to endorse with special promotion single "Tik Tok". Nichkhun played a main character in the 12-minute music video drama, released on February 8, 2010. Nichkhun was originally planned to appear on We Got Married as Brown Eyed Girls member Ga-in's (가인) partner, but due to Jaebeom's MySpace controversy he was replaced at last minute by 2AM member Jokwon. On March 4th, 2010, new rumors of his casting surfaced through several newsites, even naming T-ara member Eunjung as his partner. However, JYPE stated that they were forced to decline the offer due to schedule clashes. On February 26, 2010, it was announced that Nichkhun and 7 other male idols from 2PM, 2AM, MBLAQ and C.N.Blue would rotate as MCs for Mnet M!Countdown after it went off-air for 3 months. In December 2009, he had been confirmed to star in 2010 film "The Shining Diploma", but due to scheduling conflicts with the filming delays, he dropped out of the project in March. In May 2010, he featured in a commercial for Everland's Caribbean Bay water theme park along with 2PM Taecyeon & Chansung and Girls' Generation members Yoona, Seohyun & Yuri. On June 1, 2010, he was announced to be an additional cast member to We Got Married, pairing up with Victoria of f(x). Volunteer Work: On March 21, 2010, Nichkhun and actress Song Ji-hyo participated in MBC's "Sunday Sunday Night" program "Danbi" where they went to the Philippines to visit a trash town in order to help with volunteer work. Being the only cast member fluent in English, he was able to directly interact with the children. In the midst of Jaebeom's contract termination controversy that caused 2PM to be received very negatively, Nichkhun gained much praise and support from his fans and the general public. Featured Music Videos: * "Irony" - Wonder Girls, 2007 (Uncredited cameo) * "Let's Take A Break!", 2009 * "이별이 온다" ("Farewell is Coming") - 8Eight, 2010 Awards: Years Awards 2009 * 2009 MNet 20s Choice Awards : Hot Mr Beauty Award