Big Ocean

Pre-debut

Parastar Entertainment, which manages Big Ocean, is the first Korean entertainment agency focused on artists with disabilities.^[7] The agency initially retained seven trainees as part of the S-Boyz project. Four of these members would exit the group prior to its debut as Big Ocean.^[8]

The three members of Big Ocean are Lee Chan-yeon (이찬연, born March 27, 1998), Park Hyun-jin (박현진, born October 24, 1999, and later known by the stage name PJ), and Kim Ji-seok (김지석, born March 5, 2003).^[9] Each member of the group has different levels of hearing loss. Ji-seok was born with a hearing impairment, PJ lost part of his hearing at the age of three due to a fever, and Chan-yeon experienced hearing loss at age eleven due to a fever. Chan-yeon underwent cochlear implant surgery on both ears, PJ has an implant in one ear and uses a hearing aid in the other, while Jiseok only wears hearing aids.^[10] Chan-yeon was not initially interested in music, but developed a passion for it as he listened to music as part of his rehabilitation process following his cochlear implant surgery.^[4] Ji-seok was unfamiliar with K-pop and choreography until BTS leader RM donated to the music program at Seoul Samsung School, a school for those with hearing-related disabilities where Ji-seok attended, in 2019.^[8]

Before debuting as idols, all three members held full-time jobs, which raised concerns among their acquaintances. Chan-yeon worked as an audiologist at Korea University Anam Hospital, PJ was a well-known TV personality and YouTuber who shared insights about his daily life while living with disabilities, and Ji-seok was a professional alpine skier and a member of the Seoul Disabled Ski Association.^[7] Chan-yeon was also a commercial model under Parastar Entertainment.^[9] Ji-seok had shared that he was often advised to "pursue physical or technical jobs due to his disability," advice which Ji-seok felt "was both a concern and a hurtful stereotype."^[7] PJ was planning to use his engineering degree to enter cybersecurity.^[8]

PJ was the first to be recruited to Parastar, in 2020. Ji-seok attended a fan meeting for PJ and was recruited there. Meanwhile, Lihoo, a renowned deaf actor under Parastar management, endorsed Chan-yeon to become a trainee.^[11] Haley Cha, CEO of Parastar Entertainment, which manages Big Ocean, has expressed that they "had many difficulties in developing this band." The trainees were not sure if they would succeed in the music industry, leading Cha to "help them visualize stardom" by editing their faces onto images of K-pop stars.^[3] As part of the trainee process, Chan-yeon learned sign language, which was not his native language.^[4]

In December 2023, the Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled published a public service announcement video featuring the members of Big Ocean prior to their debut.^[12]

Debut

In March 2024, Parastar Entertainment, a management company representing artists with disabilities,^[8] announced the debut of Big Ocean, consisting of the trio who would perform using Korean Sign Language, American Sign Language, and International Sign. The group's name, Big Ocean, contains the meaning of "surprising the world" and the ambition to "have the potential of the sea and expand to the whole world like the sea".^{[citation needed]}

According to their agency, the members recorded the songs in their own voices, similar to non-disabled singers. Some parts of the recording received assistance from artificial intelligence, which learned each member's voice data to help mix their voices properly. Ji-seok has described artificial intelligence as "another tool and technology we can adapt to art and music. It's not like [we’re] attacking the former or traditional music, but it's just something that adds to it."^[4] Additionally, the group has used smart watches that vibrate to the beat of the music and monitors that flash lights every eight beats to help them stay in rhythm while dancing.^[13][14][15]

The day before their debut, The Chosun Ilbo shared PJ's hopes that "Big Ocean will bridge the gap between disabled and non-disabled people, overcoming stereotypes and prejudices."^[7] On April 20, 2024, Big Ocean began its official activities upon performing on MBC's Show! Music Core and releasing their debut single "Glow."^[16] This first release was a remake of the 1998 song "Hope" by the first-generation idol group H.O.T.^[17]

In April 2024, fans voted for the name of the fandom, initially choosing the name "wave". As this fandom name was already in use by another K-pop group, fans voted again, this time between "pado" (the Korean word for "wave"), "fishie", and "salty". "Pado" received 70.6% of the vote.^[18] On April 24, PJ announced that the fandom would officially be known as "pado".^[19]

Post-debut activities

A few months after their debut, the group released their second single "Blow" on June 1, in collaboration with TikTok Korea.^{[20][unreliable source?]} This single contained many English lyrics and was signed in American Sign Language.^[3]

In June 2024, Big Ocean collaborated with the World Health Organization to produce videos promoting public understanding of hearing impairment.^[21][22] In July 2024, the Big Ocean fandom donated to Gallaudet University, a Deaf and hard-of-hearing university in Washington, D.C., to honor the group's 100-day anniversary, in keeping with Korean traditions of celebrating a baby's survival after 100 days.^[8]

On August 11, 2024, Big Ocean released their third single "Slow" featuring Young K of Day6. The song's lyrics deliver a message of support to the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics athletes who represented South Korea.^[23] On August 22, Big Ocean attended and performed at the 6th Newsis Korean Wave Expo. During the ceremony, the group was honored with the "Special Hallyu Award" as an icon of hope.^[24][25] In September, Big Ocean donated to Ji-seok's alma mater, Seoul Samsung School, fulfilling his dream to give back to students learning music.^[8] That same month, Big Ocean was featured as Billboard's "K-pop Rookie of the Month".^[26]

On November 12, 2024, Big Ocean collaborated with the New York City Police Department to surprise students at St. Joseph's School for the Deaf, performing their songs "Glow", "Blow", "Slow", and "Flow".^[27] Also on November 12, 2024, the group released their first EP Follow. The EP features their previously released singles and a new track "Flow", which produced by American producer Mark Batson.^[28] The National Institute for Deaf Youth of Paris and La Défense served as the filming location of the "Flow" music video.^[29][30] Big Ocean was invited to attend and perform at the Cool Out 2024 Festival in the Cayman Islands, where they showcased "Flow" for the first time.^[31][32]

Touring and second EP

On December 12, 2024, Parastar announced that the group would embark on their first solo concert on March 9, 2025, at the Toyota City Cultural Hall in Nagoya, Japan.^[33]

On April 2, 2025, Hyun-jin announced that he would be using the stage name PJ moving forward. This was announced through official content on episode 2 of their YouTube show "OceanView".^[34] On April 20, Big Ocean released their second EP, Underwater.^[35] This EP explores embracing one's identity and emotions, as part of a more mature concept that contrasts with the "younger concepts" of their earlier work.^[4] In late April, Big Ocean embarked on their first European tour, titled "Underwater" and spanning five cities.^[36]

On May 14, Big Ocean was recognized as one of the breakthrough artists in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Entertainment & Sports List. The group is one of only two K-pop boy bands, alongside Stray Kids, featured in Forbes magazine for 2025.^[37] On July 3, Big Ocean performed at Anime Friends in São Paulo as the only K-pop act at the convention.^[36]

Extended plays

Single albums

Singles

Honors

Listicles