Jung Jae-il is a South Korean music composer who is best known for composing the background score of the highly acclaimed South Korean films Sea Fog (2014), Okja (2017), and Parasite (2019). He has also composed the music of the global hit survival drama Netflix series Squid Game (2021). Besides, he has collaborated with several top South Korean musicians and singers, has played accompaniments, produced albums, and done arrangements for big stars in Korean music.
Born Name
Jung Jae-il
Nick Name
Jung Jae-il
Jung Jae-il as seen in an Instagram Post in March 2020 (Jung Jae-il / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Taurus
Born Place
Seoul, South Korea
Residence
Seoul, South Korea
Nationality
Education
Jung Jae-il had graduated from the Seoul Jazz Academy, South Korea’s leading institute of contemporary music. He had learned musical composition there.
Occupation
Music Composer
Jung Jae-il as seen in an Instagram Post in May 2018 (Jung Jae-il / Instagram)
Genre
New-Age, Contemporary Jazz, Ballad, Folk
Instruments
Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals
Labels
Sacred Bones Records
Genie Music
Stone Music Entertainment
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 8 in or 173 cm
Weight
68 kg or 150 lbs
Jung Jae-il as seen in an Instagram Post in June 2018 (Jung Jae-il / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Asian
He is of Korean descent.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Slender frame
Short-cropped hair
Clean-shaven look
Jung Jae-il as seen in an Instagram Post in May 2020 (Jung Jae-il / Instagram)
Jung Jae-il Facts
A child prodigy, Jung Jae-il was only 3 years old when he had started playing the piano. By the time he had turned 9, he had started playing the guitar. When he was 13 years old, he had posted an advertisement in a local music magazine seeking bass drums to perform a style of music that could be similar to the British heavy metal band Carcass.
In the late 1990s, while studying at the Seoul Jazz Academy, he had met renowned guitarist Han Sang Won who had offered him a position in his band, as a bass guitarist.
In 1997, he had assisted in the composition of the music for an R-rated film called Bad Movie. He was just 15 years old at that time and too young to legally watch that film which meant that he could not even experience the final result of his labor.
He had also become a part of a band called Gigs in November 1999. Although the band was doing well, the members had disbanded in 2000 after the release of their 2nd album. He was a member of the band Puri when they had released their 2nd album in 2007.
In 2017, when President Donald Trump had visited South Korea, there was a welcoming concert held for him at the Blue House, the executive office and official residence of the Republic of Korea’s head of state, the President of the Republic of Korea, located in Jongno-gu of the capital Seoul. Jung Jae-il had performed traditional Korean music at the event and had directed and performed with an ensemble of musicians for 비나리 (pronounced ‘bi-na-ri’), a song for wishing good luck.
In April 2018, at the Inter-Korean Summit (meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea), he had directed the musical performances at the closing ceremony. He had created a performance art there that had blended traditional Korean music with a strong and rhythmical piano part and striking visuals shown over the Inter-Korean Peace House.
He had befriended South Korean balladeer Park Hyo Shin while they were both completing their mandatory military service in Korea.
