The Ice Prince: On the Rink and On Stage

Our parents always told us to dream big as a child, no matter how crazy it was. Whether it was wanting to become an astronaut and landing on Mars, or becoming a famous actor with 5 Oscars to your name, they would entertain your musings and tell you to reach for the stars. 8-year-old Park Sunghoon wasn’t an exemption to this; once upon a time, he was an awkward boy who tried figure skating to improve his social skills. Who would’ve known, over the course of the next 12 years, Sunghoon would come to achieve great feats, dream of big things, leave a part of his life behind, find something new to be passionate about, and grow and reflect as an individual?

Sunghoon didn’t take figure skating seriously at first; he was just doing it for fun! For him, having fun with figure skating entailed competing during the National Winter Sports Festival where he won the gold medal, and that felt amazing to him. That’s the exact moment he realized he could do figure skating seriously. To quote his exact words, “I want to be even better,” and boy, did he get better. By 2013 and 2014, he achieved silver medals in the novice competition and junior competition respectively of the South Korean Figure Skating Championships. A year after that, he became part of and started representing the national team of South Korea! His first two competitions as part of the national team were during the Asian Figure Skating Trophy and Lombardia Trophy, where he became the novice gold medalist of the competitions. In the next two years, he’d become the junior silver medalist of the Asian Opens. Competing was everything to Sunghoon; seeing the fruits of his hard work pay off in his scores made him feel accomplished and proud of himself. Aside from that, figure skating has become his home and comfort — something he loves doing. To top it all off, his parents were incredibly supportive of his career, and everything they did was for him, so he wanted to become the best at it.

Come February 2018, the time for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to take place, and Sunghoon wasn’t qualified to compete in the prestigious sports event. Now 16 years old, he was too old for the junior event and too young for the senior event, so he had no choice but to wait another 4 years to be able to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics. He was so set on this goal; he even trained under the same coach as Yuna Kim — the most famous female Korean figure skater. At some point, he even made friends and skated with Cha Junhwan, who is the top male Korean figure skater right now. In the same year though, he was offered to become an “idol trainee” at one of South Korea’s entertainment agencies, BigHit Entertainment, home of the global superstars BTS. He discussed the offer with his parents, and they suggested that it couldn’t hurt to try, especially because the dancing lessons could be helpful to his figure skating skills. With this, he became a trainee and a competitive figure skater at the same time.

Becoming an idol trainee was the first step Sunghoon took towards his dream. What he hasn’t realized yet, was this dream was now a different one. When his peers at BigHit went off at school in the morning, he trained for figure skating and while competing continuously. At night, he was surrounded by people the same age as him who were all working towards the same goal; to debut and become an idol. The more he got into training, the more he realized he loved spending time with his newfound friends and seeing other artists hold amazing performances on stage. By February 2020, Sunghoon had made the decision to quit something he has done for the past 10 years; something he has previously referred to as his “home”, for his new dream and goal to achieve. He finished his last figure skating competition that month and signed off as Park Sunghoon, the figure skater, permanently. He was the 7th best male Korean figure skater at the time.

To say that giving up figure skating for Sunghoon was hard is an understatement; it was difficult for him. This was something he has done for the past 10 years. All his childhood memories and experiences revolved around figure skating, so to see it off at 18 years old was saddening for him. Even so, he did what he had to do; he had a new goal and passion in life, and being the hardworking boy he was, he was gonna do everything he can to achieve that dream. That same year, he joined a survival show with 22 other boys for a chance to be part of the K-pop group, Enhypen. There, Sunghoon showed just how capable he was of becoming an amazing artist; he kept leaving the coaches in shock with his improvement, he received nothing but high praise from artists who observed him, and he got along well with all the boys in spite of them being his rivals. One anecdote worth mentioning from the show was when they were nearing the end, the producers surprised the 9 boys left with handwritten messages from their family, since they haven’t seen them in months. Now, Sunghoon isn’t the most emotional person; he can easily conceal his feelings without it showing on his face. Yet the second he started reading the letter his mom wrote to him, he burst into tears, which shocked everyone around him. The letter talked about how this was the first time she’s been apart from Sunghoon, how much she misses him, and how she’s happy seeing him happy with what he’s doing. At the end, she mentioned how she’s sure his dream will come true. What do you know, she ended up being right! Sunghoon placed 6th overall at the show’s finale and earned a spot in Enhypen.

Enhypen went off to become a hit once they officially debuted in the industry. As of 2023, the group has sold at least 9.3 million records with only 6 extended plays, 1 studio album, and 1 album repackage. They’ve also won various awards and recognitions, such as 7 Rookie of the Year awards, the Best Performance Award, and 14 music show wins. The group was also announced as one of Prada’s Global Ambassadors last year. Of course, Sunghoon has had the chance to shine on his own every once in a while, whenever the opportunity comes up. From October 2021 to September 2022, he was the master of ceremonies for one of South Korea’s music shows, Music Bank by KBS Entertainment. He’s also attained brand deals with other luxurious brands such as Tiffany&Co and Gentle Monster. Recently, he was announced as the solo ambassador and muse for one of Korea and Japan’s leading makeup brands, Hince. He also became a part of a collaboration stage with renowned Korean figure skater Cha Junhwan where they performed on stage, and Sunghoon was able to show a new side of him, cementing his status as the Ice Prince even off the rink.

At an interview in 2022 just before the release of one of Enhypen’s albums, Sunghoon talked about how much he’s grown from his figure skater days to now. He mentioned how he lightened up because he’s finally doing what he’s always wanted to do, and how he’s smiling more often because he gets to be around his members who he already treats like his family. He used to be alone; he previously never had friends his own age, and he was always alone on the ice. Yet now, he has 6 people with him on stage, performing in front of fans who love and admire him, which is a big difference from what he was doing before. He added how before he was closed off and scared to try new things, but in present time, he’s more of a risk taker and more willing to step out of his comfort zone to challenge himself.

Going from an athlete — a figure skater at that — to an idol is a big difference in a person’s career, yet Sunghoon showed us that it was entirely possible. Through his hard work and perseverance, he was able to achieve whatever he put his mind to. Although he’s perfectly happy with being an idol right now, he is still reminiscent of his time as a figure skater, which is perfectly normal and valid since it is something he did for 10 years. He does look back on his experience as a fond memory; even though he doesn’t do figure skating anymore, he’ll always have a “figure skating aura” around him, as quoted by Sunghoon himself. What was once his dream and home is now a precious recollection, something to look back on with a smile while simultaneously working toward achieving his new dreams and goals as a K-pop idol.