Park Cho-rong

Biography

Park Cho-rong (Korean: 박초롱; born March 3, 1991), better known mononymously as Chorong, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actress. She is best known as the leader of the South Korean girl group Apink.

Early life

Park Cho-rong was born in Cheongju, South Korea on March 3, 1991. She is a middle child, having an older and a younger sister. As a daughter of a Hapkido master and academy owner, Park was trained in the said martial art for eight years. She trained from her first year in elementary school until her third year of junior high; she holds a third degree black belt. During her school days, Park attended Byungsul Kindergarten, Bukang Elementary School, Bukang Middle High School, and Choongbook High School.
Park auditioned for JYP Entertainment's fifth official audition in 2009 where she successfully made it to the final round. However, she was eventually eliminated, and afterwards, joined Cube Entertainment as a trainee before transferring to A Cube Entertainment, formerly an independent label under Cube Entertainment now known as IST Entertainment.

2011–present: Apink

In February 2011, Park was announced as the second member and leader of Apink. Prior to the announcement, she appeared at the end of Beast's "Shock" Japanese version music video. Before her debut with Apink, Park, together with the rest of the Apink members, took part in the filming of Apink News which was the group's pre-debut reality show. On April 19, 2011, Apink released its first single "Mollayo" and on April 21, Park debuted as a member of Apink on Mnet's M! Countdown performing their songs "Mollayo", and "Wishlist" which were included on their debut EP Seven Springs of Apink.
On April 28, 2023, IST Entertainment announced that Park did not renew her contract with the company but will still be part of the group. On the same day, Park signed an exclusive contract with Choi Creative Lab.
On July 2, 2024, Park released her first digital single "모르시나요".

2011–present: Acting career

Park started her acting career by appearing on the 2010 sitcom All My Love playing a character named Chorong, following the departure of Brown Eyed Girls' Gain. She then made a cameo appearance on Reply 1997 as the teenage version of Lee Il-Hwa, the mother of the lead role Sung Shi-won (played by Jung Eun-ji) along with her fellow Apink member Yoon Bo-mi. Park had her first leading role in the romantic comedy Plus Nine Boys as Han Soo-ah, a popular but mysterious high-school girl; a character opposite to BtoB's Yook Sungjae's character. In 2017, she starred on Naver TV Cast's web drama Special Law of Romance alongside Kim Min-kyu and VIXX's Hyuk.