Kai (Kim Jong In)

카이    김 종인

EXO   SuperM

As of May 11, 2023 Kai is serving his mandatory military enlistment as a public service worker

Kai began dancing when he was eight years old. He originally did jazz dance, but after watching 'The Nutcracker' he began to train in ballet while in the third grade. He stated that his parents initially wanted him to learn Taekwondo and the piano. He began training in hip-hop after joining S.M. Entertainment.

Kai graduated from the School of Performing Arts Seoul in February 2012.

In 2014, during EXO 90:2014 show, Kai stated that he wanted to become a singer after watching Shinhwa.

Kai was the first EXO member to be formally introduced to the public on December 23, 2011. EXO released 23 teasers before debut and Kai was a part of 13 of them. He made his first televised performance alongside fellow EXO members Luhan, Chen and Tao as well as other S.M. Entertainment artists at the year-end music program 'SBS Gayo Daejeon' on December 29, 2011. The group officially debuted in April 2012 and has since gained significant popularity and commercial success.

In October 2012, Kai participated in the promotional group Younique Unit alongside labelmates Eunhyuk, Henry, Hyoyeon, Taemin and Luhan. The group released a single titled "Maxstep" as part of the collaboration between S.M. Entertainment and Hyundai. Later in December 2012, he joined the dance group S.M. The Performance, along with fellow member Lay, TVXQ's Yunho, Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Donghae, SHINee's Minho and Taemin. The group first made its appearance at the event 'SBS Gayo Daejeon' on December 29th, and performed their single "Spectrum". The single was officially released the next day.

In August 2014, Kai was featured in the song "Pretty Boy" from SHINee member Taemin's debut album.

In January 2016, he made his official acting debut as the male lead in the web drama 'Choco Bank', which achieved record-breaking viewership. In December 2016, he starred in two episodes of the special web drama 'First Seven Kisses' which was produced by Lotte Duty Free.

On August 7, 2019 SM Entertainment announced that a new boy group would be forming that October. The group would be called SuperM and would be promoting in both Korea and the United States. The group consists of SHINee's Taemin, EXO members Baekhyun and Kai, and NCT members Taeyong, Mark, Ten, and Lucas 

On November 11, 2020 Kai took to his social media to inform fans that he would be release his very first solo mini album in a short while. Entitled KAI (开) many fans were excited about the name meaning. The symbol in the title is the Chinese symbol for 'Kai' which means "To Open".