Hongjoong홍중홍중
Hongjoong (홍중) is the leader of ATEEZ, the eight-member KQ Entertainment group. He has worked on the group's songs since their debut album, and on the 2026 GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5 he and Mingi are credited on the lyrics of every track.
Hongjoong (홍중) is the leader of ATEEZ. He debuted with the group under KQ Entertainment on 24 October 2018, and Star News wrote that he has worked on many of their songs since the debut album, showing his skills as a producer. On GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, the group’s third Billboard 200 number one, he and Mingi are credited on the lyrics of every track. A year earlier, on GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3, the two wrote the lyrics to the title track ‘Lemon Drop’ and three B-sides, according to Korea Times.
According to Star News, ‘Sagittarius’, which Wooyoung released on 21 February 2025, was written and composed by Hongjoong as a gift to him. He also worked on the lyrics, composition and arrangement of Yeosang’s ‘Legacy’ and Yunho’s ‘Slide to me’.
His own solo song is ‘NO1’, on the July 2025 repackage GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 ‘In Your Fantasy Edition’. He wrote and composed it himself, and its video went up on ATEEZ’s official YouTube channel on 27 December 2025. MBN Star reported that he took the DJ booth himself for his solo stage on that year’s IN YOUR FANTASY world tour.
On 7 November 2023 he released ‘A Walker’, a song he wrote and composed, on YouTube. Around the same time a photo exhibition of his own pictures, Walker A, ran until 9 November, and Edaily reported that the admission proceeds would be donated in full. On 11 March 2024 he featured on ‘EENIE MEENIE’, the title track of CHUNG HA’s single. In February 2025 he sang Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ with his own lyrics for his personal content series BY. HONGJOONG. On 11 September 2026 Star News reported that ‘ENOuGH (w/Bazzi)’, a collaboration with the American singer-songwriter Bazzi, would be released on the 18th.
At the GOLDEN HOUR : Part.4 press conference on 5 February 2026, Hongjoong described the album as “the first album we release this year and the first we present since renewing our contracts”, adding, “I’m nervous, but the excitement is bigger” (Kookmin Ilbo). Speaking to Malaysia’s The Star before the Kuala Lumpur show on 22 March, he said there was no hesitation about renewing, because all the members shared one goal: to continue their journey with ATINY.
The ‘NO1’ video is on ATEEZ’s official YouTube channel. The ATEEZ guide sets out the order of the albums he has written for.
Credited on the writing of every track on GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5
Electronic Times named him and Mingi as the members who worked on the writing across the album.
Explainer · Read the storyKQ Entertainment
ATEEZ (에이티즈) are an eight-member boy group under KQ Entertainment, who debuted on 24 October 2018 with the mini album Treasure EP.1: All To Zero. Three of their albums have entered the Billboard 200 at number one, most recently GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5 in July 2026.
'BAD' is the title track of ATEEZ's fourteenth mini album GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, released 26 June 2026 and described by Korea Herald as a Brazilian funk-inspired dance track. A remix relay and a Japanese-language version, out 29 July 2026, followed.
ATEEZ released the EP "GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5" on 26 June 2026, and San's move late in title track 'BAD' spread through short-form video. SPOTV NEWS reported 'BAD' entered Melon's daily chart top 100 on 6 July, a first for the group, and reached number 18 on 20 July.
On 10 July 2025 KQ Entertainment said it had completed seven-year contract renewals with all eight ATEEZ members. Two albums have followed under that agreement: GOLDEN HOUR : Part.4 in February 2026 and GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5 in June 2026.
ATEEZ received the grand prize Icon of the Year and Artist of the Year at the 2026 THE FACT MUSIC AWARDS in Busan on 19 September 2026. Single List recorded it as the group's eighth grand prize.
ATEEZ's fourteenth mini album GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, released 26 June 2026, entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 on the chart dated 5 July 2026 with 228,000 units, Star News reported. It is the group's third No. 1 on that chart.
A guide to ATEEZ in eight steps: the eight members as KQ Entertainment's renewal statement names them, what the group's name and ATINY stand for, the album series from 2018 to GOLDEN HOUR : Part.5, and the three Billboard 200 number ones as of July 2026.
