There’s no doubt that the members of BTS are Jungkook‘s best friends. However, the K-pop star also has a ton of friends outside of the biggest band in the world, and they also happen to be K-pop stars! From ASTRO‘s Cha Eun-woo to GOT7’s Yugyeom, the group is even nicknamed the “97-Liners,” as they’re all born the same year (1997). Keep reading for a guide to the friend group, which K-pop stars are members and more.
Who Are Jungkook’s ’97-Liners’?
Jungkook’s friend group has seven other members, including Cha Eun-woo, GOT7’s Yugyeom and BamBam, SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu, The8 and DK, and NCT’s Jaehyun.
It’s believed that the friend group first got its start after Jungkook and Yugyeom hit it off shortly after they debuted (Jungkook in 2013 and Yugyeom in 2014). From there, the friendship expanded to other K-pop stars born in the year 1997.
The first time this “97 liner” group of friends was revealed to fans was in December 2016, after BamBam posted a selfie at the KBS Song Festival with Yugyeom, The8, DK, Mingyu and Jungkook. Cha Eun-woo joined the friend group a few years later.
Fast forward to 2017, Jungkook spoke about a group chat he’s involved in which included male K-pop idols born in 1997, during BTS’ comeback showcase. At the time, he told fans that he couldn’t tell them the name of his group chat, as it’s “inappropriate” — whatever that means!
One of the sweetest moments between the friend group is when Jungkook wrote a special thank you to his ’97 squad within BTS’ You Never Walk Alone album. In the “thanks to” section of the album, Jungkook wrote, “To my 97-liner friends Yugyeom-ie, Dokyeom-ie, Mingyu, Bam-ie, Myungho, Jaehyun-ie, let’s meet soon and have fun.”
Since then, the ’97 liners are often spotted hanging out, eating out at restaurants together and supporting one another from afar. On top of that, they even have matching Cartier bracelets, which Yugyeom revealed during an interview with Elle Korea. How cute is that?!
One fan wrote on Twitter about the besties: “Crazy how people started this ‘I’ve never seen two pretty best friends” thing, but then the 97 line group came and slapped everyone with not only visuals but also talent and friendship bracelets.”
Click through our gallery for an introduction on each member of Jungkook’s ’97-liners’ friend group.
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