New K-pop singer Geonroung Park is proud to be the Baby Shark boy - now he wants to share his own voice with the world.
Park, 17, was the boy who starred in the viral YouTube video, performing the hand movements to a children’s song about a family of sharks.
Despite having a slow start, Baby Shark Dance took off in 2017 due to the #BabySharkChallenge in Indonesia and a host of K-pop stars, including Blackpink and Girls’ Generation, performing the shark moves on television.
Baby Shark Dance is now the most-watched video in YouTube’s history, having achieved 17.2 billion views, and has been number one on the platform's global chart for 69 consecutive months.
Park is now launching his own music career - he never actually performed the lyrics in the video - and is using the name Baby Shark Boy because he never wants to disassociate himself from his past.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he said: "To me, being the Baby Shark boy isn’t a past I want to leave behind.
"[I do want to] gradually find my own style as an artist.
"Ten years ago, I was dancing next to Baby Shark. Now, I want to share my own voice and the stories I’ve written myself."
Park was seven when he filmed the Baby Shark Dance video a decade ago, and he remembers it being a really fun day.
He said: "I just remember having fun dancing and playing on what felt like a huge set."
Despite starring in the viral video, Park insists his school friends treated him the same as everyone else, but did think he was "cool" for appearing in it.
Following the success of Baby Shark Dance, the Pinkfong Company turned Baby Shark into a global franchise of TV shows, films, toys and merchandise.
