Jungkook was born in Busan, South Korea, on September 1, 1997 and has an older brother named Jeon Jung-hyun (전정현).

Jungkook once auditioned for Superstar K but was eliminated. After the audition, Jungkook was targeted by many agencies, but he chose Big Hit Entertainment (now renamed Hybe Corporation) after seeing RM rap. Jungkook was greatly inspired by G-Dragon, a member of the boy group Big Bang, thanks to the song Heartbreaker.

Jungkook once sung Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez's duet song, We Don't Talk Anymore, which he sang in 2 versions, namely the solo and duet version with Jimin.