Korean-American Bernard Park has been crowned the winner of popular singing competition program “Survival Audition K-pop Star 3.”

The soulful ballad singer sealed the deal with his performance of Yoo Jae-ha’s 1980s ballad hit “Because I Loved You” and R. Kelly’s “I Believe I can Fly” in the season finale on Sunday. He beat out fellow Korean-American competitor Sam Kim, who performed a self-rendition of Big Bang’s “Liar” and Sting’s “Englishman in New York.” 

Along with a cash prize of 300 million won ($289,800) and two brand new vehicles, the 21-year-old Park has also been guaranteed a contract to train and debut under one of the show’s three participating agencies: YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Antenna Music.

Park chose to sign with JYP Entertainment, saying, “I still have so much that I need to learn and I think that judge Park Jin-Young (CEO of JYP) will be able to teach me the best.”

Brother-sister acoustic duo Akdong Musican ― last season’s winner ― recently released its debut studio album “Play” under YG Entertainment and topped all the local real-time charts while season one winner Park Ji-min returned to the spotlight this week as part of duo 15& with the chart-topping single “Can’t Hide It.”

Although there have been rumors circulating that “K-pop Star” will continue into its fourth season, no official announcement has been made regarding the show’s future.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)