Leeteuk (이특) - SJ's Angelic Leader
Park Jung-su (born July 1, 1983), better known by his stage name Leeteuk, is a Korean pop singer, presenter, and occasional actor. He is the leader of the super boy band Super Junior. To prevent confusion with famous Korean veteran actress Park Jeong-su, he decided to use the name 'Leeteuk'. His stage name literally means "special".
When Leeteuk and his older sister, Park In-young, traveled to Myeongdong for a holiday in early 2000, he was recommended by a talent scout to audition for SM Entertainment's Starlight Casting System, an audition that selects artists to sign under their label. After several test recordings and performances, he signed into SM Entertainment and became the company's trainee. That same year, he had his first quick television appearance as an extra in the MBC Korean drama All About Eve, and appeared as a brief model for Pepsi in 2002. In 2003, Leeteuk was put into a five-member boyband with future bandmate Donghae, but the project was quickly dropped. They were then put into the large rotational group Super Junior along with ten other boys. Older than the other trainees, Leeteuk became the leader of the group.[1]
On November 6, 2005, Leeteuk officially debuted on SBS's Popular Songs music program as a member of Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior. The group performed their first single "TWINS (Knock Out)" to an audience of about 500 fans. Leeteuk explained that he uses a stage name due to his desire to have a name with the same effects as Kangta (and to also prevent confusion with veteran actress Park Jeong-su). His stage name denotes being "special" as he wants to be a special member in the group. Leeteuk also became known as the "special leader" (특별한리더) of the group.
Around March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next generation of Super Junior, and Leeteuk would still remain as the leader of Super Junior 06. However, plans changed when the company added a thirteenth member to the group, Kyuhyun, and declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.
During his career with Super Junior, Leeteuk was put into two subgroups, smaller groups that are branched off of the larger Super Junior group. In February 2007, Leeteuk was placed in the trot-singing Super Junior-T. A year later, Leeteuk became a member of Super Junior-Happy.
On April 19, 2007, almost two months after Super Junior-T's release of their first single "Rokuko", Leeteuk became seriously injured in a car accident when returning home after a recording of the radio show Super Junior Kiss the Radio. Along with Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and two managers were also victims. While Shindong and Eunhyuk suffered minor injuries, Leeteuk and Kyuhyun sustained more serious injuries, which required for both to be hospitalised for several more weeks. Leeteuk had glass shards embedded into his back and above his eyes, requiring over 170 stitches in removing most of them.[2][3] Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007.
Due to this injury, Leeteuk's role in Super Junior's first big-screen production, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys (2007) was cancelled. However, it was revealed at the end of the film that he'd taken on the role as the panda mascot, which was later confirmed that it had actually been Ryeowook who'd portrayed the panda in most of the film.
Leeteuk is also praised for his hosting skills and is seen as a rising star in the Korean variety show industry. He has been involved in many variety shows, appearing as permanent guests and also as the MC. Leeteuk and Eunhyuk have been the permanent Radio DJs for KBS Super Junior's Kiss The Radio (SUKIRA) since 2006. The radio show has just recently celebrated its 4th anniversary and is still doing very well. His most notable works currently is his involvement in SBS Star King & Strong Heart. Leeteuk has a strong friendship with fellow gagmen Boom, who appears in the same two shows. Boom has initiated Boom Academy in Strong Heart alongside Leeteuk and Eunhyuk. Boom was enlisted into the army in late 2009 however, and gave Leeteuk along with bandmates Eunhyuk & Shindong the task to continue their comedic work in the show. The three created "Teukigayo" (Teuk Academy), a hilarious segment which has gained lots of support from audiences.
In 2009, Leeteuk was named second as the Most Hardwoking Idol of 2009. The title was given to Leeteuk for his notable hardwork as a Radio DJ, an MC for various shows and as an idol singer, who leads a band of 12 members.
In 2010, Leeteuk was given listed as the new MC for MBC Enjoy Today, replacing Big Bang's Seungri who left to focus on their new album. Leeteuk is also the MC for MBC Love Chaser alongside Yesung.
Leeteuk recently confessed in an interview that he would like to start his 2-year long mandatory military service either at the start of 2012 or the end of 2011. After he finishes with the military he will try his best to reach back to the top again.
Heechul (희철) - SJ's Cinderella
Kim Hee-chul (born July 10, 1983), sometimes mononymously credited as Heechul, is a Korean pop singer, actor, presenter, disc jockey and a member of the popular 13-member, boy band Super Junior.
He was discovered at Starlight Casting System October 2002 where he joined the auditions on a whim with his friends. Even though he was late because of unfamiliar places, he still passed the audition because of his dance. Initially, Heechul was placed in a four-member project group called, "Four Seasons." This group included other members Jaejoong, Yunho, and Kang-in. The prospective group never came through though as both Jaejoong and Yunho were chosen to join another all-male singing group, TVXQ, which debuted in December 2003. With two members gone, the idea of Four Seasons dropped. Heechul and Kang-in were then placed in Super Junior along with ten other trainees under the same company. This project group managed through well and debuted two years later on November 6, 2005 under the name Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior. The initial plan for this group is that members would be continuously cycled in and then fazed out into other projects.
Other activities of Heechul before his official debut include modeling, acting, and VJing. He made his first appearance on TV starring in the teen drama “Banolim 2”.
On November 6, 2005, Kim Heechul officially debuted as part of Super Junior 05 on SBS “Inkingayo,” performing the group's first single “TWINS (Knock Out)”. The group was supposed to comprise the first generation of Super Junior. In early 2006, SM Entertainment was beginning to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation, Super Junior 06, where Heechul would still be an undergraduate member. However, plans changed. The company decided to add a thirteenth member, Kyuhyun, and declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix “05″ and became officially credited as Super Junior.
The re-polished group hit it big after it released the first CD single “U” the following summer in 2006. "U" became Super Junior’s most successful single in the music charts until the release of “Sorry, Sorry” in March 2009. However, setbacks occurred for the promotions of “U” in the later half of the year when Heechul suffered a major injury from a car accident that occurred on August 10, 2006.
On August 10, 2006, Heechul was involved in a car accident while heading back to Seoul from Mokpo after attending the funeral of fellow Super Junior member Lee Donghae’s father. The tires malfunctioned while his car attempted to switch lanes. Heechul fractured his left leg in five places, including his femur, knee, and ankle, requiring him to be in surgery for six hours. He also sustained other injuries, including a tear in his tongue which required stitches.
Heechul was advised to stop all activities for a period of twelve weeks. He was released from the hospital on September 13, 2006 but he continued to receive out-patient care. He returned to the hospital to have a second surgery to remove some of the iron rods in his leg on October 10 and briefly returned to work in late October to film the final three episodes of an MBC youth sitcom while still in a cast and on a wheelchair. He made his comeback on November 25 of the same year during the Mnet KM Music Festival (MKMF) Awards but it was only in late December that Heechul officially returned to individual activities such as variety show appearances and hosting appearances.
In 2007, Heechul started to perform regularly despite still having a few rods that the doctors had attached to his leg. In late April and May 2007, he had recovered enough to be able to take part in Super Junior's strenuous dance routines. The remaining rods in his leg were removed in 2008.
Heechul became part of a Super Junior sub-group, Super Junior-T, which debuted on February 23, 2007 with the Trot “teuroteu” single “Rokuko!!!” (65 로꾸거; [RoKuGo (backwards) spelled backwards]).
In 2007, Heechul participated in Super Junior's second album Don't Don, the band's “Super Show” tour, and filmed Super Junior's first movie “Attack on the Pin-Up Boys”.
In 2008, he was active in Super Junior's activities: the visit to Japan, their second photobook “Boys at City Season 2″ (shot in Tokyo) and the “Super Show Encore” concert.
In 2009, Super Junior released their third album Sorry, Sorry, which was released on March 13. Their title song "Sorry Sorry" was immensely popular and claimed #1 positions on all major charts. After the first week of sales, the album topped the Hanteo Chart, with 30,000 copies sold just on its first day of release. As well as this, the song achieved its first #1 on KBS's Music Bank on March 27 - only two weeks after their comeback stage. The song continued to prove it's popularity, winning a total of 5 #1's on Music Bank and a triple crown on SBS's Inkigayo.
The group then released a follow up repackage of their third album called It's You, which was released on May 11. The comeback performance was made on May 17 on SBS's Inkigayo, and on the following week made performances on KBS's Music Bank, where they won their first K-Chart for the song on May 22. The promotions for the song was cut short due to the group's second live concert tour.
On May 13, 2010, Super Junior released their fourth album Bonamana and made a comeback stage on KBS Music Bank on the 14th. The album once again proved the group's popularity, selling over 36,000 copies on its first day of release - more than that of their third album.
On June 28, 2010, Super Junior released their repackaged album with three new tracks - "No Other", "All My Heart", "A Short Journey" - and the remixed version of "Shake It Up!".
Hankyung
(한경) - SJ's Chinese Member
Han Geng (born February 9, 1984), is a Mainland Chinese pop singer and actor well-known for his dance skills and the numerous amounts of charity works he does. At a very young age, Han Geng started to learn dance, and by the age of 12, he was accepted into the dance department of the Central University for Nationalities. He left his family and his hometown in the Northeastern part of China to attend dance school in Beijing. During his years in school, he mastered all 56 types of Chinese traditional dances from the 56 Chinese ethnic groups.[a][2]
In 2001, he was chosen by SM Entertainment to become a member of Korean boy band Super Junior, which debuted in 2005, and the leader of its sub-group Super Junior-M in 2008. On December 21, 2009, Han Geng filed a lawsuit against SME to terminate his contract with SME as he felt the 13 year contract was unlawful and overly restrictive.[3][4]
For his various contributions to the spread of Chinese culture, Han Geng was also chosen to become a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first boy band member in history to hold this role.[5]
Han Geng, an ethnic Nanai from Northeast China, was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China.[6] He attended Guang Hua Elementary School from 1990 to 1996
In December 2001, Han's friend notified him of a talent scouting audition that was going to be held in Beijing, and his friend encouraged Han to sign up with him. Although hesitant at first, Han agreed to audition with his friend. Together they signed up for the H.O.T. CHINA Audition Casting, a casting audition that was hosted by Korean talent agency and label SM Entertainment. The competition rate was 3,000 to 1, and Han had no hopes of getting selected after auditions ended.[2]
After the audition, Han began to work briefly as a cameo actor in short low-budget Chinese films to earn a salary before entering college. In late August 2002, Han was notified that he had been selected by SM Entertainment.[7] After Han's graduation from the Central University for Nationalities, he was sent to South Korea and received private lessons in singing, dancing, acting, and Korean language. By mid 2003, Han had moved into dormitories and lived with other trainees who were under the same label. With the other trainees, he was enrolled in training classes. He started out as a Class C dancer (the lowest class for dancing), but later on he went straight to Class A, skipping Class B. At that time, there were only 4 people in Class A, including Han Geng.[7]
On February 6, 2005, Han was officially announced to be part of one of South Korea's all-boy rotational musical groups, Super Junior, as a member of its first generation, Super Junior 05. Being the first group with a Chinese and foreign member to formally debut in South Korea, the media closely followed the group. Three months later after the announcement, Han made his first media appearance as a runway model in a fashion show organized by Bum Suk.
Han was one of the few members of Super Junior who actively appeared on variety shows, such as being a regular guest in Love Letter and Star Golden Bell. Being active in variety shows, his popularity within Super Junior grew and Han became popular overseas. Aside from South Korea, Han also became well-known in China, where he made guest appearances in different Chinese variety shows, being one of the first K-pop idols to appear in them.[9] Han became a national celebrity in China with the debut of Super Junior's third subgroup Super Junior-M on April 8, 2008 in China. The subgroup released their first Chinese-language studio album, Me, on May 2, 2008. The album debuted on Taiwan's G-music combo charts as #2 and #1 on many of China's and Thailand's music charts.[10]
Han Geng ceased activities with Super Junior after filing for contract termination from SM Entertainment on December 21, 2009.
Yesung (예성) - SJ's Cloud
Kim Jong-woon (born August 24, 1984), better known by his stage name Yesung, is a Korean pop singer and occasional actor. He is one of the four lead vocalists of the boy band Super Junior. He was once a radio host for his own radio program, M.I.R.A.C.L.E for You, which ended its broadcast in September 2007. His stage name Yesung (Hanja: 藝聲) is translated to "art-like voice" and is derived from the phrase "예술가의 성대", meaning "vocal chords of an artist."
On November 6, 2005, Yesung officially debuted on SBS's music program Popular Songs as a member of Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior. The group performed their first single "TWINS (Knock Out)" with an audience of about 500 fans. A full studio album was released a month later, which debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.[1]
In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed when the company added in a thirteenth member, Kyuhyun, and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.
During his career with Super Junior, Yesung was put into two subgroups, smaller groups that are branched off of the larger Super Junior group. In November 2006, Yesung was placed in Super Junior's first subgroup, Super Junior-K.R.Y, a group specializing in singing mournful, R&B ballads. Almost two years later, Yesung became a member of Super Junior-Happy. On May 10, 2008, Yesung was sent to the hospital after he collapsed from running 70 kilometers for a charity marathon. On August 8, Yesung was sent to the hospital again after falling from a 1.5m stage while rehearsing a performance for the KBS music program, Music Bank. The injury severed his old injuries from the neck and waist and Yesung was not treated out of the hospital until two days later.
Yesung alone contributed in the drama OST, Tazza, a highly rated drama which started on September 16, 2008. He sang 사랑참아프다 (Love Really Hurts). This ballad song has been consistently used during the drama itself. He has performed the song live several times, including in the 3rd Anniversary Party of Super Junior.
On November 6, 2009, he replaced Jonghyun of SHINee in their Ring Ding Dong performance due to Jonghyun coming down with the swine flu.
On 2010, Yesung contributed in the drama OST Cinderella's Sister, starring Moon Geun Yeung and Chun Jung Myun and started on March 31, 2010. He sang "너 아니면 안돼"(It Has To Be You). This song is a ballad that tells the story about a man who refused to look for another girl, except for the one he loved. Recently, during the epilogue of Super Junior's 2nd Asia Tour Concert, Super Show 2 Manila, he sang this song live on stage and asked his fans to support his new song. On June 4, 2010, Yesung performed solo for the first time on Music Bank (TV series)with his song, It Has To Be You, a highly rated song on the music chart on Music Bank.
And this upcoming December 29, Yesung together with Luna of f(x)_(band), will contribute in the drama OST "President". They will release the song entitled 'Loving You'. This song is expected to gain affection and support from public.
Kim Young-woon (born January 17, 1985), better known by his stage name Kang-in, is a Korean pop singer, actor, MC,presenter, and a member of the super boy band Super Junior. His name 'Kang-in' (Hanja: 強仁), meaning strong benevolence, was given to him to complement his personality. Currently, Kang-in will not be joining Super Junior for their fourth album. Kangin officially enlisted and began his two year military service on July 5, 2010.
Kang-in was scouted by a talent agent and was recommended to sign up for S
M Entertainment's talent competitions. In 2002, Kang-in won first place on the fourth annual SM Youth Best Contest and won the best outward appearance award and signed a contract with SM Entertainment.
Along with Hero, U-Know and future band mate Heechul, SM Entertainment placed them in a small project music group called Four Seasons, with each of the four members representing the four seasons of the year. The prospective group never came through; both Hero and U-Know were chosen to join another all-male singing group TVXQ, which debuted in December 2003. With two members gone, the idea of Four Seasons dropped. Kang-in and Heechul were then placed in Super Junior along with ten other trainees under the same company. This project group managed through well, and they debuted two years later in November 6, 2005 under the name Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.
In early 2006, SM Entertainment was beginning to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation, Super Junior 06, with Kang-in still as an undergraduate member of Super Junior. However, plans changed when the company added in a thirteenth member Kyuhyun, and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit it big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer in 2006, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.
During his career with Super Junior, Kang-in was put into two subgroups, smaller groups that is branched off of the larger Super Junior group. In February 2007, he was placed in the trot-singing Super Junior-T. A year later, he became a member of Super Junior-Happy.
