ShinHwa

Summary: Shinhwa debuted on March 24, 1998.  The members are Eric, MinWoo, Dongwan, HyeSung, JunJin, and Andy.  While the band started off in SM Entertainment, in 2003, they left the company and moved to Good Entertainment.  The members have done their own solos, as well as ventured into acting and creating their own boy band, Battle, who crawled in a hole and died. Find the group’s discography here.

 

Shinhwa was one our first bands.  We really got into them after hearing their songs “Once In a Lifetime” and “Brand New.”  While we’ve kind of ignored their older stuff, we do like “eusha eusha,” especially after watching a live where Shinhwa realized they couldn’t keep up with their younger songs.  We don’t really watch a lot of videos with them (though we love seeing X-Man every so often for memories), and we only watch the music videos once, maybe twice.  We love Run, and we love every comeback they’ve done since getting out of the military to blow the rookies out of the water.

Member Profiles

Eric Mun

Birth Name: Eric Mun JungHyuk
Birth Date: February 16, 1979
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Two older sisters, one older brother, parents
Facts:

• Enjoys playing instruments and listening to music
• Grew up in Fullerton, California
• Can play clarinet and saxophone

MinWoo (M)

Birth Name: Lee MinWoo
Birth Date: July 28, 1979
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Older sister, older brother, younger brother, parents
Facts:

• Is known for being a player
• Last to go into the military
• Had to pay off his family’s debt
• Find his solo discography here.

DongWan

Birth Name: Kim DongWan
Birth Date: November 27, 1979
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: parents
Facts:

• Can play guitar and piano
• Admitted to getting plastic surgery after a nose injury
• Has done acting
• Find his solo discography here.

HyeSung

Birth Name: Jung PilKyo
Birth Date: November 27, 1979
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Younger brother, parents
Facts:

• English name is Steve Jung
• Lived in the U.S.
• Didn’t go into the military due to a leg injury
• Find his solo discography here.

JunJin

Birth Name: Park ChoongJae
Birth Date: August 19 1980
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Younger sister, younger brother, parents
Facts:

• Went to high school with HwangBo
• Has a tattoo on his back
• His hobby is exercising
• Find his solo discography here.

Andy

Birth Name: Lee SunHo (English Name is Jason)
Birth Date: January 21, 1981
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Older sister, parents
Facts:

• Enjoys volleyball, basketball, dancing
• Has ventured into acting
• SM Entertainment persuaded him to change his English name to Andy before debut
• During fourth album promotions, Andy was not present. It is said it was because he had tried to commit suicide, so he was sent to back to the U.S. to rest
• The only member to go into active duty for his military service
• Find his solo discography here.

Child of Empire (ZE:A)

Summary: Child of Empire (from here on referred to as ZE:A) debuted on January 15, 2010.  There are nine members, and are: Kevin, KwangHee, SiWan, JunYoung, TaeHeon, HeeChul, MinWoo, HyungSik, and DongJun.  Originally, they were being marketed as a “male Girl’s Generation,” mostly because they have the same amount of members as SNSD.  Within 24 hours after their debut, they reached number one on music charts, and even before debut received a lot of attention.  In September of 2010, they made their Japanese debut.

ZE:A holds a special place in my heart as one of the bands that debuted during our time in Korea.  Even though they technically debuted while Velexa and I were visiting home for winter break, we still got to see them at the Spring 2010 Dream Concert and since we were sitting in ZE:A’s fan club section, we got waved at by either DongJun or JunYoung (the fan club, not us specifically).  We love KwangHee for his honesty (not like he could lie and say he didn’t get plastic surgery), and Kevin stuck out to us simply because he shared his name with U-KISS’ Kevin.  While Velexa knows and can identify all the members pretty well, I’m still working on it.

Member Profiles

Kevin

Birth Name: Kim Ji Yeop
Birth Date: February 23, 1988
Birth Place: Born in South Korea but raised in Australia
Family: Younger sister, Parents
Facts:

• Fluent in English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese
• Starts speaking English when things gets unreasonable
• Loves to shop on the internet
• Considered the mom of the group

KwangHee

Birth Name: Hwang KwangHee
Birth Date: August 25, 1988
Birth Place: South Korea
Family: Younger sister, parents
Facts:

• Likes impersonating Jo Kwon; is a Jo Kwon fanboy
• Admitted to having plastic surgery
• Likes tennis and scuba diving
• Good at cooking
• Fluent in English

SiWan

Birth Name: Im WoongJae
Birth Date: December 1, 1988
Birth Place: Busan, South Korea
Family: Older sister, parents
Facts:

• Can play violin
• Likes snowboarding and skiing
• KwangHee is his best friend
• Is a self-proclaimed fashionista
• One of his hobbies is shopping for food

JunYoung

Birth Name: Moon JunYoung
Birth Date: February 9, 1989
Birth Place: Hongdae, South Korea
Family: Parents
Facts:

• Enjoys soccer, bowling, and running
• Fell after a shower in 2010 and had to get surgery on a fractured cheekbone
• Often compared to DBSK’s YooChun
• Made an appearance on Mnet’s show “Pretty Boy”
• Likes to imitate their boss
• Enjoys watching movies
• Considered the father of the group

TaeHeon

Birth Name: Kim TaeHeon
Birth Date: June 18, 1989
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: Older sister (parents deceased)
Facts:

• Both his parents passed away from cancer when he was younger. His only close family member is his sister.
• Can beatbox
• Enjoys watching movies and dramas
• Talks to HeeChul while sleeping
• Does a lot of aegyo
• One of his hobbies is exercising
• Main rapper
• Has said his ideal girl is SNSD’s SeoHyun

HeeChul

Birth Name: Jung HeeCheol
Birth Date: December 9, 1989
Birth Place: Jeju, South Korea
Family: Two younger brother, parents
Facts:

• He was worried about burdening his parents, so he once stayed in Seoul alone and worked part time
• His idol is DBSK
• Loves to read
• Like TaeHeon, he talks in his sleep.
• Ran away from home more than once when he was younger
• Has temper issues
• Used to smoke, but Star Empire made him quit. He used to cry for days because Star Empire would scold him for smoking.

MinWoo

Birth Name: Ha MinWoo
Birth Date: September 6, 1990
Birth Place: Yangsan, South Korea
Family: Older sister, parents
Facts:

• Considered the “dancing machine” of the group
• He was formerly a JYP trainee, but decided to stay with Star Empire Entertainment because his friends were there.
• Used to be a back up dancer for VOS
• Loves photography
• Wants to visit Jeju
• If he wasn’t a singer, he’d want to be a dance instructor
• One of the skinniest in the group; he envies Kevin and DongJun’s muscular appearance.

HyungSik

Birth Name: Park HyungSik
Birth Date: November 16, 1991
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: Older brother, parents
Facts:

• Likes playing tricks on the older members and getting away with it using an innocent face.
• Tallest in the group
• JunYoung calls him a spoiled kid, his parents used to do everything for him
• Dubbed the member who eats the most
• Favorite artist is Park HyoShin
• Enjoys drawing

DongJun

Birth Name: Kim DongJun
Birth Date: February 11, 1992
Birth Place: Busan, South Korea
Family: Older brother, parents
Facts:

• Called “Number 1 Scary maknae (youngest)”
• Known as the “male Han GaIn”
• Shortest in the group, along with SiWan
• He thinks even though he’s still young, he’s stopped growing
• He’ll mimic a story as he’s telling it
• Is afraid of dogs
• Good at football

SS501

Summary: SS501, pronounced Double S Oh Kong Il (Double S 501), debuted on June 8, 2005.  Their name stands for Superstar Singer Five Members United as One.  The members consist of HyunJoong, JungMin, KyuJong, YoungSaeng, and HyungJoon.  In 2010, their contract expired from DSP Entertainment and the members have moved on to other management companies, but HyunJoong, the leader, stated they have not disbanded.  Since their disbandment separation in 2010, the members have been pursuing solo careers.

It’s hard to remember exactly what our first impressions were, as we got into SS501 very soon after DBSK and Super Junior in 2006.  I can say I added in the pronunciation so you don’t do what we did, and call them “S-S-5-0-1” instead of “Double S 501.”  I, for some reason, really loved YoungSaeng, and Velexa loved JungMin (for good reason).  I’ve since shifted my bias from YoungSaeng to HyungJoon/JungMin.  HyungJoon because I love his brother (Kim KiBum, a former member of U-KISS), and JungMin because well… It’s JungMin.  He’s damn sexy.  We used to think JungMin was the gayest thing on this side of the universe (In a completely good way), but have come to realize Charisma Horse JungMin has been over-charisma’d by newer idols such as Jo Kwon and Diva Key.  This does not make us love JungMin any less, because it’s damn impossible not to love JungMin.  To make this less JungMin-centered, we do like all their solos, and we both agree HyunJoong is not a good actor.

Member Profile

HyunJoong

Birth Name: Kim HyunJoong
Birth Date: June 6, 1986
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: Brother, parents
Solo Discography
Facts:

• Dropped out of school to pursue music, but returned after debut and in 2011 began attending college
• His favorite snack is spicy ramen
• He doesn’t have a twitter because he thinks it’s too difficult to figure out
• His first kiss was in sixth grade
• He is not a morning person, he also only gets about four hours of sleep a night
• Loves apple juice and dislikes tomato juice
• Questions if aliens will come in 2012
• He can play drums, guitar, piano, bass, castanets, and triangle
• Started to walk at nine months old
• Likes going fishing
• Finds the word “미쳐 (crazy)” to be very funny
• Likes to eat samgyupsal (three layered meat) by eating the rice and meat first, then eating the lettuce.

YoungSaeng

Birth Name: Heo YoungSaeng
Birth Date: November 3, 1986
Birth Place: Jeollabuk, South Korea
Family: Parents
Solo Discography
Facts:

• Was originally a trainee in SM Entertainment
• Gets an average of four-six hours of sleep a night
• His favorite vegetable is cabbage
• The first album he ever purchased was H.O.T.
• Likes fried chicken, dislikes seafood
• He frequently thinks of aliens

KyuJong

Birth Name: Kim KyuJong
Birth Date: February 24, 1987
Birth Place: Jeollabuk, South Korea
Family: Younger sister, parents
Solo Discography
Facts:

• All he seems to think about is food.
• Is a very light sleeper
• Doesn’t like carbonated drinks
• One of the biggest HyunJoong fans
• When he debuted for SS501, he had already decided it was going to be his last audition
• His favorite artist is Bi (Rain)
• He’s always the first to wake up
• He is afraid of dogs
• His parent’s married without his grandparents approval; KyuJong wants to marry a girl his parents agree with
• His favorite vegetable is onion
• Can cook Korean Chicken Soup and barbeque well. He’s also good at cooking curry
• His dad was a national archer

JungMin

Birth Name: Park JungMin
Birth Date: April 3, 1987
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: Older brother, Older sister, parents
Solo Discography
Facts:

• When SS501 was sharing a dorm, he would sleep alone because he had the messiest room
• Is fast in learning foreign languages
• His favorite vegetable is cucumbers
• Can play drums, bamboo flute,  castanet, triangle, clarinet
• His best subjects were science, social studies, and Hanja.  His worst subject is math.
• Cannot be without his hand cream, accessories, and socks
• Self-proclaimed himself as the “sexy charisma” of SS501
• Absolutely loves carrots
• He hits people who try to wake him up.

HyungJoon

Birth Name: Kim HyungJoon
Birth Date: August 3, 1987
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: Younger brother, parents (divorced)
Solo Discography
Facts:

• The most immature according to the other members
• Is bullied by the other members, especially JungMin
• Will insert random English words into conversations
• His younger brother is Kim KiBum, a former member of U-KISS
• Often quarrels with JungMin, they’re compared to Tom and Jerry
• Lived in Melborne, Australia for two years
• Considered the baby of SS501 because of his age and character
• Runs a business with his brother called HnB Company

Teen Top

Teen Top debuted July 9, 2010 with their cong Clap.  The band consists of six members, CAP, ChunJi, L.Joe, Niel, Ricky and ChangJo.  All the members use a stage name.  Niel and ChunJi are the main singers and as they’ve released more songs, the other members have finally been allowed to sign and showcase their talents a little more each time.  CAP and L.Joe are the rappers, though CAP raps more.  For their discography click here and go look under MV Reviews for more of my fan girly rants.

When this band came out, only one of them was legal, now they’re slowing shifting up the rungs out of jailbait, but not yet.  I fell in love with Niel because of his voice and his lips, then CAP and his wannabe intensity.  It wasn’t until their second and third music video that I started noticing ChunJi and he’s come up to rival Niel sometimes with those winks and lip touches.  I’m a hardcore Tee Top fan; so expect music video review on them whenever they release anything new.

Member Profiles

CAP (캡)

Real Name: Bang Min Soo (방민수)
Birth Date: November 4, 1992
Position: Leader, Charisma Rapper
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 61kg
Hobbies: Design, drawing and exercise
Specialty: Writing lyrics and rapping
Education: Seongname Information Industry High School
Facts:

• Interested in design, likes doing graffiti
• Has three tattoos
• Doesn’t like leading a band of people younger than him, he thinks he’s too young already

ChunJi (천지)

 

Real Name: Lee Chan Hee (이찬희)
Birth Date: October 5, 1993
Position: Power Voice
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 53kg
Hobbies: Puzzles, reading
Specialty: Imitations
Education: Seongji Middle School
Facts:

• Likes doing puzzles (1000 piece ones)
• Would choose a sexy over a cute noona
• Wants to play Zac Efron’s role in “High School Musical”
• Ideal girl is SNSD Yuri

L.Joe (엘조)

Real Name: Lee Byung Hun (이병헌)
Birth Date: November 23, 1993
Position: Bad Boy Rapper
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 50kg
Hobbies: Acting
Specialty: Piano, violin, music composition, English
Education: Korea Arts High School
Facts:

• Would choose a sexy over cute noona
• His role model is Big Bang’s GDragon
• His mother lives in the United States
• Stayed up until 3AM to compose a birthday song for Niel
• L. Joe stands for Lee (his last name) and Joe (his English name)
• Ideal woman is HyunA, who is his senior at school
• Lived in California for 5 years

Niel (니엘)

Real Name: Ahn Daniel (안 다니엘)
Birth Date: August 16, 1994
Position: Emotional Vocal
Height: 177 cm
Weight: 54kg
Hobbies: Music appreciation
Specialty: Football
Education: Heungjin High School
Facts:

• Relieves stress by tormenting Ricky
• Loves to watch and play soccer
• Looked up to Se7en as a child
• Roommates with Ricky since they are the loudest members

Ricky (리키)

Real Name: Yoo Chang Hyun (유창현)
Birth Date: February 27, 1995
Position: Lovely Vocal
Height: 172cm
Weight: 55kg
Hobbies: Movies Appreciation, piano
Specialty: Acting
Education: Namgang Middle School
Facts:

• Likes sci-fi and action movies
• Likes playing board games like Monopoly
• Shares a room with Niel because they’re the loudest members

ChangJo (창조)

Real Name: Choi Jong Hyun (최종현)
Birth Date: November 16, 1995
Position: Dancing Boy
Height: 177 cm
Weight: 58kg
Hobbies: Choreography composition, music appreciation
Specialty: Self-defense
Education: ChunCheon Middle School
Facts:

• The first time he saw Niel he thought he looked like a Simpson
• Looks up to Big Bang’s Taeyang as a dancer
• His childhood dream was to become a bodyguard
• ChangJo means “to create” because he wants to create a new world through his dancing

SHINee

Debuted on May 28, 2008 with their song “Noona is so Pretty (Replay).”  They started the “SHINee trend” with skinny jeans, high top sneakers, and brightly colored shirts.  By the release of their first album, they reach number eight on the charts. The members, in age order, consist of Onew, JongHyun, Key, MinHo, and TaeMin.  You can find their discography here.

 

Although I (Redeim) collected their music when they first debuted, I refused to get into them.  When they debuted, all I knew was they had a member still in middle school. Being in college, I avoided learning the members like the plague.  As it turns out, Onew and I are born in the same year; and JongHyun is literally one day younger (if not hours because of the time difference between here and Korea) than Velexa.  Around the time of Summer/Fall 2009, I finally learned the SHINee members, Velexa already knowing them.  Originally, we denied JongKey and supported JongYu.  We don’t know what we were smoking.  Although we are happy TaeMin is now legal, he is forever the first one to cause us to be pedos (I cannot begin to express how happy we are that TaeMin is legal), and therefore forever underaged.

Member Profiles

Onew

Birth Name: Lee JinKi
Birth Date: December 14, 1989
Birth Place: Gyeonggi, South Korea
Family: parents
Facts:

• Loves chicken
• Was #2 in his school
• TaeMin has said Onew is strange when he’s serious, because he’s always smiling
• Wears glasses during dancing rehersals
• Was diagnosed with Swine Flu
• The fact that Onew was older than JongHyun made JongHyun happy
• Onew’s childhood goal was to be a scientist
• Doesn’t like other people calling him by his real name
• Works hard to lose weight
• Onew wrote the lyrics to “Your Name” in the Lucifer album
• Is not the type of guy who likes to approach a girl
• Loves imitating Donald Duck
• Is scared of hurting kids, so he doesn’t like going near them
• Has something the other members call “Onew Condition.” It involves crashing into random things, tripping over your own feet, craving chicken, or making lame jokes. Originally thought Onew was doing it on purpose, JongKey confirmed it’s just Onew’s natural self.
• Has branched out into musicals and MCing

JongHyun

Birth Name: Kim JongHyun
Birth Date: April 8, 1990
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: older sister, parents
Facts:

• Loves his nickname “Bling Bling”
• Will talk quickly when he gets nervous, but since he talks so much, no one notices
• He chats with TaeMin everyday when he gets home
• “The luckiest day? For me, it was the day I met Key.”
• Believes there is no shortcut to perfection, will work hard and is known to miss sleep because he was trying to perfect something.
• Was in a band in high school
• Proficient in guitar, bass, and piano
• Wakes up the earliest in the dorm, then Key, Onew, TaeMin, and MinHo
• Is nicknamed “Dinosaur” and is “dinosaur siblings” with Super Junior’s DongHae and F(x)’s Amber
• Able to digest English and Korean songs well
• Known to fall asleep with his eyes open. Key complained he never knows when JongHyun is mad at him when they’re in the car because he’ll try talking and JongHyun won’t respond; and it was because JongHyun was sleeping
• Doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle
• Key has said it’s not that JongHyun cries a lot, he just cries properly after he starts once
• Wrote the lyrics for Juliette and 욕 (Obsession), and contributed to Up&Down,  and 악 (Shout Out!).

Key

Birth Name: Kim KiBum
Birth Date: September 23, 1991
Birth Place: Daegu, South Korea
Family: parents
Facts:

• When nervous, his voice changes to a higher pitch
• Key passed the physical for the military service in October 2010 and received a 1^st grade
• Loved the story of Rapunzel when he was younger
• He would love to work forever, he’s a workaholic.
• His first love was in elementary school. They’re still friends
• Gets angry when the other members don’t eat food he prepared
• Key’s favorite color is pink, recently, he especially loves coral pink
• Hates carrots
• Most proficient at Japanese
• Enjoys drawing/painting
• JongHyun and Onew were originally intimidated by Key because he didn’t smile a lot
• When he gets excited about something, his Daegu dialect comes out
• He never treated SNSD as girls
• He and JongHyun listen to Justin Beiber
• JongHyun chose Key as the member he’d bring with him to a deserted island
• Key wears contacts
• His family was really against him becoming a singer
• Is allergic to ice
• When asked who nags more than their own moms, even Key chose himself
• He can learn a dance move after only seeing it once.
• His hairstyle for Lucifer was thought up a year before the concept would actually fit it.
• Fans will often give him keys as gifts. One time, he got keys to a car, but the fan didn’t tell him where the car was.

MinHo

Birth Name: Choi MinHo
Birth Date: December 9, 1991
Birth Place:  Incheon, South Korea
Family: older brother, parents
Facts:

• If he doesn’t have any missed calls or messages when he wakes, he gets disappointed
• Was always late to class in high school
• Can never sit in one place and study
• Would rather people make the decision because he fears people won’t like the decision he makes
• Felt honored his first dating rumor was with DBSK’s ChangMin
• Had a girlfriend in elementary school
• Key bought him One Piece merchandise while they were in Japan
• He won a car during Dream Team
• Is the neatest when it comes to packing
• He’s the worst in the band at speaking Japanese
• He feels awkward when he’s not with SHINee
• He sleeps the most
• SHINee’s manager, KyeongShik’s, favorite member is MinHo because he listens the best
• He’s very cautious about what he says, so he doesn’t talk a lot
• Has high standards, normally when they’re watching girl groups, he’ll just say they sort of look pretty.
• Works out regularly
• During their trainee days, MinHo used to show his friends pictures of TaeMin and ask them is he was cute
• He composes most of his own raps

TaeMin

Birth Name: Lee TaeMin
Birth Date: July 18, 1993
Birth Place: Seoul, South Korea
Family: older brother, parents
Facts:

• Always loses things when he starts a collection, so he doesn’t collect anything
• MinHo and JongHyun think even though Key will get married first, TaeMin will have a baby first
• TaeMin is so forgetful; the other members hid his cell phone. He spent a long time looking for it
• His teacher once told him he wasn’t very bright, but was hard-working
• If he doesn’t eat rice, no matter how much he eats, he’ll feel as if he ate nothing
• Thanks to JongHyun and MinHo, he now likes to exercise
• TaeMin thought the name of the restaurant TGI Fridays stood for “Today’s Great Item”
• Always hungry in the middle of the night, he’ll often wake up one of his members and ask them to cook for him.
• He has poor eyesight
• He used to play sports with MinHo, but gave up after MinHo kept beating him.
• He’s saved a cat from getting run over by cars
• He only takes about five minutes to get dressed in the morning
• He has two puppies named Adam and Eve