Little Miss Shinhwa Changjo

Mommy bird Syung and his cute maknae xDD

Idol history written by Shinhwa

1. First idol to be a radio DJ: Shinhwa’s Kim Dongwan was the first idol to be a radio DJ! The members prank call made it an absolute blast. 2. First idol to act: Shinhwa was the first actor-dol! Eric was the first idol to be awarded Top Excellence award for Acting.

3. First idols to set up and run an agency: Shinhwa Company co-CEOs Eric and Lee Minwoo! It’s said that Eric even personally studied law for the company. 4. First long-running idol-only variety show: An idol-only variety show that went on for more than 1 year! It was possible because they are the famed variety genius Shinhwa.

5. First idol to be in an open relationship: A relationship is just that, outright open relationship! A true cool guy Eric who simply said he was in a relationship while on a radio show! 6. First shaved hairstyle: Idol shaved hair that was quite the shock back then! When everyone was going for the secretive yet pretty look, he alone went on the path of shaving his hair…

In front of Shinhwa’s name, there’s always the ‘longest-running idol’ phrase attached to it. They debuted in 1998 and this March will be their 19th anniversary. When it turned 2017, the hashtag ‘Shinhwa, happy 20th birthday’ even trended on SNS.

One reason why Shinhwa is respected is because they have spent almost 20 years devoted to one area. But above all, the reason why Shinhwa is an inspiration for so many junior idol groups is because, in such a long period of time, they’ve continued on with their original members and consistently promoted albums. That is how tight and deep their friendship and trust is, and even if they don’t emphasise it, the loyalty shown by the members is strong.

“Our job as Shinhwa and these guys are the pivot that I can rely on and is a source of strength to me. When I do my solo activities, and when I feel tired or uneasy as a man in his late 30s, ultimately it is these guys who I trust the most and rely on. And I think I’m blessed because of that.” (Eric)

Recently, the reuniting of ‘1st generation idols’ who debuted in the same era as Shinhwa is catching the attention of music fans. Sechs Kies signed a contract with YG Entertainment and restarted promotions after 16 years, while S.E.S worked on their reunion with the help of their previous agency SM Entertainment. S.E.S revealed their new song a day apart from Shinhwa, and the meeting of 1st generation idols on the charts is attracting attention.

“In some ways, S.E.S is the closest to us. We were trainees together…we congratulate them on their reunion, and I think it’ll be fun when we meet each other on TV shows. Actually they’re our seniors. If we meet, we’ll go to their waiting room and say hello. Idols nowadays come to us to give us their signature greetings, this time round, we’ll go to them and do it politely. (laughs)” (Shin Hyesung) Apart from that, in the past few years, 1st generation idol groups like god, Click-B, who had disbanded, have reunited and are greeting their fans again. But Shinhwa’s influence as a 1st generation idol group that has steadily promoted till the present, where there are 4th generation idol groups, cannot be disregarded. They have quietly promoted as ‘current idols’, and have become the base for other 1st generation idols to promote once again. They have also shown their juniors how a group should be led. This is why so many junior groups pick Shinhwa as their role models.

Shinhwa’s Eric revealed why he called his members early in the morning.

In an interview conducted recently at a cafe in Gangnam, Seoul, Eric confessed, “I suddenly wanted to verify their love so I called the members at 4am.”

He recalled that time, saying, “Shin Hyesung was the only one who came to my house in the morning and he got a real shock because the members were drunk, spread all over the floor and only in their underwear.” 

Lee Minwoo said, “At that time, Eric suddenly called saying he missed the members. So all of us hauled ourselves to Eric’s house,” Andy added, “It was summer then, and I think that was the first time in a long time a bunch of men were drinking at home in their underwear. It felt good to wake up to the members next to me.” Shin Hyesung said, “When I looked at our group chat in the morning, all hell had broken loose in it. So I went in the morning and the members looked so dazed, like fools.”

- On being longest-running idols: Minwoo: We do feel responsible. But it’s not like we’ll be overly conscious about it. Even when we make our albums, we try not to lose out to our skilled juniors. I always listen to a lot of music, both domestic and international. When creating music or performances, you must always have an open mind. Hyesung: If it was as simple as wanting to hear that we have “been around for a long time”, it would have been difficult to arrive at where we are now. I’m sure there must be groups that are in the same position was we were. Ultimately, it’s possible because there’s a satisfaction we feel on our group promotions. I’m the happiest when the members come together to think about the new music for our next album. It would be difficult if we think, ‘Since we’re the longest-running, we should do something more’. We will continue to do as we have. Dongwan: For male groups, it’s advantageous to be long-running. You can do it as long as you have the will. To be honest, I’m not worried about male groups. But I’m worried about our female juniors. In our country, female groups aren’t able to go on for a long time. There are members who crumble, become depressed and get left out. I hope they don’t lose their original aspirations. It’s like a curse. The desire to act or sing doesn’t go away till you die. It’s a difficult time for female groups but I hope they hang in there.  Minwoo: And I hope SES will be an example.

- On Shinhwa Changjos: Eric: When I see ‘Shinhwa Changjo’ become one through the orange lightsticks at the concert hall, it excites me as well as gives me goosebumps. It’s probably because they have always supported us and given us suggestions. They were once teenagers and now they’ve become mothers and wives, and seeing that, thinking that we spent our 20s together gets me emotional too. Hyesung: We had our first fansign after a really long time. Nowadays, they come with questions written on post-its. While there are cute questions, there are also fans who give us advice on ‘it’ll be good to promote this way’. I felt really encouraged thanks to that. During our concerts too, I was worried if they could take it, having to stand in the mosh pit for such a long time. But they stayed enthusiastic till the end and it made me feel, “We’ve still got it!” I think I received a lot of good energy just before our comeback.

- On Shinhwa’s consideration for each other: Eric: Even during our solo activities, the members work hard for Shinhwa, be it knowingly or not. For example, Hyesung pays attention to the concert, Jinnie takes care of the staff, Dongwan takes care of the members. (Members: We can’t eat without Eric’s side dishes!)

- On being selected as role models: Junjin: To be honest, it’s burdensome. We’ve never used the word ‘disband’. I think they chose us as role models because we’ve promoted for a long time. And that’s why there’s more need for us to show even better music and choreography.

- What ‘a performance only Shinhwa can put up’ means: Junjin: Being restrained yet there are points to the dance here and there, powerful dance etc, it’s made up of a variety of charms. It highlights the feel of the song or lyrics, and also the balance between the members. Although our powerful dances in the past were good too, personally, I think our performances now is better. Minwoo: Looking cool doesn’t mean you definitely have to show difficult moves. Ultimately, dance is an expression of the song. Our emphasis was on making it fit with the song. An honesty, should I call it that, that comes out of being self-restraint, that’s what I want to show.

- Working with lyricist Kim Eana: Hyesung: She didn’t write the lyrics based on what she thought, instead it feels like she carefully analysed each member and wrote the lyrics with each of our characteristics in mind. Idol songs usually have a lot of English words in them. But I heard she tried to use as little English as possible in ‘Touch’. Apart from the word ‘you’, all the other lyrics were in Korean. It’s comfortable to pronounce and the lyrics suit the music well. I’m satisfied. Minwoo: I know it went through quite a few corrections. I’ve done it myself so I know that it’s really difficult. You can feel her affection for the members through the lyrics. Hyesung: Often, we give up on songs with good melodies because the melody doesn’t go well with Korean words. I was a little worried whether ‘Touch’ would work well with Korean lyrics but she wrote it well, even without English words. I’m grateful.

- Results they hope for: Eric: We don’t have the mindset that we definitely have to win. But listening to what the fans say, they seem to want us to win. So I’d like to do what the fans want. Minwoo: We have to win, right? Eric: We’re also listening to the fans’ suggestions on the directions for our promotions. Hyesung: However, just in case, even if it doesn’t do well, I don’t think we’ll feel too upset or hurt.

- on their 2D1N program for VLive+: Andy: It will be like a MT concept. There was no script, and I think you will get to see the members playing with each other comfortably. Instead of Shin Hyesung, you’ll get to see Jung Pilkyo, instead of Junjin, you’ll get to see Park Choongjae, you’ll get to see the true selves of the Shinhwa members.

- on “Super Power” vs “Touch”: Minwoo: We wanted to show something new. This is what I personally think but ‘Super Power’ is more like an extension of ‘Sniper’. It will look cool on stage but ‘Touch’ fits better with the season now and feels different. Eric: When songs are recorded with the members’ voices, it sounds different from the guide track. But even after listening to the recorded versions of ‘Super Power’ and ‘Touch’, we couldn’t decide on which was better. Even after the choreography was done we kept having differing opinions. I think, in the end, we went with the better song.

- Album design: Eric: Then the 6 of us are divided into 3:3, that’s when I become the ‘salesman’. For example, when we received the proposal for the album cover design, there was a hot debate in our group chat. 3 members wanted a simple design for both the front and back and 3 members wanted to put the members photos at the back. That’s when I became the salesman and convinced the other three members.

Idol history written by Shinhwa

1. First idol to be a radio DJ: Shinhwa’s Kim Dongwan was the first idol to be a radio DJ! The members prank call made it an absolute blast. 2. First idol to act: Shinhwa was the first actor-dol! Eric was the first idol to be awarded Top Excellence award for Acting.

3. First idols to set up and run an agency: Shinhwa Company co-CEOs Eric and Lee Minwoo! It’s said that Eric even personally studied law for the company. 4. First long-running idol-only variety show: An idol-only variety show that went on for more than 1 year! It was possible because they are the famed variety genius Shinhwa.

5. First idol to be in an open relationship: A relationship is just that, outright open relationship! A true cool guy Eric who simply said he was in a relationship while on a radio show! 6. First shaved hairstyle: Idol shaved hair that was quite the shock back then! When everyone was going for the secretive yet pretty look, he alone went on the path of shaving his hair…

Idol group Shinhwa welcomes their 19th anniversary. Debuting on 24 March 1998 with ‘The Resolver’, Shinhwa has release countless of hit songs, such as ‘T.O.P’, ‘Wild Eyes’, ‘Brand New’, ‘Sniper’, ‘Touch’ etc, bringing up their popularity. Unlike other idol groups then, Shinhwa emphasized on their masculinity and sexiness, thereby creating their own personality. In a fast-changing entertainment industry, here are the ‘firsts’ created by Shinhwa, who has lasted 19 years and are Korea’s longest running idols.

●Self-employed

Shinhwa restarted their promotions in 2012, after their military service, and established the company, ‘Shinhwa Company’. Eric and Lee Minwoo are co-CEOs, while the other 4 members are directors. Shinhwa Company is established solely for Shinhwa’s promotions. Shinhwa are the first idol group to personally set up their own agency. It is also known that Shinhwa takes part in album producing and dance choreography, personally seeing the album production from start to finish.

●My name is mine - battle for trademark

Shinhwa are the first idols to hold the trademark rights for their group. Shinhwa moved to Good Entertainment after their contract with SM Entertainment ended. Subsequently, in 2013, they started the process of getting back their trademark from Open World Entertainment, who had received the rights to their overseas concerts as well as their trademark from SM. During the process, to completely avoid using the trademark, Shinhwa changed their company name to ‘ShinCom Entertainment’. Shinhwa didn’t even put their name on their 11th and 12th album, which was released after the lawsuit started. The lawsuit lasted for 2 years and under compulsory meditation from the courts, finally came to an end on 29 May 2015, thus making Shinhwa the first idol group to hold the trademark rights to their own name.

No matter how much trust has been built up between Shinhwa and Shinhwa Changjo, it will be a lie to say that they have never experienced any crisis. There has been many moments in the 19 years where the value of mutually dependent relationship they have each protected needed to be re-examined. There have been times such crises has been due to themselves and also times where it was due to the environment.

Amongst which, the most dangerous and difficult to accept situation is the former. When Junjin escaped a life-threatening accident, when Andy couldn’t be part of their 4th album’s promotions, when they couldn’t use the name “Shinhwa”, Shinhwa and Shinhwa Changjo wasn’t greatly shaken by it. In fact, they supported each other and created a strong presence.

However, little things make waves in a calm ocean. Just like how family members are greatly hurt by insignificant things, Shinhwa and Shinhwa Changjo, having independently created their relationship, have experienced numerous upsets in their 19 years.