Untitled

The History of SHINHWA’s Relationship with Entertainment Companies: ALL ABOUT SHINHWA COMPANY

Original author: 미코 MIKO [2013.12.29] Original post: http://blog.naver.com/secgarden/150182106794

Chinese translation: 海天月夜 [2015.06.02] Chinese post: http://www.weibo.com/1251889924/CkJ1Gdqjc?from=page_1005051251889924_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&type=comment#_rnd1488141816655

Chinese translation: Bestshinhwa [2015.09.01] Chinese post: http://www.weibo.com/p/1001603882403276969902

English translation: xsterois [2017]

Chapter 1. About SM Entertainment

It’s not unfamiliar that Shinhwa debuted around the end of 90s, at the blooming period of the creation of ‘idol’, and being called ‘First Generation Idol’. After H.O.T and S.E.S, leading the idol entertainment companies, they were SM Entertainment’s third product.

About Shinhwa’s audition

The above image is ranked by the date Shinhwa members joined as a trainee. We don’t have to talk much about what happened before debut, in short:

Andy who was living in America formed a dance group with few Korean friends, joined a dance competition and got casted by Lee Sooman. After that he was picked as the final member of H.O.T, but gave up due to his mother’s worry about debuting at a young age, hence went back to America. After a year, Lee Sooman met Andy again in LA and brought him back to Korea. (At this time, some believe that Andy is already chosen as a Shinhwa member, but it’s unknown whether if it is a rumour among fans or a rumour from Lee Sooman.)

As a foreign student, Shin Hyesung was casted in a SM audition held in LA. It was in 1996, and was the same year that Lee Sooman met Andy again, and according to Andy as a trainee that time, after listening to Shin Hyesung’s vocal, Lee Sooman exclaimed “It’s really great isn’t it”.

Eric same as Shin Hyesung, was casted though LA audition. Although he joined the audition as suggested by Andy, he already met Lee Sooman in the past. And according to Lee Sooman and Andy, Eric was already popular among Korean students at that time.

Lee Minwoo studied at Jeonju Art High school, he joined Everland Dance Competition with friends and got casted by a SM manager. (His friend who was also casted as a trainee wasn’t able to become a Shinhwa memebr but debuted through other entertainment company)

Junjin studied at Ogeum High School who was already famous for his dancing skills. And through sunbae Ahn Chilhyun, H.O.T Kangta suggested him to be a trainee.

At last, Kim Dongwan was popular as a band vocal in Whimoon High School. He also gained the title of ‘Whimoon’s Moses’ (Meaning that wherever he walked past, students separated a road like Red Sea for him.)

tvN The List 130311:

About Kim Dongwan at Whimoon High School

Different companies wanted to get Kim Dongwan in and they even sent special manager for him, knowing all his schedules following him around to get a chance (as reported by DSP relations). Until one day Kim Dongwan was unexpectedly casted by a SM manager on street, while holding a big teddy bear for his girlfriend.

None the less, they gathered as trainees and after one year to few months of training, only six were chosen to debut as Shinhwa’s final members.

People call them SM’s mischievous icon.

Different to other idols with a mysterious concept (especially SM’s H.O.T and S.E.S), arguing with fans outside the dorm, getting drunk, bringing a television to play games at broadcast stations, escaped dorm but got caught and all received punishment, etc. Until now these were remained as legend stories in the industry, and you can find these easily on different humour-sites as Shinhwa’s history.

Therefore even after 10 years, I believe that their weird and extraordinary stories will remain on the internet. And that because of the contrasting image to other idols during such time, their unique image brought them to the exposure in variety.

In 1999, Shinhwa’s 2nd Album (T.O.P) brought them a late-coming huge response, forming the unique passionate fans, and achieved their goals. In the 5 years of contract period, even though there were various incidents (especially the life threatening accidents).

They continued in striving and working hard, showing a different style with every album.

At that time, I also thought their story will conclude with a happy ending…

With the passing of time, 5 years of “idols’ maximum survival time” went by, Shinhwa and SM’s contract came to an end in 2003.

During that time, groups debuted before Shinhwa or debuted at similar time declared disbandment, even without an official announcement, the members left and worked in different fields. At that time, the running period of idols were expected to be around 5 years, and the number of albums was also ended at 5. However, Shinhwa in 2002 released their 6th Album. From that time onwards, they began slowing breaking the limits of idols.

Recalling SM Entertainment sunbae idol groups, in 2001 due to conflicts between members and company, H.O.T went in a status of “half disbandment”. S.E.S in 2002 disbanded according to members’ will, and debuted as solo singers.

And in 2003, when everyone expected SM’s third child, Shinhwa will go through the same path as the other idols.

But as we all know, such expectation did not came true. Before talking about Shinhwa’s next decision, let’s look into their experience in SM Entertainment which may considered as a turning point.

Chapter 1.5. Shinhwa Promoting as 5 (2001)

When Shinhwa released their 4th Album in 2001, without Andy, promoting as 5 members is what everyone knows. Andy also mentioned it on a programme himself, and as what we know, it was due to his personal issues. But the truth is, recalling the incident in 2001, it was not just solely a personal uncontrollable case.

Andy’s Activities on Hiatus

[Author’s NOTE: Although I do not know how much this incident has impact on Shinhwa, this could fully represent how they realised the actual relationship between the group and the company. And this is also the incident which made Shinhwa fans lost trust towards the company, and that it is not totally irrelevant to the future conflicts. Below is according to my recall of the situation and rumour during that time+ what was reported on media+ Andy’s future explanation.]

One day, KKFS (Korea Kent Foreign School) was rumoured to have students from high status families getting into university with no qualification. And in this school there were two popular idols. They are S.E.S’s Shoo (Yoo Sooyoung) and Shinhwa’s Andy (Lee Sunho). (S.E.S’s Eugene was a graduate from this school)

Reporters who were starving for news did not miss this chance. News on TV and newspaper all brought the two names out. At first, it was “an idol member”, and then it became “S.E.S’s Miss Y and Shinhwa’s Mr L”. Later, they even reported with their real identities. People who heard about the university entrance scandal began to judge and blame them.  Of course, this also happened in the fandom.

(For reference, I was only 4th grade at that time, just began liking Shinhwa, but still am able to remember this shows how big impact it brought…)

About this incident, if we start from the conclusion, the school which had an university entrance scandal, happened to have a foreigner student Andy (with foreign residence). Andy was 12th grade at that time, applied and got accepted for Hankuk University of Foreign Studies on English. Shoo also was accepted in university already.

However when the news broke, the spotlight of the media went onto “idol’s improper university entrance scandal” (in reality they just happened to be a student there) instead of the “high status family scandal”. Whereas the universities which were at the centre of the scandal, used “not qualified” as an excuse to cancel KENT students’ accepted university application. Of course, from the the surface their reason made sense. KENT was not a proper high school course, hence they were not qualified for university application from the start.

(I need to point out that, not only Andy and Shoo, whether all Kent students did got blamed due to “not qualified”. For reference, all foreigner high schools are recognised as proper high school course now. But it was only not recognised during that time.)

Therefore the high school education was not recognised, concluding with a Junior high graduate, cancelled university entrance.

ENDING LIKE THIS?? Then it would be great….

Due to the KKFS incident, a lot obstacles were created to Andy.

1. As Andy’s education was not recognised, Andy’s past 3 years studying at KKFS as a student was rejected. This created a problem to Andy’s reason to stay in Korea. Hence before his identity was made clear, the business activity (=as a singer) became impossible.

2. Male adult who is not a student, by principle is required to receive military health check, and before that travelling is forbidden.

Therefore, until Andy got the military health check, he was forbidden to leave the country. It would be great ending like this, receive the military health check and solve the legal problems. But to make thing worse, Andy’s “personal issue" broke out. Andy’s mother in US suddenly went really ill.

For reference, Andy was born in a single parent family, without any male parent, it means that he is responsible to act as the father’s role. Andy as his mother’s guarantor was really urgent to travel back to US, but due to what happened in Korea, until the travel ban is removed, he could only wait.

During such process, Andy even made a lawsuit about the university application was inappropriately cancelled. Some may misunderstood his action, but he did this not because of to escape from the military check, but instead if he could resume the “student” identity then the travel ban would be removed and he could rush back to US. But at last it did not succeed.

Also, rumours began to spread everywhere. From Andy leaving out of the dorm, to become missing, temporary leaving the group, withdrawal from the group, and even rumour on suicide. (About attempt of suicide, at that time the company explained it was because of taking excessive cold pills leading to gastric spasm, and was sent to the emergency. I personally think such issue is still questionable, but it is not a significant point here, so I will end this here.)

2001.05.10 Voice Message from Andy

Afterall, Andy successfully received the military check and due to not qualified education (finally as Junior high graduate), and was decided as “reserved placement” in military, he left all rumours behind and quietly left for US.

2001.05.10 [NEWS] Andy’s Military Position

After few months, Shinhwa came back with their 4th Album.

Without Andy, as 5.

What ironic is, Shinhwa with one member less, the album received well results, it’s actually really popular among the public. People started to give them more recognition for trying the un-idol-like concepts.

Some even said that ‘Hey Come On’ is the next level in music. And ‘Wild Eyes’ as the continuing song, received even greater reaction than the title song.

No matter if it is music, variety or the media reflected that Shinhwa could be perfect as a 5 members group. But this did not make people satisfy because of the subtle atmosphere. Some fans appeared to not care but feeling lost, and some fans even accepted that Andy is already not a member. Shinhwa seems to realise that before the return of Andy, they have the responsibility to stay in their position and try to make Shinhwa better.

However looking at Shinhwa promoting without him, Andy thought that he no longer had a position in Shinhwa.

Due to Andy’s inability to support the hospital fees (US hospital fees are different to Korea’s ones), he brought his mother back to Korea after few months. Looking at Shinhwa striving forth, began to feel the distance in between, or began to feel the guilt that may block Shinhwa’s development. He did not go back to the dorm but instead hid in a college building somewhere in Seoul.

Not getting a haircut, not shaving, shower with cold water, only able to sleep with soju and aspirin.

After that, as what we all know, Andy returned back to Shinhwa.

After Shinhwa’s 4th Album promotion, Shinhwa Changjo’s 5th Fan Meeting was held. It was the biggest event among all fan meetings held, and the venue was Jamsil Main Stadium. According to Andy, that day Lee Sooman contacted him and told him to join the fan meeting.  Andy at the waiting room heard the fans shouted ‘Lee Sunho’ even without him on stage, teared up.  To hide the weeping eyes, he borrowed a pair of sunglasses, and stood in front of the fans after a year.

When the fan meeting was coming to an end, Andy appeared at the last encore stage, greeted everyone shyly.

Shinhwa, once again returned as six.

However, even just naming this “after experiencing hardship, Andy returned to Shinhwa”, the impact this incident brought is definitely visible.

The point is, the person who called Andy to join the fan meeting is Lee Sooman, from this aspect both Andy and the fans were thankful for.

But the question is, this company called SM, left Andy out during their 4th Album promotion, appears to be doing a kind of experiment.

When Andy is not in Korea, leaving him out, released a new album. Using the finished recording, and re-record it as 5 members, and making it into an album with 5 members. [-> Do anyone know where this is from?]

Idol groups were normally with 5 people, even with 5 voices, they were flawless no matter if it’s album or variety, the appearance of the 5 members were perfect.

The members did not mention Andy as much, called Junjin as the ‘maknae’ and called Shinhwa as ‘5’.

From all these actions during the promotion, could SM be trying this out to make Shinhwa as a 5 members group? People already made such assumption.

Also, about Andy’s rumour, fans complained that SM did not handle it well. In reality, Shinhwa’s fanchant during 4th Album promotion, determined to add ‘Lee Sunho’, showing how much they anticipate Andy’s return.

But about Andy’s news or his future decision, SM did not voice out any opinion. When Andy was bothered by rumours before the military check, and the situation was so bad that he even went to the emergency, SM did not state clearly that Andy was not related to the university entrance scandal, and did not show a strong will to solve Andy’s problems.

2001.04.23 A Letter to SHCJ on Andy’s Rumour

At least this is what fans’ thought. (If SM actively solved the problems, the fandom won’t split). At such situation, SM still promoted 5 members Shinhwa, created fans’ further distrust towards the company.

Of course, with Andy’s return, the saying of “5 members Shinhwa” became solely a rumour, or you can call it SM’s failed tactic. Even if the rumour is true, that SM tried to take Andy away and make Shinhwa as a 5 members group, then this project was not only an experimental failure, but it brought unexpected negative impact to SM.

Using this incident as an example, not only Andy, SM can ignore their personal will and change the members of Shinhwa at any time.

Shinhwa could no longer be 6 at any time, even the group’s survival is uncertain, this is what the members clearly realised.

Back to 2003.

Even though it was revealed after a long time, H.O.T and S.E.S disbandment was mainly due to contract renewal. H.O.T’s situation was due to members’ individual contract renewal, conflicts and misunderstanding grew, leading to disbandment. S.E.S’s situation was SM tried for individual contract renewal, but due to contract problems, conflicts grew, and finally announced disband while at the top position.

Same as the two previous groups, before contract renewal, the company began to secretly seek individual members. The first person who got suggested for contract renewal was Lee Minwoo and Shin Hyesung. Lee Minwoo since debut was in charge of choreography, lyrics and song writing, these various areas, showing a strong individual talent. Shin Hyesung is Shinhwa’s main vocal, from the collaboration with Lee Jihoon, it showed that he is strong enough to become a solo vocal. In another words, SM saw their ability to step out of the ‘idol’ limitation and became a ‘musician’, hence chose them for another contract.

However, witnessing other groups’ unwilling disbandment, continued promotion while treating one member as non-exist, Shinhwa objected the company’s action, and decided to betray (?) SM as 6, making such significant decision.

Hyesung Oppa can be very simply lethal sometimes.. just by nodding..

Jinnie Oppa has that kind of “what? i am innocent” kind of aegyo feel..

Andy Oppa ~ being SHY ANDY omooona ~ ~ ~

of course Oppayam with his unspoken aegyo ♥

Minwoo Oppa throwing that kiddie smile ~ 

and of course our Eric Oppa with his 4D cutie pie charisma ♥ LMAO

When Shinhwa was with Good Entertainment, their bodyguards were interviewed on what it was like working with them.

Eric: He is very fierce when he’s not smiling. Because he is about the same height as us… while escorting him, we are often unable to catch up to him because of his long legs.  Hyesung: Skinny and fair. He looks more like a female artist to us. He treasures his hair a lot. Even when we are hurriedly escorting him away from the scene, it is always us protecting him and him protecting his hair. This is the usual situation. But when his leg is injured, we carry him. Although he looks skinny, he is actually very heavy. He likes to eat but he hates going to the gym. All of his fat is in his bones. If not, how could he be able to do the crabby dance? Dongwan: Strong muscles but a slim waist. We know this because we often had to put our hands on his waist while protecting him. He always dreams of himself as being a female artist, and he often smiles, showing both rows of his white teeth. We always wondered which brand of toothpaste he was advertising for.  Minwoo: The smallest among them. When we protect him, we only need to circle him and keep him in the center. But we are always worried of losing him because he is too small. So usually two bodyguards will hold onto him and escort him on each side. Andy: Like Minwoo he is very small, but he also walks very fast. He likes to hold hands with the bodyguards. When we go near him, he knows it’s time to leave, so he links each of his arms with ours and walks together with us. He lowers his head down while leaving and occasionally lifts up his head to observe for his fans. Junjin: Hehe… we feel so ashamed about ourselves when talking about him. He is much taller than us and we can’t stop him even we want too. He is very pleasant and it seems that he doesn’t know that he is a famous artist even though he debuted over 8 years ago. He is very polite to us. He like to hug us and put his hands on our shoulders as if he’s the bodyguard. After leaving the scene, he often asks us: Are you hurt? Are you okay? Q: During Shinhwa’s international tour, did you protect them while they were staying at the hotel?

A: Actually, that’s quite unnecessary since they are all owls. They all sleep after 4AM. Before that, they will spend the night playing and fooling around in each others’ rooms.

The door often suddenly opens and two or three of them will come running out. They bump into us since we are usually standing in the corridor.

Eric seldom leaves his room but the other five members will go to find him one-on-one. We don’t know if they are reporting to him or sharing things with him, but Eric seems like the adult amongst them.

They usually do the same things every time. After arriving at the hotel, they will go to their own rooms and change. Then the six of them will squeeze into either two or three of the member’s rooms to bathe and order room service.

They usually squeeze into Hyesung’s room to eat. While waiting, the other five will chat whereas Hyesung will keep opening the door to check for the arrival of the food. Sometimes Eric will shout at Hyesung: “Pilkyo ahh! Come back! Quit checking, the food will arrive soon!“ Hyesung will return back to the room but only five minutes later you can see his head out again at the door.

After the meal, Andy and Hyesung will often get into a fight and mess up the room. These two love having pillow fights. At that time, Dongwan will start screaming: “It’s not good for the body to excessively exercise after a meal!” But no one will listen to him. Yet he repeats this several times. After screaming at them, he will start discussing muscles and calories with Minwoo.

GOODEMG treats Shinhwa very well. They always prepare six rooms for them even though it’s totally unnecessary since the members often go into Eric’s room when it is time to sleep.

Although they were each provided with their own king-sized bed during the tour, we still can’t understand and figure out how six men managed to squeeze into just one bed.

Hi Hi!! Sorry for the late reply, I was caught up with school earlier on. I saw that some people have already answered your question, but I’ll still give my side.

(Sorry if my answer is too wordy and long-winded, I could go on forever because there’s just so much to talk about.)

I think Eric’s style as a leader can be best put into words as how Photographer Zo Sun Hee described, he’s not a leader who takes the limelight to his own, but rather, he leads and guides from the side. Eric is one of the most selfless man anyone could ever meet.

Quoting her words, “But if you look closely, Eric is always on the side. Why is that? Because he’s tall? No. Consideration. Even after having taken so many pictures of Shinhwa, I’ve never seen Eric standing in the middle or wanting to stand out. He’s always at the end. Right at the end, the back, the side.” “Eric is the leader right? He is always supporting others, doesn’t try to stand out, and really respects other’s opinions. He listens really carefully to what others say.”

Most people would have already known this, but back then groups disbanded mostly due to contract conflicts, disputes or even just simply because their contracts have ended. And naturally afterwards, most of the members were to go solo after disbandment. There was literally no idol group who had members who went solo while still being in a group. Shinhwa was the first or specifically Minwoo since he was the first to do a solo. But of course, similarly, Shinhwa’s contract with SM ended in 2003, the time where most 1st generation idol groups faced disbandment. However, unlike them, Shinhwa pulled through tough times together and remained as one till this day. Eric is definitely the key factor to this. At that time most of them received renewal offers, but none of them took it.

From Win-Win Shinhwa episode:

Hyesung: “Our first thought was to renew our contract with SM. Anyway, our aim was that the 6 of us would be together and could not be separated.” Dongwan: “At that time, Eric made an irresistible proposal. It was when Eric had the highest value. He told us how much they were offering him. ‘They are offering me a lot, but I don’t want that. We can go into another company and get the same offer.’ So since he proposed it like this, we all went to the other company.” As a person who chose to keep his group together over money, you easily could tell that he’s one heck of a selfless leader.

And there was this old magazine article I loved and which you might want to read:

[Entertainment Weekly Issue 24] Eric, Shinhwa’s 4D leader

From a street dance champion in the U.S. to the leader of a Korean idol group, from a singer to an actor, from a Korean celebrity to a Hallyu star, every single transformation of Eric is simply amazing.

No Turning Back at 19 Years Old

From being selected by Lee Soo Man in March 1997 to his debut on 24 March 1998, Eric put in one full year of effort for his debut performance on KMTV’s Show Music Tank. But Shinhwa’s first album wasn’t a success. Eric took on the responsibility of being the leader and big brother, and consoled the other members. “Let’s put in our best efforts for the 2nd album, we will continue if we succeed and if we don’t, we’ll disband.” He felt that he had to be strong, forgetting that he too was only 19 years old that year.

Fortunately, their efforts paid off, and they finally had a fanclub of their own - Shinhwa Changjo - and their very first award - the 1998 Mnet Award for Best Male Newcomer. Their 2nd album had succeeded.

Growing Pains

Shinhwa’s success extended to their 3rd album. However, Andy returned to the U.S. before the release of the 4th album, and with one person less, the company wanted to disband Shinhwa. The sudden change left Eric feeling lost for a moment. He thought if they made a great job of the 4th album, the company might be willing to give in to them.

But even their passion and results didn’t make the company change its mind. Finally, that led to the unforgettable guerilla concert. Then, Eric finally caved in and knelt on the ground. Having bet everything he had on it, he lost the strength to stand. That was the first and last time that we’ve seen such a helpless Eric.

Leading The Escape

In 2003, Shinhwa refused to extend the contract with SM, which was undoubtedly a shock in the industry. So far no artist had ever dared to offend the big boss of the Korean entertainment industry, and they were the first.

After the guerilla concert, Eric had his own plans, and Shinhwa left SM among much controversy. Eric was the one who negotiated with the management, forking out his own funds to buy Shinhwa out. No one will ever know how much hardship he had to endure during the negotiations.

But there was still more trouble to deal with. On 20 September 2004, a reporter openly asked at Shinhwa’s 7th album showcase, “What does Shinhwa have to offer to be able to release their 7th album?” and proceeded to slam Shinhwa with ruthless criticism, leading to a big media frenzy. It was then that Eric stepped up once again as the leader to speak out, and he published his rebuttal on the Internet, with the now-famous quote, “It’s not so easy to see Shinhwa. If there’s anything, you can look for me.”

On 9 January 2006, there was a video of Eric and two other members mimicking the intellectually-challenged posted online with the header “Eric’s a goner this time”. Eric dealt firmly with the media’s relentless questioning. In an apology letter which he published online he apologised for the thoughtless behaviour that he and his two younger brothers displayed in the video. What could have been a huge PR crisis for them, Eric resolved it with his firm and sincere actions. The helpless Eric of yesterday who knelt on the ground covering his face was gone - there’s now only the Eric who says with conviction “We will put in our best efforts”.

The Peculiar Fourth Dimension

He’d catch a mosquito and ask why it was so ugly; he ran away to Jeju-do alone because he couldn’t come to terms with his sudden popularity; he got lost on the way to Dongwan’s birthday party; he’d confide in a dead ant; he spoke of making a pot of Hye-Wan soup….this is the fourth dimension of a man who’s cool, calm and confident. To many, he is the leader of Shinhwa, gentlemanly, attractive, usually quiet, and sometimes shy.

To Shinhwa, there is only one Eric.

Source:   Issue 24

Credits: 默默1983@情投E赫 (love-ric.com)

Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz

As for his relationships with the members, let’s go down the row:

Minwoo:

These two adorkable CEOs, their chemistry is truly one of a kind.

An excerpt from Dongwan’s The First photoessay:

“That these two (Minwoo and Eric) agree with each other so often is something amazing and interesting. Minwoo often smiles while looking at Eric, to the extent that one wonders if they weren’t a couple in their past life.”

— Kim Dongwan, The First pg 220-221 (cr: malpabo)

As for the adorkable side, well.. XD

Fighting over a plush panda..

Fighting over maknae..

Dongwan:

The actual Tom and Jerry couple I would say, because Dongwan is Eric’s toy XD. Rather than explaining, I’m sure if one watches RicWan over a period of time, you would understand their interesting bromance with each other.

Eric’s nicknames for Dongwan (from 2007 Come To Play WooDong Ep):

From Double PD or Pa-Dak Pa-Dak (Over-reacting movements), to Kim Meat, to old man XD

Dongwan: Even when I’m working out, he (Eric) would said, “YA! Dongwan you are all muscle, but Minwoo is “mom-jjang”(great body) In other words you are “meat”!

M: Eric does not say things out of bad feeling but loves to tease. For example, when Dongwan does push-ups, Eric would lift Dongwan up so that he can’t use any strength.

YSJ: Is there other nicknames Eric gave you?

DW: When I used to work out seriously, when I had no fat but muscles, I had a lot of wrinkles, so he called me “old man”.

M: Dongwan used to get stressed because of that.On the flipside of RicWan’s tough love, they really do compliment each other a lot.

From 2013 Sports Seoul interview:

Eric on Dongwan: We don’t abashedly compliment each other openly but he is the member who’ll look for those words and compliment the members. He has a different energy from Junjin.

Dongwan on Eric: Eric is really like an otaku. If he gets addicted to something he’ll bury himself at home but after we left our first agency, as the leader of Shinhwa, he became the otaku of Shinhwa. Even now, he worries a lot for Shinhwa and is also in charge of dealing with external matters. He is a leader I’m thankful to and can trust. (Cr: malpabo)

Hyesung:

The famous water and oil couple. Since you have watched Shinbang, you would know this. Nowadays, the Master of Push and Pull has been pulling more often, his frequent mentions of Eric on radio, TV and interviews XD

From 9 Jan 2003 Freedom Declaration Radio:

HS: Actually yesterday too…after the broadcast ended, I went back late, and our Eric, ya really~ dominated my room’s bed, sleeping in a starfish posture.

JJ:?

DW: Did you wake him up?

HS: Ah, so you have to listen to what I have to say, if it was like the past, I would have woke him up~ Tell him to get out immediately and kick him.. Ah, yesterday because Eric looked really exhausted going to sleep, I brought the quilt along to the other room and slept on the floor.

DW: In the past, your personality really wasn’t that good, that’s why (Shinhwa: Hahaha~)

Eric: If others were to hear this, they would think it would be something normal, but I was really touched by it yesterday. (Hyesung: Ahahahaha~!) And so, around 6am or 7am at dawn, I was going to go to the restroom for a while, I opened my eyes and saw how Hyesung was below on the floor laying on quilts…(Hyesung: You stepped over me right?!) Ah really, I teared up at it (Hyesung: Hahahaha~~~)

JJ: In the morning, I wanted to drink water and woke up, Eric hyung was at the table crying like this…

Eric: Once I woke up, I gave way didn’t I, he went back again to sleep..

Junjin:

The ever crazy Blood B type couple; they are two peas in a pod.

This infamous account would show you why:

Radio host: Who is the weirdest member in Shinhwa?

Dongwan: I think Junjin and Eric do a lot of weird things. They’re unbelievable. When they wake up, they fold their blanket into an origami shape.

Hyesung: And they’re walking down the street when they suddenly turn to each other and start fighting with each other in Chinese!

Dongwan: They sing about Bap (rice) in Vietnamese..

Eric: No, Jin is the really weird one. How can a person do that to a doll that doesn’t even speak? … A bumblebee doll.. It was about 3-4 in the morning, and he was beating up that bumblebee doll in the night. If I didn’t stop him, he would have kept beating it up all night.

JunJin: Eric is the even weirder one. When I was beating up the bumblebee, he came up beside me and scolded the bumblebee, asking what it did that was so wrong (laughs).

Eric: But the bumblebee must have done something wrong in order to get hit, right?

Andy:

The maknae and leader couple, Andy who of course gets teased a lot, but on the same time he’s doted  on a lot as well. On many occasions, the hyung and maknae roles are switched around though XD.

A cute story from their early days:

MC: Was there any instance where the group almost broke up?

Minwoo: Yes…one time when we were living together, we had strict rules. We couldn’t do anything without the manager’s permission. I asked Eric to go out for a drink, we were late the next morning for practice because we overslept. When we got to the studio, the rest of the members were already on their knees for 2 hours. The manager knew that Eric and I went out and everyone was being punished. Manager got mad and told us to quit! Andy started crying and got up and told the manager ‘I quit too!’…but when the manager yelled at Andy to ‘SIT DOWN’, Andy said ‘Yes sir!’ and was on his knees again right away!

Andy: When you are on your knees for 2 hours…it hurts a lot..

Minwoo: Eric and I came back to apartment to pack….I asked Eric, where or what am I going to do… Eric told me I can go with him back to US and we can do something together

Minwoo: As we were packing, we heard loud hurried footsteps…so I thought they are coming back to tell us good news that we don’t have to go. Hyesung came first and said, ‘you didn’t go yet?….what can we do…if there’s a chance, we’ll meet again’. Junjin came next and said, ‘Hyung….keep in touch’.

Minwoo: Then another running steps came and this time it was Andy running up crying saying, ‘Hyung, you don’t have to go’, then Junjin and Hyesung hit Andy’s head because he wasn’t supposed to say that yet…they agreed to play tricks on us..

Then again do not forget Andy’s evil maknae persona keke