Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어 Japanese: スーパージュニア), often referred to as
SJ or SuJu (슈주), is a popular boy band from South Korea formed by S.M.
Entertainment in 2005. The group debuted with 12 members: Leeteuk
(Leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin,
Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum and later added a 13th member
named Kyuhyun; they are one of the largest boy bands in the world. As
of 2010, 10 members are active, due to Han Geng’s lawsuit with SM
Entertainment which led to him leaving the group (now pursuing his own
singing career in the Mandarin-Pop entertainment industry), Kangin’s
temporary leave of absence for mandatory military service and Kibum’s
pursuit of an acting career. However, the other members have insisted
that the three (Kangin, Kibum and Han Geng) are still part of the
group, the group also mentioned that they are saddened by Han Geng’s
departure from the group
Super Junior has released and contributed in 20 different kinds of
records with varying degrees of success. Over the years, they have been
divided into smaller sub groups, simultaneously targeting different
music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior’s success
as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train
their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and
hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has
earned seven music awards from the M.net Asian Music Awards, eleven
from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win
Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003.
History
Pre-debut
In 2001, the company held their first overseas casting auditions and
discovered Han Geng in Beijing, China, who was chosen from among three
thousand applicants. That same year, Yesung was discovered under
Seoul’s casting system. Sungmin and Donghae became trainees after
jointly winning the first place in Best Outward Appearance in an
SM-sponsored contest. In 2002, Heechul and Kangin were recruited along
with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles. Siwon was recruited in
2003 after being scouted at 16 in front of his high school, and
Ryeowook in 2004, in which the latter was discovered through the Chin
Chin Youth Festival singing competition. In 2005, Shindong was
selected. The last member, Cho Kyuhyun, was then discovered after
winning third place at the Chin Chin Singing Competition in 2005.
