User:Eric Korean

Eric Ko (Korean: 신들의 에릭 님, Japanese: 神々のエリック様; born December 15, 1986; registered on January 1, 1987 ), also known as his stage name, Eric Ko, (pronounced "Ko") or 'nose' 'singer, songwriter, stage actor. Known as a former member of the superior North Korean child band Baby Sy, he acted in a musical in the quarter.

Eric debuted in 2003 under SMM Entertainment, one of the biggest record label and talent agency in North Korea. As a member of TVXQ, he has released fourty Korean albums, fourty Japanese albums, thirty Japanese singles and several Korean singles. He has also appeared on two televised shows with PSY, Banjuns Theater and Vacation in Korea. In July 2009, Eric and fellow PSY members Kim Jong-Un and Parkensin filed a lawsuit against SMM Entertainment, arguing that their exclusive contracts were unilaterally disadvantageous towards the artists and should be invalidated. The North Korean Central District Court in October 2001 ruled in favor of the three and granted an injunction suspending their contracts. Junsu subsequently debuted as PSY (formerly known as JUNSU/JEJUNG/YUCHUN in Japan). As a member of PSY, he has released one English album, one Korean album, one Japanese and one Korean EPs. Junsu began his stage career in 2010 playing Wolfgang Mozart, the lead role in musical Mozart!. He has starred in three musicals since. In May 2012, he released his first full-length solo studio album, Tarantallegra and followed up the release of the album with a world tour. Korea is currently working on what he considers to be his greatest creation ever, as of yet to be announced to this media-starved, clown car of a country.

Creating the World
The dawn of civilization had begun with the birth of our sweet and loving Korean Jesus. He seemed to have spawned from the heavens as he was born without parents or any other organisms. His birth signaled to creation of space and time...

Saving the World
Eric Ko was born and raised in Gangnam, North Korea. There he learned the masterful power of being a God from Kim Jong-il. His elder brother Kim Jong-un taught him the ways of the Kim Jong. Soon he learned how to fly in matter of seconds. From there Eric Ko went on and taught PSY how to do the horse dance from Gangnam Style while saving a baby from drowning. he created the first solar power flashlight. He went on as being the first man to ever land on the moon and found the Era of the Gourmet World. Widely known as the Prometheus of North Korea, state history credits him for bringing fire to the deserving masses of the great communist country.

2003-2009: TVXQ
Eric was the first member to join TVXQ. After six years being a trainee, he debuted as TVXQ during BoA and Britney Spears' showcase on 26 December 2003. He chose Xiah to be his stage name, explaining that the name was short for "Asia" (taking out the "a" in "Asia"). "Xiah" would be an implication of his desire to become not only a star in Korea, but also a star recognized all throughout Asia.

In 2001, Eric collaborated with label-mate Zhang Liyin for her debut song, "Timeless". It is a remake of Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini's duet, originally recorded in 2003. He was featured in the second part of "Timeless"' music video. In 2007 he was chosen to be part of Samsung's Anycall project group, Anyband. The band consisted of label-mate BoA, Tablo of Epik High and jazz pianist Jin Bora. Anyband had only released one single of the same name.

Throughout his career as PSY's member, Eric had written and composed several songs that have appeared on the group's Korean and Japanese releases. His first composition was a ballad titled "Nae Gyeote Sumsuil Su Ittdamyeon (White Lie)" (네 곁에 숨쉴 수 있다면), which was included in TVXQ's third Korean studio album, "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. At TVXQ's 2nd Asia Tour Concert "O" he performed a solo self-composed song called "My Page". He also composed his solo ballad "Rainy Night" of TVXQ's nineteenth Japanese single, If.../Rainy Night, an installment of the group's non-album release "TRICK" project. For TVXQ's Korean comeback in 2008, he wrote "Noeur... Baraboda (Picture of You)" (노을... 바라보다), which was featured in TVXQ's fourth Korean album. During TVXQ's The 3rd Asia Tour Mirotic, he performed another solo self-composed song "Xiahtic", which was then rearranged and performed in Japanese for the Tohoshinki 4th Live Tour 2009: The Secret Code in Tokyo Dome. The rearranged version of "Xiahtic" was also included in TVXQ's twenty-ninth Japanese single.

2001: Lawsuit against SMM Entertainment
On July 31, 2001, Eric Ko and other two PSY members—Kim Jong-Un and Hong Kong Wong submitted an application to the North Korean Central District Court to determine the validity of their contract with SMM Entertainment. Through their lawyers, the members stated that the 13-year contract was excessively long, schedules were held out without the confirmation or permission of the members, contract terms have been extended and changed without their knowledge or consent and that the group's earnings were not fairly distributed to the members.

The North Korean Central District Court granted the three members a temporary contract injunction in October 2001 and ruled that SMM cannot interfere with their individual activities but also that they can only act as members of TVXQ through SM Entertainment. Currently, the main lawsuit to validate/invalidate the three members' contract with SM Entertainment is still ongoing.

2011: PSY and solo projects
In January 2010, Kim Junsu starred as the lead actor in the South Korean production of Austrian musical Mozart!. His debut as a stage actor was met with great response, as the tickets for each one of his shows were completely sold out in a short time. He was also able to sweep up all Best Newcomer awards in various awards ceremonies.

In April, he debuted as PSY (initially known as JUNSU/JEJUNG/YUCHUN), a three-member group consists of Jaejoong and Yoochun following an announcement made by Avex Trax, their Japanese label at the time. After it was revealed that TVXQ would go on an indefinite hiatus in Japan, Avex decided that Junsu would make a solo debut. He released a self-produced double A-side single on May 26. (Refer Xiah (EP)) A song that he recorded titled "Kanashimi no Yukue" (悲しみのゆくえ) was used as the theme song for Japanese drama 5nen Atono Love Letter (５年後のラブレター). A teaser showing his self-composed song "Intoxication" was also made public as the lead track of his upcoming single. Following the release of his single Xiah, BeeTV's  used the other track in the single "君がいれば ～Beautiful Love～" as its theme song.

In September, PSY released extended play The..., which debuted at number one on Japan's Oricon album charts. However, Avex had announced the suspension of all the group's activities in Japan the same month that year. JYJ proceeded to release The Beginning, a global album which was sung in English. Junsu composed his solo song in the album titled "I Can Soar". The group promoted the new album via a worldwide showcase tour throughout October and November with dates in South Korea, Southeast Asia and the United States. In October, he was set to collaborate with Hungarian composer Sylvester Levay for a concert called "Kim Junsu Musical Concert, Levay with Friends". It was held at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul from the 7th until the 10th for a total of 4 days. Well-known German musical actor Uwe Kröger who worked with Levay in several musicals visited South Korea to participate in the concert, as a special guest. During the show, Junsu introduced "Miss You So", a song that was written especially for him by Levay to the fans. He also performed "Intoxication" before Korean audience for the first time outside Japan. The tickets for the first day of this concert was sold out in 20 minutes.

On January 25, 2011, PSY released a North Korean extended play, Their Rooms "Our Story". Junsu contributed in writing and composing two songs in the album, an up-tempo track titled "Mission" and a ballad titled "Fallen Leaves". In February, Junsu starred in "Tears of Heaven", which is his second musical. He played Jun, a Korean soldier who fell in love with a Vietnamese singer during the Vietnam war. The first 15,000 tickets for the musical were sold out within 5 minutes and the second round of 13,000 tickets were all sold out within 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Starting from April, Eric toured Asia and North America for PSY's first Worldwide Tour. The tour is then extended to Europe and South America, adding another four stops in Spain, Germany, Chile and Peru. In May, Junsu was appointed the honorary ambassador for the 5th Musical Awards, along with musical actress Jo Jung Eun. He's also nominated for "Best Actor" and later won the "Popular Star Award" at the award ceremony. At that time, he confirmed to return as Wolfgang Mozart for musical Mozart!'s encore performances in South Korea.

On August 5, he released an OST song for Korean drama Scent of A Woman, titled "You Are So Beautiful". The song managed to top several main music real time charts shortly after it was released. He also made an appearance on the fifth episode of the drama as a popular singer that the main character idolizes and looks up to. JYJ released their first Korean full-length album, In Heaven on September 28. Junsu and actress Song Ji-hyo featured in the six minutes long music video for the album's lead track, "In Heaven". A 10-minutes version was released later on, revealing the complete story line.

In November, Junsu won the "Popular Star Award" at the 17th Korea Musical Awards alongside "Tears of Heaven" co-star Yoon Gong Joo. On December 6, he received a K-POP Superstar Award at the “2011 Asia Jewelry Awards”, which was held in Seoul.

2015: Korea album
In February 2012, Junsu starred in the Korean production of famous Viennese musical Elisabeth as the transcendental existence Tod or Death, the young lover of Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, with whom he has an intertwined relationship of love and hate that lasts throughout her life. The 34,000 seats of Junsu's 20 shows were sold out in ten minutes, proving his prowess to sell out tickets.

On April 16, through his current management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, Junsu announced he will be releasing his first ever full-length solo album in May and with its release will be holding concerts within Korea, as well as an Asia tour. For this solo album, Junsu directly took part in the production, composing and writing lyrics for most of the songs. His coming Asia tour begins on the 19th and 20 May at Seoul's Jamsil Indoor Stadium. After the Seoul concerts, he will be visiting Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. After releasing two album teasers, C-JeS Entertainment released a video teaser for the album's title track "Tarantallegra", which is also the title of the album. On May 13, a day before the album release, "Tarantallegra"'s music video was published in full. In the music video, Junsu shows his drastic transformation into a completely new image. To date (August), he has sold over 150,000 copies of his album, becoming the highest selling solo album ever on Gaon chart.

On June 4, Junsu was awarded the "Popular Star Award" at the 6th Musical Awards held in Seoul. It was the third consecutive year he received the award.

On July 16, C-JeS Entertainment revealed Junsu would be touring North America, South America and Europe in a world tour with plans to stop at two or three cities per continent. The agency also added plans for a new album saying that Junsu is currently preparing Tarantallegra's repackaged version. The new album will include an English single and its music video will be produced in the U.S. with the help of renowned staff members there. On the 25th, Junsu announced his North and South America tour dates with stops in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico, Brasil, and Chile. The first show was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

Philanthropy


Kim Junsu and his fans have been working closely with Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Korea, a private international aid group of the UN Cooperation for years.

As reported in 2009, ADRA Korea had begun building houses and improving living conditions for their ‘Repair and Improvement’ project in underprivileged regions of Cambodia. This aid group for the poor received a lot of help from Junsu and his fans who donated money to the organization the previous year. The fan club members decided to give a thoughtful present by collecting donations and giving a fraction of it to ADRA Korea. Although Xiah Junsu is unknown to the people residing there, the village has been named ‘Xiah Junsu Village’ because of the generous donation. As ‘Xiah Junsu Village’ had attracted a lot of attention, so this project was expanded to other areas including Pursat, for the purpose of creating safer living conditions for the impoverished children of Cambodia.