Kim Jae-joong
Kim Jae-joong, also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and Jejung/'J-Jun in Japan, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean duo JX, a former member of JYJ and was one of the original members of boy band TVXQ!, where he was formerly known by the stage name Hero Jae-joong'. Since 2013, he has expanded his range of activities as a solo artist, and in 2023, he formed his own agency Inkode, where he serves as the Chief Strategy Officer.
Born in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, he moved to Seoul as a teenager to audition for SM Entertainment. From 2003 to 2010, he was the lead vocalist of South Korean boy band TVXQ. Later, he sued SM Entertainment along with Park Yoo-chun and Kim Jun-su and together they separated from TVXQ to form JYJ. As a solo artist, he has released four Korean studio albums, WWW, No.X, Born Gene and Flower Garden. The first two reached number one on the Gaon Music Chart. In Japan, his three studio albums Flawless Love, Love Covers, and Love Covers II all peaked at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart. His fourth Japanese Fallinbow was released in November 2022. He has toured extensively in South Korea and Japan.
Kim has acted in TV dramas including Sunao ni Narenakute, Protect the Boss, Dr. Jin, Triangle, SPY, Manhole and Bad Memory Eraser ; and in films such as Heaven's Postman and Jackal is Coming. He has branched into hosting with season 1 and 2 of Lifetime Korea's Travel Buddies, BS SKY PerfecTV's Jaejoong J! and has a documentary about his life and career called Jaejoong: On the Road, directed by John H. Lee.
Early life
Kim was born Han Jae-joon in Gongju, South Korea. At a young age, he was given up for adoption by his biological mother to the Kim family, and his name was changed to Kim Jae-joong. On November 21, 2006, a man with the surname Han filed a lawsuit against Kim's guardians. Han claimed he was Kim's biological father, and thus wanted parental rights. Han cited the reason for the lawsuit against Kim's legal guardians as "for not going through the proper procedures before registering in custody." The first hearing was to be held in Kim's hometown, Gongju, on November 29, 2006, but on November 22 Han dropped the charges against Kim's legal guardians. In reaction to the matter, Kim uploaded a journal entry on his official fan club website, and said that he was informed of the existence of separate biological parents by his mother two or three years ago, and it had been quite a shock to him. With his adoptive mother's support, his biological mother was able to keep in touch with him, and to meet occasionally, but whereabouts of his father had been unknown. He expressed his will to live by the name of Kim Jae-joong, not by his birth name Han Jae-jun.When Kim was fifteen, he moved to Seoul by himself in order to take part in the auditions held by SM Entertainment. Life in Seoul was financially difficult and he took various odd jobs to pay for rent, food, and training fees; and even appeared as an extra in movies. In an interview, he admitted he used to be tone-deaf in primary school and was frequently ridiculed for his dream of becoming a singer, but managed to overcome it through practicing alone.
Kim attended Gongju Jungdong Elementary School, Kongju National University Middle School, Kongju Information High School and then dropped out in 2001. He enrolled Hanam High School in 2005 and Kyung Hee Cyber University, majoring in Digital Media Engineering.
Music career
2003–2010: Member of TVXQ
In 2001, at fifteen years old, Kim auditioned for S.M. Entertainment and was accepted into the agency. From 2003 to 2010, he was the lead vocalist of South Korean boy band TVXQ. After TVXQ went on hiatus in early 2010, he and two other fellow band members Yoochun and Junsu formed a new trio boy group, initially known as JUNSU/JEJUNG/YUCHUN in Japan.Kim sang the solo track "Maze" for the fifth and final single of the TVXQ/Tohoshinki's Trick Project, "Keyword/Maze". Jaejoong wrote and composed "Wasurenaide" which was included on TVXQ/Tohoshinki's twenty-fifth single "Bolero/Kiss the Baby Sky/Wasurenaide." The song was also on their fourth Japanese album The Secret Code, along with the songs "9095" and "9096" which were also composed by Kim. The song, "忘れないで" was used in a television advertisement for cosmetics in Japan.
Apart from his activities as a member of TVXQ, he sang "Insa" for the soundtrack of A Millionaire's First Love. Kim collaborated with The Grace for the Japanese version of their song "Just for One Day", which was featured on their fifth Japanese single and their debut album, Graceful 4. Kim sang "Love" for the soundtrack of the film Heaven's Postman in which he starred as the male lead.
2009–2012: Formation of JYJ
In 2009 Kim, Junsu and Yoochun, started a lawsuit against their agency, SM Entertainment, and separated from TVXQ, soon founding their own band, JYJ. On September 30, 2009, Kim and bandmate Yoochun released a self-composed single "Colors /Shelter." The A-side track, Colors, was used as the image song for Hello Kitty's thirty-fifth anniversary. Jaejoong and Yoochun also participated in m-flo's album m-flo TRIBUTE -maison de m-flo, singing the track "Been So Long".Their debut Japanese language EP The... was released in September 2010, and their first concert DVD from Tokyo Dome Thanksgiving Live in Dome both reached No. 1 on the Japanese Oricon album and DVD charts. The group's English language debut album, The Beginning was released in October 2010, featuring Kanye West.
In January 2011, they released a Korean EP, Their Rooms "Our Story", with three of Kim's own compositions, "Pierrot", "Nine" and "I.D.S.". In April he toured Asia and North America with JYJ, and later South America and Europe. He was also stage director of the Asian leg of the tour. In September the band released a studio album called In Heaven, which sold 350,000 copies and ranked first on the Gaon charts. He composed two new songs for the album, "In Heaven" and "Get Out". Kim composed "In Heaven" in memory of his good friend, Park Yong-ha, who committed suicide.
Apart from his activities as a member of JYJ, he also sang "Found You" and "For you It's Separation, For me It's Waiting" for the soundtrack of the television drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal, "I'll Protect You" for Protect the Boss, and "Living Like A Dream" for Dr. Jin. "Living Like a Dream" was awarded the Best Hallyu Drama OST at the Seoul International Drama Awards.
2013–2017: Solo Korean albums
On January 17, 2013, Kim released his first solo Korean EP titled I, a rock-themed album which Kim penned all the lyrics. The album debuted at the top of both the Hanteo and Gaon weekly charts in Korea. It was also met with resounding success throughout Asia, topping Taiwan's Five Music's Korean and Japanese music chart, Japan's Shinseido weekly chart and Yin Yue Tai's V chart for K-pop. It also topped the iTunes rock charts in nine countries. Additionally, the pre-released single "One Kiss" and lead single "Mine" topped both domestic charts and foreign charts, including a German Asian music chart. On January 26 and 27, Kim held two days of special concerts at the KINTEX Ilsan to celebrate the launch of the album, as well as his birthday. Kim then released a repackaged version of his album, titled Y which consists of contains two additional tracks: "Only Love" and "Kiss B". The album was met with success and sold 50,000 copies upon release.His first full-length Korean solo album, WWW was released on October 29, 2013. A single titled "Sunny Day" was released ahead of the album and topped the iTunes EP chart in Japan. A repackaged version of the album, WWW: Remove Makeup was subsequently released in January 2014 and included the title track "Heaven", a pop ballad with label-mate Gummy. To promote his first album, Kim embarked on his first Asia tour which traveled to regional countries like Japan, Taiwan and China.
He sang "But I" and "Coincidence" for the drama Triangle in which he also starred. In July 2014, as a member of JYJ, they would release their first studio album in three years, Just Us. The band reached the music charts with the song, "Back Seat".
Prior to his military enlistment in 2015, Kim recorded the songs for his second Korean solo album, No.X, which was released on February 12, 2016. It topped iTunes charts of 39 countries around the world upon its release, and was named the most popular K-pop album in China for 2016. He completed his military service in December 2016 and returned to the entertainment industry with his acting performance in Manhole.
2018–2022: Solo albums
Kim released his first Japanese single "Sign / Your Love" on June 27, 2018. On October 24, 2018, he released his second Japanese single, "Defiance" / "Lavender". Both singles would be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Those two songs would be featured on his first Japanese album, Flawless Love which was released on April 10, 2019. The album would be the first time he topped the Oricon Weekly Album Rankings as a solo artist with its debut. He promoted the album in Japan during his tour entitled The Jaejoong Arena Tour 2019 – Flawless Love. His second Japanese album, Love Covers, was released on September 25, 2019, and debuted at number one on the Oricon Weekly Album Rankings. The album was awarded the Planning Award at the 61st Japan Record Awards and the "Best 3 Albums " award at the 34th Japan Gold Disc Award.On January 14, 2020, Kim released his first Korean album in four years with the EP Love song, along with its lead single "Tender Love". Following the EP's release, the cities and dates for his Asia Tour 2020 was announced. However, the tour dates were postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
He released his third Japanese single on March 10, 2020, "Brava!! Brava!! Brava!!" which debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly chart. It was the opening theme song for Smile Down the Runway. His third Japanese album, Love Covers II was released on July 29, 2020, and debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly chart. It was announced on August 30, 2020, that he would be singing the opening theme song for Noblesse, entitled "BREAKING DAWN" which was written and produced by Hyde. The song will have an English, Korean and Japanese version. His Japanese tour, J-JUN LIVE TOUR 2020～BREAKING DAWN～, originally planned for October 2020 was postponed until Spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. On September 18, 2020, Kim released "Even If I Call You" for the Mr. Heart web drama, marking his first Korean soundtrack performance in six years. He soon followed that Korean soundtrack performance with another as he released "Things We Should Love" for the soundtrack of the Korean drama Private Lives on October 28, 2020.
In April 2022, Kim resumed activities in Japan with a live concert for his Japanese fanclub. He released a duet theme song with Kim Junsu, "六等星" for the television adaptation of the manga Waru - Who said it's not cool to work? on April 13, 2022.
On September 13, 2022, Kim released his first Korean full-length album in six years titled Born Gene. His Asian Tour to promote the album includes stops in Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. He is also releasing a Japanese album, Fallinbow on November 9, 2022, which will then be followed up with a Japanese tour. On October 30, C-JeS Entertainment It was announced that Kim has urgently decided to cancel the Japan concert due to the aftermath of the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush.