Super Junior is one of the oldest active K-Pop groups at present. They debuted in 2005 under SM Entertainment and continued to release hit song after hit song for almost two decades.
2023, however, marked the end of an era: the group had to decide if they would renew their contracts. In an interview on Radio Star, the group revealed that it was actually a tense period of time in their friendship especially since three members were choosing to leave the company.
Donghae and Eunhyuk left SM and made their own agency. Kyuhyun went to Antenna.
— Heechul
Second oldest member Heechul said that he was supportive of these three pursuing a different path, knowing that they’ll still be able to do group activities eventually.
I used to drink with Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Kyuhyun and say, ‘You can leave. We’ll help you leave, found an agency, and everything we can.’
— Heechul
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Shindong was another member who was fine with them leaving, with him reportedly saying, “You can leave, and we can still be together to show everyone we’re still one team.”
Though Super Junior has a great deal of respect for each other, not everyone was supportive of the other’s decisions. Leeteuk and Yesung specifically were both less than enthused by the idea of members leaving.
However, the two people between me and Eunhyuk [Leeteuk and Yesing] wanted everyone to stay. We had a meeting regarding our renewal and things were so tense.
— Heechul
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Leeteuk stepped up to clarify his position. Rather than wanting things to stay the same after twenty years, he was miffed that he couldn’t pursue his own plans. He apparently worked hard for two years to turn Super Junior down the path of music producers, and this wasn’t able to become a reality with the different changes that happened within the group.
This is a misunderstanding, it’s not about rules. I lay down my burden. I wanted to pursue a different path. So I told this to Heechul: since we’ve been singers for 20 years, we could succeed Park Jinyoung and become the next generation producers. So I met 100 CEOs in the industry and I planned a schedule of two years to make this project a success.
— Leeteuk
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Check out the full video below to learn more about this iconic group.
