Lee Sungmin 이성민 (born January 1, 1986), or most commonly known as Sungmin 성민, is a South Korean idol singer and actor. He is one of the four lead vocalists and one of the main dancer of the South Korean boy band Super Junior. He is also a member of Super Junior subgroup Super Junior-T, Super Junior-H and recently became a member of Super Junior-M alongside Eunhyuk. He is known to be a delicate yet strong, feminine yet manly, sexy yet cute type of man. Fans normally refer to Sungmin as ' sweet pumpkin',(Korean danhobak 단호박) because of a line he had to recite in MBC Drama “Sea of sisters" and 'aegyo king' due to his baby-face and cuteness.
Biography
Sungmin was born in the Hogae district of Anyang, Gyeonggi. He has a younger brother, Lee Sungjin. He entered the 2001 SM Youth Best Contest and jointly won first place for the Best Outward Appearance award with future band mate Donghae. Together, they signed a contract with SM Entertainment and began to receive training in singing, dancing, and acting.
In 2002, Sungmin was briefly placed in a project R&B group with Xiah and future band mate Eunhyuk. Along with Typhoon, Rose and Attack, the six of them made their first television appearance in a show called Heejun vs. Kangta, Battle of the Century: Pop vs. Rock Moon Hee-jun taught Typhoon, Rose and Attack on how to properly sing rock while Sungmin, Xiah, and Eunhyuk were taught other singing techniques by Kangta. The six trainees quickly separated a year later, however, when Typhoon, Rose, and Attack debuted as member of rock band TRAX and Xiah debuted as a member ofTVXQ. Both Sungmin and Eunhyuk joined ten other trainees and formed the group Super Junior 05, being the first generation of the rotational boy band Super Junior.
Career
Super Junior
Super Junior 05 officially debuted on November 6, 2005 on SBS's music program Popular Songs, performing their first single, "TWINS (Knock Out)". Their debut performance attracted over 500 fans and also garnered oversea viewers from both China and Japan. A full studio album was released a month later, which debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.
In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.
During his career with Super Junior, Sungmin has been put into three subgroups, smaller groups that are branched off of the larger main group. In February 2007, Sungmin was placed in the trot-singingSuper Junior-T. A year later, he became a member of Super Junior-Happy. In 2011, he was also placed as one of the two new members of Super Junior-M along with Eunhyuk.
And around the first half of June 2011, Super Junior went back to the recording studio to prepare for their upcoming 5th album that ELFs all over the world are looking forward to .
During the last 2 weeks of July 2011, SM Entertainment started releasing different teaser images of Super Junior for their new album. They started with Eunhyuk, followed by Donghae, Leeteuk, Kyuhyun, Shindong, Sungmin, Ryeowook, Yesung, Siwon and then, Heechul. They released their new Teaser for their new single, Mr. Simple, last August 1, 2011. The songs was then released online through Naver, Soribada, Mnet etc. on August 2, 2011, followed by the release of their new album on August 3, 2011. And on August 4, they held a press conference followed by the release of their new music video.
On August 22, 2011, Super Junior released Version B of their Mr. Simple album. The concept for this one is a lot different from their Version A. They had the military concept in their photoshoot. This version has song SUPERMAN which they sang during their comeback stage that got fans hooked. You get to hear Sungmin and the rest of the Super Junior sing in a low key.
On September 21, 2011, Super Junior version C will be released which includes 4 new tracks. A-cha, which would be the new single.
Last October 13, 2011, SM Entertainment released the tickets which will kick off Super Junior's Super Show 4 WORLD TOUR at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in November. The tickets were sold up in less than 8 minutes. The confirmed cities, so far, that they will be visiting are, Osaka, Beijing, Taipei, Bangkok and Singapore.
Acting
Sungmin played young Kang Dong-shin in the MBC drama Sisters of the Sea in early 2005, right before the debut of Super Junior. A year later, Sungmin guest starred in SBS's Banjun Theatre dramaFinding Lost Time and played Micky's high school friend.
Sungmin's first big-scale film was the Super Junior film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, an SM Pictures production that premiered for the first time in July 2007. He played the role of a pretty school boy who later gets attacked by an unknown criminal.
In early 2008, Sungmin participated in a short half-hour drama Super Junior Unbelievable Story with Leeteuk. Sungmin starred as himself, a member of the popular group Super Junior-T who is constantly overshadowed by his members.
In 2009, he was casted in the musical "Akilla" starring as the main lead, Ro.
In 2010, he was casted in the musical "Hongildong" starring as the main lead, Hongildong, alongside fellow bandmate Yesung.
SM Entertainment recently announced that Sungmin was cast in the KBS drama "President" as Jang Sungmin, the ambitious son of Jang Il Joon the president. The drama will air on December 15, 2010 in KBS2-TV.
And just recently, he performed as Daniel in the musical "Jack the Ripper" that was staged on July 7, 2011. The last day of his performance as Daniel was on August 10, 2011 at the matinee show. His family (parents and sungjin), Fellow Super Junior member Cho Kyuhyun, Dong Bang Shin Ki's Shim Changmin and F(x)'s Amber were all there to give him support.
MC
Sungmin replaced band mate Kangin as one of the key DJs of Reckless Radio and was hosting it with Sooyoung of Girls' Generation in the later half of 2007. On February 3, 2008, Sooyoung's band mate Sunny replaced her position. The program ended in late July 2008.
Other activities
In October 2010, Sungmin was one of the twenty idols from different South Korean groups that recorded the song, "Let's Go", for the purpose of increasing public participation in the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. He provided vocals along with labelmates Seohyun, Jonghyun and Luna.
Concert
Sungmin has been in three concerts of Super Junior already. All where sold out and had the chance to showcase his abilities through his solo segments on the said concert. Super Junior's Super Show were all sold out in Asia that they are thinking of expanding it into a world tour.
And just recently, they have concluded SM Town in Paris. The first KPOP concert held in Paris, France that surprised them on how warm the reception of the French were to them.
With the release of their 5th album, Mr. Simple, another concert is in the works but, it was informed on their press conference on the 4th of August that there won't be an Asian tour but will be replaced with a world tour.
Twitter
Last August 9, 2011, a user with the tweet ID "Mystericsmile" came out on twitter and claimed to be Sungmin's official twitter account. But, later that day, Sungjin, Sungmin's younger brother officially announced that his brother doesn't have any twitter account and that the user "mystericsmile" was a fake. He also stated that this was the reason why his brother doesn't like twitter.
Sungmin used to have an account under the ID, "myblacksmile" but he removed it after a couple of months and also, he removed his cyworld for unspecified reasons. He continues to update his fans through his me2day account.
Discography
Further information: Super Junior discography
Singles and Soundtracks
| Year | Title | Song | Format | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Student's Cheer song | 소중한 열매 (Power) | Digital Single | Sungmin feat. CSJH Dana/Lina | |
| 2007 | "Homicide Investigation Team OST" | 히트 (H.I.T) | OST | KRY, Kangin, Sungmin, Donghae | |
| 2008 | SJ-T Rokkuko album Japanese ver | Asita No Tameni 明日のために (For Tomorrow) | Track | Sungmin feat. Japanese duo Moeyan ソンミン(SuperJunior-T×ﾓｴﾔﾝ) | |
| 2008 | Sanggeunie's Hope album | Jiguem Mannaro Gayo 지금 만나러 가요 (Now We Go to Meet) | Track | Yesung, Sungmin | written by Leeteuk, Sungmin |
| 2010 | "Haru OST" | Angel | OST | Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun | |
| 2010 | KBS2TV "President OST" | 입술을 깨물고 (Biting my Lips) | OST | Sungmin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun | Sungmin stars in the drama |
Filmography
Film
| Year | itle | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Attack on the Pin-Up Boys 꽃미남 연쇄 테러 사건 | himself | limited release in South Korea |
Television Drama
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Sisters of the Sea 자매바다 | young Kang Dong-shin | MBC | (Ep 1. ~ Ep. 60) |
| 2005 | Charnel House Boy 납골당소년 | young baseball player boy | KBS | One-episode drama |
| 2006 | Finding Lost Time | DBSK Yoochun's Bestfriend | SBS | One-episode drama |
| 2008 | Super Junior Unbelievable Story 슈퍼주니어의 기막힌 이야기 | Main role / himself | MBC | One-episode drama |
| 2010 | President | Jang Sungmin | KBS |
Musical Stages
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Royal Musical "Akilla" | Ro | Main lead |
| 2010 | HongGilDong | HongGildong | Main lead |
| 2011 | [ [Jack the Ripper] ] | Daniel | Main lead |
Music Video Appearances
| Year | Song title | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "S.E.O.U.L. MV" | Super Junior and Girls' Generation | The Photographer |
| 2010 | World Cup "Victory Korea" | Super Junior-Happy | Himself |
| 2010 | G20 Seoul Summit "Let's Go" | 2010 G-20 Seoul summit | Himself |
Variety shows
| Year | Station | Title | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | MNET | Hello Chat | VJ With Shindong |
| 2007 | MNET | Idol World | Regular MC. With SJ-T |
| 2008 | MBC | Idol Army S1 | Regular MC. With SJ-H |
| 2008 | MBC | Unbelievable Outing S3 | With Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Yesung and Kangin |
| 2009 | KBS | Miracle Show | With Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk and Kangin |
| 2009 | KBS | Intimate Note | Ep. 24 & 25. With Super Junior |
| 2009 | MBC | Oppa Band | He is a Regular MC Vocalist/Guitarist. With TRAX Jungmo |
| 2011 | SBS | Happy Together S3 | Ep. 176. With the cast of The President |
Radio shows
| Date | Name | Note |
| June 4, 2007 – February 3, 2008 February 3, 2008 – July 30, 2008 | Chunji Reckless Radio (천방지축 라디오) | with Sooyoung with Sunny |
Award
- 1st SM Youth Best Selection: Best Outward Appearance
