By: LazerKim The title of this article may be deceiving although we know the guy Kim Hyun Joong is a perfect description of MR. PERFECT. But what I am about to write is his negative side, his imperfections and his greatest mistake in his entire life, but a part of his life that made him strong. Hyun Joong is also known for his Mr. Honesty! In many talk shows and interviews, which is my favorite cup of tea that I love watching over and over again until such time I can nearly internalize who the guy is, is how we get to know him better! I haven’t stop researching since I started because there are a lot more about him.
I feel Hyun Joong wants his fans to accept him for what he is. I was once deceived by Hyun Joong when I first have seen him at BOF, by taking the character of Jihoo as Kim Hyun Joong without realizing Yoon Jihoo and Kim Hyun Joong are two different characters. Hyun Joong insisted that he portray a different role in his upcoming drama, that he chose a character nearest to Kim Hyun Joong so that people would recognize him much better as his true self. This is how I interpret his motive on insisting to take an action drama City Conquest. Many of his fans have not outgrown his flower boy image yet, but this time he would like to delete that image from our minds and know him better as who he really is.
From the two consecutive articles that I have written these past two days, let’s just say this is another episode of that talk show with Kang Hodong. I read the whole translation again and again, because I finding out the reason as to why among his talk shows that the translation from the video clip was deleted? I’m just so thankful that when I have watched this talk show last year I wrote down the translation and save it in my computer. Unfortunately I misplaced it in my file and found it a few days ago. Although I missed a part of the talk show when he talked about his boss. I was actually intrigue about Hyun Joong’s honesty.
MR. HONESTY
No one is perfect, everyone is entitled to make mistakes, but from those mistakes we learn from our own experience, as well as from the experience of others. In another talk show Hyun Joong also admitted that his previous agent does not allow him and his members to talk about drinking vices, and girls. May I just clarify that Korean showbiz has their own way of doing business. Unlike in Hollywood and in other countries that idols can openly say what they want without hesitation.
In Korea it’s the other way around. Well let’s just say they lean more on being a public image, as a role model to the general public. But Hyun Joong is different, he prefers his fans to accept him as he is including his flaws. In another talk show he openly admitted that he cannot go out on public without make up and openly said when he look at the mirror without make-up he can see his ugly flaws. But on the contrary when I have met Hyun Joong in his rehearsals, I liked him better without make-up, he’s more manly, carefree and handsome.
Hyun Joong I think is different in so many aspects, that he would rather show his negative flaws to his fans, to know him better as he is in reality. It’s a great surprise for him why people likes him that until now he still has those questions in mind. He knows he’s handsome even in just one look, to the extent of asking “Do they know me?” And so he started to open up about himself and his past, about how a bad boy he was during his teenage period.
He’s trying now to delete that Yoon JiHoo in the mind of many simply because he doesn’t want to deceive those who loves him dearly. Many of his previous fans were expecting him to go back to his group but he contradicted and leaving no empty promises. Stating this opinion below Hyun Joong never meant to hurt his fans, but just being truthful and realistic that he wouldn’t allow his fans to wait aimlessly, and to accept whatever is in front of us at present and be happy, for we do not know what is there in the future.
“What the fans want would be when the album would be released but it would be disappointing to promise something and to not be able to come through. The name SS501 belongs to DSP.” (fr:sparkling magazine 2011)
WHO AM I?
Kang Hodong started this program having Hyun Joong as his guest last year as he bluntly asked Hyun Joong straight questioning and gets honest response. This was how the program started:
Kang Hodong: Since you have betrayed your agency, since you changed your agency, it has been a long time since you appeared in a variety program. So, have you been well?
KHJ: Yes, I have been well and I have rested well.
KHD: Your boss is Bae YongJoon. When you decided to appear in our program, did Bae Yong Joon tell you anything?
KHJ: No! KHD: You did not tell him? KHJ: I did not tell him yet.
KHD: Don’t you think he would still know? I mean our prog is pretty big program.
KHD asks KHJ if his appearance is made by GOD only or by a doctor.
KHJ: God gave it to me and a doctor gave it a bit of touch. My nose was hit by a stone while the ‘hyungs’ were breaking the cassettes with stones and one of them hit me instead. So, I patched up my nose and at the same time, lifted it a bit!!
KHD: I really feel like KHJ is giving us a sign that he is going to tell us everything that we ask him today.
KHJ: I guess I have to…But I am wondering if I am being pulled too much.
Hyun Joong was on his own and that is why he is known for his being candidly honest that even more people love him for that. Whether it may put his reputation in a danger zone he wouldn’t mind for as long as he tells the truth, and never to pretend just to give a good impression about himself. Again I’m not saying he’s a saint, it’s just that he’s not so good at telling a lie. Who among the Korean celeb who would openly admit in a national TV that he had plastic surgery? Well I’m not so sure but Hyun Joong was one of those celebs who admitted casually and openly that shocked everyone, even Kang Hodong himself was shocked!
ME AND MY BOSS
KHD: What I hear is that KHJ and BYJ are very close, Putting aside their employer and employee relationship, they go out to drink together. Even in our last interview together, he was one hour late smelling of alcohol.
KHJ: No, I am sure I was past the hangover!!
KHD: Do you like to drink? KHJ: I do like it very much.
KHD: You must be busy practicing singing and dancing for your upcoming solo album and also going out to drink, what made you come today?
KHJ: I feel like everything about what is happening and has happened to me is like soap bubble. Whenever I go overseas, thousands of fans come. Of course I feel good…and very thankful..But whenever that happens, I get a feeling of do they really know me? When did they see me? They wave to me and they even come to greet me at the airport. The Kim Hyun Joong I know is a this tiny person yet when the fans come, I feel like they see me as this big person. I get a big sense of burden..
KHD: So, when you say you feel like just a bubble, when do you feel that?
KHJ: I feel that some of the press described me in a grand way. Such as “10,000 seats sold out”. The reality is that concert was carried out twice for 5000 audience each. They would described me as the little Yonsama in the news . I actually had a concert with BYJ at the Tokyo Dome and realized what being Hallyu really meant. 50,000 people were there.
MR. STUDIOUS
Kang Hodong talks about Hyun Joong’s profile and his past during his childhood and High School days from that talk show.
KHD Reads KHJ’s grand profile: You all know his profile. KHJ was ranked number 1 in the entire school during his elementary school. He once worried that his grades did not go up any more. Why? Since he is number 1, where else can he go? But this smart boy listened to Suh Tae Ji ‘s Ultramania during junior high school 2nd year and started to follow him. He followed him so much that he even dropped out of high school and ran away from home.
He became a pretty pauper and started to work and eventually went into DSP as its trainee. He made debut in 2005 with SS501 but did not beat the rival DBXK. He went onto acting and even won the newcomers award. Even though his acting may not have been that good, the rating was always increasing. Regarding DSP, he even said all in jest that he will never leave DSP unless kicked out but he did…He moved to Keyeast and the first acting job through Keyeast was Playful Kiss.
Kang Hodong asked about Hyun Joong being number 1 in elementary school. Hyun Joong replied “who would not do well in elementary school?” Hyun Joong said everybody is different. He said that as an elementary student, he hated losing and he felt pain if he gets one thing wrong. He would get up at 6 in the morning daily with and alarm clock and study before going to school. At 2nd grade, to win prizes.
He would read 15 books a day to not to lose his rank. His dream as a young child was to become a scientist to experiment with cells and etc. His parents had nothing to worry about as all teachers would tell his parents that Hyung Joong does not have to worry about being accepted to Seoul National University. My parents were so relaxed about me until they were shocked when I was a junior high school student.
MR. ROCKER
Hyun Joong was asked about his dream of becoming a scientist changed to being a singer? Hyun Joong talked about listening to Suh Tae Ji’s Ultra Mania with red hair at that time. To Hyun Joong, Suh Tae Ji looked and was just amazing and charismatic. He wanted to be SuhTae Ji. Then, he joined a Catholic church that had a rock band called Axel. At first KHJ learned to play the base because Suh Tae Ji played the base initially also. He studied everything about Suh Tae Ji and he neglected his studies.
Hyun Joong said that he did not study because STJ also did not study. He said that he learned everything about STJ that he can see on the outside. He felt that STJ does not look like the type to study so he did not either. Hyun Joong also felt that classroom work seemed like just a lot of lectures and he wanted to show that studying is not everything. He felt that to go to school and to study were sacrilege against STJ’s music.
LazerKim view point:
Hyun Joong was being honest about his past, telling the truth about how he followed his idol Suh Tae Ji to the extremes. But Hyun Joong’s intention of saying this is to learn from his bad experience too, that he was lead in wrong way. Or in short Hyun Joong learned about life the hard way because he took the rocky road. Life is choice, destiny is what is the result of the life we chose. And that is why Hyun Joong kept telling his teenage fans to put studies priority above their aspiration in becoming a star. It’s where he went wrong, he followed his idol but he missed to listen to what his idol was saying.
In another talk show, Hyun Joong was saying many of his fans would tell him that she will marry him someday!! Hyun Joong would say, “Do not fall in love with me too much, if you find a nice man marry him at once!! I would love to see my fans pregnant and watch my concert!!” This may be hilarious but he’s being truthful about the limitations of fan and idol relationship. For his fans, Mr. Perfect is role model but will not deceive you into showing off that everything about him is perfect because he’s not and will never be. That is what Hyun Joong thinks, as I have said he is a very realistic type of person.
MR. BAD BOY
Hyun Joong wanted his rebelliousness to be filled to the brim. He did not want to fall below and everything about it was very attractive to him.
KHD: To you it was attractive, but what was it like for your parents?
KHJ: They tried very hard to stop me. They shattered the guitar that I bought with my own money.
KHD: To your parents, they were seeing the rebellion of a son becoming a teenager.
KHJ: The level of my rebelliousness was equivalent to that of a tornado, There were many incidents where my parents had to be a frequent visitor at police stations because of me. I really stressed out my parents a great deal.
KHD: They must have been so very shocked.
KHJ: They would wish on me to have a child like me. In a way, it is horrifying. If my son were like me, I probably would have locked him up.
KHD: But you are not the type to stay locked up.
KHJ: No, because I was locked up, only thing I could do was to run away. In a way, that was the end point of the big storm.
UNTOLD STORY
At this point Hyun Joong was asked how his high school he went. Hyun Joong went to Jamsil elementary and junior high school but somehow he ended up going to Young Dong high school which was part of Kang Nam district which is a very wealthy town. He had misconceptions about that high school, he thought that the Kang Nam residents were so rich that if he asked for a bus fare, he would get easy money and he also thought that all the students would be driven to school by their private drivers.
Hyun Joong could not stand the thought of going there as he was not from such a rich background. So he wore the Young Dong HS uniform and went to Jamsil High School’s first day, participated in its ceremony and even went into the friend’s classroom and insisted that he is suppose to be a student at Jamsil HS. He did that to become a Jamsil student!! Hyun Joong said that he was kicked out of Jamsil and hardly went to Young Dong High School. So his attendance was really poor and the teacher said that he may be kicked out of school, So, Hyun Joong decided not to go to school.
KHD: SuhTae Ji also dropped out of high school and whether you wanted to emulate him
KHJ: That fact did influence his decision maybe 60%. But when I quit school, I realized that I had nothing to do.
KHD: So what was your day like after you officially dropped out of school?
KHJ: I would get up and eat, my mom do not prepare my meals, they did not give me any allowance either. They would yell at me, go out and earn your own food, sehkkiya! (which means bastard) There were two high schools in the town of Jamsil. One day I would go to one high school and wait at the snack store for my friends to come out when the bell rings. If I gets bored with one school, I would bike over to another school in the town. I actually played in the soccer game during the gym time at that high school. Then I got a job like delivering chicken .
KHD: Woah! From the perspective of the parents, they must have resented Suh TaeJi at that time.
KHJ: Yes. Basically my extreme reverence for him increased too much rebellion in me that I went the wrong way. I just copied the surface to the extreme.
KHD: Your rebellion went overboard that you did not even listen to Suh Tae Ji either. You did not return home.
KHJ: Yes, I left home and lived on my own.
KHD: There is a saying that if one leaves home, it is just a hardship.
LOST SON
KHD: Do you give a lot of spending money to your parents?
KHJ: Yes, I do. But I do not give them myself. An automatic deposit system has been set up on a regular basis.
KHD: Why not hire someone like the dealer to go to the house and give it in person?
KHJ: No , because that person can run with the money!!
KHD: So you are are suspicious by nature.
KHJ: Yes. So, I want to do the best but it is hard for me once I am in the front of them.
KHD: I heard that you are preparing a surprise gift for your parents. KHJ: Yes…
KHD: You cannot tell us here? KHJ: When is this being broadcast? I bought house.
KHD: For your parents? KHJ: Yes. But it is not completed until October so I should not.
KHD: But why aren’t you telling them?
KHJ: Because I am embarrassed. My parents use to live in Jamsil and moved to Sungdo on a lease as their business was not doing well. So I was trying to buy in Jamsil but Jamsil has become expensive. So I bought one in Myungdong.
BACK HOME
In addition to this information, Hyun Joong gave an outlet of Jaksal to his mom. I do not know what transpired during his high school days, but there are times that teenagers get to be rebellious if they are not being heard, or would call for attention. I can’t help think maybe if parents can be a little affectionate, supportive of what our kids want by proper guidance, and accepting them for what they are should have been easier. Kids do fear being yelled at that, they become secretive, less communicative because they fear others might not accept what they think and feel. Parents are the first friends that a kid knew, they learn their first love from their parents as parents tend to be over protective of their child because of love.
As I have mentioned in my article yesterday, indeed Hyun Joong has a great love to his parents but he grew up having fears of rejection that I would say that made him less expressive of what he truly feels. One has to read his heart in order to understand him. If we are all proud of Hyun Joong being a fan, then I’m sure his parents are as proud as we are. Their wish for their son in the past may be a failure, but they are more than blessed with a precious son in this present period.
Mr. Perfect is not as perfect after all, but Kim Hyun Joong is blessed with a lot of perfection in himself in so many aspects that anyone can be proud of whoever stands beside him.
LazerKim here writing
