Category: Interviews

“I dream of installing an extremely big electronic display in Namsan Tower (T/N: An iconic Korean landmark) and performing. The artists perform underneath the Namnsan Tower and the people of Seoul, whoever he is, from anywhere, can see the stage. I become happy just imagining it.”

The reporter just let out one question of whether “directing performances is fun,” but group JYJ’s Kim Jaejoong let his ideas forth one after the other.

Kim Jaejoong, whom this reporter met recently in a café in Shinsadong, was immersed in the fun of directing performances.

“I want to try doing a performance in which the stage and the set are made of LED and lights. I also want to do a performance in which the artist walks on the ceiling of the concert hall. I do get stressed, but there are just too many ideas that I have to pour onto the stage.”

For TVXQ, Korea’s top idol group, July of 2009 was an unforgettable moment of fate. The 3 members Xiah Junsu, Micky Yoochun, and Hero Jaejoong had suddenly filed for injunctive relief to suspend the contract against their agency SM Entertainment, arguing that the “13 years of exclusive contract is over the line.” The fans, who had been very absorbed into the “boys (who come) before flowers” (T/N: alternatively, “pretty men”), were extremely agitated.

They had thought that [TVXQ] had been trotting along without a problem but in truth it was as if they were festering inside.  These 3 in the end chose the road of separation ·independence in the name of JYJ. However, the environment that surrounded them was not very amicable. Sometimes they had to taste disappointment under a cold gaze.

About 2 years after the breakup, I invited JYJ’s Kim Jaejoong (Hero Jaejoong) to “Truth in Drink” as a representative of the rest of the members of JYJ. He had stepped out for a world tour with Thailand at the beginning of this year as its start. He shined in his roles, taking on 2 roles despite having only one body by doing executive directing of the stage. In his face was a relief of having finished grand stage without a problem. His expression was also cheerful. Further, most of all, his skin was so very (beautifully) pale and smooth.