Jun Jin

Park Choong-jae (born August 19, 1980), known professionally as Jun Jin, is a South Korean singer, actor and entertainer, known as a member and rapper of six-member boy band Shinhwa.

He debuted as a dancer and rapper in Shinhwa in 1998 but started singing small parts in 2002; the release of Shinhwa's fifth album.

Jun Jin was the first-born child of singer Charlie Park, also known as Park Young-chul , who debuted with a solo album Casanova Sarang in 2004.

Jun Jin was born out of wedlock and due to strong opposition from his maternal family, Jun Jin's mother and father split, leaving Jun Jin to be raised by his grandmother.

His father remarried, but divorced during Jun Jin's teenage years.

His father's third wife proved to be a loving mother as she took care of Jun Jin and his younger sister like her own children.

She also located Jun Jin's birth mother and reconnected the two.

Although he wasn't able to see her frequently, the two did promise to keep in touch.

Backed by his high school friend, An Chil-hyun, Jun Jin was able to make it through the audition as a member for Shinhwa.

He debuted with them as a rapper, alongside Eric Mun and Andy Lee.

However, in the release of Shinhwa's fifth album Perfect Man, he began singing small parts.

He would still continue to sing small parts with the release of Shinhwa's later albums until the band switched to a different label, Good Entertainment.

Under Good Entertainment, Jun Jin advanced further, singing a solo song entitled "Painfully Loving You."

Jun Jin soon released a single, "Sarangee Ohji Anayo" (Love Doesn't Come), thus starting his solo career.

Jun Jin starred in the hit 2004 KBS drama Forbidden Love in 2004, alongside popular actress Kim Tae-hee.

He also starred in various other Banjun Dramas as well.

He debuted as a solo artist in November 2006 with the single Love Doesn't Come.

Jun Jin released his first single in November 2006 titled "사랑이 오지 않아요" (translated to "Love Doesn't Come"), with a total of five songs, including the title song and its instrumental.

Surprisingly, he decided to go into ballad even though he is known for his strong dance skills.

However, this is because ballads are popular in Korea right now; dance artists such as Baek Ji-young and even Jun Jin's own group Shinhwa have released ballads for their lead singles as well.

The single did fairly well on the chart, though not a major hit.

In December 2006, Jun Jin was hospitalised; although recommended to stay in the hospital, he quickly left and returned to his promotional schedule.

In January 2007, Jun Jin took part in the Hallyu Festival in Osaka which also featured bandmate Lee Min-woo, Kangta of H.O.T, SG Wannabe and actor Song Seung-heon at the Osaka Dome.

In early January 2007, Jun Jin filmed a music video with Taiwanese singer Linda Liao.

The music video was by the Korean group, The Name, titled "It Could Be Love."

He later recorded a duet with Lao, entitled "Forever" and also has a version in Mandarin.

He later released a repackage version of "Love Doesn't Come," which included the duet with Lao.

The repackage version fared better in sales, selling 44,724 at the end of 2007.

In mid-2007, Jun Jin left his group's management company and set up his own call JF Story Entertainment to concentrate on his solo career more.

But has since been managed by Open World Entertainment.

He released his first full-length solo album on 25 April 2008.

Titled New Decade, the first single from the album was "Wa".

The single encountered controversy when the music video was given a 19+ rating due to sexual content, in effect banning the video from major networks.

On 26 April, Jun Jin held his first solo concert at Shibuya Public Hall, Tokyo.

An extra show was added when the 2,500 tickets sold out in five minutes.

Jun Jin appeared variety programme Infinite Challenge firstly in April 2008 as a replacement for Haha, officially known as 'the 7th member' in June 2008.

In 2009, he and the other members of Infinite Challenge appeared in an episode of MBC drama Queen of Housewives.

Later he joined We Got Married in early 2009 with actress Lee Si-young as his "wife".

The couple was dubbed "Gundam Couple" due to Lee Si-young's obsession with Gundam.

They officially departed from the show on May 3, 2009 due to the restructuring of the show's format.