Kim Jae-joong

Kim Jae-joong (born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and Jejung/J-Jun (ジェジュン) in Japan, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and director.

He is a member of the Korean pop group JYJ and was one of the original members of boy band TVXQ, where he was formerly known by the stage name Hero Jae-joong.

Kim attended Gongju Jungdong Elementary School (중동초등학교), Kongju National University Middle School (공주대학교 사범대학 부설중학교), Kongju Information High School (공주정보고등학교) and then dropped out in 2001.

In 2001, at fifteen years old, Kim auditioned for S.M. Entertainment and was accepted into the agency.

From 2003 to 2010, he was the lead vocalist of South Korean boy band TVXQ.

Later, he sued SM Entertainment along with Park Yoo-chun and Kim Jun-su and together they separated from TVXQ to form JYJ.

From 2003 to 2010, he was the lead vocalist of South Korean boy band TVXQ.

He enrolled Hanam High School (하남고등학교) in 2005 and Kyung Hee Cyber University (경희사이버대학교), majoring in Digital Media Engineering.

On November 21, 2006, a man with the surname Han filed a lawsuit against Kim's guardians.

Han claimed he was Kim's biological father, and thus wanted parental rights.

Han cited the reason for the lawsuit against Kim's legal guardians as "for not going through the proper procedures before registering [Jaejoong] in [the legal guardians'] custody."

The first hearing was to be held in Kim's hometown, Gongju, on November 29, 2006, but on November 22 Han dropped the charges against Kim's legal guardians.

In reaction to the matter, Kim uploaded a journal entry on his official fan club website, and said that he was informed of the existence of separate biological parents by his mother two or three years ago, and it had been quite a shock to him.

With his adoptive mother's support, his biological mother was able to keep in touch with him, and to meet occasionally, but whereabouts of his father had been unknown.

He expressed his will to live by the name of Kim Jae-joong, not by his birth name Han Jae-jun (한재준).

When Kim was fifteen, he moved to Seoul by himself in order to take part in the auditions held by SM Entertainment.

Life in Seoul was financially difficult and he took various odd jobs to pay for rent, food, and training fees; and even appeared as an extra in movies.

In an interview, he admitted he used to be tone-deaf in primary school and was frequently ridiculed for his dream of becoming a singer, but managed to overcome it through practicing alone.

Apart from his activities as a member of TVXQ, he sang "Insa" (인사, Greeting) for the soundtrack of A Millionaire's First Love (2006).

Kim collaborated with The Grace for the Japanese version of their song "Just for One Day", which was featured on their fifth Japanese single and their debut album, Graceful 4 (2007).

Kim sang "Love" for the soundtrack of the film Heaven's Postman (2009) in which he starred as the male lead.

In 2009 Kim, Junsu and Yoochun, started a lawsuit against their agency, SM Entertainment, and separated from TVXQ, soon founding their own band, JYJ.

On September 30, 2009, Kim and bandmate Yoochun released a self-composed single "Colors (Melody and Harmony)/Shelter."

Kim has acted in TV dramas including Sunao ni Narenakute (2010), Protect the Boss (2011), Dr. Jin (2012), Triangle (2014), SPY (2015), Manhole (2017) and Bad Memory Eraser (2022); and in films such as Heaven's Postman (2009) and Jackal is Coming (2012).

After TVXQ went on hiatus in early 2010, he and two other fellow band members Yoochun and Junsu formed a new trio boy group, initially known as JUNSU/JEJUNG/YUCHUN in Japan.

Kim sang the solo track "Maze" for the fifth and final single of the TVXQ/Tohoshinki's Trick Project, "Keyword/Maze".

Jaejoong wrote and composed "Wasurenaide" (忘れないで) which was included on TVXQ/Tohoshinki's twenty-fifth single "Bolero/Kiss the Baby Sky/Wasurenaide."

The song was also on their fourth Japanese album The Secret Code, along with the songs "9095" and "9096" which were also composed by Kim.

The song, "忘れないで" was used in a television advertisement for cosmetics in Japan.

Since 2013, he has expanded his range of activities as a solo artist, and in 2023, he formed his own agency iNKODE where he serves as the Chief Strategy Officer.

Born in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, he moved to Seoul as a teenager to audition for SM Entertainment.

As a solo artist, he has released three Korean studio albums, WWW (2013), No.X (2016), and Born Gene (2022).

The first two reached number one on the Gaon Music Chart.

In Japan, his three studio albums Flawless Love (2019), Love Covers (2019), and Love Covers II (2020) all peaked at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart.

He has a fourth Japanese album, Fallinbow, releasing in November 2022.

He has toured extensively in South Korea and Japan.

He has branched into hosting with season 1 and 2 of Lifetime Korea's Travel Buddies (2020, 2021), BS SKY PerfecTV's ジェジュンＪ! (Jaejoong J!, 2021) and has a documentary about his life and career called Jaejoong: On the Road (2021), directed by John H. Lee.

Kim was born Han Jae-joon (한재준; 韩在俊) in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.

His real birthday, as revealed by his biological mother, was on February 4, instead of January 26.

At a young age, he was given up for adoption by his biological mother to the Kim family, and his name was changed to Kim Jae-joong.