Eric Mun

Eric Mun
Background information
Birth name	Mun Jung-hyuk
Born	(1979-02-16) 16 February 1979 Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop J-pop Dance
Occupation(s)	singer actor producer
Instruments	Vocals Saxophone
Years active	1998–present
Labels	SM Entertainment Good Entertainment Top Class Entertainment E&J Entertainment
Associated acts	Shinhwa
Website	www.shinhwacompany.co.kr

Eric Mun (born Mun Jung-hyuk on February 16, 1979) is a Korean singer and actor. He is a member and leader of the South Korean boy band Shinhwa. He is also well known for several dramas such as Phoenix, Super Rookie and Another Oh Hae-young. He was with Top Class Entertainment from 2007 to December 2013. In 2014, Eric teamed up with his long time manager of 10 years, Lee Jong Hyun, to set up a new management agency E&J Entertainment for his individual activities. Eric is also the CEO of Shinhwa Company with Lee Min-woo as co-CEO since 2011, with the remaining members: Kim Dong-wan, Shin Hye-sung, Jun Jin and Andy Lee as shareholders.

Biography

Eric Mun (Mun Jung-hyuk) was born in Seoul. He is the youngest of the 3 siblings with 2 older sisters. Eric attended Daechi Elementary School located in Seoul. When his family moved to the U.S, he went to John Burroughs Middle School located in Los Angeles. Eric spent his years of high school at Parks Junior High School and Sunny Hills High School, both of which are located in Fullerton, California. In 1996 Eric returned to Korea and he joined SM Entertainment as a trainee and was featured as a rapper on label mate girl group S.E.S.' single "I'm Your Girl" along with Andy.^[1] On March 24, 1998, with the stage name Eric, he debuted as Leader and lead rapper of group Shinhwa with their single "해결사" (The Solver) on KM Music Tank. He stated that their debut album Resolver did not perform well and the band almost disbanded. At the time, he thought seriously about giving up and returning to the U.S.^[2]

In 2005 Eric graduated from Dongguk University with a major in Theater and Film as one of its notable alumni.

2004: The Start of Acting Career

Even though in 2002 Eric and his Shinhwa band mates had cameo appearance in the movie Emergency 19 Act, Eric’s career as an actor really started in 2003 when director Park Sung Soo gave him 0.5 second to make a decision whether taking on a supporting role for MBC’s series Breathless (I Run). Eric responded with a "Yes" and that opened door to the path of acting.^[3] In early 2004, he got a big break with the immensely popular drama Phoenix (Bulsae). The huge success of Phoenix further launch Eric to super stardom. Most memorable line was the infamous super cheesy “Do you smell anything burning? My heart is burning” that is still currently being used, parodied in many dramas and shows.

2005-2006: Acting and Injury

In 2005, Mun starred in lead role in MBC's Super Rookie with actress Han Ga-in.^[4] It was also broadcast on Fuji Television. It got solid rating in Korea during the broadcast. Super Rookie was also a big hit in Japan after Fuji TV paid ₩2 billion for the broadcast rights in Japan.^[5] It sparked a huge response in Japan when it was broadcast there, as the viewers could relate to the drama that further launch Eric to the Hallyu wave. In December 2005, Eric went to promote Super Rookie in Japan. Huge crowd was waiting to see him at the airport. Fuji TV and Narita Airport treated him like State Guest.^[6]

In early 2006, Mun was injured on the set of MBC drama Wolf, resulting in it being pulled off air after four episodes. Mun was injured whilst shooting a scene, near Namdaemun in Seoul, where he was to save co-star Han Ji-min from being run over by a car. However the stunt car driver misunderstood the signals drove at them at 40 km/h and did not stop in front of them as planned.^[7]

In August, after the successful run of Super Rookie, especially in Japan,^[8] Eric collaborated again with its writers in Invincible Parachute Agent (also known as Korea Secret Agency).^[9]

2008-2010: Military Enlistment

Shinhwa's 10th Anniversary concert in March 2008, that marked the start of Shinhwa's hiatus as a group to fulfill Korea mandatory military duty. Before his army enlistment, Eric picked up a period drama for the first time in his acting career with Strongest Chil Woo.^[10] With 30 million wons per episode for Strongest Chil Woo, Eric was the highest paid singer-turned-actor in the industry at the time.^[11]

Gave up his American Citizenship in 2003 ^[12][13] to be able to serve his military duty, Eric was the first Shinhwa member to enlist for mandatory military service in October 2008. Because of his back injury from the filming of Wolf drama, Eric served non-active duty e.g. public service worker after undergoing four weeks of basic training. He was discharged on 30 October 2010.^[14]

2011: Acting Comeback and The Founding of Shinhwa Company

After being discharged, Mun's first project was supposed to be KBS's action drama Poseidon opposite Kim Ok-bin, set for broadcast in July 2011. However they dropped out when production was halted after the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong incident in November 2010.^[15] Instead, he made his comeback in another KBS drama, Spy Myung-wol with Han Ye-seul in July, playing a Korean wave star who is at the center of a kidnap plot by North Korean agents.^[16][17]

On 1 July 2011, Mun became CEO (with Lee Min-woo as co-CEO) of Shinhwa Company, a joint venture agency for members Shinhwa to perform as a group. The Company manages the group as a whole, whilst members' individual activities are managed by their respective agencies.^[18]

As part of Top Class Entertainment he produced girl group Stellar, who debuted in August 2011 with the song "Rocket Girl".^[19]

2012: Shinhwa Comeback

In March 2012, Eric reunited with his Shinhwa band mates for their comeback after four years, under the management of Shinhwa Company. The group released their tenth studio album The Return on 23 March 2012,^[20][21] launched their comeback concerts 2012 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return throughout Asia^[22][23] and their first exclusive variety program Shinhwa Broadcast premiered on 17 March 2012 on cable channel JTBC.^[24]

Mun's rap is featured on Brown Eyed Girls' Ga In's digital single "Nostalgia", released on 30 November 2012.^[25]

2013: Shinhwa Comeback and Leaving Top Class Management

On February 8, 2013, Shinhwa’s agency announced the legendary group’s comeback through their official website. The poster for their comeback 2013 Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Classic to commemorate the group’s 15 years since their debut was revealed. The album's name called The Classic.

It became a huge success, the concert's tickets were sold out within minutes. Mun along with Shinhwa won many awards in 2013. People regarded them as the Longest Running Boy Band in the South Korean music industry.

December 2013, Mun's contract with Top Class Entertainment came to an end. He did not re-sign another contract with Top Class Entertainment and therefore he's no longer in charge of group Stellar whom he helped the company to produce and promote the original line up.^[26][27]

2014: Return to Acting

In March, Eric successfully concluded the 16th Anniversary Concerts with Shinhwa. After several casting offers from KBS,^[28][29] Eric returns to the small screen in August with the drama Discovery of Love, which reunites him with Jung Yu-mi, who was his co-star in MBC's 2007 Que Sera, Sera.^[30][31][32] It was also announced that he has formed his own management company, E&J Entertainment with his manager of 10 years, Lee Jong-hyun.^[33]

Despite its average 7% Neilsen rating, Eric & the team of Discovery of Romance drama received a lot of praise for their acting and a good realistic drama. Eric won a Triple Crown at KBS' 2014 Year End Award (Excellent Actor, Best Couple, and Netizen Award). With this win, Eric has won acting awards at all 3 major Broadcasting Networks. In 2015, Discovery of Love was nominated for the 2015 Rockie Award^[34] in Melodrama category alongside 30 Vies (Canada), EastEnders (UK), Grey’s Anatomy (USA), My Sunshine (China), and Mysterious Summer (Japan). In an 2015 Instiz discussion post about viewers' favorite drama characters, Eric's Kang Taeha Discovery of Romance stays in top 10 at #6.^[35]

2015: Shinhwa Comeback

Eric made a comeback with Shinhwa's 12th studio album "WE". Shinhwa broke their previous record with 10 wins (a Triple Crown at Mnet's M! Countdown) for this comeback. Eric and Shinhwa were on concert tour starting in May and ended with an Encore concert in Seoul in August. Shinhwa also performed at KCON LA for the first time in early August.

2016 : Acting comeback

In 2016, Eric made an acting comeback starring in South Korean TV cable (tvN) drama Another Oh Hae-young with Seo Hyun-jin. The drama is currently the highest rated Monday-Tuesday drama in TvN history. At tvN10 Awards on October 9, Eric was crowned Ro-co King.^[36] Seo Hyunjin was also crowned Ro-co Queen.

On September 16, in a preview for the new season of tvN "Three Meals a Day", it is revealed that Eric has joined as a cast member for Season 3 of Three Meals A Day - Fishing Village^[37] with Lee Seo-jin and Yoon Kyun-sang. This season of Fishing Village is filmed at Deukryang Island. The season premiere was on October 14 and it is broadcast every Friday night at 9:15pm (KST).

Eric is expected to make a comeback with group Shinhwa at the end of 2016 for their 13th album.

Filmography

Television dramas

Movies

Variety Shows

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eric Mun.

• Shinhwa Company official website (Korean)