At 18
wulijohyunjae | January 19, 2010 | 7:00 am
Some of you may have seen the video of Jo Hyun-Jae in Guardian before. Unfortunately the quality of these videos is not very good, rather blurry. JHJ himself said he’s very surprised these videos are still around.
The first video has clips from other videos, so it is the most comprehensive. It mostly shows the boys performing in their white uniform.
The second video (very short) shows the boys in black, again doing the same song (probably the only song that was promoted.)
The third video (even shorter) is supposed to highlight discovery of former profession (singer in boy band) of the now famous JHJ.
We are glad JHJ successfully made the transition from singer to actor. It is not easy, and not many artists make it. I read somewhere that managers often mistreat and bully the artists under their control, and beatings and other physical abuses are common. Andy (of the group Shinhwa) who entered the military last week once had to wear a mask to perform on stage because his face was all swollen from the beatings he took. There are many more such “horror stories” that are supposed to be common knowledge in the Korean entertainment world. Sometimes we wonder how JHJ could have survived, given his temperament and personality.
(Credit: Param of carpediemJAPAN; cafe,daum.net; hyunjaelove.jp. Thanks!)
He was 18 during his Guardian days? He looks 15 or 16 in those videos!!! Slave contracts, that’s what Koreans call these contracts newbies to the Korean entertainment industry sign with their management companies. So, in a way I am glad that JHJ’s boy group didn’t make it big and didn’t last long, he was saved from the “horrors” members of famous Korean boy bands go through.
Thanks for sharing the video, wuliJHJ.