South Korean actor and musician Eric Mun (Mun Jung-hyuk) is most known for being the frontman of the band “Shinhwa.” The longest-running boy band in South Korean K-pop history is his group. The band has advanced significantly since its beginning in the late 1990s and has given Eric enough exposure in the entertainment sector. He had little trouble making a name for himself as an actor because he was a well-known musician. He began his acting career in 2002 with the movie “Emergency 19 Act,” and during the following few years, he appeared in the TV shows “Breathless” and “Phoenix.” After a period of inactivity, the band resumed its activities in 2012 and continued to acquire fans not just in South Korea but also abroad. Alongside his work on TV shows like “Que Sera Sera” and “Discovery of Love,” Eric pursued his music career. He has received numerous honors for his performances throughout the years. He has received honors from MBC Drama Awards, Paeksang Arts Awards, and SBS Drama Awards, among others.
Early Childhood & Life
Eric Mun was born on February 16, 1979, in Seoul to a wealthy South Korean business family. He was the most adored member of the family because he was the youngest of the three kids. His mother is a well-known American-born Korean lawyer, and his parents run a prosperous restaurant business in the country. His father also practices neurosurgery.
Eric spent a lot of time with his mother because his father was away much of the time, and he now takes pride in the fact that he was a mama’s boy. Despite being wealthy, he didn’t feel joyful about acquiring the latest toys and video games that other youngsters sought. He was far more interested in reading about the history of the globe, art, and culture. He was a straightforward youngster who frequently caused a commotion in the home and always managed to get away with it.
When the family migrated to the United States, he later attended John Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles after initially attending Daechi Elementary School in South Korea. He graduated from Sunny Hills High School after completing his high school education. Eric played basketball in school and was so addicted to the sport that if it weren’t for his passion for music, he would have pursued a career in the sport. The only things he loved more than anything else in the world were basketball and music.
After finishing high school, his desire to pursue music took him back to South Korea, where he joined SM Entertainment as a trainer and met the other members of Shinhwa. Eric first started out as a rapper for various bands, and then he finally founded his own band called Shinhwa, where he eventually rose to the position of the group leader and lead singer.
Career of Eric Mun
Even though the band members were highly optimistic about their success, they didn’t get the kind of success they had hoped for. When they released their debut album, “Resolver,” in May 1998, it bombed in the music charts, and the band has immediately labeled a failure. Eric even considered returning to the USA in search of a better future, but something drove him to persevere and he stayed.
During this period, Eric began acting as well. He made his acting debut in the 2002 movie “Emergency 19 Act,” which also included members of his Shinhwa band. His career’s first major break came in the shape of MBC’s “Breathless” series in 2003, and during the following few years, he appeared in a few other TV dramas.
In 2005, Eric was introduced to the MBC television program “Super Rookie,” which went on to become one of the year’s highest-rated programs. The series gained popularity in South Korea, and Fuji Films also broadcast it in Japan, where it was a huge hit. The fact that when Eric traveled to Japan to promote the show, he was greeted by a sizable crowd at the airport speaks much about the size of his fan base there.
For his work in “Breathless,” Eric received awards from the MBS Drama Awards and the Paeksang Arts Awards.
A mishap occurred in 2006 while performing a stunt for the television series “Wolf” for a scenario in which Eric had to stop an oncoming car in order to save the actress. The driver of the car misread the signals and crashed into Eric.
Right before he was required to leave for his necessary military service in 2008, Eric Mun made an appearance in the historical drama series “Strongest Chil Wu.” In order to complete his military service and join it in 2008, he had already renounced his American citizenship.
Eric returned to music in 2011 with “Poseidon” after serving in the military for two years. In the meantime, their band Shinhwa established a business, and Eric was named CEO. Since that time, the band’s activities are managed by the corporation, and each band member’s agent is in charge of managing their acting careers.
In 2012, the group set out on an Asian tour called “Shinhwa Grand Tour: The Return.” The following year, the group released “The Classic,” their comeback album, which became a huge hit both domestically and abroad. For this album, the group won awards like the Mwave Global Star Award, as well as other significant and minor music awards, that year.
Eric appeared in the popular 2014 series “Discovery of Love,” which received praise for the acting of its actors despite having mediocre ratings. Eric won the Netizen Award, the Excellence Award, and the Best Couple Award at the KBS Drama Awards that year.
In 2015, Eric starred in the tvN series “Another Oh Hae-young,” which after a sluggish start gained up steam to become the network’s all-time best-viewed series.
The music group Shinhwa put out more than 18 albums up till 2017, the majority of which reached the top of the charts. The group has performed a number of well-attended concerts both domestically and abroad.
Individual Life of Eric Mun
Eric Mun has also encountered difficulty because their band Shinhwa owns name rights. When the band’s contract with SM Entertainment expired in 2003, they switched to Good Entertainment, which sparked a protracted legal dispute over the band’s use of the name.
In contrast to many South Korean celebrities, Eric has been very transparent about his dating life. Park Si-yeon and he began dating in 2004, and after three years of dating, they parted ways in 2007.
The relationship between Eric and actress and model Na Hye-mi was officially verified in 2017, and there were rumors that they might wed shortly. There were rumors that they had split up, but Eric put those to rest by announcing that they would shortly be getting married.
Eric Mun’s Net Worth
One of the wealthiest and most well-known pop singers is Eric Mun. Eric Mun’s net worth is $5 million, per our analysis of data from sources like Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.