Park Jeong-su is a South Korean actor and singer-songwriter who is presently a member of Super Junior and its subgroups Super Junior-T and Super Junior-H, a K-pop boy band. He is better known by his stage name, ‘Leeteuk.’ He was set to make his debut as a member of boy band ‘Smile’ after being approved into SM Entertainment’s Starlight Casting System. However, the initiative was shelved, and Park was assigned to the ‘Super Junior’ rotational group, which included eleven other boys. He was given the title of leader because he was older than the other trainees. They made their first official appearance on SBS’ music show “Popular Songs” in 2005, and the strong response led the publication of their debut album a month later. It, too, proved to be a huge success. Since then, ‘Super Junior’ has established themselves as one of the most popular K-pop groups in history, garnering the title of best-selling artist in the genre for the past four years. Leeteuk has made a name for himself outside of the group as well; he has a successful solo career, has appeared in films and television series, and has hosted variety shows. For his contributions to the entertainment sector, he has received numerous honors.
Childhood and Adolescence of Leeteuk
Park Jeong-su, Leeteuk’s younger brother, was born on July 1, 1983, in Seoul, South Korea, to Park Yong-in and Yoo Sook-young. His parents split when he was about 15 years old. He’s never been shy about speaking up about his parents’ relationship. Park In-young, an actress and singer, is his older sister.
He went to Paekche Institute of the Arts after finishing high school, but then transferred to Inha University in Incheon.
In early 2000, he was discovered by an SM Entertainment talent scout while on vacation in Myeongdong with his sister. He signed with the talent agency as a trainee after a successful audition. In the same year, he appeared as an extra in the MBC drama ‘All About Eve,’ and for a brief period in 2002, he worked as a model for Pepsi.
The original idea for SM Entertainment was to debut him as a member of the boy band ‘Smile,’ which featured his future bandmate Donghae. The group featured three more members and was intended to be a rival to TVXQ. However, the concept was finally cancelled, and Park and Donghae were placed in the rotational group Super Junior’05 with eleven other boys.
A Career of Leeteuk
Heechul, Hangeng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Ryeowook, and Kibum were the initial members of Super Junior’05, in addition to Leeteuk and Donghae. On November 6, 2005, they made their debut with the track “Twins (Knock Out).”
A month later, on December 5, the trio released their debut album, ‘Twins.’ On the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts, it debuted at #3.
When SM Entertainment began recruiting new members for the group in 2006, the rotational approach was met with fierce hostility from fans, and the talent agency eventually yielded. When Kyuhyun, the group’s 13th member, joined, the suffix ’05’ was eliminated, and Super Junior was born.
He and Eunhyuk co-hosted KBS Super Junior’s ‘Kiss The Radio’ from 2006 until 2011. In 2016, he returned to the show as a guest host for a few episodes. He was inducted into the trot-singing sub-group Super Junior-T in February 2007. He joined the bubblegum pop trio Super Junior-H a year later.
Leeteuk has hosted the SBS shows ‘Star King’ and ‘Strong Heart.’ He took over as the new MC for MBC’s ‘Enjoy Today’ in 2010, replacing previous presenter Big Bang’s Seungri.
To far, Super Junior has published eight Korean albums, including ‘Twins’ (2005), ‘Don’t Run’ (2007), ‘Sorry, Sorry’ (2009), ‘Bonamana’ (2010), ‘Mr Simple’ (2011), ‘Sexy, Free & Single (2012), Mamacita (2014), and Devil (2015), as well as one Japanese album, ‘Hero.’ ‘Cooking? Cooking!’ was Super Junior-sole H’s Extended Play released in 2008.
Leeteuk has been in a number of Korean dramas throughout the years, including ‘Nonstop’ (2006), ‘Dream High’ (2011), and ‘Salamander Guru and the Shadows’ (2012). The variety game show ‘Super Junior Mini-Drama,’ which he and his bandmates developed, produced, and starred in, was written, produced, and starred in by him and his bandmates. They also starred in a number of promo videos for their studio albums.
He enlisted on October 30, 2012, for his mandatory military service, which includes five weeks of basic training followed by 21 months of active duty. On July 29, 2014, he completed his service.
He performed with Super Junior at Music Bank to signify his return to the entertainment world and to the group. In June 2016, he collaborated on a song named “My Hero” alongside Suho, Kassy, and lyricist Cho Young-soo as an homage to current and former South Korean Olympians.
The third studio album by Super Junior, ‘Sorry, Sorry,’ was released on March 12, 2009. It was a critical and financial success in South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan, where it reached number one on the music charts and received a Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) at the 24th Golden Disk Awards in 2009. At the 2016 DMC Festival, Leeteuk performed the album’s title tune with members of BTS, Twice, and Gfriend.
Achievements & Awards of Leeteuk
Super Junior won Newcomer of the Year at the Golden Disc Awards in 2006.
The group has won three times at the Asia Song Festival, which has been held in South Korea since 2004. They received the Appreciation Award in 2007, the Asian Best Group award in 2009, and the Highest Asia Singer Award in 2011.
Leeteuk won SBS Entertainment Awards for Best Newcomer Award (Variety) and Excellence Award (Talk Show Division) in 2009 and 2011, respectively, for co-hosting ‘Strong Heart’ and ‘Star King.’
At the 2012 MBC Entertainment Awards, Leeteuk won the Popularity Award.
The ensemble was named Best Live Act at the World Music Awards in 2013. The trio won the Choice International Artist and Choice Fandom honors at the 17th Teen Choice Awards in 2015.
Personal Experiences of Leeteuk
Leeteuk dated a non-celebrity for a year in 2006. Kim Tae-yeon, a member of Girls’ Generation, was also linked to him. He said in an interview that he dated an actress for about a month before joining the military, but they broke up because she couldn’t accept his busy schedule.
Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and two managers were on their way home from taping the radio show ‘Kiss the Radio’ on April 19, 2007. When the driver of the automobile they were in attempted to change lanes on a highway, the front left tyre blew out, and the car slammed into the driver’s side guard rail. Due to its velocity, it skidded for nearly 30 meters before flipping over to its right side. Everyone was hurt, and Leeteuk had to go to the hospital for treatment.
Park Yong-in, Leeteuk’s father, began to care for his parents, Leeteuk’s grandparents, who were suffering from dementia later in life. Park Yong-in was struggling to make ends meet, and the tension caused him to suffer from acute depression. Yong-in strangled his parents before hanging himself in January 2014. He left a note apologizing for his conduct and pleading with his children to forgive him.
Estimated Net Worth
Leeteuk has been on numerous TV shows and Korean variety shows, as well as having his own YouTube channel with over 180,000 subscribers. He is the most talented MC in the bunch. In terms of how he spends his money, he just purchased a sports automobile for over 200 million won.Estimated net worth of Leeteuk is $10million-$12 million.
Trivia
Park hoped that adopting Leeteuk as his stage name would help him advance in his career. He might also use the name to set himself apart from veteran actress Park Jung-soo. Leeteuk, which means’special,’ also symbolizes his agency’s desire for him to be a unique part of his team.