Before the group was formed, members Eunhyuk and Sungmin were supposed to be part of an R&B group along with former TVXQ member Xiah Junsu. But, the group split before their debut when Junsu became a member of a different group. Sungmin and Eunhyuk were forced to disband due to the lack of members. 

 

           Once the idea of a new boy group became the hot topic at SM Entertainment, Sungmin and Eunhyuk, as well as Donghae, Leeteuk, Hangeng , Heechul, Kangin, Kibum, Ryeowook, Shindong, Siwon, and Yesung were recruited and thus became a boy group known as Super Junior 05.

 

         Super Junior 05 was originally supposed to be a “rotational” group, meaning the members would be replaced each year to keep the members young and introduce new talents to keep people interested. After the members of Super Junior 05’s first year, SM already had a new group of skillful artists lined up, but the company realized that fans were becoming attached to the current members. Since the members had become so close and their fandom was rapidly growing, SM decided to ditch the “rotational” group idea and keep all 12 members, and eventually add a 13th member, singer Kyuhyun. The "05" was pitched from their name and they became known as Super Junior.

 

          They became very well known in South Korea until 2009 when their song “Sorry, Sorry” received international recognition. Over the years, Super Junior has been a group all together, but has also split into sub-groups. Yes, Super Junior has sub-groups as well as a full group that includes all of the members (excluding Zhoumi and Henry). There are 5 sub-groups; Super Junior Trot, Super Junior Happy, Super Junior KRY (as in, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Yesung), Super Junior Donghae and Eunhyuk, and Super Junior Mandarin. Super Junior M also includes 2 members who are not technically part of the main Super Junior, but are in the sub-group because they both are fluent in Mandarin and Korean. These sub-groups were created to not only show the different personalities within Super Junior, but also to appeal to a wider audience (for more on sub-groups, please read the biographies on the individual sub-group pages).

 

          Super Junior has been the best selling K-pop group for three years in a row (2011-2013) and has won 13 music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, and 16 from the Golden Disc Awards. They are also the 2nd singing group (after JTL) to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards.

 

          So what are they doing now? Well, back in 2009, Hangeng left Super Junior (read more about why under the “Hangeng” page). Leader Leeteuk and main singer Yesung are currently attending mandatory Korean military service, which is mandatory for all Korean men (for more info click here). Rumors of Shindong and Sungmin’s enlisting have been floating around, and Sungmin’s had been confirmed by SM for later on this year. The sub-groups and active members are still making music and touring, and Super Junior has already confirmed a comeback late 2014 when Leeteuk returns.