Kim Jae Joong 김재중

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Kim Jae-joong tops Japanese charts with album 'Love Covers III'

 

Singer Kim Jae-joong [NEWS1]

 

 
Singer Kim Jae-joong topped Japan’s Oricon daily albums chart on Wednesday with his newly released album “Love Covers III,” according to iNKODE agency.
 
Kim released his new album the same day, three years after the release of "Love Covers II" in July 2020.
 
Kim's latest release landed him on the top of Japan’s Tower Record Daily Album Sales, HMV Japan's Music Top Daily Chart and the iTunes Chart Daily Album Ranking in Japan on Wednesday.

 

 

Album cover of Kim Jae-joong's newly released album “Love Covers III” [INKODE]\

 
The new album features a total of seven tracks, including the lead track "Glamorous Sky," with the theme "the heart that wants to see, the mind that thinks."
 
"Love Covers" is an album series that Kim has been working on since 2019. "Love Covers I" won the Planning Award at the 61st Japan Record Awards and was named one of the Best 3 Albums in Asia at the 34th Japan Gold Disc Awards.
 
Kim debuted in 2003 as a member of boy band TVXQ. After he left the group with members Kim Jun-su and Park Yoo-chun, the three formed boy band JYJ.
 
As a solo artist, Kim is known for his hit songs like "Mine" (2013) and "Just Another Girl" (2013). His latest concert was held as part of his Japanese tour following the release of his Japanese album, “Fallinbow” on Nov. 9, 2022.
 

 

BY LEE CHAE-MIN [lee.chaemin1@joongang.co.kr]

 

 

 

credit : JoongAngDaily

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2023-11-02/entertainment/kpop/Kim-Jaejoong-tops-Japanese-charts-with-album-Love-Covers-III/1904752

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*** Jaejoong launched his first variety show, JaeFriends, in July, and has already hosted 21 fellow celebrities. For a unique twist, each guest is a mystery to him and their identities are only revealed after he attempts to guess who they are from a series of clues. Even though he had never met his most recent guest in person, he quickly identified lyricist Kim Eana as the special guest star of his latest episode. She wrote the lyrics to his solo song “Drawer” some years ago, She pointed out that because of his handsome and easily recognizable features, Jaejoong would likely be noticed even if he was wearing a mask. This reminded him of his time promoting with TVXQ. Jaejoong stated that whenever the group went overseas, the other members were allowed to leave their accommodations, but their manager refused to allow him the same freedom. He revealed it was because the manager realized that, even with a mask on, he was too recognizable. While discussing being recognized in public, Jaejoong shared that he embraces it and often takes photos with fans who spot him.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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*** On November 11th, netizens shared screenshots of Jaejoong on a Japanese variety show. Jaejoong was asked if he gets paid differently when he is on a variety show in Korea and Japan. Jaejoong replied, "The entire production budget is different. Even staff members get paid more in Korea. In dramas, movies, variety shows, and commercials, Korea pays much more. I get paid 9 times more in Korea."  9 times? Korea is definitely overpaying celebrities.  But, I heard China pays 9 times more than Korea . This is crazy because I'm just surprised considering so much of his career has now been spent in Japan.  

 

 

 

 

photos source : allkpop

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*** Lee Minwoo appeared as a guest on Jaejoong’s new variety program, JaeFriends, and together, they discussed their early days at SM Entertainment, their mutual friends, and more. While discussing Shinhwa’s image, Lee Minwoo and Kim Jaejoong named the “sexiest” idol groups from K-Pop’s first, second, and third generations. Jaejoong named Shinhwa the “first generation of ‘sexy’ idols,” and the group certainly lived up to their name with their fit physiques and the release of the semi-nude photobook, which sold out in record time. Jaejoong named 2PM as the “sexy idols” of K-Pop’s second generation. The group from JYP Entertainment stunned netizens when they debuted with “10 Points Out Of 10”, displaying their acrobatic talents and earning the nickname “beast-dols” for their muscular appearance. Lee Minwoo instantly named MONSTA X as the “sexy idols” of K-Pop’s third generation. Jaejoong agreed. The MONSTA X members are also known for their muscular physiques and masculine concepts. Jaejoong and Lee Minwoo agreed that SM’s idols are more “sexy with clothes on.” Lee Minwoo named NCT U as an example when they promoted “Baggy Jeans” earlier this year. Jaejoong added that even without showing much skin, NCT U was “still sexy.”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

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*** On November 20, Jae-joong’s agency, iNKODE Entertainment officially announced, “We have signed an exclusive contract with  model-actress Song Woo-joo. Song Woo-joo, who is gaining attention in the advertising industry, possesses both visual appeal and acting skills, along with boundless potential. We will provide generous support (for her) in the future.”  She made her debut as a cosmetics advertising model in 2019. In addition to her successful career in the advertising world, Song Woo-joo made her mark as an actress in the web dramas “The World of My 17” and “How to Be Thirty”’.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : https://www.wikitree.co.kr/articles/903448

 

 

 

 

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*** The love between an idol and their fans is something special and admirable, but sometimes there are instances where fans overstep boundaries, and those who do are coined as "sasaengs." They're an obsessive fans who act in ways that invade the privacy of Korean stars and over the years there have been many instances where the celebrity's lives have been at risk. Jaejoong experienced with this kind of fan is one of the most scariest sasaeng moments. This moment is extremely disturbing. At K-sauna's there's a section where you can go into a sleep pod, and Jae Joong was restfully napping only for a saesang to sneakily come in and take a snapshot, uploading the photo onto social media. Creepy. The love between an idol and their (sick) fans" is a monetary transaction on one side and parasocial mania on the other. This is scary. It has to stop, someone will die if no one will do anything. Its beyond ridiculous... Something is definitely wrong mentally with these people... Sasaengs are the worst. They are obsessed and they will stalk them and follow them on flights or whatever they can to get attention. This is a crazy behavior.  

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*** Jaejoong began his own YouTube talk show, JaeFriends, in July, hosting guests ranging from actors to idols and even whole K-Pop groups. At the beginning of each JaeFriends episode, Jaejoong guesses who will be his guest star that day, attempting to identify them based on three clues provided by the JaeFriends staff members. Recently,  Jaejoong reunited with VIXX‘s Ken, Hyuk, and Leo as they reminisced about the early days of their careers. This particular episode, he struggled to remember his connection with one of the members present. VIXX’s Leo explained that he and Jaejoong had texted on a consistent basis for 2 to 3 years before losing contact with one another. They explained they were both busy at the time, which contributed to Leo and Jaejoong losing touch. Jaejoong revealed how he determined which friends he would invite over to his home after working together. Jaejoong shared that two conditions had to be met before he invited people over. Jaejoong’s first condition is that the person is kind, and his second condition is that they’re good-looking.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/kim-jaejoong-friends-pass-two-tests-before-invited-home/

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*** On December 7, a new episode of Jae Joong's YouTube show 'Jae Friends', with Kim Jun Su as the guest, premiered online. Here, they denied rumors that they hated the hairstyles they had during 'Tri-Angle' days. They had lots of things to discuss since they have known each other for over 20 years now. One of the moments in the past that they reminisced about together was when they were part of TVXQ!. In particular, Jae Joong mentioned their 'Tri-Angle' album promotion period. Jae Joong said, "People still talk about the hairstyles we had. Our hairstyles were pretty sensational back then. Your hairstyle was referred to as 'hairtail' hair, and they called mine 'the Statue of Liberty' hair. Many claim that we went for those hairstyles because our company forced us to, but we chose them ourselves, didn't we? As far as I remember, quite a lot of our opinions were reflected in the overall style during that promotion." Kim Jun Su, laughing hard, responded, "Yeah, you're right. I think our fans at that time just believed what they wanted to believe. Do you remember words going around saying that I cried as I had to wear my 'hairtail' hair?" Jae Joong also started laughing, then commented, "That's not true at all though." Kim Jun Su then shared why he thinks those rumors spread at that time, "I think our fans were embarrassed about the way we looked, so they just made up these stories. The truth is though, we were very proud of ourselves looking like that. Now that I think of it, it's kind of embarrassing, yes. But back then, our hairstyles weren't anything like, 'what the heck' sort of hairstyles." 

 

 

 

 

 

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*** On December 4 episode of Jae Joong's YouTube show 'Jae Friends', SAN, YEOSANG and WOOYOUNG of ATEEZ made a guest appearance. Here, they shared their struggles with going to the restroom in front of fans. Jae Joong told the three boys, "It's really important that you keep yourselves healthy. Let me tell you what I do. I have some olive oil every morning. That prevents me from sitting on the toilet for too long." SAN told a fun story afterward, "You know how we have fans waiting for us at music show recordings, right? They're watching our every single move, so when I take too long in the restroom, they'll know. When I come out, they'll say things like, 'Oh, SAN. You took quite long in there.' It's a little embarrassing." Jaejoong replied, "I feel you. There are fans who would come to the airport to see me; some of them would come almost to my gate. When I need to go for number one around them, then it's no problem. I would go to a nearby restroom and quickly take care of that business. But if I need to go for number two, I usually come out late on purpose so that it looks like I was coming out late because I had something else to do in the restroom, not due to number two. For instance, Jae Joong, "Is it okay to leak this information online then? You won't be able to use that trick anymore." Jae Joong playfully responded, "Well, in that case, I'll wet my hair and pretend like I'd washed my hair or something!" 
 

 

 

 

 

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*** Junsu appeared as the last guest for the first season of Jaejoong's YouTube show 'Jaefriend'. During the talk show, they also talked about their first impression of each other, and Jaejoong accused Junsu of glaring at him. Jaejoong even reenacted the situation when he first met Junsu. He shared, "When there's a new trainee joining, people are like, 'Hello~, oh we're the same age. Nice to meet you'." Jaejoong acted as Junsu, who coldly stared at him and walked away without even saying hello. Junsu burst out into laughter, denying it had ever happened.  

 

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*** Jaejoong is set to hold a special fan concert in celebration of his 20th debut anniversary. The '2024 KIM JAE JOONG Special J-PARTY Fanconcert "I'M TWENTY"' will take place in Seoul on January 20-21 KST. This unique performance combines elements of a birthday party and a concert, and the fact that it coincides with Jaejoong's 20th debut anniversary in 2024 adds to its significance. The released poster features Jaejoong wearing a school uniform, evoking memories of his debut 20 years ago. The background of the poster showcases photos from previous performances. For fans who can't attend in person, the concert will be broadcast live online through Hello Live. Ticket reservations for the performance will be exclusively available through Interpark Ticket starting at 8 PM on December 15 KST. This man is the true definition of "aging like fine wine", a whole expensive bottle! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : allkpop

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*** On December 12, the VIP Premiere event for Noryang: Sea Of Death took place. It was a star-studded event! Jaejoong attended the exclusive event who is close to Ahn Bo Hyun who stars in the movie.  

 

 

photo source : Koreaboo

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*** Jaejoong received the honors of the 2023 Asia Artist Awards in the Philippines. The awards ceremony was held at the Philippines Arena for about 6 hours on December 14th. A total of 56 artists, including 34 teams of singers and 22 actors, who are active domestically and internationally, attended and shone brightly including him. Jaejoong is one who won the Best Choice Award. He also got the Top of K-pop Record Award.  

 

 

 

 

source : https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=01338246635838520&mediaCodeNo=258

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*** Earlier on January 4, Kim Jaejoong posted episode 21 of its umhg studio's web show, "JaeFriends," featuring Brian Joo of Fly to the Sky. On this day, Jaejoong introduced Brian as a "Cleaning Maniac," then opened up about their major "turn-off" when it comes to a person's body odor and bad breath. While he named Brave Girls Yujeong as the cleanest idol he had met, stating that her house must be clean based on her car. Regarding the personality who has the most memorable smell for him, Brian exposed Yoo Jae Seok, narrating:

"His feet back then were, wow, it was too much. Sorry, Jae Seok-hyung. I don't know what they are like now though. Back then, I was like, 'I hope Jae Seok doesn't come to my house. His feet smelled really bad then."

Brian suggested Jaejoong to offer them a candy or a mint for those who have bad breath. Jaejoong also recommended treatment, informing:

 

"Right. About bad breath, everyone who's watching Jaefriends now, there is a treatment now. Invisible bacteria live in our stomachs, but they can't be taken care of in internal medicine. But there's a new medicine. When you take that medicine, all of the bad bacteria will be removed."

As the topic concluded, Brian asked Jaejoong to choose between a woman with bad breath vs a woman with bad odor.

Jaejoong answered:  "I would go for body odor. Because I can't have a conversation if she has bad breath."  

 

 

 

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*** On Jaejoong's Instagram story, he exposed sasaengs who constantly follow him and use taxi services that specifically aid sasaengs in their extreme and illegal behavior. Jaejoong explained that the taxis surround city blocks and communicate with each other to keep track of celebrities’ movements, profiting off of sasaengs who want to follow specific idols. After collecting black box footage of the six vehicles involved, Jaejoong revealed that he was taking legal steps against them. They're harassing him for (2) decades already. Jaejoong expressed his disgust at the behavior of sasaengs who call themselves “fans” and shared that he hopes his hoobaes never have to endure the same experiences. He concluded his Instagram stories by sharing the business cards the sasaeng taxi services use to attract international fans with the promise of seeing their favorite stars “in real life.” In reaction to the business card, he wrote, “This is exactly why you sasaeng taxi drivers are worse than the sasaengs who ride them.”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : Koreaboo

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*** On January 23rd, Jaejoong appeared on Hong Seokcheon's Youtube show, where the two discussed SM Entertainment's current male idols who, just like him, carry on the legendary "SM-style visuals."  Here, Jaejoong himself acknowledges the resemblance between him, NCT's Taeyong, and RIIZE's Wonbin!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : Gstarlive

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*** Jae Joong guested on the 11th episode of 'Jewel Box', the YouTube show, on January 23. The 'Jewel Box' is where entertainer Hong Seok-chun, the first homosexual to come out on air in Korea, invites guests from his extensive Instagram following of good-looking men; he calls this list his 'Jewel Box'. Hong Seok-chun, a long-time friend of Jae Joong, said, "I didn't plan to invite Jae Joong to 'Jewel Box', but he texted me and asked if he could come on the show." Kim Jae Joong said, "After watching the first three episodes, I felt I should appear here as soon as possible. I knew that this show would be a big hit. So glad to be here today. I was honestly worried if I wouldn't get invited." "When you debuted, people called you a 'visual sensation', and that was when no one used to give that kind of compliment to a man. I mean, you were that good-looking.", Hong Seok-chun said to Jae Joong. He then asked him who he considered as his rival among the other handsome boy group members who debuted around the same time as him.  Jae Joong immediately replied, "Kim Hyun Joong of SS501.", and then had to pause for a while to think about who else to include. Hong Seok-chun then jokingly said, "Well, at the time, not many people could match his handsomeness. Think about it. Just now, he couldn't think of anyone else who was as good-looking as him! Let's just leave it at that." Later in the show, Jae Joong revealed that he thinks he looked his best right after completing his military service; "My skin was glowing, and my body was in great shape.", he said. Hong Seok-chun talked about how Jae Joong surprised people by looking stunning even after shaving his head for the military, making him shyly smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/5Sd00_zqJnU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : SBS Star

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*** Jaejoong launched his own talk show in 2023 titled JaeFriends. The show was recently renewed for a second season, which is already underway. For the show’s 24th episode, Jaejoong was joined by Brown Eyed Girls‘ Narsha, and actress Go Eun Ah. The three shared that they have been longtime friends and proved their close friendship when the two guests hilariously poked fun at host Jaejoong throughout the episode. Narsha revealed that she heard a few of the JaeFriends staff members were “struggling because of Jaejoong.” As the three hilariously scanned the faces of the staff members in the room, Jaejoong suspected it was one of the show’s writers who couldn’t meet his eye. Jaejoong wanted to address the issue head-on. Finally, the show’s writer spoke up and said she would appreciate it if Jaejoong read the “prompter better.” Narsha and Go Eun Ah playfully jumped in, saying, “Since we are here, why not be honest?” while explaining why it was important for Jaejoong to follow the prompter and how it affects work behind the scenes when he doesn’t. Not following the prompter isn’t intentional for Jaejoong, as he often gets caught up in conversation with his guests, but he took their advice to heart, even if it was delivered mid-episode.  

 

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/EanYDolK3mY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

source : Koreaboo

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*** SISTAR19 weren’t the only ones starstruck when meeting Jaejoong on Jaefriends. When Hyolyn and Bora stepped onto the set, he was stunned by their beauty. Because SISTAR debuted in 2010, Jaejoong couldn’t believe they still looked exactly the same in 2024. He asked, “How have you not changed at all? You haven’t changed a bit.”  

 

 

 

video source : Koreaboo

 

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*** Jaejoong can pull-off the long cut. I wonder why are there no actors on the list. The "Hwarang" boys look good with long hair.  

 

 

7 Male K-Stars that look good rocking the Long Cut

 

The long cut, a hairstyle that demands confidence and charisma, is notoriously tricky to master. Yet, these seven male K-stars embrace it and elevate it to new heights of style and sophistication.

 

 

3. Jaejoong

 

Jaejoong, a pioneer of the long cut in K-pop, made the style his signature during his days with TVXQ. His iconic look has left a lasting impression on fans and fellow artists alike.

 

 

 

 

 

source : https://www.allkpop.com/article/2024/02/7-male-k-stars-that-look-good-rocking-the-long-cut