Leeteuk

Park Jeong-su (born July 1, 1983), known professionally as Leeteuk, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, radio personality and actor. At the age of sixteen, he was discovered by SM Entertainment and became a trainee at SM Entertainment's Starlight Academy. After five years of training, he debuted as a member of boy group Super Junior in November 2005 and since then, he also further participated in the agency's projects Super Junior-T and Super Junior-H.
Early life.
Leeteuk was born on July 1, 1983. He has an elder sister, Park In-young, who is a singer and an actress. His father, Park Yong-in, and his mother divorced in 1998. He has spoken about his parents' relationship publicly in several variety shows.
Career.
2000–2005: Pre-debut.
When Leeteuk traveled to Apgujeong-dong for sightseeing in early 2000, he was recommended by a talent scout to audition for SM Entertainment's Starlight Casting System. After several test recordings and performances, he signed with SM Entertainment and became a trainee. In the same year, he appeared as an extra in the drama "All About Eve" which aired on MBC TV, and briefly became a model for Pepsi in 2002. In 2003, he was put into five-members boyband Smile with future bandmate Donghae which aimed to be a rival group of TVXQ. The project was dropped and they were then put into rotational group Super Junior along with ten other boys. Being older than the other trainees, Leeteuk become the leader of the group.
Leeteuk has explained that he uses a stage name due to his desire to have a name with the same effects as Kangta, and also to prevent confusion between veteran actress Park Jung-soo and himself. His stage name Leeteuk, meant "special". He previously rejected two of the stage names designated to him by his agency. The agency's chairman at the time, Lee Soo-man called him "a special child" and said the name Leeteuk suited him better.
2005–2012: Debut with Super Junior and sub-groups, MC roles and variety shows.
Leeteuk officially debuted as part of the 12-member project group, Super Junior 05 on November 6, 2005 on SBS's music program "Popular Songs", performing their first single, "Twins (Knock Out)". Their debut album "SuperJunior05 (Twins)" was released a month later on December 5, 2005 and debuted at number three on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.
In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next generation of Super Junior. However, this was met with fans' objections and strong opposition to the rotational style (much like popular rotational groups in Japan's pop music industry) that the group intended to be. Thus the company changed its plan and declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix "05" and officially named as Super Junior. The re-polished group's first CD single "U" was released on June 7, 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009. In February 2007, Leeteuk was placed in the trot-singing subunit, Super Junior-T. The subunit debuted with the single "Rokuko", which quickly reached number one in weekly music chart and held the spot for two consecutive weeks. A year later, Leeteuk became a member of Super Junior-H, a sub-unit focusing on bright and cheerful music, in contrast to the genre of songs released by the core group. Besides music, he also participated in Super Junior-centric television show such as "Mystery 6" and "Full House". He also made his first film appearance with Super Junior members in "Attack on the Pin-Up Boys" in 2007, taking the role of the school panda mascot.
Apart from Super Junior activities, he has hosted several television shows. In 2005, he became the host of a weekly music show, "M! Countdown", his first gig as a host, with fellow bandmates, Shindong and Eunhyuk. It eventually landed him his first solo hosting act in the reality show "Leeteuk's Love Fighter", which aired on the cable television channel Mnet in 2008. He received praises for his act as a newcomer and received a plaque of appreciation by the crew members on his last appearance on the show.
Leeteuk became a radio DJ for KBS "Super Junior's Kiss The Radio" ("Sukira") with Eunhyuk in August 2006. From March to June 2011, bandmate Yesung temporarily replaced Eunhyuk while he was away on promotional activities for Super Junior-M's third EP "Perfection". Leeteuk left the program in November 2011 due to conflicting work schedule.
Between 2008 and 2009, he further hosted several television shows including three variety shows which aired on KBS2; "Road Show Quiz Expedition", "Challenge! Good Song", and "Challenge! Golden Ladder" – co-hosting with various senior television presenters such as Jee Seok-jin, Lee Hyuk-jae, Boom, and Kim Shin-young. From 2009 onwards, Leeteuk, along with Eunhyuk and Shindong, were regular guests on SBS's "Strong Heart", where they hosted a special segment, Boom Academy, headed by Boom. In October 2009, when Boom enlisted for mandatory military service, Leeteuk took over his role and the segment's name was temporarily changed to "Teukigayo", or Teuk's Academy. As of the April 10, 2012 broadcast, following the change in MCs and the departure of Shindong from "Strong Heart", the show was re-vamped with Leeteuk and Eunhyuk billed as two of the 'six-fixed guests'. 
In 2010, he appeared as one of many hosts of , a special program to support South Korea national football team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the same year, he became the new host for MBC's "Enjoy Today", replacing Big Bang's Seungri who left the program to focus on his band's new album. He released the single "Grumbling", a duet with f(x)'s Krystal, through the show. Leeteuk was also the MC for MBC's "Love Chaser" and SBS's "Oh! Brothers", further cementing his position as emerging host for terrestrial television channels.
Since 2009, he has been a frequent guest on "Star King", with other Super Junior members. In 2011, following Kang Ho-dong's retirement from the entertainment industry, Leeteuk and Boom took over as co-hosts of "Star King". From September to November, Leeteuk played the role of a father in "Hello Baby season 4", a reality-variety show where the cast had to take care of a baby, with girl group Sistar becoming the baby's mothers. Leeteuk also became part of MBC reality show "We Got Married", as a new on-screen couple, with actress Kang So-ra becoming his on-screen wife. In June 2012, he and Mir were cast as additional hosts to raise the rating of "Jewellery House" but the show's rating continued to plummet and it was cancelled after four episodes.
He appeared in four television dramas in between 2011 and 2012, making cameo appearances as radio DJ Lee in "Dream High", a blind date partner in "All My Love For You", a television host in "Salamander Guru and The Shadows", and appeared as an extra in "My Bittersweet Life" to support Kang So-ra who acted in the leading role. He also became the host of 2011 Melon Music Awards, his first year-end awards hosting gig.
2012–2014: SM Town, military enlistment and returning to work.
Leeteuk returned to silver screen by taking part in the documentary film "I Am." directed by Choi Jin-sung as a member of SM Town, the collective title for artists signed under SM Entertainment. The film, which documented the singers' journey and experience during SM Town Live '10 World Tour concert at Madison Square Garden in New York, was theatrically released on June 21, 2012. In July, Leeteuk reunited with his Super Junior bandmates for their sixth studio album, "Sexy, Free & Single" which was released on July 4, 2012, just over a month since the band's first world tour Super Show 4 was concluded. In the repackaged edition of the album, re-titled "Spy", Leeteuk composed "Only U" and co-wrote the lyrics with Donghae. He participated in the concert tour SM Town Live World Tour III which started in May 2012, but did not appear on his supposed last appearance on the tour during its Indonesia leg on September 22. He made an apology via his Twitter account on the following day, revealing that he was unable to perform with his label mates due to exhaustion and enteritis.
Leeteuk stated in September 2011 that he planned to enlist for his mandatory military service in 2012. He made his final appearance before enlistment at the Style Icon Awards on October 25, 2012. He took part in a photoshoot documenting the process of shaving his hair for male fashion magazine "Geek" prior to his enlistment, and later was featured on its cover for December 2012 issue. On October 30, 2012 he reported to the 306 Reserve Battalion training camp in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, to undergo five weeks of basic training, followed by active duty for 21 months. He was initially ineligible for active duty following a car crash in 2007 and an aggravated herniated disk, but after receiving treatment he was able to enlist for active duty. "Strong Heart" belatedly aired a special episode entitled "Goodbye Leeteuk" on November 13 for his departure from the series.
In January 2013, Leeteuk co-starred in military musical "The Promise". It was co-produced by the Ministry of National Defense and Korea Musical Theatre Association to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice. It ran from January 9 to 20 at the National Theater of Korea, co-starring actors Ji Hyun-woo, Kim Mu-yeol, Jung Tae-woo; as well as singers Yoon Hak of Supernova, and Lee Hyun of 8Eight. The musical is centered around a group of soldiers who keeps a promise made to each other during the Korean War. He won the Newcomer Award at the 7th Daegu International Musical Festival for his role as Miss Kim in the musical. In June 2013, he was selected to be the MC of 2013 Military Service Award Ceremony, an annual military event.
Leeteuk completed his military service on July 29, 2014. He made his first stage appearance after being discharged at the South Korean leg of SM Town Live World Tour IV concert tour on August 15, 2014, performing "Sorry, Sorry" and "Mr. Simple" with Super Junior. He also returned to the band's line-up for the August performance at "Music Bank", marking the first time he, Heechul and Kangin had been together in the line-up since they each completed their military services. He also made a return as television presenter by becoming the special MC in the episode 783 of "Inkigayo" with Heechul and Lee Yu-bi, standing in for Baekhyun, Suho and Kwanghee who had conflicting work schedules.
2015–2016: "I Can See Your Voice", "Idol Star Athletics Championships", and established presenter.
He hosted three award ceremonies in January 2015; the 29th Golden Disc Awards with Jun Hyun-moo and Tiffany Young, the 4th Gaon Chart Music Awards with Hyeri, and the 24th Seoul Music Awards, also with Jun Hyun-moo and Soyou. He received praises for his witty remarks in the ceremonies. He was subsequently selected to host the 30th Golden Disc Awards with Jun Hyun-moo and Krystal Jung, and several further editions of Gaon Chart Music Awards; the 5th edition with Yura, the 6th with Solar, the 7th with Dahyun, the 9th with Itzy's Lia, and the 10th edition, also with Lia.
He started hosting the biannual celebrity sports competition, "Idol Star Athletics Championships" in February 2015 by commentating the "2015 Idol Star Athletics Basketball Futsal Archery Championships" with Kim Sung-joo, Jun Hyun-moo, Kim Jung-geun and Kwanghee, followed by "2015 Idol Star Athletics Ssireum Basketball Futsal Archery Championships" in September 2015; again with Jun Hyun-moo, Kim Jung-geun and Kwanghee, as well as new co-hosts Jun Jin and Kim Young-chul. He had previously participated in the series as a competitor with other members of Super Junior in the 2010 and 2011 edition, during which he infamously disqualified himself during the 110 metres hurdles race in both competitions, and as a floor interviewer in 2012. Since hosting the two editions in 2015, Leeteuk had became a fixed presence in the series along with senior presenter Jun Hyun-moo as he had hosted the program another seven times; in 2016, twice in 2018, twice in 2019, in 2020, and the special edition "Idol Star Championships: Hall of Fame" that aired in 2021 in lieu of the usual competition due to COVID-19 pandemic.
A week after he hosted his first "Idol Star Athletics Championships" in 2015, he appeared as the presenter on Mnet's new mystery music game show, "I Can See Your Voice" alongside Yoo Se-yoon and Kim Bum-soo. Kim left the program after three seasons to focus on his music career and was replaced by singer and entertainer Kim Jong-kook. The program's producer Lee Seon-young said she originally envisioned a program that will allow anyone to be the main character regardless of their appearances, and was inspired by Kim Bum-soo who struggled to gain recognition because of his look. As of 2021, Leeteuk has hosted all eight seasons of the series. When asked about the secret to the series' longevity, he stated that although it "has a mild taste" compared to other entertainment shows, it is "full of charm". In a separate interview, he stated that the show's solid format also allows it to air for a long period of time. Since its inception, the program had grown into a global franchise, spawning shows in different countries and languages including the UK and the US versions. 
He appeared as host in several other programs in 2015 such as ' with Lee Hwi-jae, a reboot of 2002 program "Kang Ho-dong's Match Made in Heaven", "White Swan" with Lee Seung-yeon, ' with SM Rookies as the Mouseketeers, and episode 782 of "Music Bank", filling in for Park Seo-joon. He also returned to the set of "Star King", first as a special host for episode 400 in February 2015, then as a regular host starting from April 2015 until its cancellation in August 2016. He made a cameo appearance as a music show host in episode 5 of television drama "Persevere, Goo Hae-ra" which aired in March 2015. That year, he also participated in his first travel series "Super Junior's One Fine Day" with bandmates Eunhyuk and Donghae, followed by "The Friends in Switzerland" with Ryeowook, both of which were filmed in Switzerland. His band released a compilation album "Devil" in July 2015, followed by its repackaged version "Magic" in September. Leeteuk writes the track "Sarang" from the latter, and sang it in a duet with Heechul. It was the band's last release before going on a hiatus due to most of the band members are carrying out their mandatory military services. Thus, Leeteuk returned to hosting.
In 2016, he co-hosted the entertainment programs "Hidden Camera Shot Battle" with Lee Kyung-kyu and Noh Hong-chul, "The Birth of a Song" with Jung Jae-hyung and San E, and "Reform Show" with Lee Hwi-jae and Kwanghee. He made a return as radio DJ of "Sukira" in April 2016, replacing Ryeowook who is enlisting in the military. He celebrated the 10th anniversary of the radio show in August before leaving the program for good in October 2016. He took part in the reality-documentary show "Law of the Jungle", filming for "Law of The Jungle in Papua New Guinea". Despite it being his first participation in outdoor entertainment program, the program's director Park Joong-won praised his effort, commenting that he had worked hard during the filming process, and is easily adaptable for an urban person. He further presented "Star Show 360", season 2 of "Please Take Care of My Vanity", and "Idol Party", as well as participating in variety show "Lucky Race". His roles in the industry earned him the top 3 spot on "Idol MC of the Year" list published by "My Daily" news portal. The journalist in charge of the list, Lee Seung-gil praised him for his unique ability to make his guests or his co-hosts to stand out, and considered him as a "professional MC" at that point.
He also went out of his comfort zone of studio works by becoming the MC of "7 First Kisses" press conference, and the preview screening of documentary film "See-Saw". On top of that, he became a public speaker through SM Entertainment's cultural lecture series, The Moment, which featured lecture collaborations between SM artists and experts in various fields with the theme "Healing the wounded 2016 and welcoming the year 2017 happily", partnering with chef Lee Won-il for the lecture entitled "The Single Man's Lifestyle" in February 2016, with a mental health specialist, Yang Jae-jin for "Healing Counseling for Young People" in May, with Kim Ji-yoon, director of the Institute for Good Relationships for "Love and Romance" in September, and "Leeteuk's Unique Day with Webtoon Writer Lee Jong-beom" in December. In June 2016, he collaborated with Suho, Kassy and songwriter Cho Young-soo in a song titled "My Hero", part of SM Entertainment's music project SM Station, as a tribute to South Korean Olympians past and present in honor of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Leeteuk embarked on his first solo Asia fanmeeting tour, Star;Teuk, making a stop in Shanghai, China in September, and Taipei, Taiwan in December 2016. 
2017–present: "The Best Cooking Secrets", "Hidden Track", home shopping and reality shows.
Leeteuk became the host of "The Best Cooking Secrets", the longest running cooking show in South Korea, in January 2017, replacing 's Kwanghee, who were enlisting in the military. His first episode as the host was broadcast on EBS on January 30, 2017. He filled in for Lee Soo-geun and BoA as the host of episode 10 of "Singderella" and episode 6 of "Produce 101 Season 2", respectively. He took part in several variety shows throughout the year including "Hard Workers", as a courier in "We Have Delivery", as a detective in "Sherlock's Room", and as a celebrity mentor in "Fearless Guys". On September 24, 2017, he hosted the concert 2017 Asia Song Festival with Jackson Wang. As an actor, he made a cameo appearance as a radio DJ in episode 7 of the television drama "", which aired on October 27, 2017. He also became one of the special hosts in television home shopping program "Super Market" which aired on CJ O Shopping in November 2017, becoming the first idol to do so, alongside other members of Super Junior. 
Leeteuk joined Super Junior as the main cast of "Super TV", which aired on the new television channel XtvN from January 28 until April 13, 2018. The show was immediately renewed and aired its second second from June 7 until August 23, 2018. He wrote the single "Super Duper" for Super Junior and it became the 50th single of the project after it was released on March 23, 2018. The song was later inserted into Super Junior eighth repackage album, "Replay". In August 2018, he joined the cast and hosted the second season of Real Life Men and Women. The show looked into everyday life of celebrities and compared the differences between men's and women's. He became the host of 2018 edition of Quiz on Korea alongside Sam Okyere. The recording was held on September 8 while the program aired on KBS1 on September 24, 2018. He also became the host of the 2018 Asia Song Festival on October 2 and October 3, 2018. On December 20, 2018, he hosted the first Korea Popular Music Awards, (KPMA) with Jin Se-yeon.
He appeared as a special host on the twelfth episode of the reality show "Under Nineteen", which aired on January 19, 2019 as a stand-in for the regular host Kim So-hyun, who had conflicting work schedule. He also hosted the final episode with Kim So-Hyun, which was broadcast live on February 9, 2019. From May to July 2019, Leeteuk hosted a Thailand-based variety show, "Beauty No.9", which focused on Korean beauty products. His hosting act was well received by the locals and media. In August 2019, it was announced that Leeteuk is set to publish a cookbook, which was targeted for single-person households and he became the first idol to publish a cookbook. It was published on January 20, 2020. 
He starred on a YouTube Original series "Analog Trip" with fellow band members, Eunhyuk, Donghae and Shindong, and TVXQ's Yunho and Changmin. The program aired on YouTube Premium starting in September 2019. "Analog Trip" is a travelling show where the cast travelled across Indonesia, mixed with the element of time travel where they are supposedly travel back to 2002 before their debut. They have to accomplish a few goals and compose a theme song along the way to return to the current time. He was credited as one of the composers of the show's soundtrack, "Come a Little Closer".
He was cast as a host for "Melody Bookstore" in September 2019, which aired on JTBC beginning October 6. In the show, the hosts have to choose a book and create a theme song according to the chosen book. He wrote and composed the soundtrack for the show, "This Is Me", which was sung by Sunwoo Jung-a and Suran. He also became the host of "Hidden Track" in October 2019. The program focused on introducing song that are not one's title tracks. The show was jointly produced by JTBC and KT, and was aired live on Olleh TV for eight weeks, starting from October 2, 2019.
He joined his band members for the release their ninth studio album, "Time Slip" in October 2019. He participated in the production of the album by composing and writing one of its songs, "No Drama".
He hosted the 4th Asia Artist Awards on November 26, 2019, which was held at Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Vietnam.
Personal life.
Car accident.
On April 19, 2007, almost two months after Super Junior-T's release of their first single "Rokuko", Leeteuk was seriously injured in a car accident, along with Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and two managers. When returning home after a recording of the radio show "Super Junior Kiss the Radio", they were on the highway when the front left tire burst as the driver was switching lanes. The van ran into the guard rail on the driver's side, and skidded for about 30 metres. At some point, the momentum caused the van to flip over on its right side.
While Shindong and Eunhyuk suffered minor injuries, Leeteuk and Kyuhyun sustained more serious injuries, which required both to be hospitalised. Leeteuk had glass shards embedded in his back and above his eyes, requiring over 170 stitches. Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007. Due to this accident, Leeteuk did not take part in Super Junior's debut big-screen production, "Attack on the Pin-Up Boys" in 2007. He was credited as the panda mascot at the end of the film, while it was later confirmed that it had been Ryeowook who portrayed it throughout most of the film.
Death of father and grandparents.
On January 6, 2014, Leeteuk's father, Park Yong-in, and his grandparents were found dead in their home. SM initially released a statement saying that the trio had died in a car accident, but it was later discovered that it had been a murder-suicide, with Yong-in strangling his parents and then hanging himself. A note left near the bodies read "I will bring my parents with me. My children, I am sorry. Please forgive me." It was later revealed that Park Yong-in had been dealing with depression for a long time, and a police report stated "We discovered that Leeteuk's father was trying to make ends meet in order to take care of his parents. Both his parents were suffering from dementia, and Park Yong-in struggled with financial problems. Park Yong-in must've felt too much burden on his shoulders, leaving him no choice but to end his parents' life as well as his." The funeral was held on January 8, with the Super Junior members in attendance.
On January 11, 2014, Leeteuk resumed his mandatory military service and was discharged on July 29, 2014.