Leeteuk

This is a Korean name; the family name is Park.

Leeteuk
Birth name	Park Jung-soo
Born	July 1, 1983 (1983-07-01) Seoul, South Korea
Genres	Pop, dance, trot
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, television host, dancer, actor, radio host, MC
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards
Years active	2005–present
Labels	SM Entertainment
Associated acts	SM Town, Super Junior, Super Junior-T, Super Junior-Happy

Stage name
Hangul	이특
Hanja	利特
Revised Romanization	Iteuk
McCune–Reischauer	I'tŭk
Birth name
Hangul	박정수
Hanja	朴正洙
Revised Romanization	Park Jeong-su
McCune–Reischauer	Pak Chŏng-su

Park Jung-soo (born July 1, 1983), better known by his stage name Leeteuk, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, presenter, and occasional actor. He is best known as the leader of K-pop boy band Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-T and Super Junior-Happy.

Biography

Pre Debut

When Leeteuk and his older sister, Park Min-young, traveled to Myeongdong for a holiday in early 2000, he was recommended by a talent scout to audition for SM Entertainment's Starlight Casting System, an audition that selects artists to sign under their label. After several test recordings and performances, he signed into SM Entertainment and became the company's trainee. That same year, he had his first quick television appearance as an extra in the MBC Korean drama All About Eve, and appeared as a brief model for Pepsi in 2002. In 2003, Leeteuk was put into a five-member boyband with future bandmate Donghae, but the project was quickly dropped. They were then put into the large rotational group Super Junior along with ten other boys. Older than the other trainees, Leeteuk became the leader of the group.

Leeteuk once said that he had a crush on a singer/actress for 5 years, it was later revealed that the woman was Jangnara. Later in 2007, they explained their relationship when Jangnara guested in Leeteuk's radio program Sukira. Leeteuk and Jangnara had known each other since trainee days, Jangnara put an end to the scandal by saying she treated Leeteuk like her little brother, and Leeteuk also said that Jangnara was a good Noona (older sister) to him and she had helped him a lot during his trainee days.

Super Junior

See also: Super Junior's musical career

On November 6, 2005, Leeteuk officially debuted on SBS's Popular Songs music program as a member of Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior. The group performed their first single "TWINS (Knock Out)" to an audience of about 500 fans. Leeteuk explained that he uses a stage name due to his desire to have a name with the same effects as Kangta (and to also prevent confusion with veteran actress Park Jeong-su). His stage name denotes being "special" as he wants to be a special member in the group. Leeteuk also became known as the "special leader" (특별한리더) of the group. Not only becoming a "special leader", but also having a sweet voice as a tenor of Super Junior. He is also noted for having a unique and goofy laugh.

Around March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next generation of Super Junior, and Leeteuk would still remain as the leader of Super Junior 05. However, plans changed when the group began to gain large popularity, and declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.

During his career with Super Junior, Leeteuk was put into two subgroups, smaller groups that are branched off of the larger Super Junior group. In February 2007, Leeteuk was placed in the trot-singing Super Junior-T. A year later, Leeteuk became a member of Super Junior-Happy.

Variety Show and Hosting

Leeteuk is also praised for his hosting skills. He has been involved in many variety shows, appearing as permanent guests and also as the MC. Leeteuk and Eunhyuk have been the permanent Radio DJs for KBS Super Junior's Kiss The Radio (SUKIRA) since 2006.

His most notable works currently is his involvement in SBS Star King & Strong Heart. Leeteuk has a strong friendship with fellow gagmen Boom, who appears in the same two shows. Boom has initiated Boom Academy in Strong Heart alongside Leeteuk and Eunhyuk. Boom was enlisted into the army in late 2009 however, and gave Leeteuk the task to continue comedic work in the show alongside Eunhyuk and Shindong. The three created "Teukigayo" (Teuk Academy), a segment which has gained lots of support from audiences.

In 2009, Leeteuk was named second as the Most Hardwoking Idol of 2009. The title was given to Leeteuk for his notable hardwork as a Radio DJ, an MC for various shows and as an idol singer.

In 2010, Leeteuk became the new MC for MBC Enjoy Today, replacing Big Bang's Seungri who left to focus on the group's new album. He sang with F(x)'s Krystal the song "Glumbing" on MBC Enjoy Today. Leeteuk is also the MC for MBC Love Chaser alongside Yesung.

Leeteuk is now part of a new couple on the reality show We Got Married with actress Kang Sora who will be his wife in the show.

Personal life

April 2007 car accident

On April 19, 2007, almost two months after Super Junior-T's release of their first single "Rokuko", Leeteuk became seriously injured in a car accident when returning home after a recording of the radio show Super Junior Kiss the Radio. Along with Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and two managers were also victims. While they were on the highway, the front left tire burst as the driver was switching lanes and the van ran into the guard rail/medium on the driver's side and skidded for about 30M+. 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 for both to be hospitalised for several more weeks. Leeteuk had glass shards embedded into his back and above his eyes, requiring over 170 stitches in removing most of them. Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007.

Due to this injury, Leeteuk's role in Super Junior's first big-screen production, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys (2007) was cancelled. However, it was revealed at the end of the film that he'd taken on the role as the panda mascot, which was later confirmed that it had actually been Ryeowook who'd portrayed the panda in most of the film.

Military Service

Leeteuk has stated he plans to start his military service in 2012.

Discography

See also: Super Junior discography

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	Attack on the Pin-Up Boys	School mascot	Uncredited
2010	Super Show 3 3D	Himself	3-D concert film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2000	All About Eve		MBC	Extra
2005–08	Mnet M!Countdown	Himself	Mnet	Host
2005–06	Super Junior Show	Himself	Mnet	Regular
2006	Mystery 6	Himself	Mnet	Supporting role (6 episodes)
2006	Princess Diary	Himself	Mnet	Regular
2006	Rainbow Romance	Himself	MBC	Cameo appearance
2006	Super Junior Full House	Himself	SBS	Recurring
2006	Super Adonis Camp	Himself	Mnet	Regular
2006	Super Junior Mini-Drama	Leeteuk	Mnet	Supporting role, ensemble cast (5 episodes)
2007–08	Explorers of the Human Body	Himself	SBS	Regular (13 episodes)
2007–08	Leeteuk's Love Fighter	Himself		Host
2008	Unbelievable Outing - Season 3	Himself	ComedyTV	Regular
2008	Super Junior Unbelievable Story	Himself	MBC	Supporting role
2008	Idol Show - Season 1	Himself	MBC	Host
2008	Bachelor While on a Date	Himself	Mnet	Host
2008	Introducing Star's Friend	Himself	MBC	Host
2009–10	Challenge Golden Ladder	Himself	KBS	Host
2009	Challenge! Good Song	Himself	KBS	Host
2009	Miracle	Himself	KBS	Host
2009	King of the Ring	Himself	MBC	Host
2009–10	Oh! Brothers	Himself	SBS	Host
2010	Love Chaser	Himself	MBC	Host
2010–11	Enjoy Today	Himself	MBC	Host
2010–11	Super Junior's Foresight	Himself	MBC	Host
2011–present	Star King	Himself	SBS	Host
2011–present	We Got Married - Season III	Himself	MBC	Regular (Episode 25–present)
2011	The Women of Our Home		KBS	Cameo appearance (Uncredited)

Radio shows

Date	Name	Note
August 21, 2006–December 4, 2011	Super Junior's Kiss the Radio (Sukira)	with Eunhyuk

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Nominated work	Result
SBS Entertainment Awards
2009	Star King for Best Newcomer Award (Variety)	Strong Heart	Won
2011	Excellence Award (Talk Show Division)	Star King	Won

External links

• SM Entertainment Official Site
• Super Junior Official Site
• Super Junior Official Avex Site (Chinese)
• Super Junior Official Japanese Site (Japanese)
• Super Junior-T Official Site
• Super Junior-Happy Official Site
• Leeteuk Love Fighter Official Site (Korean)
• KBS Super Junior Kiss The Radio Official Site (Korean)
• MBC All About Eve Official Site (Korean)
• Leeteuk's CYWorld Official Site (Korean)
• Leeteuk's Chinese Site (Chinese)
• Leeteuk's Baidu Bar Official Site (Chinese)
• Leeteuk's International Site