K-pop idols Cha Eun-woo and Yugyeom delight fans with surprise gifts during military hiatus
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Cha Eun-woo (left) in The First Ride, his first starring role. K-pop singer Yugyeom (right) in the video clip for his song Mine.
PHOTOS: GOLDEN VILLAGE, SCREENGRAB FROM YUGYEOM/YOUTUBE
SEOUL – Military service, compulsory for all able-bodied men in South Korea, is often a setback for K-pop singers as they face a long absence from the music scene and fans struggle with the sudden silence.
Challenged to remain relevant while out of the public eye, several idols have found ways to stay active musically even while serving their country.
Actor-singer Cha Eun-woo of boy band Astro, who enlisted in July as a member of the military band, surprised fans with news that he will be releasing his second mini album Else on Nov 21.
The musician recorded all the songs for the album before enlisting, according to his entertainment company Fantagio, so that fans can still get new music during his hiatus.
The forthcoming album is the 28-year-old’s first musical project since he released his first EP Entity in February 2024.
While few details have been announced, Cha teased a snippet of his upcoming music in a trailer released on Oct 24.
The 11-second teaser features flashing text that begins: “Not a mere repetition of famTarscenes but a new variation and transformation. I refuse to be confined by definitions I already know, and instead declare myself toward possibilities beyond my boundary.”
The next scene reads: “I break and rewrite for the sake of difference. Though unpredictable to anyone, it feels more authentic, leaving fragments unfinished. This album marks the beginning of revealing the parts of me long unseen.”
The tone of the video shifts from emotional to confused to bold and charismatic, revealing different sides of Cha’s character and sparking fans’ curiosity about the kind of sound he will bring.
Apart from new music, adventure comedy film The First Ride, which stars Cha in his first lead role, will open in Singapore cinemas on Nov 13. He plays Yeon-min, a shy boy who finds friendship with three elementary school classmates, as the story follows a group of friends in their 30s who take a trip overseas to relive their youth and confront their insecurities and true selves.
Yugyeom of boy band Got7, who enlisted in the military in September also as a member of the military band, treated fans to a special gift while away.
On Oct 27, the singer-songwriter thrilled fans with two live video clips of songs from his second full-length album Interlunar, released in June.
He dropped the live versions of Mine (featuring Kirin) and Set Me Free (featuring Gaeko of Dynamic Duo), the seventh and eighth tracks on the album.
The live clip was a gift for his fans to express his love and appreciation, according to his agency AOMG. The 27-year-old has been releasing live clips of the songs from Interlunar since Oct 6. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
